How Much Is a 3d Printer Cost
3D Printing Toll Keyfacts:
- A single 3D printed part tin cost anywhere from 0.75 up to hundreds of dollars/euros
- A 3D model is compulsory to get a precise pricing
- Material, model morphology and commitment time tin can profoundly affect the price
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iv Cost Facts Well-nigh 3D Press You Probably Didn’t Know
one. Toll of purchasing and operating a 3D printer
A 3D printer can cost from 150$/€ for a cheap FDM or MSLA printer to almost 1 million$/€ for a acme metal 3d printer and in addition to this it requires maintenance costs, electricity, etc. which, however, nosotros neglect hither to simplify. First of all consider that in the current market place you cannot retrieve of making sense of a 3D printer by using it less than 8 hours a mean solar day for 250 working days (if you have the purpose of making money and you are non one of those types who purchase 3d printers considering they similar to take them around) information technology is ameliorate and much cheaper to take the parts washed by an external 3D printing service.
So let’due south say you purchased a $/€1500 3D printer that you plan to employ eight hrs/day for 2 years.
eight 10 250 ten 2 = 2000 hours of press
$/€ 1500 / 2000 hrs = $/€ 0.75/60 minutes
All this means near nothing, why?
Considering it is non so important how much a machine costs per hour but how much information technology PRODUCES per 60 minutes in terms of cm3 of usable part:
Considering that the machine in the example as a FDM printer we can say that it can reasonably produce 10cm3 / h (I know information technology can also go faster but with this speed we are certain not to accept to redo the piece because information technology turned out badly).
$/€ 0.75/60 minutes / 10cm3/hr = 0.075$/€ per cm3
Since a 3Dbenchy has a volume of near xvi cm3 it would cost around:
0.075$/€ per cm3 ten sixteen cm3
= i,ii $/€
Keep in mind that in this example we have not calculated the fourth dimension necessary to gear up the file, the material and the maintenance costs, nor take nosotros taken into consideration the fact that if you will use this car few hours per week and not 8 hours a solar day, producing a single 3Dbenchy could quickly get to a existent cost of 30 $/€.
#3DBenchy
is a 3D model specifically designed for testing and benchmarking 3D printers.
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2. Model volume
Obviously the larger the part, the more material and time needed for the printing, the more it costs: information technology must be said that at that place is no direct proportionality because a part with double volume volition non cost double but a little less than double considering there are economies of scale linked to the grooming time that is spread on a larger piece.
You can reduce the cost past using a cheaper material or by partially emptying the part just this is non ever technically and mechanically acceptable.
Larger is more than expensive:
3D printing is a affair of size and material: larger parts demand more time and material and are consequently more than expensive
3. Material: huge differences
The material makes a huge difference on the final cost of the part: recollect that you can first from a PLA of 15 $/€ per kg to 500 $/€ of PEEK and even more. Moreover it should also be considered, at least for some technologies such as FDM and SLA, the toll of the supports that tin be in a material (for case BVOH) normally more expensive than the press material itself.
Only to give yous a value, our tiny xvi cm3 3DBenchy tin can price, material just, from almost 0.25 $/€ if made with cheap PLA to viii $/€ made with 500 $/€ ten kg PEEK.
Textile matters:
with the same 3D printer and production capacity the price of the material can vary enormously.
Courtesy 3Dnative.
See here the list of materials available from Weerg.
4. Post-processing
Opposite to what one might call back, post processing is mandatory for any 3D printer and it has the serious flaw of beingness a considerable cost that is often seriously underestimated. In fact, finishing is not only the removal of supports in FDM or SLA printing which takes time and often can lead to damage to the part.
Post processing is also required by MJF and SLS printers: in this case the part just produced are covered by construction dust residues that must exist removed with a good (read expensive) shoot peening engineering.
Post-processing is a major cost in 3d printing:
not simply practise FDM or SLA 3D printers require supports removal but also powder printers (MJF and the former SLS) need thorough cleaning.
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Determination
Should you purchase a 3D printer or hire a 3D printing service?
As y’all have seen, there are many elements that contribute to forming the cost of a 3D printed part.
- If you are a hobbyist, and you’re simply printing for fun and because you are fascinated by 3D printing and by the part that is created before your eyes you tin have keen satisfaction with an investment of a couple of hundred dollars/euros FDM or MSLA printer.
-
if yous are a professional
and you need functional parts in different materials and without defects in a few days, prepare to invest at to the lowest degree 250 / 300k $/€ in mixed FDM SLA and powder engineering and be sure that yous will use these machines each for at least two,000 hrs a year, otherwise a 3D printing service or a 3D press service online it will surely be more convenient.
