ran out of friends and local work to print for. seemed easier to fill machines than to fill an order book. what actually worked for getting steady clients beyond etsy and the sites where everyone undercuts everyone. cold calling local businesses or something else
I have a $5k budget and am buying in aus
Im disabled, and need a source of income. I understand there is no guarantees, but my disability means I cannot be crafting anymore and selling my art. I need a machine to help and take on a lvl of the labour.
I think Id like a 4 nozzle machine, to reduce printer poop.
I also like the machines I see that have an included lazer, but I did worry that would clog up business flow having two machines in one (because then I can only do one step at a time)
I really want to be able to work with the absolute broadest range of filiments, so I understand that the temperature capacity comes into that.
And because id like to work in detail, id really like a great quality result, consistently.
But ive looked at dozens of builds and im flip flopping.
What machine would you pick, in my situation? Would you split the money and buy two?
Starting to dive into PLC controllers and automation system to help improve the part assembly time on our 3d printed products.
We spend 20-30 hours a week packing boxes. Gluing parts together, Installing hardware, etc.
Upload an STL and it slices it for you, then shows exactly what the print costs to make: filament, machine time, electricity and a failed-print buffer. You also get a suggested sell price with your margin built in.
Pick your printer: Bambu, Creality, Elegoo, Prusa, Anycubic and more
Set your own filament $/kg, hourly rate and margin
See cost vs. profit on every print
Log sales and expenses, then get a year-end cost report for tax time
One heads-up: when you sign up, you'll get a one-time recovery code. Save it (copy it or download it). It's how you reset your password if you forget it, because the site doesn't send emails.
It's free during beta. I want honest feedback: do the numbers match what you see on your own printers? There's a Feedback link on every page.
Try it: https://3dprintcost-production.up.railway.app
I currently run a farm of about 12 printers that are running non stop. Keeping up with dying enough filament has become a chore with my current dryer that only fits 4 spools. I have not been able to find any good looking options for dryers with larger capacity. Any suggestions for what others use on your farm?
Hi! I’m working on 10 small custom award statuettes for an event and I’m trying to find somewhere in NYC that can print several of them simultaneously.
I already have the STL files ready. Each one is roughly 3–4 inches tall and is currently taking about 4.5 hours per print in PLA on the printer I’m using.
I’m looking for either:
I can provide the filament if needed. Ideally Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens, and I’d love to get them done fairly quickly.
This is an indie artist DIY event with a tiny budget — not a commercial product run.
Does anyone know a good place/person for this?
As a father of 4, I love to print — whether it's for friends and family, or just storage for my own desk. But my desk was a mess of paper, sticky notes, and cards with print requests from my kids — no good way to keep track of who wanted what.
So I built a dashboard for myself: a request form my kids fill out with their details, and the request shows up right in my queue — no more digging through sticky notes.
It worked well enough that I'm opening it up to a few other hobbyist printers in the same boat — it's currently invite-only while I work out the kinks, but if that sounds like your shop, I'd love to hear from you: printcue.ink
Hello fellow print farmers! Today is Printer Farm Friday!
Feel free to ask any questions, share info or comments here. We're trying to build a community in this sub where you can ask questions about topics like:
Our hope is to get people to start talking about the importance of printer management in a printer farm scenario.
What would you like to share or what questions do you have?