My 3D Printing Farm
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- An inside look at my grassroots 3D Printing business, what I print and how I have it setup.
Cabinet used is "Pax wardrobe" from IKEA
www.ikea.com/us/en/p/pax-ward...
0:00 How this started
1:14 Current Issues and Fixes
2:20 Reducer Setup (6 printers)
6:58 Reducer Workflow
9:11 Adapter Setup (4 printers)
10:46 Part Packaging
12:22 My Biggest Challenge
13:30 Extension Setup (4 printers)
14:29 Extension Workflow
16:00 Etsy / Amazon
16:32 Recommendations / Final Thoughts 
Хобби
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“Package all the shi-“ that part had me 😂😂
Good info - to improve profit margins, or reduce cost you could try:
No stringing (sanding) + faster print -> use larger nozzle (eg 0.8mm) and print in vase mode with thicker layers. If you want a double walled part, make the model two nozzles thick, then remove a 0.03mm vertical slice (so it's like a chain link). Tune the flow, jerk & accel settings to get a strong yet minimal seam up the side. Thicker vase parts with internal structures are also possible depending how you make cuts. Harder to describe, but think of it like scoring the surface with a knife: you do 0.03mm cuts (smallest gap i've found is still recognised by Cura) in to one surface that stop 2 nozzle widths from the opposite skin, a bit like this ├│. You can imagine the slicer printing the outline, with every gap a double wall.
Visual differences (gloss/matte) -> suggests slight temp difference between the hotends as Petg shine increases with extruder temps. Could measure and tune print temp for each of them.
Old stock PLA parts -> perhaps a semi-insulated bag inside the package to save wasting them.
Power/layer issues -> maybe on some machines the stepper drivers vRef is set a bit higher, causing them to run hotter.
Cheaper Filament -> usually the manufacturer lowers costs by not drying (properly). Could use the warm printer cabinets to dry new spools. With a larger nozzle size, slight variation in filament thickness isn't noticeable.
Man, tons of great information here, thanks for taking the time to share all that. Sounds like you have a ton of 3d printing experience. You got me really curious about vase mode now, i'm going to have to try that out soon.
@@MartinsonManufacturing You could also buy a food dehydrator and use that to properly dry filament.
These dehydrators can be bought very cheaply and they can cook out all the moisture in one night.
@@yourlocaltoad5102 Thanks for the tip!
Good info. Thanks
" then remove a 0.03mm vertical slice (so it's like a chain link)" i don't understand this part, can someone explain
I love seeing this! I also started with just 4 printers, and have since expanded to 20 ender 3v2s with the product I designed. I can relate to what you're doing here. Much success in your future designs and business!
Thanks man, and congrats to you on your success! 20 printers is quite the setup! Looks like you have a great product with good demand. How do you advertise your product?
@@MartinsonManufacturing my brothers youtube channel Retro Hoop Collectibles. Majority of my sales have been from there and also word of mouth. Instagram and Facebook groups as well.
congratulations!! what product did you design??
I have the same story, but it I have a little more time. I started with one and now have 78 machines running 24/7
@@igcefa That's insane! Do you make just one product or multiple different ones?
Congratulations! It’s fun to see hard work paying off!
"blue tape aged 3 months"...perfect! 😂btw, 100% on spot man, especially on the choice of quality filament
Lol. Thanks for watching man!
Good change with dropping PLA. I believe the magic formula here was your designs-these exhausts are super simple for a slicer, which lowers your risk at all stages! Good job
Nice job on your process and streamlining production. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome job man, very inspiring. I’m about to start getting into this very soon.
thank you for this started a print farm myself as well this year and is already taking off like crazy, really great to see some of the innovative ways you are creating a better work flow! gave me some ideas as well!
That’s awesome, what products are you creating ?
Love learning about your process! Design, printing, process and logistics - very illuminating. Thanks! 👍
Absolutely!
Great video. I'm researching 3D printers (there are way too many of them LOL) more for hobby, but watching these and seeing you can build a business around it makes it even more intriguing!
Good for you! I’m really impressed with your attention to detail and recognition of what customers see when they receive your products.
Thanks Pat!
Thank you very much for putting this video together. It's very informative!
Thanks for the feedback John, I'm glad you found value in it!
I really love this video, brother. Thanks for sharing your experience and setup. I'm trying to ramp up my printing capacity after having developed a few tools for potters. This really helps! Thanks! -mj
Awesome man, glad it was helpful! Best wishes on your journey!
I love the simple fix for the extruder to prevent filament scraping/breaking.
HINT: Number the printers with the date they show up and go into service plus any letters or product id's.. That keeps it all in order by when they went into use as well as age etc.
Definitely a great tip here!
And keep a service log somewhere, that way you will know if a specific machine has a recurring issue rather than something common to all the machines on occasion. Definitely serial number the printers.
Each machine should have a log notebook with a date and the file name of what ran that day entered as it is run. Log Temp of Bed, nozzle and FR on the end of the line, which slicer, settings and any adjustments for that particular extrusion, as well as noting the filament that is in use with the day it's put on the instrument when that changes. After awhile it's a great log to refer back through to see situations that happened, and also for a repeat print job of something specific from awhile back and how it performed and produced.
Amazing video, thank you for all your insight and advice. I am in the process of starting my own farm and this is the kind of information I was looking for. Thank you again.
You’re welcome. Best of luck to you on your farm!
I’m wandering why there aren’t more laser farms producing deco parts and wooden boxes and parts from 1/4” plywood. About to get my first laser and expand on this idea.
Massive well done to you sir, love how meticulous you are with your business
Thanks man!
Very inspiring video! Just bought the voxelab aquila few weeks ago used needing repair and finally got it running at 100%. Just now opening up Pandora's box of possibilities. Excited about starting up as a small business to supplement the income. No rush. Just excited to see where this goes.
I appreciate the video man, it gives a lot of good tips as well as motivation to really get into the industry. I've been printing for personal use for a few months now and am already looking to expand and actually manufacture parts for sale after some success selling to local individuals.
That’s awesome to hear man! Even though 3D printing is so prevalent now, I still feel like it’s an untapped resource with so much potential.
So would you be looking to just sell parts or do you think you’d offer printing services too? What industry are the parts in that you’re looking to sell?
To deal with your powerloss issues I'd look into running all machines on a UPS, because it filters all the incoming power from sudden spikes or drops, since it's constantly fed through the battery in them, so that way you're protected from 'dirty' spikes, which can cause these powerlosses.
In the I.T. world we call it "Brown Power", LOL. Servers are sensitive to 'dirty' power spikes and drops, so it is always important to run them from a UPS specifically for the constant power they output.
I used to have false power loss issues on a cheap CNC milling machine, I resolved the problem by powering the drill with a separate power unit and leaving the electronics on the original power unit.
The stepper motors generate quite a lot of EMF disturbance that could be an issue for the microcontroller and the communication with the PC, try shielding and grounding.
I've been looking for a way to house my 3D printers. That Ikea cabinet will work great. Thanks for the information and the process looks awesome
Loved your video! So I started out with one 3D printer from Aldi, an i3 duplicator rebadged. After a few years or printing random things I needed, a mouse plague came along here in Australia and I was printing auto reset traps 24/7. I went from one to 4 printers to keep up with demand. The last printer I purchased was a CR30 which has been a challenge to get working... But it's is now. Your video has inspired me to get more productivity from my printers, it was a great watch and good workflow stations.
Thanks for the encouraging comment man. Best wishes to you on your making journey!
The video was helpful, thanks for sharing
Don't switch to ABS!!! The whole ABS is stronger than PETG thing is a big old myth that as been busted by Stephan from the RUclips channel CNC Kitchen. ABS requires much higher print temperatures wich is going to cause many problems on your stock Enders (trust me I ran 5 enders on ABS for a while and it was a nightmare). What Stephan showed is that not only PETG is similar to ABS (strenght and temp resistance) PETG ended up having stronger layer adhesion than ABS. ABS was one of the first filament to be resistant and that's why it's got this reputation but it's just a myth now.
Cool man, thanks for sharing that! PETG is so much easier to print with anyways so that makes my life easier.
@@MartinsonManufacturing I love sharing the knowledge man! That's the beauty of the 3D Printing community everybody is here to learn and share their knowledge!
Thanks for the video, I have a background in Industrial Design and got into 3d printing almost 20 years ago but have gone on a different path since. Looking for my first personal 3D printer to get started. I used to love the SLA at work but FDM like the Ender 3 that you have might be a better place to start. Printing so much it might be worth it for you to look into doing small production runs with soft tooling. Take a few printed parts build a silicone mold and cast your parts out of a highly density urethane. Do some research and see if it works with your parts. Thanks again for the great vid.
Yes, PETG is amazing. It is my go-to material. I only use PLA for prototyping and working out designs.
Please consider keeping your printers with the same numbers they have but in each group change them to A, B, and C and do 1A, 1B, & 1C, etc. That way you'll be able to keep them separate.
Just a thought.
I'm not sure it's a good idea, but my printers are colored in other words I printed fan shrouds in blue, red, orange, and green. So my printers are called blue, red, orange, and green in Octoprint themes for each printer. That way I know which one I'm attached to when I'm sending a job.
1. It could be spikes in peak demand dropping voltage for a split second just enough to trigger the warning.
2. The probability of getting an error increases with frequency and quantity. The more you use the printer(s) and the more you have, the more likely you are to experience an issue.
Thanks for the tour
I think this is so cool. It's amazing that we can manufacture parts with affordable machines at home now like that
I know, I'm so glad the price of this tech has come down so the average person can afford it.
I'm so happy for you I hope you have greater success
Thanks for sharing. This is vauable info.
Very informative video, thank you for sharing!
I am literally in the beginning phases of starting my own 3D printing business focused around lighting décor. I'm going to be buying my second printer in the next couple weeks to keep up with demand. I built my own 3D printer enclosure myself but I love the IKEA cabinet idea.
Awesome to hear man! I love the idea of lighting decor. Would love to do some lighting products myself down the road. Best wishes on your 3d printing journey!
What printers do you use? Do you have any website to see your product? Good look with your business!!
Thanks for the info. Appreciate seeing your process. Developing mine. Just have to find my niche... 🙂
The Extruder Mount is one of the best ideas i‘ve ever seen. So easy and really good!
Thanks man! It's been a big help.
@@MartinsonManufacturing Hey there is there any 3d printed mount for this mod? I really want to try it out! Thanks.
@@nikolaoskousoulas You're talking about the extruder mount right? Shoot me an email MartinsonManufacturing@gmail.com and i'll email you back with the stl file.
Great video and awesome print farm
Amazing video, perfect explanation of an home factory
Glad it was helpful
My Snapmaker Original printer just arrived today. It's a trainer for printing, engraving, and carving. Thank you for showing where effort can lead. And more important, thank you for being a company that believes in quality.
Thanks for the comment Michael. Awesome machine you just got, I wish you the best on your making journey!
Looking to start a 3d print farm too. This is so cool to see!
This is giving me ideas... I see another side hustle in my future.
PETG is plenty.. We print gun parts and they hold up just fine. We also use ASA but you need to be more concerned about VOC's with that material. ABS is pretty much obsolete unless you need a bunch of pretty colors. ASA prints more easier, has the same or better mechanical properties, and has a nice matte finish. We use 3DXTech for most of our filaments.
Edit: We also print with ASA on scotch brand blue tape. 85C bed.
Inspiring video! Thanks for sharing. I would be really interested to hear how you optimized your slicer file. This is something I would like to get better at.
So much opportunity to jump into different industries with 3D printing
Nice! I wouldn't imagine such 3d printer class would be good for this "proffesional"/commercial usage.
Very informative, thank you
Awesome, thanks for sharing
i mostly do abs,
for adheasion, just hard hairspray and 110/120 degree bed.
( heated/enclosed chamber) will also help. 90 degree straight edges into the bed really need pads
G-10 for print bed for ABS. Its amazing. No warping even with no brim, and when the bed cools, the part separates on its own!
That’s awesome! Definitely going to check it out.
Valuable info!
Thanks bud appreciate ya!
Bumped into this video since I just bought my first 3D printer (Ender 3 V2) and have been binge watching 3D printer videos. Although I am not into a 3D printing farm your video was a very nice video to watch. It is always nice to see how someone's business starts with a concept and flourished into a nice at scale operation. Wishing you good luck for your continued growth in 2023.
Since you have these many printers running continuously, a couple question if I may - what changes have you made to your stock printers to ensure quality and reliability. Like I keep hearing about replacing stock bowden tube with better quality Capricorn tube, all metal hot-ends, metal extruders etc. Also it will be nice if you can put together a video showcasing some routine maintenance. Thanks and good luck.
Fantastic!
Thanks for putting this together, it is inspiring. I'm curious about your reasons for 3d printing this part vs injection molding once you got to some scale
Some possible reasons:
Initial expense was still to high to justify, especially when there's a high risk the sales drop off.
Injection mold shop could take his design and directly compete.
Injection mold shop could raise unit price once he was invested.
Injection mold shop could end up having terrible quality control.
Injection mold shop could go bankrupt. Molds could be seen as assets and be locked in legal proceedings.
Labeling the part as 3d printed helped when marketing to other makers.
congrats! been thinking of starting but I'm kind of lost. never created anything like this. I'm an innovator and a computer geek so I'm sure I'd figure it out fast.
6:42 if you still have this issue you might wanna get a frequency filter for these printers. it might be possible that they send some interference into the power lines creating stuff like voltage sparks (negative and positive). I had this issue too with my fridge and pc monitor being pluged in on the same curcuit and everytime my fridge started cooling my monitor restarted
thank you. its nice
Dude, That is great. I would have an overtemp and smoke detection with Raspberrry Pi / Arduino and a relay. I am not sure about these days but many of those boards shipped with thermal runaway protection disabled by default. Thermal runaway will save ou if a thrmistor cable breaks or the thermister falls out but you really also need something to guard against shorted hotend and heatbed mosfets failing short circuit - the micro would be unable to shut them ff as they would be 'fused' on. Only way to deal with that really is either a raspberry pi with temperature failsafe and smartplug or relay plugins of a custom job using something like an arduino. Great to see it took off.
That would be awesome to have it set up that way. Learning how to use a raspberry pi intimidates me, but maybe I just need to jump in and figure it out because I love all the things you can do with one.
@@MartinsonManufacturing I think Teaching Tech did a vid on it recently. ruclips.net/video/ozCqqlPJ3a0/видео.html
I did a vid a while back showing it with a smartplug shutoff but it was long-winded. The teaching tech one explains it much better but just uses a relay instead of a wifi smartplug. Good luck.
Super Awesome. I just subscribed bud
Thanks, you have a great process it seems. Some good ideas if I ever wanted to sell something I designed.
I think other people have mentioned the electronics overheating as likely causing your issue. Running electronics at higher temperatures also reduces their life expectancy, so there's added cost beyond just failed prints. Maybe move the electronics to a separate cooler area from the heated chamber to extend their lifetime and improve their reliability.
There are also fire hazards with 3D printers, both from the electronics and the heated printing area. Less likely these days but still possible. Maybe replace or at least line your wooden enclosures with cement board on all sides. Cheapest option I've found for building a fire resistant enclosure. Separating the electronics means they should ideally get their own enclosure(s).
Also maybe add a fire detecting automatic fire extinguisher. I've seen them on Amazon.
Great thoughts shared here, thank you for commenting. I'm planning on moving the electronics outside the enclosure in the coming months.
I had a similar problem with my new ender 3 (first 3d printer!). A certain model I was trying to print would keep failing at the same level about 12 hours in(layer shift, then the print just stopped on the next attempt). Apparently the motherboard overheats on these things. Fixed by adding an exhaust fan to the side of the motherboard enclosure. Also opened up the enclosure, moved the ribbon cable to the side, since it obstructed the airflow from the fan to the ARM processor. Finally spliced in the board fan to the heating block fan, because the mobo fan would actually only run when the parts cooling fan was running before. Have been running it up to 4 days at a time without any problems. This is what gave me the idea: hackaday.com/?p=461364 .
I appreciate you sharing the solution you found!
What a great guy!
Great video, that was really interesting, thanks for sharing. I have a couple of suggestions that you might like to try. First of all, when printing ABS, try out a PEI bed. It will stick perfectly, and release easily when it cools down. I print a lot of ABS, and I put down my first layers at 75mm/s on PEI, no adhesive required. Also, consider trying klipper firmware on a test printer, it has far superior kinematics. That translates to much faster printing without loss of quality, as a rule you can expect to double your print speed just from installing klipper alone. My standard print speed using klipper on my Ender 3 V2 is 150mm/s. You need to use a raspberry pi which adds expense, however you will be able to substantially increase productivity of each machine, so you won't need to spend more money on extra printers, or space and cabinets to house them. I don't run a print farm yet, but I hope to soon (printing car parts in ABS or ASA), but those are things I do on my personal printer (which pretty much runs 24/7) and so will definitely implement on other printers. Having said all that, I don't know how much printing faster will add to wear and tear on the printer, and whether the benefits outweigh the cost/downtime that comes with that, but I aim to find out :) Thanks again for sharing.
Thanks for your contribution, lots of good advice. I've actually been having an issue with my ABS prints fusing to the bed lately so i'll definitely give that a try. Is there a particular PEI bed that you would recommend? This is the first time i've heard about klipper firmware so i'll have to look into that more. Saving print time would be a huge help!
@@MartinsonManufacturing I'm in Australia, so I tend to buy most of my stuff from China as shipping from the US is expensive. I use the Energetic PEI plates, but you will have a much wider range available assuming you are in North America. Do a search on YT and you will find heaps of info.
Klipper is a game changer. Seriously, once you have tried it, you won't look back. On your first installation, you will have it all up and running within a couple of hours. And if you mess it up or just don't like it, you can revert back to Marlin in less than 5 mins. Aside from the better kinematics, klipper as a number of other significant features: a) Everything can be configured in the config file, no need to recompile firmware as with Marlin, b) Pressure Advance allows you to easily tune the filament flow through corners, so you can eliminate bulges. Marlin has a similar feature called Linear Advance, but it is not compatible with the Creality mainboards, and c) Resonance Compensation allows you to tune out ghosting/ringing. I would suggest looking at the TeachingTech YT channel, he has recently convert several printers to klipper and he walks you through all the config process. Also, feel free to contact me if I can help, I'm happy to walk you through it. Good Luck! :)
Man almost slipped up "package all the shit for me" 🤣
Great video man keep it up
Now you know how I truly feel about packaging lol.
Good for you man. It's good to see nice guys , that are also talented get ahead. I hope you become a millionaire my friend.
Thanks man :)
I saw someone else with a print farm using UPSs to smooth out voltage peaks, he had good experiences with it
Thanks for the tip!
if you are having voltages issues , try looking a UPS system , same system we use in data center IT serves that need clean stable voltages
Good for ur business
Congrats!! wishing you the best to come!!!! ✨🙏🏼 ...have you tried the Prusa printers? Thanks
Thank you! Not yet, but I'm really thinking of buying one soon.
Very inspiring....there is so much a person could do these days for self income. I love the manufacturing side... 3d printing, cnc, laser ect. All right there, anyone can do it, you need patience, desire and integrity. Loved your video, wishing you prosperity with your business!
I wonder if you get issues with your powersupply lifespan running abs temps in cabinets, they will only have warm air to cool them..? If an issue you may need to punch 2 holes in the cabinets per printer, for a cool air intake and exhaust, in a contained system as to not alter your hotend & bed temps. The power supplies are probably of not high quality, I had one fail in just 6 months of moderate use.
Cheers
I run ender 3 farm too, try the "carborundum" glass plate, aka Anycubic Ultrabase. Works extremely well, and doesn't really care at all if it's a bit greasy, dusty etc. works just the same.
Before first use wash it. They sometimes come dirty and prints don't stick. They also get slightly better with use.
Very nice setup you have for your printers. Do you have instructions on how to move the extruder to the top rail like you did? I would like to do the same with mine.
Currently working a job at Pizza Hut and it’s fun but I’d rather use my skills and knowledge for something more useful. I’m certified in these modeling softwares, just need to get a printer and begin learning because 3d printing while making money sounds awesome. This video is giving me a lot of inspiration to start!
That's awesome man! The great thing is you can get a good printer for $200 so it's pretty inexpensive to get started.
Thanks for a lot of great info. PETG has been my favorite material for a long time, but if it sits out for a few weeks you have to dry it to get rid of the stringing. Recently I have discovered PLA+ and it seems really good. I have been afraid to try ABS because of the smell/fumes, how are you dealing with that for your ABS parts?
I haven’t tried PLA+ yet so I’ll have to give it a try. Yeah, the ABS smell kind of sucks. The smell stays locked in the cabinet pretty well though so it’s not too bad.
Use capricorn tube and if it strings use a bit of olive oil with sponge box to have no stringing
Sometimes filament is not dry enough so drying filament could be a solution
Saving up for an ender 3 pro right now. Hopefully will be a full farm eventually
You could be experiencing differences in part shade for a couple of reasons. Usually this is due to inconsistencies in reading and different PID tuning settings for each of the printer. Silicone socks could have various different amount of use and wear. I'd suggest if you try to get the most consistent printing temperature and consistency, to make sure all nozzles are from a consistent manufacturers, and the heater cartridges and thermistors are all inserted with thermal paste (boron nitride thermal paste from slice engineering works great). Don't forget to PID tune each of the prints with their part cooling fan on at the speed the filament of use will print at, and try to PID tune each of them with the door closed and the other printers running to simulate a real environment.
This should reduce almost all of the shade variation you are experiencing, the only variables that should be left are the filament humidity and consistency.
Thanks for taking the time to share all this, I'd like to try this out and see if it fixes the problem. It's been a frustrating one that I've never been able to solve.
That you've been able to do this with Ender 3's is super impressive.
Thanks! I love these little machines.
Awesome. Thank you for sharing. How do you research market need?
Enjoyed the video. Happen to have an STL you would not mind sharing for the fan mod. I run 5 Ender-3's and have the issue with the strings sucking up in the fan. Over time, causes a decent issue :)
Sure, no problem. Shoot me an email and i'll email you back with the stl file:
martinsonmanufacturing@gmail.com
You can try to use arc welder (G2-G3) to improve your print surface.
Interesting... This may help out a lot actually. Thank you for sharing, I didn't know of this before.
Absolutely love your content and it has truly been a huge inspiration and motivation to move forward with my 3D print business.
I know this is an old video and you may not have the cabinet anymore lol
But, the Kia cabinet solution you showed will fit and work well on my current situation. At what measurements did you placed the shelves? And did you install anything underneath to provide some extra support for the printers sitting on it?
Glad you enjoyed the video my friend. I think I spaced the shelves at 20” and never had to add any extra support.
@@MartinsonManufacturing you da best!! Thank you 🙏🏼 look forward to future content!!
I am really inspired by this video and would like to start a 3D printer farm.What do you think is the best product to start off with?
People don’t usually know that power at your outlet can any from 95 volts to 130 usually and a task specific Uninterruptible power supply is really required for sensitive hardware and long duration tasks.
I learned this from box mining with graphics cards.
I really like the cabinet setup. Any issues with your electronics overheating? Also are you using the stock PTFE tube? I had to switch to Capricorn PTFE when I use PETG. The stock tubing degraded quickly for me with higher printing temps. Great video!
Thanks for reaching out man! The electronics are probably pretty toasty, but I’ve never had any electronics failures.
Yup, when I switched to PETG I had to switch to the blue Capricorn tubing. Works great! The stock was degrading on me too. I recently put all metal hotends too so that helps.
Great video and information! Did you list your items in the Amazon Handmade category? I'm curious where you list your 3D printed adapters.
Yes, I put mine in the handmade category. I've seen other people put their 3d printed parts in just the regular non handmade category too.
Very well done. Did you say you have some type of cooling or filtration happening in the cabinets?
Nope, no cooling/filtration
How do you print PETG on an Ender 3??? Do you use an all metal barrel??? Excellent job!! Congratulations!!
Thanks for this video! I am looking for a different career choice and I think I have found it in printing parts! Drones, rc cars, fan ducts, fishing lures, etc. There is enough to go around for all... I realize I have to open my mind to new hobbies to see where the deficiencies are, for instance is a drone manufacturer making replacement parts or have them available on their site? One thing I couldn't tell is how you communicated to all the various printers. I assume you have a bunch of Octopi running the show, but is there something better? An octopi server running multiple printers instead? I need to do more research on this.
Did you change the fans or did any form of noise reduction adjustments with the Ender printers? Bed level adjustments? And how do you get it so beautifully smooth, it’s really nice 👍 you said it’s the slicer but we never get it that good.
My Ender's are about as stock as you can get. I was using PLA and that is beautifully smooth. I now run PETG and ABS. Not as smooth as PLA, but still pretty dang good though. I also tested multiple different filaments throughout this journey and some just print smoother or rougher than others. Any matte filament will look better than a filament with a sheen cause it hides a lot.
I honestly think it's my part geometry and slicer settings. If you had me print some random STL file it would look just like everyone else's.
Very interesting on your amazon comments. I've heard good and bad about FBA stuff.
Great video, couple of questions.
What is your print failure rate?
And what brand of filament are you using?
Great questions. Failure is probably 1 out of 20. I use Overture and Hatchbox. I used 3D Solutech for a long time. It was cheap but inconsistent. These new brands seems good so far.
I love my ender 3... as your comment about odd things going on with your "ghost in machine" I had my ender 3 for 2 years now.. but for the past couple months my printer seems to like adding it's own personal touch. It print stuff that's not part of the model.. it's random.. yesterday was the most interesting print were the printer added it's own creativity. What it printed was the shape of the model but everything else was not part of that model. What was most interesting to me was the very first couple layers the bottom or floor of the print. It completely looked like a piece of plastic you see on your purchases household items, there were no lines what so ever... it was a very strong, yet thin print that had a semi glossy shine which the white filament used was flat white. It's definitely the type of results I would love to get from my prints.. but my ender 3's not willing to tell me it's secret..
Your printer “adds it’s own personal touch” Lol! I can relate. Yeah man, the inconsistency stuff drives me nuts.
Hey! Great video! Hoping you see this as it’s an old video now but I couldn’t help but wonder since you are printing lots of the same part (and clearly shifting volume) why you don’t go the route of having it tooled and injection moulded on the well established parts. The part cost would be less after you get over that initial say $1500 tooling cost and you wouldn’t have defects or sanding to deal with. Then you can use your farms to run new product lines before committing the next successful one to tooling. You could also then go the Amazon FBA route on those parts so your dealings would be manufacturer straight to Amazon warehouse and nothing for you to deal with and easier to scale. Either way great video and super happy for your success!
Thanks for the comment man. Injection molding would be a great way to go. Do you know anywhere where I can get tooling done for $1,500? The cheapest I found in North America is $34,000.
@@MartinsonManufacturing Wowzers that's a high quote! Most my experience is with China. I get a lot of trays/cases/etc. tooled for the hydroponics industry. Our work has a China office though to make communication easier. Recently used DongGuanShi YiSheng Packaging Prouduct Co.,Ltd and a mold cost for a 300 x 600 x 15mm thick reusable tray was $1800 with unit cost $0.4350. I can only imagine your prices are due to them being from North America or potentially the shape being a tube means the mold needs to be 3 parts and therefore more complex. Might be worth chatting with a plastics design firm on the phone. Quality has always been good from China too.
Man, that’s a great price. Thank you for sharing your contact. My current design would require a sliding three part mold so that’s probably why it’s so much. I’d like to look into this more. Thanks for getting back to me with the additional info!
This was a such cool video and an Inspiration. My dad actually got me into 3d printing about 6 years ago. I work in IT but want to start my own 3d printing business and have just bought a Ender 3 S1 Pro which I just bought for this reason. An upgrade from my 6 year old printer. At the moment I printed some really cool stuff which I pay someone for so I can print and sell with their permission so will be start selling this weekend on Etsy and see how they do. But I am trying to learn Fusion 360 so I can make my own products. What I would like to know is how you get your product ideas?
You have a really nice setup. I have noticed I to am looking to get into the 3D printing business. A lot of people have asked me for specialty parts. Is it best to just find parts that you can print in bulk? How do you have all the printers linked? I use Octoprint with raspberry Pi 4 running wireless on mine with Cura as the slicer. Your printing ABS parts with stock Ender is down right amazing. I look forward to seeing more of your content and hearing back from you. Great job on your business and content.
I subbed and hit the notification button cause you just did not spit out information. You did a walk through and that is what content is all about.
Thanks for reaching out man. As far as one-off specialty parts or bulk prints, I think the best is to just start doing various jobs for people until you find a niche that you can really focus on. I started out offering 3D printing services. Several customers were asking me about laser engraving so I eventually bought one. Two months after buying the laser engraver I 3D printed a part for it to solve an issue that was bugging me and then it eventually became a fulltime job selling those parts. I absolutely love printing in bulk because you can really start to streamline your process. That being said, I'm starting an offshoot company to offer services because there's a huge need for it.
I don't have my printers linked. Good ol fashioned micro sd cards :)
Thanks for your support!
Have you considered moving your production to injection molding based on the high demand? It could simplify a lot of your production process, like more reliability, production time, employee's costs, complexity in maintenance etc.
Also, have you considered "heat" to your electronic as to your random power loss problem? Maybe you can extend the cabling and put the electronics outside of your cabinet.
In any case, really impressive, you turned your hobby into a retable business.
Awesome thoughts, thank you for your contribution. Injection molding is something I've thought a lot about. I recently got a quote from a company in Illinois but it was far outside my price range because my part requires slides. I think I'd have to get it done overseas for it to be viable but I'm not crazy about that either.
I haven't thought about heat as the power loss culprit before so you given me something to think about now. I appreciate that.
What's your background? You strike me as a very intelligent person.
@@MartinsonManufacturing Outsourcing to China could be viable, but quality control and specially communication can be really challenging, if you going that route hire a Chinese person locally who can speak fluent English and not other way around.
I worked as a network technician for many years, and most hardware failures are result of inappropriate heat dissipation. You'd be amazed how a couple of failed fans can do to a server. Rule of thumb is all electronics required some sort of heat dissipation, if it is passively cooled it only means that the heat is dump to the environment.
Here is another optimization you can do. Most psu that comes with the printer are in the realm of 70 80% efficiency. You can buy really cheap server grade 1.1K watt PSU for around 50 bucks and mod the 12v output with a breaker board. That can easily powered 2 to 3 printers and the efficiency are around 90% to 95% depending on the "gold" or "platinum" standards. That way if you scaling up your 3d farm, you could save some real cash in power. ;)
Awesome man, thanks so much for the tip I'd really love to try that out because the power loss issues can be pretty frustrating. Thanks again for commenting!
@@MartinsonManufacturing Your power issue is coming from the 3D printer power supplies. The majority of them have over temperature protection on the main board. Once the intrenal temperature reaches the preset limit the OTP shuts down the power. This is occuring because you put everything into a cabinet and it's getting too hot. Moving the power supplies outside of the cabinet will solve your problem.
Thank you for the knowledge. I just tried blue tape for a better first layer. Of course I releveled after but now I can't get the part off the printer without damaging parts of the blue tape.(especially if they have bigger area contact). I could make the first layer a bit higher but are there other ways to overcome this new issue? 😁 Also is there a god way to clean the blue tape before a print besides a rag for dust? Thank you!!
I think blue tape really depends on the part you're printing. My prints have a very small surface area and so they pop off pretty easy. However, if you have a large surface area that it's almost impossible to remove your print without damaging the blue tape. You may need to try a removable flexible bed. I don't think i've ever cleaned or wiped the blue tape before printing. I do however use my thumbnail to press the bubbles in the tape back down before each print.
You need input filters. 3D printers use stepping transformers they can back feed interference into the power grid. As delivered there is no filter. Its actually required by code in many areas for just this reason. One machine will interfere with another. And possibly anything electronic plugged into the grid.
Thanks for sharing this Tom.
I’ve tried using a power conditioner. Is an input filter something different? This electronic stuff is all over my head so I appreciate the input.
Selling on Amazon? What is the Cut/Percentage Amazon takes? How do you set up a Amazon Store?
Could you give some details on print temps / settings for PETG? Seems you already have an enclosure with those cabinets (are those small vent fans on the sides?)
Right now I’m getting great results with 240/60 as my temp with Overture brand. I added the vents for an idea that I had previously but they’re not necessary. My two other cabinets don’t have vents and I never had any issues.
You might be able to decrease print time, and eliminate the seam, by printing this in vase mode. You may need to swap to a larger nozzle, but it looks like it may be a 1 mm wall thickness which is super doable
Yeah that’s a good thought, I’ve never played with it before. Is vase mode typically just one wall?
@@MartinsonManufacturing yes, in your case you may need to alter the model to make it a solid cylinder instead of a tube, but the advantage would be never having to retract and travel (wasted time), and always maxing out your volumetric flow. Lmk if you want to talk more about it, would love to xhat
Any chance you could share the link for the white cabinet?