Do we know how the usage varies around the clock/calendar? Should we consider adding a reservation calendar (1 hour per person) to encourage people to use it during non-peak hours (or to ensure that if you drive 70 miles to get there you can actually use it?) In other words, are there some procedural items that could help with the overload?
Johnā¦ I addresses these questions in an earlier responseā¦ 
Thanks to Everyone who has taken the time to Vote, Comment, Discuss, Question, Answer, and āall that jazzā so far!!! I have limited access to be online during the day, so I have a lot of catching up to do on the responsesā¦ But, I wanted to take a moment to let yāall know that I have noticed a lot of activity on this thread; and, that I really appreciate it all! Thanks again!!!
personally I dont like the use of āoff peak hoursā because the definition can seriously vary from person to person. Being a 24/7 access group, we cant really dictate āoff peakā times because it would alienate large groups of our users.
and a flat rate is much easier to calculate and post signs for. Not to mention what if I start a print before āoff peakā ends? Which rate do I pay?
First off, I love the PolyPrinters and appreciate having a quality commercial 3D Printer that are always working. Ok, some minor maintenance here and there but almost always running versus the āprojectsā printers. I also really appreciate the PolyPrinter folks being here to help, great job!
With that said, I voted for buying a different type of 3D printer. An option Iād like to vote for is buying 1 Double Wide Poly, and a second ādifferentā commercial printer.
What would I want in a different 3D printer? Iād like my mind blown by the potential in using it. Iād like it to be greater than I could ever afford at home. Iād like it to have all the bells and whistles and be a commercial platform that is readily supported and always running.
I like the dream that DMS has better tools than I could ever afford in great working shape that are ready whenever we have an idea.
Thanks,
Rich
david mandala was telling me about a uv resin printer that did really high res prints using a UV LED source. It had a tiny print area but only cost $330~ it would be excellent for printing small things that you wanted to cast in metal. hopefully he sends me the link for it. That would be a really easy way for us to get our feet wet with other types of printers.
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The PolyPrinters are absolutely fantastic for most things our membership wants to print; large structurally sound objects whose surface finish need not be the smoothest. To that end it probably would be best to go the route of one standard Poly and one double-wide Poly to open up more print time.
That said, I would personally much much rather see a new type of printer introduced to 3D Fab. A lot of what I really want to be printing would be better served with a printer with a small (maybe 3-5" cube) build area but which has a ridiculously high resolution and can make prints with a quality surface finish. It seems there are a number of relatively new entrants to UV Resin printers that produce wonderfulāalbeit very smallāprints and are typically in the $300-$1000 range. They use a variety of technologies to cure the resin, but it the DLP projector-type looks to be one of the nicer ones. I really believe we should look into getting one such printer. It probably wonāt get as much use, but for that kind of price itād be great to have around when itās needed.
I think having a working delta would be great. I just got a SeeMeCNC Rostock Max V2 at work. I decided on it over their Orion only because of the very large build size (11" dia x 14 H), but after printing the over 250 page instruction manual Iām starting to doubt my decisionā¦ For the reason that it comes completely built, I would vote for the Orion for the space. Itās a lot cheaper than a Polyprinter and they seem to have a great forum and a large user group. I met the guys from SeeMe CNC at World Maker Faire last month and they are really great guys and very willing to offer assistance and help if needed, which is the main reason I chose to get one of their printers.
3D printers are a huge draw for the space. We should have at least 2 if not more printers for members to use. Having functioning, accurate and reliable printers like the Polyprinters should be the main focus. While I would love to have a resin or sintering type printer, the majority of printing needs at the space should be addressed first. Also, figuring out how to offer printing with other filaments like PLA, Nylon, laywood and Ninjaflex would add diversity to the spaceās 3D printers without a major financial outlay. (Iāve used Ninjaflex at home and itās pretty awesomeā¦fyi)
my 2 centsā¦
patrick
The SeeMeCNC Orion is a nice printer model. Iāve heard good things about SeeMeCNC. Delta printers are good looking for PR reasons, but honestly beyond that, thereās not much reason we need one, including the Rostock Prisma.
The UV resin printers are very attractive, but the resin is messy, thereās an issue with people cleaning up after themselves, and cure and print times. Iād say we could get a sub $1000 DLP printer eventually, maybe even build one ourselves with another 3D printer class like the one I want to host next year for a RepRap.
In theory by next year if we got two more polyprinters, and the Rostock is working, and we can build another reprap, thatās six FFF 3D printers. We would have more printing capacity than any makerspace I know of.
FYI My Kossel Clear makes beautiful prints. Not teh quality of the polyprinter yetā¦ but it is getting close.
The plus side to a Kossel Clear is that they have FULL instructions and a healthy support group. (not to mention that the kit is sub $1k and is fairly straight forward to put together and calibrate.)
Sorry to be off topic. I have a long drive, so before I set off it would be helpful to know how many makers are planning on using the printer. A simple online signup sheet would give me an idea of a suitable time to run my jobs without adding to the printer congestion. Iād be happy help with this, too.
Hi Paul,
You may have noticed that someone flagged your post. As you already mentioned, it is off topic. That being said, Iāve already addressed scheduling in a previous response (Closed Poll: Let's Talk about buying new 3D printers!). If you would like to discuss it in greater detail, please create a new thread under the 3D Fab category. If/when you do that, I will share what I have already and we can discuss how it can be improved by an in-house solution. Thanks!
Iām loving all the responses weāve received on this poll so far! Thanks to all yāall for taking the time to āvoteā and comment!!!
The poll will be open until next Wednesday, November 12th. Iāll get back online a little later and try to answer any questions that I can. Iām trying to not very all that vocal about my preferences, because the point of this poll is to make sure I bring what the membership wants to the board - not just my own personal desires. 
Thanks again!!!
That would interest me, too.
I suggest putting resources into bringing up the non-functioning items in the 3D fab first. Of course, review the prospect and determine if it produces a desired cost/benefit profile.
Modela and the other 3d printer in progress should be addressed before new equipment is considered, because those items may change your most immediate needs and make some new equipment options more or less desirable.
Some metrics should be gathered as to the impact of print bed size and volume as an impediment. That will shed light on where a larger bed PolyPrinter may fit in as a solution for new equipment purchasing.
For new equipment, I would like to see another 3d printing technology in the Fab as there is projected to be 3 maybe 4(class proposed) plastic deposition printers in the fab in the near future without committee budget impact and significant new equipment purchasing.
Purchasing new equipment should address resolving current issues where it has the most impact, add functionality, and enhance attraction for prospective DMS members.
Please take into consideration the ongoing costs of any new equipment.
Jay Johnson
I would be interested in getting the link to that, too, as something to possibly purchase from home.
This looks really really interesting.
At $269 iBox Nano, billed as the āworldās smallest, cheapest 3D resin
printer,ā offers WiFi and 328 Micron resolution, and runs Linux on a
Raspberry Pi.
this is the email David M sent to me. It kind of falls under ridiculously small print area with meh-resolution
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I saw that a week or two ago, but I didnāt post it because, as I understand it, this is a Kickstarter project. I figured we would want to wait until they get into commercial production. However, it does look exactly like something we would want at the Space.
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throwing my hat into the ring:
In efforts to not write a book, I just wanted to mentionā¦ Consumer sla/sls printers still have a LONG way to go as far as for regular, daily use. there is much more maintenance involved, they are more expensive, build size is very limited, and they are quite messy and often require other hardware for cleaning. Parts are not nearly as cheap to replace as FDM/reprap stuff.
</2cents>
I heard those same points Krissy,
Tested did a video about the form one and they said it was a great printer, but they had a lot of problems. Prints took forever, miss prints were common, material costs were higher, and when they broke it was difficult to repair and often required have the manufacturer repair the printer. But, they did say also explain many of the pluses as well, in particular resolution of the print.
Here is the video to help:
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