Is it possible to come up with the same quality as Shapeways fine quality outputs with a desktop printer?
I’ve been holding back on buying/building a printer hoping that the big manufacturers would dump the prices and up the quality…
With resin printers, yes. Though they are expensive, the resin is expensive and it has some limitations.
The Form 1 is a really good attempt at getting the quality of a pro SLA machine. It is still a hundredth the price of a pro machine so you do still get what you pay for. I think even more than our DIY desktop FDM machines, the Form1 is a great prototype machine - revise your design in house on the Form1 and then order from Shapeways or other bureau to get the final product.
There’s nothing really wrong with the Form 1 but layers are still sometimes noticeable, theres been problems with delamination between layers, the supports leave little nibens everywhere and frankly post-processing is a pain in the ass.
With all that said, most of the things Ive printed on it couldnt even be attempted on my FDM machines and overall Im amazed with it. I printed a version of the Zombie Hunter 9mm tall! Small enough for 25mm heroic scale models. And you can still make out his cigar. It’s still a lot of money for a machine when you will probably still have to go to a bureau in the end.
Yeah, the high end high res printer prices have dropped ( from the cost of a house to the cost of a car ), but the closest you might find for the consumer market is the form 1. Of course, the higher the res, the smaller the build volume. Don’t expect to build vases on the form 1.
Unless they are tiny vases.
Some FDM repraps have achieved 20 micron layer heights BTW.
@Ben_Van_Den_Broeck layer hight != resolution.
the b9creator has 50µ (and less) resolution. I’m building a similar one with an hd-projector, hope to get down to 25µ with it.
I know, that’s why I didn’t say resolution.
20 micron thin layers, what is the x/y resolution? Because that plays a huge role as well.
@Magnus_Rydin this is what you can get out of the b9: https://b9creator.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/u0c66-DSC_2701.JPG (from: http://b9creator.com/support/?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=932.0)
@Magnus_Rydin I don’t think you’ll ever see the same quality with FDM machines. Shapeways use powder deposition and SLS machines I think and they are always going to produce a finer resolution. As mentioned above, layer height only dictates the vertical resolution, FDM machines are limited in horizontal res by nozzle diameter, minimum step distances, mechanical accuracy etc. As i understand it, the B9 can achieve such high detail because its a projector based resin bot which means it’s resolution (h&v pixels) for a particular build area, can be scaled by adjusting the projectors distance from the resin vat & lens focus but this then limits the maximum build volume. A higher Res projector would be the obvious upgrade here. For the form 1 the resolution is fixed as it uses a blue laser and galvonometers which can’t be easily moved (I think). @Justin_Hawkins is developing an open source blue laser SLA bot that shows promise. I’d follow @Brian_Evans advice and use a desktop bot to prototype and a shapeways type service for the finished product.
As usual, the answer is “it depends”. The big thing that Shapeways gives you is material choice, and nice SLS printers to print it on.
As others have pointed out, the latest generation of resin prints can match Shapeways resolution and accuracy, but then you have to live with the limitations of the resin itself.
From the looks, I’d say the b9 print looks slightly better. The best prints I’ve seen are from a Solidscape Machine. They print in wax with a support material. But they are about 6x the cost of these machines.
Guess I should really save up my pennies for a b9. 
I’ve had a lot of doubts with the resin based machines, such as the strength of the parts - I’ve been waiting on a good DLP projector based printer, or simple DIY build set that is affordable, open source, and easy to upgrade.
The question remains though, it can hit the good resolutions now, but what kind of strength parts can it see?
FDM processes have taulman’s high strength nylon, but assuming something like frames, brackets or enclosures, can a resin based item withstand standard handling or more?
Resin is so expensive, that you have to think 10 times before you print anything. Kinda takes the fun out of the whole thing. It’s good for studios and firms, where the guy printing is not the guy paying 
@Steve_Sharp Probably not; from what I’ve read (no direct experience) the SLA parts are generally more brittle than an equivalent FDM part.
We should not forget the immanent expiration of the SLS patents next year. If I were looking to make a business out of making desktop 3d printers, I’d be putting my efforts into SLS. No doubt a flurry of open source SLS machines will start appearing, I’ve seen some early attempts already. Hopefully the development curve for these will be expedited by the ease at which you can prototype parts with FDM printers and the comparative ease with which the FDM electronics and software can be re-purposed for SLS. Exciting times ahead.
@Tim_Rastall Oh i’ve been eagerly awaiting the SLS chapter, material handling will be a big question. Nobody wants to inhale metal powders free floating in the air, now do they?
The resin cost was the main reason I never felt the need to jumping into resin printing. I was surprised when I saw the DLP stage, it should make it much more appealing. For me, My priority is funtionality and utility, so FDM only scratches the surface to whats available.
Some things may be a while - like how does a sub- 5k DIY EBM printing apparatus sound? A man can only dream.
Depending on free time, I may actually design an SLS printer myself.
@Steve_Sharp Heres a good place to start on the SLS road; http://forums.reprap.org/list.php?153
Rice University has a new 3D printing program complete with funding, one of the guys that started up so far has been putting out some results in his research about open source SLS as well. I think hes just calling it Open SLS.
Also, thanks!