Finding cheapest print service.

[McBryde]

I'm waiting for print services to get cheap enough to be able to have small sculptures made up at a price which would sell on Etsy or Ebay at an affordable price.

Every few months I try to get an idea of the range of prices in the industry ... and it takes a long time. I end up having to phone around the country usually. Otherwise I send model files for quotes.

I'm asking if anyone can help me find a site, etc, where I can see the cheapest prices in the different material specs - across the uk [or even Europe].

I think this all happen sooner or later ... before printers are so cheap that we'll all have them on at home!

Thank

John

[iDig3Dprinting]

Hi McBryde,

3D hubs is the usual place for getting quotes for 3D printing models. You should probably find a suitable local service that you can trust, or, alternatively, invest in a printer yourself and print them yourself.
What sort of sculptures were you looking to print and what sort of scale?

[McBryde]

Thanks for replying.

They would be quite small caricature figurines [in colour] at about 50 - 70mm ... probably done individually as the clients order them.
The other would be about 100 x 50 x .5 mm bas relief sculptures probably in white [printed in batches of maybe 10].

[iDig3Dprinting]

What you are suggesting is all do-able on a standard 3D printer. Except, perhaps, when you say "[in colour]" do you mean full colour or in a single colour as full colour printing requires more expensive printers, like 3D systems polyjet printer.

Your main other sticking point maybe the minimum feature size requirements for the models.

Are you doing the design work yourself?

We certainly believe that it would probably prove more cost effective to own your own printer. here is a Venus de milo we printed out on a simple desktop printer as an example of what is possible.

[McBryde]

Yes, I do my own designs. On the caricatures I would use several colours. (I appreciate that the 3D material needed for colour work is still a bit grainy, and the colour is water soluble, but I expect these things to improve over time.)
I'd rather wait for printer charges to come down a bit more.

The thing is, I probably wouldn't be doing bulk orders [for a while at least], so it doesn't matter how far away the printer is, as postage shouldn't be too much for small items.
John

[iDig3Dprinting]

3Dhubs is the place to locate local services, you are better off finding someone close to you that you can meet and make an arrangement outside of 3D hubs.

[ara89]

I'm waiting for print services to get cheap enough to be able to have small sculptures made up at a price which would sell on Etsy or Ebay at an affordable price.

Every few months I try to get an idea of the range of prices in the industry ... and it takes a long time. I end up having to phone around the country usually. Otherwise I send model files for quotes.

I'm asking if anyone can help me find a site, etc, where I can see the cheapest prices in the different material specs - across the uk [or even Europe].

I think this all happen sooner or later ... before printers are so cheap that we'll all have them on at home!

Thank

John

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