3D System Cube Printer $469 shipped

tonyp12

http://www.neweggflash.com/product/288-0009-00039?nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionFlash&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionFlash-_-na-_-na-_-na&utm_source=AFC-C8JunctionFlash&utm_medium=Affiliates&utm_campaign=na&AID=11650159&PID=361116&SID=FWcwflx8

Pros: Made by a real company.
Cons: Uses 3D System carts that have a 300% markup.

I just got that one.
I could see myself printing ~30 items a year, so 2 carts for $100/year cost is not to bad
As the price is more than $500 off you have gotten first 5 years worth of material free.
And soon you probably can buy reseted & respooled carts on the gray market for 50% off.

As it takes 2 years to be really good with 3d software design, use this cheapo printer to learn and if in 2016 you see a photo-resin for $1K make the switch then.

Publison

Nice price reduction. Getting close for me.

Is the software closed, or will it import .STL files?

tonyp12

Which files can the Cube print?


The Cube can directly print .cube3 files. The Cube software, which comes with the Cube, can convert .stl, .obj, .3ds and .ply files into .cube3 files. Most CAD software (like Geomagic Design, Rhinoceros, SolidWorks, Solid Edge, Creo, etc.) can create .stl files. Maya and ZBrush can create .obj files. The size limit is 50MB, or approzimately 1 million triangles.

http://cubify.s3.amazonaws.com/public/cube/cube_user_guide.pdf

Publison

That's great! So it can do Sketchup files.

mindrobots

I've been watching the Printerbot Simple Metal - $599 assembled. If I pull the trigger, it will be something more like this.

I'm really turned off by the filament cartridges and the proprietary format that you need to convert into in order to print.

kwinn

tonyp12 wrote: »

http://www.neweggflash.com/product/288-0009-00039?nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionFlash&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionFlash-_-na-_-na-_-na&utm_source=AFC-C8JunctionFlash&utm_medium=Affiliates&utm_campaign=na&AID=11650159&PID=361116&SID=FWcwflx8

Pros: Made by a real company.
Cons: Uses 3D System carts that have a 300% markup.

I just got that one.
I could see myself printing ~30 items a year, so 2 carts for $100/year cost is not to bad
As the price is more than $500 off you have gotten first 5 years worth of material free.
And soon you probably can buy reseted & respooled carts on the gray market for 50% off.

As it takes 2 years to be really good with 3d software design, use this cheapo printer to learn and if in 2016 you see a photo-resin for $1K make the switch then.

Maybe you could print your own reuseable cart.

prof_braino

I'm tellin' ya, ya gotta build your own fromscratch. 3D printers are still too finiky, and if you buy a pre built, the first problem will stop you for months.

If you build, it takes a week to get built and calibrated, but after that you know EVERYTHING, because you already did it yourself.

It costs 1/2 to 1/3 the price of pre built, are much sturdier, and easier to improve. You can use ANY filiment. PLA is $24 / kilogram on ebay.

Nothing beats knowledge, and building a Prusa or Mendel90 is totally doable.

But, if you can hack the cartridge and refill with your own filament, this one might be at the break even price.

tonyp12

>Maybe you could print your own reuseable cart.

That is what Dan did, toke a eeprom that was showing low and glued it to a spool holder he printed.
After the printing start he moves the holder a little and the printer can now not write new lower values to eeprom while it's printing.

http://cube3d.createaforum.com/general-discussion/Smile-hack-bulk-filament/

Should not be hard to create a tiny-mcu-board that shuts down the write access after the first read access, so you don't have to remember to move the cart.
Or hack the firmware, find where it keeps writing new values to DS28E01-eeprom and just replace first line with RET, updating firware can be initiated by user anytime and any filename.
it uses a : PIC32MX440F512H