I have some questions: 1) why all those 3D printers are so damn expensive?

3D Printing
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1

I have some questions:

  1. why all those 3D printers are so damn expensive? (they are not that complex and are made from normal materials)
  2. why they are not in robotic arm version? (Would be nice to have one cheap robotic arm which could be use for CNC milling and/or 3D printing)
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  1. its not what they are made from, its the process to get the materials there, the design and all that. Also the electronics to drive it are a major portion of the cost.
  2. You have never used a robotic arm have you. At least for anything beyond its intended use of putting something from one place to another. Machining and printing with an arm is very difficult for a number of reasons, the biggest being the accuracy of the arms. Industrial arms are extremely repeatable, they will go to the exact same place within microns every damn time. But that place might be 4mm away from where you told it in space.
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Which printers are you refering to? Printers start at like $300.

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Electronics, stepper drivers, linear motion components, belts, pulleys, bearings.

The cost adds up quickly. You can get some super cheap kits off ebay but the quality will be questionable. A great option is the Printrbot Simple.

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@Joe_Spanier
Normal printers have all those electronics (and motors too)… even more like bluetooth/nfc, wifi, network…
I saw the robotic arms used for welding. They can really move in all directions.

@Ryan_Gerrish Yeah “normal” printers are under 50$, laser ones under 100$. And here in EU on market 1$=1+ Euro… so they are too expensive for my pocket.

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@Cosmin_Dumitrescu , those printers are sold at a loss. Depending on the overpriced ink to make up for the price of the printer over time. They’re also locked to a specific suppliers ink. Do you REALLY want to go that direction?

And those printers are missing an entire third axis. They’re literally 2/3rds of what these printers are. They do not use the same components. They use similar components, but certainly not the same. Stepper motors haven’t been used in printers in a VERY long time.

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@Cosmin_Dumitrescu An ink or laser printer is not anywhere near the same beast as a 3d printer. They should not be compared.

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And let’s not forget that it’s way less expensive to produce 1mio units of something than 100k units of something per unit due to bulk rate etc. Take a look at how much regular printers (which you really can’t compare mechanically) cost back in the 90s or even earlier than that when they were not something everyone had. I remember saving up for my first inkjet as a teenager which cost me the equivalent of 350€ today. That was in 1995. Give 3D printers 10 more years of development and market penetration.

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@Cosmin_Dumitrescu I do automation research on 4 different brands of industrial robot arms. Including using them for printing and machining. Just telling you the truth about arms. Its not a good application for them until you get a 50-100k$ arm.

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I believe @Joe_Spanier ​ for use of robotic arm is not a good option. Its better to explore the part “expensive” in @Cosmin_Dumitrescu ​’s 1st question. We can make cnc machines, many have also made 3d resin printers. Main parts include projector & resin.

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A $300 3d printer that can do the same quality as a $100,000 printer from 3 years ago? Seems cheap to me!

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Thank you all for responses, i was just trying to clarify something not to start a new revolution. I`ve got it now.

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It’s too late the revolution has begun.

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http://www.3ders.org/articles/20121019-fabclay-exploring-important-parameters-of-robotic-3d-printing.html you mean like this

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also a cheap abb robot welder is about 60k

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Besides high price of robotic arm, Is there any technical reason prevent reprapers build SCARA type 3d printer?
I might want to design one some day.

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There’s already a SCARA reprap: http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap_Morgan

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@ThantiK Yes, I know that model, but I mean real 2 axis joint(1 armed) SCARA like industrial robot. I just curious why RepRap_Morgan has adopted those kind of design, not simple one armed one. Is it because some technical limitation for DIYer?

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A while back a guy did a retrofit on an industrial arm. It was an awesome project and in the way early days of printing which made it even better. If you google it I bet you could find his videos.

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@DongWon_Han_DWONH , you need some pretty big bearings, internal gearing, to get to any level close to those industrial arms. It’s cost prohibitive.