Homemade 3D Printers (videos)

**kbalch** · Dec 11, 2015, 02:18 PM

It seems as though I've been thinking about 3D printing for at least a few years now, though I haven't yet jumped in and bought one. After all, why buy what we can build, right?

I spent some time today searching for videos on building homemade 3D printers and thought I'd share these three. They illustrate a range of possibilities and complexity, but individual features should be readily combined between models as desired.

What do you think? Are you considering diving into the 3D printing pool? Have you done so already? Post your comments in the thread…

Ken

**scorch** · Dec 11, 2015, 11:48 PM

A 3D printer is like anything else. Tool builders have to weigh the costs/benefits to making their own. There is nothing like building your own tools but I finally came to the conclusion that it was best for me to buy a commercial printer. I went with a Printrbot Simple Metal (I assembled it from a kit). I have had it for about a year and I am still happy with my purchase. It is nice to have a reliable printer to bang out a part quickly when needed.

I did do some experimenting with other homemade 3D printers before breaking down and buying a commercial printer. I uploaded my previous homemade printers in the forum, here are the links to the forum posts:

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/p...-printer-31915

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/c...tachment-31917

Nothing much came of the powder based printer but I am keeping the caulk extruder in my back pocket for when I find a good application for it. I am running out of frog fishing lures so I may need to fire it up again soon.

**C-Bag** · Dec 13, 2015, 11:14 AM

Thanks for sharing scorch. 3-d printing is definitely cool but like you say you have to have an application. And I'm in the same position about figuring the cost to time spent quotient.

I felt the same way about getting a PC. I knew so many people that had them but it was more about the fiddling than actually doing something practical IMHO. And even then when I got my first PC in '93 it was more fiddling than anything else because Windows was so buggy.

At this point I don't have an application for a 3-D printer yet but watching what folks make with them like you and metaldesigner really helps to see what can be done. I only see the tech growing exponentially in the coming years along with prices coming down. This could be a revolution in how things are manufactured and marketed. The precursor to sci fi predictions.......?

**Jon** · Dec 13, 2015, 12:53 PM

I'm watching carefully to see if/when the technology leaps from plastic to other substrates.

We already see hints of it with the newer 3D food printers (gimmicky?), and the mill/engraver units like Boxzy: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...-engraver-3d-p .

If it does, the guys gaining experience with plastic printers now will have a first mover advantage.