3D Printing: Who’s Interested?

[Paleo & Fish Collector]

For 2020, I've been wanting to experiment with 3D printing a little more to add species to my collection. I purchased files for a 3D model of tribachidium, an unusual Ediacaran animal. A friend of mine in New Zealand recently got a 3D printer and made a prototype for me after sending the files his way. It turned out great and I will be adding it to my collection. I thought I'd put out some feelers here and see if anyone is interested in me printing up a batch and selling them on eBay or something. I will have unlimited access to a state-of-the-art 3D printer at my university when I return next week. I'll use the revenues to purchase more 3D models that are a bit more expensive than tribachidium, namely a handful of other Cambrian fauna and other amazing Paleozoic creatures I've found. What do you guys think?

https://imgur.com/a/myQVqwd

[Crackington]

Sorry to add a note of caution here, but I work at a large university in my day job. Just be careful about using your university's equipment and make sure you have permission to use it. I've seen people, students and staff, get into serious trouble for unauthorised use of university resources and they tend to take a dim view of this where it's for private commercial use.

[Paleo & Fish Collector]

Sorry to add a note of caution here, but I work at a large university in my day job. Just be careful about using your university's equipment and make sure you have permission to use it. I've seen people, students and staff, get into serious trouble for unauthorised use of university resources and they tend to take a dim view of this where it's for private commercial use.

Thank you for your concern, but I think I'll be on the safe side. Any student is allowed to use the equipment so as long as they pay $15 per semester.

[Crackington]

Okee doke Paleo, sounds a bit different to the UK where I work. Our academic departments are usually quite strict in allocating students time on their equipment due to high student numbers and the expense of running them etc.

Good luck with your venture with the Ediacaran beastie.

[Paleo & Fish Collector]

Okee doke Paleo, sounds a bit different to the UK where I work. Our academic departments are usually quite strict in allocating students time on their equipment due to high student numbers and the expense of running them etc.

Good luck with your venture with the Ediacaran beastie.

How big is your university? Mine is less than 3,000. I think the machines were donations from Stratasys or were paid for by wealthy alumni and our high ass tuition lol.

[stargatedalek]

$15 is not a lot, I'd expect that's just to cover use of the machines, and they will either charge you for material or expect you to bring your own. Which is not a bad system honestly, certainly how I'd run something like that. Just be aware there could be unexpected expenses like materials.

With resin printing in particular there have been incredible strides in the past few years, primarily in accessibility. Resin printers are now little more than a good quality FDM printer at a few hundred dollars. It's the material costs that continue to set them so far apart.

[Crackington]

I'd probably best not say which one university it is, but it's pretty big, over 40,000 students now. There are high demands on resources there, hence strict rules on using equipment etc. I think most UK universities operate in a similar way, despite high tuition fees etc.

[Mirroraptor]

Sounds good. I've recently been making some dinosaur sculptures on zbrush, but I'm struggling that no one can print them out. I eventually found a foundry, paid a hefty amount (about $ 185) and got the finished product. A friend recommended me a high-precision desktop printer, but I also lack the funds to buy it.
I envy you for having such advanced equipment. If you can, can I see the printing effect and accuracy?

[Paleo & Fish Collector]

Sounds good. I've recently been making some dinosaur sculptures on zbrush, but I'm struggling that no one can print them out. I eventually found a foundry, paid a hefty amount (about $ 185) and got the finished product. A friend recommended me a high-precision desktop printer, but I also lack the funds to buy it.
I envy you for having such advanced equipment. If you can, can I see the printing effect and accuracy?

The prototype pictured is from a small home 3D-printer. A lot of the engineers here have printed stuff for capstone on our university printers, and the results have been pretty nice and smooth. I'll see how another run of Tribachidium works out next week if I have time.

[Duna]

Sounds good. I've recently been making some dinosaur sculptures on zbrush, but I'm struggling that no one can print them out. I eventually found a foundry, paid a hefty amount (about $ 185) and got the finished product. A friend recommended me a high-precision desktop printer, but I also lack the funds to buy it.
I envy you for having such advanced equipment. If you can, can I see the printing effect and accuracy?

I have a home printer which cost me 200€ (now the price has gone up a bit) and it prints perfectly, in 0,1mm lines are almost imperceptible. I've printed many skeletons and skulls with it (most of them in 0,2 because it's quicker). If you want to send me an STL to make a trial, I'll send you the pics about what it looks like once printed in PLA.