Formlabs 3d printer

[superturbine]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/12/3867864/3d-printing-precisely-with-formlabs-and-the-form-1

Will this be the advancement in printing that we need to do many of the printing jobs we dream of.  What say you?

[eric220]

"Depends on the resolution."

[Lemosteam]

Watched them raise 2mil+ on Kickstarter.com and almost bought one.  Nope, still not there.  Saw hi-res imaging of small objects made on the unit and the resolution still produces striations.   Your castings are infinitely better because they start with a master.  Lots of cleanup with those supports too.  All I'll say.

[superturbine]

Well thanks Lemo  Hmm.... It's 300 microns res.  Btw what the heck's that suppose to be?

Master Yoda looks like he could easily become a boiler!

[Lemosteam]

It is a Formlabs trademark printed on their machine.  The object is printed in fluid and pulled out of the fluid as it prints.  The risers are the supports.  you break them off and clean up the underside.  Similar issue to the FUD wax.

From formlabs kickstarter site:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affordable-professional-3d-printer?ref=live



I was soooo close to pulling this trigger but my wife had the howitzer!!!

[jmlaboda - RIP]

A step closer... but...

[GimpLizard]

Not quite there yet. Though the Form-1 might be good enough for buildings or other objects that don't require smooth finishes. But at $3300, it just "this much" beyond my budget.

[RWCJr]

The speed of development of the 3D printers has been very rapid. With the revolution this will create in manufacturing, there will be lots of startup money available to get the process modified, not only in resolution, but in the type of materials that can be used. Amazing stuff.

[Lemosteam]

If you call 25 years rapid.     I was running finer quality than above 25 years ago.  I grant that the COST has come down rapidly (a great plus!).  But the surface quality has not improved at all since then for this typre of RP.

[Philip H]

Ok, I'll bite - what's the surface quality issue?  Perhaps I have a bad monitor, but it looks really god in the picture I have here - at least as good as FUD if not slightly better.

[Scottl]

The surface of that bird cage looks better now on my laptop than it did on my desktop monitor this morning.   

[Lemosteam]

The surface of that bird cage looks better now on my laptop than it did on my desktop monitor this morning.   

Sure that's not the beer? 

[Lemosteam]

Ok, I'll bite - what's the surface quality issue?  Perhaps I have a bad monitor, but it looks really god in the picture I have here - at least as good as FUD if not slightly better.

Don't get me wrong, I almost ante'd up for one of these.  I think the surface is better than fud IMHO, but for many discerning modelers, the surface quality may not be acceptable.

Check this out http://vimeo.com/52111866

Rather cool, right out of the machine...

[eric220]

Don't get me wrong, I almost ante'd up for one of these.  I think the surface is better than fud IMHO, but for many discerning modelers, the surface quality may not be acceptable.

Check this out http://vimeo.com/52111866

Rather cool, right out of the machine...

That's pretty friggin' awesome.

[peteski]

The problem with the resolution of the machines currently available to the hobbyists is that the printed surface is not fine enough to represent a stainless steel corrugated surface of let's say the B&M's Flying Yankee model.