Shapeways – Cheap 3D printing
Shapeways is geared towards the arts and crafts crowd, so they don’t offer the professional options a place like Quickparts does. But they do offer very competitive prices. In particular, if you want to build something big, it’s hard to compete with them on price (most of their materials are < $3.00 per cm3). Pictured above is user Alun’s y-motor mount.
Your first stop should be their materials comparison page to see if they offer a material that meets your tolerances and specifications. In particular, they don’t do anything better than 0.2 mm, which could be a dealbreaker for some applications. But keep in mind that you can design it to be cleaned up in a second step. For example, you can have a large structural piece made and then drill the precision holes yourself or have your local workshop do it for you.
Delivery time is just okay, 1.5-2 weeks for most processes. But shipping is free!
For example, here’s an adapter by tones3-d for using two digital cameras as a stereo macroscope (version 3.5). It’s a completely custom part for less than $100. Making this with optomechanics parts would be way more expensive, bulky, and might still require some custom parts. This is a great application for 3D printing.
[…] Shapeways now has a sample pack you can order to help you pick a process and material for your 3D printed object. It’s $30, but comes with a $25 voucher for your next Shapeways order. You can test the materials for rigidity and flexibility, or try tapping a few holes in them to see how it holds a thread. […]