The Project began in Great Britain in 2005 as an open source, a non-commercial 3D printing research project that has attracted the attention of many manufacturers to the technology. Dozens of companies have started to come up with their own versions of printers for the consumer market, which is why you can now buy a very good quality 3D printer for $ 250. The use of rapid prototype comes essential there.
But what to expect from a 3D printer
The consumer-dedicated 3D printing segment is well evolved. We all have the means to simply create our own objects. The result of a 3D print is an object with volume. This volume results from modeling done in advance through appropriate software. To be able to send an object to a 3D printer you need to generate its code, but now all these tasks are simplified. Demand and supply for 3D printers are at a very interesting point, so if you are considering buying one you should consider some issues. This is what we are going to talk about.
Do you need to know how to model?
Of course everything has to do with the object you want to accomplish. There are sites where these objects are already ready to be printed, that is, at least the model is already designed. It then has to convert it to the printer, so the question of modeling is always relative.
If you want to print a specific object with your own measurements you will need to have some modeling skills and get your hands dirty. However, on some sites, there are objects that allow them to adapt to the intended measures. With the variety there is almost guaranteed to find a solution.
Speed
In these low cost 3D printers one of the points that can be considered less good is in fact the time it takes to print. Although the quality of the final product can be parameterized even at the lowest resolutions, printing takes a little time.
Finishing?
The final finishing of a piece printed on a 3D printer is very dependent on the resolution you want to give it, but here you have to keep in mind that the more detail you want the longer it will take. Because the technology used is a layered print, you need to be careful with some parts to get an improved finish.
Printer assembled or in kit?
If you want to save work but pay a little more, you can buy an already assembled printer. However, it may be dependent on some requirements that these 3D printers have for example, the specific use of particular print material.
Kit printers now have a very large community on the market where you can easily find videos and explanation of how to assemble them, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble in the process and as a rule these printers are much more universal in regarding the type of consumables they use.
Is it complicated?
You’ll be amazed at how simple a 3D printer can be, even though the explanation of the process seems complicated. They are all quick and simple tasks.