This is my desk.
And that blue bowl I bought from Mexico three years ago is full of 3D printed wanna-be Viberries. I keep them as a reminder of how painstakingly hard it was to make VIBERRY what it is now.
Maybe also as a reminder not to quit, no matter how hard it will get along the way.
Like today…
Today I had a discussion with a guy who told me that 3D printing it’s not as cool as I thought. He suggested removing the whole 3D printing idea because it sounds cheap. Plus, people could always 3D print stuff themselves if they wanted, right? So why mention it?
I don’t think it’s important to say it’s 3d printed. People don’t care and may try to make their own. In my opinion it devalues the product.
Hmmm… where to begin?
Fist of all, 3D printing is not cheap.
Let’s assume that I gave you the files you need to print VIBERRY™. How much do you think it’ll cost?
5€? 10€? It’s more like 20 to 40, but that’s not even the issue.
The issue is that it won’t work.
I don’t know what viral Facebook videos tell you about this technology, but trust me:
3D Printing is not as easy as it looks
Let me explain.
Just like you can’t print decent looking business cards on your nephew’s printer, you can’t print functional parts on a regular 3D printer. Actually, you’ll have trouble even with companies who specialize in 3D printing.
How do I know that?
Because of this:
500 BUCKS WELL SPENT
These are around 20 prototypes of the VIBERRY™ that I got printed all over the world.
Out of the 8 companies I’ve worked with, only 1 managed to print the inner structure in such a way that VIBERRY™ was functional. The other companies just printed a piece of plastic with a hole in it — or in some cases, even without because the hole was too small and the printer couldn’t print in such detail.
Meaning, it takes time, money and research to make a seemingly simple product like the VIBERRY™.
But now that it’s done, I can change the content of the failure bowl with better-looking Viberries — the real ones. The ones that work.
Orgasmic candy bowl. Trick or treat?
To produce high quality 3D printed products, you need to take note of two things: print resolution and print speed. Print resolution refers to the level of detail the printer can get, measured in microns – the smaller it is, the higher level of detail in the objects you can create. Print speed measures how fast the printer can move its extruder – the higher the print speed, the faster it will print. Note that other features may affect the print speed, such as the acceleration and deceleration of the printer, which helps prevent the printer from shaking.
have you tried shapeways?
in 20 years you’ll only sell the files and we will be able to print at home
I don’t think it devalues the product. On the contrary, i believe its amazing to have something 3D printed. Keep going
oh wow didn’t think it’s so complicated….