I wanted to compare the quality of what Shapeways could do, with what I had. TL;DR: Totally Worth It.
- The top cube is Shapeway’s Metallic Plastic (Polished). The bottom one was printed by me, at 0.3mm. Its not an apples-to-apples comparison; however, since the printer is packed up right now, I can’t do anything.
- I cannot see the lines in their print.
- I don’t have to deal with support structures in their print. They have a support structure that gets laid down and then flows out where it was not bound with glue.
- The cost of the print was $13 + shipping. That’s almost pricey, except if you include time: If I printed it, think about 2-3 hours of printing time + 0.5h of setup, and nowhere near the quality.
About the only place where my Solidoodle makes sense is making large prints at low resolution, or where I have unlimited time and a confined budget. (I always have a confined budget).
Here’s the full picture:
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There’s another experiment in here. The blue cube, I left in my car for several days. The heat has caused things to sag.
