Ponoko to offer 3D Printing Online

[Peralton]

I thought this was an interesting announcement. Pokono has in the past offered laser cutting services where you upload designs and they produce the item. You can sell it right from the website too, sort of like cafepress for lasercutting.

They are now offering 3D printing services. No idea their cost, but there is no setup cost.

I thought it might be a good resource for anyone needing some special low-run parts.

3D printing service from Ponoko - Boing Boing
Ponoko - How it works


I haven't used the service. Perhaps someone here has some knowledge about their 2D service?

 

[cheech9898]

I saw that too in the latest Alibre email.

Yesterday Ponoko announced Personal Factory 4, a place where you can take your designs online and get them manufactured. Many Alibre users use services like Ponoko to get their designs fabricated, and the new offerings from Ponoko offer a wide variety of production methods including 3D printing and metal materials.
Personal Factory 4 is the world’s only system offering instant online pricing to make your projects using a combination of 2D and 3D digital making technologies and open-source electronics hardware. We recommend Ponoko because there are no minimum order sizes or setup fees and they accept STL files generated from Alibre Design, so if you're looking to kick back and let someone else do the hard work to fab your design then check them out!
Check out their website at visit www.ponoko.com.

 

[Utinni]

Neat, but the surface finishing is way too rough.

- Jeff

 

[AxiomUltra]

Shapeways.com does this too, they have a pretty good setup for 3D artists.

The only complaint I have about their process is the fact that their "automated" object checking system will tell you your 3d object can be printed and quote you a price. Then, when you pay them to make it they actually have a real person look at your model and determine if the wall thickness is dense enough.

If your model is too thin they send you and email, holding your production time. Then you have to change your model, which increases your price. And if you don't want to pay the difference they give you "store credit" and only refund your money if you specifically ask for it.

If you take your time, and build your parts right this shouldn't be an issue. But different materials have different requirements on their site. Kind of a pain, but the prices I've been quoted through their site are better than the ones I've gotten in the US :/

@Utinni - I agree. All of these parts are going to require cleanup, but these services are fairly quick. And in the case of shapeways, the shipping is included with your quote.

 

[Ikariya]

I looked at their pricing and this site has the price separate after printing based on where you're from, so I think the odds are Shapeways is more economic.

@AxiomUltra I've had items too thin at shapeways. They didn't charge me when they couldn't print my item. In fact, they sent me an email with an image showing me exactly where was too thin with pictures.

 

[AxiomUltra]

I looked at their pricing and this site has the price separate after printing based on where you're from, so I think the odds are Shapeways is more economic.

@AxiomUltra I've had items too thin at shapeways. They didn't charge me when they couldn't print my item. In fact, they sent me an email with an image showing me exactly where was too thin with pictures.

When I ordered my part it was last summer, I am not sure if they changed their policy or not since I haven't ordered since. If that's the case then I am glad to hear it!

What happened to me: I uploaded my part and it was auto-checked and allowed me to order, so I did. I paid the quoted amount which included shipping and was anxiously waiting for a confirmation. Then two days later I got an email from a tech stating that although the automated system told me that my part could be built that there were actually changes that needed to be made. The email included the pictures of the trouble areas like you said BUT I had already been asked to pay just to reach that point! (dumb)

When I fixed the model and resubmitted I found it would have added way too much to my original total so I told them I wanted to cancel the order. Since they required me to pay before they checked the model in person I was told that the money I used to purchase the part would be turned into credit to their store, which I didn't want.

I had to request a refund and they sent an email detailing the order cancellation and refund transaction number. I waited five weeks and didn't get my money so I emailed Shapeways asking when I will receive the refund. They told me that they emailed me the form and that the issue was closed on their end. So I ended up having to file a dispute with my credit union and paypal, then a week after that they sent me another email apologizing and that they made a mistake.

I'm not upset with them, I still like the site and look forward to working with them (or Ponoko) in the future. It just didn't seem streamlined enough at the time and there seemed like a lot of unnecessary hurdles to jump through to get what I wanted.

I always felt that uploaded models should be checked and that if it passes their system then the price quoted to you should be the final price regardless.

I'm glad that your experience wasn't as big of a mess as mine! I'll probably check them out again in the future

 

[NuRF]

I feel a bit dumb admitting this, but I've seen people mention 3D printing before and I had no idea what they were talking about because I didn't think it could possibly be what I imagined it to be. Having just watched YouTube clips of it I'm amazed. It's incredible. Is this new technology? Or have I just made myself look really stupid?

 

[TomL]

It's been around for quite some time...I'd say at least 15 years that I'm aware of. But, it has only recently come down in price and available to the "general public" through these "3D-printing job shops".

 

[NuRF]

Ah I see. I've been glued to YouTube. I truely am surprised that I didn't know anything about this.

Considering the amount of IM armour builds being done, is there a reason it hasn't been done with this?

 

[Riceball]

Ah I see. I've been glued to YouTube. I truely am surprised that I didn't know anything about this.

Considering the amount of IM armour builds being done, is there a reason it hasn't been done with this?

Probably because right now most 3D printers can't handle anything that large and some of the parts might be too large for a 3D printer to handle. Even if a printer can handle making pieces large enough to make something like Iron Man armor the price for doing so still isn't low enough to make it very economical, I suspect that to get armor made using 3D printing would cost a lot more than the traditional methods. But that's just right now, I'm sure that in another few years as the tech gets better it will be cheaper to 'print' large objects, we're already getting to the point where we'll start seeing consumer grade/level 3D printers for home use. While these will probably never be able to 'print' anything too large they would probably be great for making all sorts of greeblies and other small parts.

 

[Utinni]

The only 3-D prototyper I like is the Envisiontec machine or from a Viper machine. The envisiontec machine has put out the cleanest model I've seen. I have yet to see a 3-D Printer, like a Solidscape, output a nice smooth surface like the envision tech. Recently the majority of our CAD-made jewelry has actually been milled out of wax, there's only been a handful of times we needed a envisiontec model.

I really don't foresee rapid prototypers that do almost mirror finishes being in households any time soon. Majority of the machines right now reach up to $100,000+. And there's a lot of training time and expense just to be able to run the software to build STL. files correctly. Our store is running a $7,000 CAD program and luckily I already had some training from GIA in the program, and was able to start producing models early, otherwise it would have taken us at least 6 months before we would have been able to create something more than a basic ring.

I think this technology will remain for the few tech savvy that can afford it, but will most likely stay in the business sector.

- Jeff

 

[Firefoxm31]

I really don't foresee rapid prototypers that do almost mirror finishes being in households any time soon.

Look up Perfactory...IMHO, this is the best of the best for small super detailed parts...

Will

 

[Utinni]

Prefactory is Envisiontec. I THINK the cheapest machine is around $40,000. But the machines we've used were closer to $80-$100,000 machines.

And that is just the machine, not the post curing system or the liquid "plastic". And upkeep to run it. Unless you become a service bureau and do a LOT of outsourcing to help pay for the machine and upkeep, it just won't be in the typical hobbyist's work shop.

- Jeff

 

[Firefoxm31]

very true, but i guess you'd agree that you can't get better detail at least not yet, resolution wise, though it uses a different build process

 

[Utinni]

Yup, it does have the cleanest details I've seen.

- Jeff

 

[TomL]

The cost is directly proportional to the volume of material used. A lot of these printing sites can do very large sizes (~6 ft longest dimension for rigid epoxy)...

I've never had anything printed, but I like checking out the i.materialise site...easy to upload a model and see what the costs would be in various materials. Also you can click on the question marks next to the material selection box and get a primer on different materials...strengths, costs, paintability, detail, etc. They may be one of the higher priced shops, I don't know...but they have a LOT of each type of machine.

 

[Organic Mechanic]

Food for though...I mean, we ARE a community of builders, no?


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