Shapeways Improving By Microns

[RKapuaala]

I've heard of that method. It is similar to the way they etch 3D images in chunks of Acrylic and I believe is similar to the way plaster pieces are produced using a pan full of polymer dust. I head those are quite accurate and the 2k USD price range is reasonable despite the smaller work area. I would gladly sacrifice a larger area for more detail.
Another draw back to Shapeways is the 1 million polygon count limit. I'm guessing your Rabbits vest would max that out by itself.

 

[Ethan]

Yes it sure would! I think the rabbit head alone is 3 million. I will decimate before printing and painting though; just to try to bring the count down to help workflow.

 

[RKapuaala]

You should be able to get it down to 1 million provided you are willing to loose some of the finer detail in the fur. My first digital sculpt with Sculptris was about 8 million polygons. It go so I had to wait a few minutes just to open the file. I discovered that a lot those 2/3rds or more were just wasted duplicate vertexs and some were even strange strings of points that were so small they couldn't even be seen unless you carefully paned up close to them. Those little buggers were a couple of thousand polygons on their own and there were several of them. That was mostly on the hair. The smoother surfaces were heavy but none of the spikes I just described.

 

[mash3d]

When you sell something on shape ways how much of the cost is set by Shapeways and how much by the up loader?
I assume the cost of printing is built into when you sell something on their web site.

 

[RKapuaala]

Mash, they have the actual breakdown on their site, but I never used their shop because of their conditions.
First, you are responsible for the quality of their print. They ship directly to the customer and if they ship a bad print, you have to pay the customer back.
Second you are liable for anything that happens to the customer after using their printed item.
And last, they only pay once a month and not until you have sold 30 USD worth of product.
I found those terms and conditions unacceptable and never sold on their site.
The rest of the terms and conditions are pretty standard.
I sell my castings and used to sell my prints at http://scalehumans.com
That is my own site.

 

[RKapuaala]

Ahh ya that might do it. You could make a solid strip behind the hinge with a bevel to give it the illusion of being hollow.

Our printer doesn't use extruder heads. Instead it has a vat of liquid UV-light-reactive resin and projects an image slice into the vat, hardens it, moves it up .025 and repeats. It's called the B9 Creator and was a Kick-starter project. It cost a bit over 2000.00USD at that time. I'm sure it will be more as an actual company.... Not sure how much. Supposedly some of the extruder types can be reformatted to print at .020 however! They would have a larger working surface so 1/6 full figures could be possible at that level of detail. That's from little brother though so I couldn't explain how that is possible lol. I would look into that process as we will once we get this printer paid for from profits.

Ethan how long did it take to get your printer? And how much was the final price shipped and everything, and what is the maximum size piece you can print.

 

[Ethan]

It took about 6 months after we joined the kickstarter project to receive the printer. The total cost was a little over 2300.00USD and the printing window is 4x5 x 8"h @ 50 microns (Z) or 2 x 1.5 x 8 @ 25 microns (Z). There does seem to be potential for getting to 16 microns as well as making use of the entire 4x5 printing area at 25 microns. I don't think I can print a kit more than 200mm when put together. Right now the rabbit looks like it will be printed in 5 pieces using that 200mm as 6 foot scale and the rabbit being a short character will be around the 150mm range.

Printing size in the window is fully dependent on the resolution of the projecter.

 

[RKapuaala]

I just got another disappointed series of prints from Shapeways and I am seriously considering the Formlab printer. Due date would be and delivery estimate is April. Final cost 2700 USD... I could put it on my credit card and it would probably pay for itself in 2 years,,, my biggest fear is that in 2 years, the printers will be faster, higher resolution and cheaper..... I'm debating wether or not I should just keep handling the frustrations or just go for it.... then there is the learning curb.
Perhaps you could start a thread and document the learning process for us?

 

[Ethan]

Sure! I think I can swing something like that. We just finished the curing process for replacing the nonstick silicon surface in the resin vat. Another test print will be starting here in the next hour.

 

[RKapuaala]

I'd love to see your progress on that.