Making Money With Makerbot 3D Printing ?? And Other Questions ??

[Robert Bonenfant]

1 .So my first question is can & do people making money with the makerbot ?? I have seen alot of people making nice amounts of money with 3D printers but they use the Large 20 k - 80 k Printers. 

2. Ive also seen PLA & ABS on Amazon, Ebay, Google going for $20 - $35 per KG is this the same quality of Makerbot.com ?? 

3. Has anyone created a business around Makerbots ?? 

Also im not looking to steal anyone's ideas just wanted to get pointed in the right directions. If you would like to state how you make cash with your bot feel free. 

I have seen alot of Customization builds on Websites like Shape way and alot of there pricing seems like you can make a nice profit. 

I bought the Replicator 2 Last week and want to get a better understand of the business that have been created around 3D Printers 

I also have extra money if need in the future to buy more makerbots & Expanded or larger Equipment. Just taking step by step 

Also any tips on best item i should buy when i get my bot or tips for my first run would be great, like I said im new to these so any advise helps. 

Thanks Guys,

PS - Love this forum because the Community always helps out with my questions and not to many people are rude when people ask simple Questions 

[delsydsoftware]

One of the members of IHeartChaos does a decent amount of business with this web store:
http://www.slydev.com.au/Store/
He has a Replicator 1.

[Andrew Russell]

Couple people are selling stuff on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cymonsgames
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CarryTheWhat


On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 3:01 PM, Robert Bonenfant
<robert....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Very cool site - Helps out to see others in action
> thanks for the post keep them coming

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[Elbot]

filament quality depends on the supplier. When I bought generic filament, I've had to adjust the temperature of printing or it will not print right. For example, Octave brand filament on Amazon is gooey and will need to print at 220 C while Makerbot can print at 230 C. Different brand filaments also have different structural strength. Makerbot filament is also a bit harder than the Octave brand filament.

I haven't tried any other brands. What about you guys?

[Elbot]

unless you have the automated build platform mod, i don't see anyone making major bucks with a makerbot replicator. unfortunately, i am not smart enough to put it together. maybe you'll have better luck:
automated build platform

otherwise, it's only good enough to make a couple extra bucks in pocket money. you know, some pocket money to spend without having your spouse yell at you for going over the family budget.

[Robert Bonenfant]

Yeah ill have to look into that - Doesnt look like makerbot is selling them anymore but im sure i can find one to buy or Create a quick system to push the figure off when finished. Thanks for the input - Once i start creating im going to keep a tab on here with designs, Cash Flow, Website of my products, So others that have the same question will get an idea. Thanks Again 

[Cymon]

Sorry I haven't chimed in before, but thank you Andrew for linking to my store. I also have my blog where I decided to explore this topic in depth. I decided to put my thoughts on this topic there because they were running a bit long here:

http://joesmakerbot.blogspot.com/2012/09/making-money-with-makerbot.html

This post ended up being a bit more personal than I meant to. I'll try it again in a bit and title that one "how you can make money with a makerbot." The short version is it's not difficult to make some money, but making the sort of money that will allow you to run a business... that's something else. I'm not quite ready to write that post yet since I haven't really gotten there yet.

[Cymon]

Darn me hitting post before my thoughts were complete. The reason I haven't chimed in yet is because I am out of town for a few days and typing this in a not-so-quiet corner of my sisters house. Also the reason I hit send too soon.

I wanted to respond to Elbot's claim that you need an ABP to be truly able to run a business with your makerbot. This isn't true and thank goodness because, as has been pointed out, they don't exist for Replicators, Makerbot is no longer selling the old one, all because when they were the ABP was riddled with problems. However, it does help to have a willing partner or an understanding job. My willing partner won't start the next print if the last one didn't go well and I recommend if you have an understanding job you take the same mentality. Don't fiddle during your job's time, just clear the build plate and start the next job and if fiddling is necessary don't problem solve, don't think, just shut it down, and write off the rest of the day, Just my 2 cents. All this will be going into my eventual "how to make money with your makerbot" post.

[Ar]

RE: lack of ABP. 

 If I was going to do this, make lots of prints and sell them, the Rep2 might be a better option. You could buy multiple extra acrylic build platforms from MBI.  As soon as the first print is finished, just take the acrylic platform out, w/ print still affixed, swap in a fresh clean plate, and immeditalely start another print.  While that print is running, you remove the previous print, clean it up, & clean the acrylic platform.  Rinse and repeat.  Would make for a more productive process vs the time it takes on the Rep1 to remove a print from the HBP, clean any leftover extruded plastic stuck on the HBP, and no downtime when you need to replace the kapton.

-Andy

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[c f]

I think that was the attractiveness of the automated build platform when they came out with it. To really get to a point where printing multiples was as easy and reliable as, say, my laser printer would be absolutely amazing (and make something like printing 225 items *way* more tolerable. You would probably just need to change the filament every 2 days or so). As it currently stands, doing any kind of low-volume mass production with only a single machine is pretty painful. Combining 1 or more machines with reliable ABPs and Zach's new botqueue software might actually come pretty close to having your own small factory.

I know a lot of work was done by people on thingiverse to try to make the ABP more reliable, but I don't think it ever quite got there. The new moving-extruder model rather than moving-platform model would certainly have made it much better. Using PLA instead of needing a heated build platform for ABS would also probably make it much more reliable.

I actually saw the ultimaker guys demo-ing a multiple-copies method where their extruder fan-attachment to cool the PLA as it comes out had a little scraper/wedge built into the bottom edge of it, and when a print was done the platform went back up to the top and they used the extruder to scrape the object off into a bucket. I suspect that method would have some serious reliability issues with large prints (both so that they didn't crash the print into the guide-rods/extruder, or screw up the extruder by applying too much force when trying to knock a huge print off).

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 3:12 PM, Mark Cohen <markc...@gmail.com> wrote:

Printing multiple copies for cash just is not worth it. I did one in
April, made about $4000, for 225 items (4 hours each) which my son
designed and split the money with him. But it was really about 3 weeks
of after work (7-12pm)and 3 weekends to produce these things. My
garage is like 100 degrees, things print very well there, but it was
physically exhausting. I will only do prototyping or a few prints at a
time now. I tell people to get it molded after I produce the print.

[c f]

Wow, that's seriously impressive (at least if the throughput rate on my ToM is any indicator).

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 4:06 PM, Mark Cohen <markc...@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh, I also printed like 800 parts for the DomeKit.cc project. Never
will I do that again.

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Mark Cohen <markc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I printed on 7 machines.

[Andy]

Wow. Just curious, what was your ratio of failed to successful prints? 100deg garage seems like a great place to print ABS. Though I wouldn't want to hang out in there to babysit the machines.

Thanks,
-Andy

On Sep 28, 2012, at 1:06 PM, Mark Cohen <markc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh, I also printed like 800 parts for the DomeKit.cc project. Never
> will I do that again.
>

> On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Mark Cohen <markc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I printed on 7 machines.
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 4:02 PM, c f <christophe...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Cymon]

One thing that helps me is using both extruders at once to produce twice the prints in the same time. It's like having two printers. It's not viable for everything, but when it is an option it can bring down your development time cost.

[Robert Bonenfant]

Thanks Guys for the great Response - A few more things i have found in research

1. Makerbots are great for starter printers ( Cant wait to get mine ) can be used to make small amounts of profits ( not enough for full time ) to get a full time pay out of 3d printing you would have to look to large more commercialized printers to get volume and colors needed out of them. 

2. Lots of finishing work is need ( Painting, Sanding, Airbrushing, and much more ) to get some OK details

[Rixus]

You wont really be able to turn a profit as a plastic part manufacturer... but you can use it as a valuable tool. I have 3d printed objects, sanded/finished them and then used the prototype to cast a mold, and used the mold to reproduce items. I use my 3d printer to make cheap machinery for things like packaging... a commercial filling machine would be made of steel and cost $20,000, I make one with 3d printed parts for a few hundred. Cant sell them commercially really, but I can get jobs done and the client never knows the difference.

I also make specialized electronic parts/devices, I will often print the outer shell and sand/paint it so you wouldnt ever know it was 3d printed... but again the plastic is just a minor part, the value in the items is the electronics.

So yeah.. its a useful tool, but only one of many.

[Jack Coats]

One of my favorite 'old time' makers is Don Lancaster. In those days
publishing on paper was the big thing. But a lot of the logic is the
same. Get a copy of his "Incredible Secret Money Machine" and read it
(it is thin, but great and interesting content for makers wanting to
live off of making). Don also published many books on electronics and
was in several magazines for many years. His web site is
www.tinaja.com

On the Shopbots form www.talkshopbot.com has several threads over how
to start a business and make money using a shopbot. (ShopBot is a CNC
machine that is easy to use, and has grown from a DIY system to a full
fledged project line over the years. It has a wonderful forum and
even the direct support from the company is great.)

MechMate.com is a forum that has plans for a more customizable and
'heavy duty' CNC rig than ShopBot, but the first MechMate was really a
modified ShopBot. The origional builder of MechMate, Gerald, is still
around the forums. He and his son have built 7 or 8 that they use in
their South African shop. Gerald origionally designed it for his use.
In the last year or two he sold the forums and rights to the plans to
a guy in Louisiana that can also sell you some of the parts
(especially the laser cut and precision bent steel parts). It is
about $5K to $10K to build, where ShopBot is about 3x that for similar
capability. Normally a build takes 3 months, but it has been done in
1 week and others take years.

Anyway, some of the threads in the MechMate forum address the 'how can
I start a business to pay for this'.

The basics I got from the ShopBot and MechMate forums is: yes, you can
make money running them, but it is hard. They tend to be better to
HELP increase production or add revinue stream to a current business.
In both cases, the suggestions boil down to: do a business plan, do
cash flow analysis to make sure you start with 'enough capital' and
know where you are financially, define your target market, define a
marketing and sales plan. ... If you are smart, don't quit your day
job. Build something, run it part time. Find some companies you can
be a supplier to.

I also read various woodworker forums and even the Epilog (laser
cutter) support forum where their members also bring up the same issue
(how can I make money with/doing this). The answer winds up being
smilar in all these areas.

There are many stories about people buying/building a service just to
find they can't find anything to get paid for that pays enough to
cover costs and make some profit. I hate to see these folks go out of
business, but that is what tends to happen eventually with most of
them especially if they don't know their target customer before they
go into business.

I can say that because I have been there/done that.

Best of luck! .. Jack