Penrhos1920 Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Has anyone used 3D Hubs? There's a bewildering array of choice. Interestingly I can't find anyone using the same material as Shapeways FUD. If only I knew what machines they use for BHDA or imaterialise's Smooth Detail Resin, then I'd have something to search for. The other interesting thing is that even for same material with the same printer there is a big range of prices: so there must be something else going on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 I've not used them, nor Shapeways, but I have an idea how they operate, having read various reviews of their modus operandi. For the first two materials, https://www.3dhubs.com/3dprint#?place=Crediton,%20United%20Kingdom&latitude=50.8117&longitude=-3.7046&distanceUnit=miles&shipsToCountry=GB&shipsToState=ENG a number of the suppliers will be individuals with an extrusion or resin machine. These machines are most likely the sort of thing that home users will buy, then they hope to make some income from it. They will not charge much for their time. The other methods are more related to engineering requirements (hence the green HD), and the machines are more expensive, so will most likely be operated by companies who may have spare capacity. If I wanted to use them, I'd decide what I wanted to make, wrt detail/size etc, and load up the files as they suggest. It should then be possible to correspond with whoever you think will best fit your needs. I expect if you want Shapeways price and materials, you will most likely pay the same price, but small items in resin, or filament, will most likely be a bit cheaper. There are lots of things going on - if the machine is standing idle, then may as well charge low, to get a load of orders (or charge high so a few orders pay the cost). Am I a factory employing low cost manual labour, so can be cheap, or have I a development laboratory to support. 3d printing is the way we earn our income, or do we have a few machines which have already paid for themselves, and a local guy who works for us in his spare time? Have a look here https://www.3dhubs.com/faq#which-printers-can-join Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Has anyone used 3D Hubs? There's a bewildering array of choice. Interestingly I can't find anyone using the same material as Shapeways FUD. If only I knew what machines they use for BHDA or imaterialise's Smooth Detail Resin, then I'd have something to search for. FUD and FXD are built on a 3D Systems Projet 3500 machine, BHDA I believe is built on a Carbon 3D machine, both of these machines are expensive enough not to be in the hands of individuals or small bureau. The other interesting thing is that even for same material with the same printer there is a big range of prices: so there must be something else going on. The first thing you should do is check the 'z' resolution or layer thickness Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoorObjecten Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 BDHA is printed on Envisiontec printers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebell Model Railway Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Yes I have been using them for the past 2 - 3 years, sadly got a bit fed up of Shapeways and the lack of communication on how to fix problems..I generally use people in the London area, with a Form Labs 1+ or 2, they are generally pretty good, used one guy recently and even removed all or most of the support material which was pretty good.3D hubs is generally home printers... so smaller type machines, there is the odd company on their with larger machines.There is a big range in terms of price, some will include support material, time, handling, cleaning, resolution ect... so you should be careful when ordering.. I usually find one good one and stick with that one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knuckles Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 Any reccomendations? I tried ordering once but I found it was hard to know what you are supposed to pay until they have looked at it and formulated a quote, as a result the quote was way more than I expected so sadly had to turn it down...but it is set up so that you are then expected to pay it so I had to be firm with the no. Should be rigged differently. Once the model was uploaded it gives an idea of how much it should cost but it was nothing like it actually did so I am currently a little bemused with how to use 3D hubs properly and safely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 BDHA is printed on Envisiontec printers Ah.... but still not a common home machine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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