3D Printing Group

Good afternoon!

If I had an unlimited budget, I'd probably go far overboard.

Hire a team of engineers, designers, researchers and other useful and talented people.

Then give them the base instructions/idea and let them have at the arising challenges. Again note the unlimited budget, thus the size of the team wouldn't be limited by financials, nor would time be a huge bottleneck, as cost-by-time would be negligible when dividing by infinity.

Indeed communication would be a bottleneck as the number of people goes up, but I notice myself digressing.

I'd say if I had unlimited money to spend on the project I'd find people passionate about creating a new design, and basically reinvent the wheel. Finding every problem on the way again, and try to find other ways to conquer/solve this.

I'd aim for large-scale, high-precision/high-accuracy, high-repeatability, low-maintenance, multi-material and multi-head. (And if possible at a realistic product-price and at a decent-speed.)

I'd suggest something akin to a planet-builder, but I see that's indeed far-fetched.

Semi-realistically I'd aim for a print-volume of 1~9 m3 and/or up, with multiple heads and/or materials with 0.1~0.01 mm x/y-precision, and if possible not layer-based.

And realistically (as a student) I'd say I'd build one myself rather than an existing one, I know this means a higher cost and finding and solving problems yourself.

But I (personally) find this part of the fun.

(As well as the fact that you can mix and match specs to your heart's/project's desire)

probably FFF, ~25x25x25cm build-volume, double- material or head, remote-driven-direct-extrusion, CoreXY, 32-bit, and other things as I run into them...

TL;DR: Build one myself

Best greetings and a pleasant day to you!

~Sjaak

If I had an unlimited budget and could buy a 3D printer, I'd have to go with the Form 3 large format printer. It's printing resolution is great, and end-product use ablilites are basically endless because of all the different resins they have with different physical properties. The resin is expensive but I'd buy some of that with the printer.

I'll probably get the Stratasys J750, mainly for its massive build size (49 × 39 × 20 cm), multi-colour/material capability & accuracy...

Without any price limitations:

https://newpro3d.com/

Faster than Carbon 3d (Google and Autodesk invested in them)

No footprint limitations in terms of print size.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/644653534/uniz-udp-the-worlds-fastest-3d-printing-technology

Just saw this. I take Kickstarter projects with a grain of salt after too many disappointments. However, some projects were good.

???

https://www.desktopmetal.com/products/studio

https://markforged.com/metal-x/

https://markforged.com/mark-two/

https://static.markforged.com/downloads/F-PR-2017-NP.pdf

Really high strength parts

Check out material strength specs in second link

Formlabs2

Nice finished parts with multiple material choices

Love the softer material choices. i.e. dental parts material

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/printers/3d-printers.html

Fast print speeds but expensive

Creality CR-10 with autoleveling

Best bang for buck. With a larger foot print and affordable price.

None.

For me there is no 3D printer that does everything I'd want it to. 3D printers are like vehicles, there is no single design that is perfect for everyone.

My best option is sending parts to be printed at shops that make use of different printer technologies, and other manufacturing methods (i.e. sheet metal, CNC machining, casting, vacuum forming, injection molding ...etc.)

If I had a 3D printer (or CNC equipment) at home, or in the lab, I'd loose the ability to choose the best technology for each part. Sure, I pay more to have someone make the part for me. but there are a lot of advantages to not owning a 3D printer which I get to enjoy.

That is a really great point! There doesn't seem to be any silver bullet when it comes to a 3D printing solution. Definitely different applications and uses for the different technology.

Maybe I should have framed it differently. If you could have one 3D printer what would it be? :)

For me personally at home, I'd get a high resolution wax based printer. The kind often used for printing jewelry patterns. The detail level, and cleanliness of the final models is top notch for making detailed artistic parts. Those D20 figures you printed would be wonderful from such a machine. Then combine those printed parts with a silicone mold, and molten pewter... You'd have legitimate D&D figures in metal. Learn how to use Zbrush, and you'll be making your own. Or take the easier path and download pre-made/custom figures from a site like HeroForge. Here's a rendering of some HeroForge figures:

If I needed more robust models, I'd look at an SLS machine that ran glass filled Nylon. I love that material.

For general purpose, inexpensive models, and quick form/fit/function models, a good FDM machine can't be beat.

Most of my experience is with SLA, and Polyjet systems. Both have pros and cons, but if it were a smaller machine with maybe a 4", or 6" build cube, I might consider one of those in place of the wax printer mentioned above.

The "new" DLP systems look pretty good as well, and are a bit of a cross between the SLA and Polyjet technologies.

Too many choices. I think this is why I don't have a 3D printer. I guess I'll need to buy a half dozen 3D printers now :)

I would like a Ultimaker 2+

For an average person with a budget I'd go for the Creality-CR10S pro.

As an engineer I look for three things.

1. Time (something you'll never get back)
2. Print quality
3. Strength

For fast times I'd go with the NewPro 3D

For strength I'd go with Markforged Mark Two

Time-lapse of the World's Largest 3D Printed Boat

:)

1. I guess you would also need to get a space large enough to fit it :)
2. Is that a crowd in the background watching the printer? No offense, but that would be a pretty boring performance...

1: yep, going for a divorce. Woman out, then enough room. And win the lottery. Uehmmmm, wife can stay a little longer.

2: see link: https://youtu.be/34F71XqvOjg?t=15 , same as above in blue text.