antweight 3d printing

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amarler
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Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 6:21 am

antweight 3d printing

Post by amarler »

Hi All

My names Alex and I have been involved in robots for many years, and active on the fra forum some of you may already know me :)

I'm looking at setting up a small business which produces Plastic (abs) 3d prints of parts - aimed at students and hobbyists like you guys

I have seen the popularity of antweights and how 3d printing services have helped produce some really cool designs, however if all comes together i believe i can offer a much better service tailored to robot builders.

If you have a few minutes just to fill out a quick survey i would be very grateful, this will help to strength my business idea and hopefully in the near future i can produce prints upto 60% cheaper than places such as Shapeways.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y8VZMRK

Thanks for reading guys and any questions please fire away

Alex Marler
EpicentrE
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Re: antweight 3d printing

Post by EpicentrE »

Done.

The main thing you want to consider are the materials; the reason Shapeways is so popular amongst Antweight builders is because their WSF material is very strong and flexible, which is perfect for our use. Some other companies use plastics that are just designed to be used as prototypes or visual representations, and thus are less suitable for the stress we put them under.

I wish you the best of luck!
Scott Fyfe-Jamieson, Captain of Epic Robotics. Champion of AWS38/41/42.
http://www.epicrobotics.co.uk
amarler
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2012 6:21 am

Re: antweight 3d printing

Post by amarler »

Hi

Thanks for the feedback materials is something i will be looking at in great detail.

Many thanks
josh
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Re: antweight 3d printing

Post by josh »

I've looked at materials and machines a lot. For antweights you really want a laser sintering machine. They produce what shapeways calls White strong and flexible. It's a nylon compound. The methods of printing using wire like the abs machines create quite brittle pieces, like the printers until recently branded by HP. Laser sintering machines though, are incredibly expensive. A cheaper alternative on it's way is a heated sintering machine. I've had a good look into these and we will be buying one when they are available as they produce a very high resolution strong object and the machines aren't too expensive in comparison to a good ABS printer.

http://www.blueprinter.dk/
RPD International
www.RPDintl.com
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Rhys
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Re: antweight 3d printing

Post by Rhys »

Any idea how much those are going to cost Josh? Probably couldn't justify it, but would love to have one.

As for shapeways, they are pricey, but very user friendly. I've never found a site where you can so quickly upload, get a price and order a part. If you can give a similar 'instant quote' service, I think that would appeal to me more than just being cheaper.
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josh
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Re: antweight 3d printing

Post by josh »

Off the top of my head they are about 12k in the basic form. Not cheap by any means but in comparison to a SLS machine it's cheap
RPD International
www.RPDintl.com
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