jstarne1
USA
Asked
— Edited
http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/1973-The-Lyman-Filament-Extruder-May-Drop-the-Cost-of-Desktop-3D-Printing-Forever.html
Good for anyone that's going to be printing regularly or more than 200 dollars worth of premade plastic filament for your printer.
This could help DJ or anyone who wants to reduce the costs of the plastic spool reloads.
oh that's a neat idea!
I'm actually surprised at the affordability of PLA. There are a few places that sell spools for $50+, which is really expensive.
Most places sell a spool for $30 to $35. Out of that cost, I can print sooooooooo many parts (long as the printer is working :)). I don't know the exact count, but most of our parts are quite large and thick. In a single spool of PLA, I can print 50-70 of them. That's not bad for $35!
Have you tried printing with ABS yet? I know PLA is probably the cheapest stuff out there. I want to get into 3d printing. I was looking at a solidoodle 2 or 3 which follows the standard reprap format.
The replicator 2 can't use ABS because it does not have a heated bed.
The CubeX Trio will print ABS, but we only use ABS for supports on the PLA.
The PLA is a more consistent print. PLA is pretty strong also. Plus, it is biodegradable so I don't feel bad wasting all the prints. I just keep filling boxes full of old prints and they recycle them locally :)