wizmacnz Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 As many will be aware, the pricing methodology for Strong White and Flexible material at Shapeways was radically revised on October 7. Many of the items that I was offering for sale had drastic price increases. For example, the little plastic station platform signs went from an affordable US $9 for 48 signs to a crazy $78. There have not been many takers since the price change. One of the advantages of Shapeways previously was that you didn't need to print on sprues. In the new print cost method applied by Shapeways each item in the print now carries a separate per part charge of $1.50 per part. By printing the 48 little signs on a sprue the price will be reduced by $70.50 of the $78.00. Sets of windows similarly increased in price. To reduce the additional cost on window sets I used a different technique. I included in the print a loop of plastic passing through the windows. Shapeways pricing again now sees this a single part. By packing parts at the minimum separation distance and printing them braceleted on a loop some of the trusses I had for sale are now cheaper then before the price restructure. Does anyone have any other tips for optimising the cost of printing at Shapeways? Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler Fan Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 + Peter, It costs time and effort ferreting around in a cube of fine powder to collate any number of parts to an Order amongst any number of other Orders. The lesson is to create sprues and as you have it, loops containing multiple and small parts.The further lesson is to pack voids with small parts to save money on a print - chained of course to the main structure.. Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoorObjecten Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Would this help you? It's a Shrinkwrap visualization, which will help you see how the machine space is calculated. We will launch this in the near future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizmacnz Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Yes it will help to understand how the machine volume has been calculated, however some models just don't work at all well with the new methodology. This foot bridge has a material cost of around $5 and a machine volume cost of around $43. I know the argument that it takes up more space in the machine and should therefore cost more, but I presume it is quicker to print and therefore Shapeways can put more through the machine. I heard somewhere that unused powder can be recycled about 5 or 6 times, you would therefore expect the cost of machine space to be about one fifth or or one sixth of printed material cost. Shapeways pricing is 28cents per cubic cm for printed material and 21cents per cubic cm for the unprinted machine space, This would seem to heavily penalise larger volume models with low quantity of printed material. I'm hoping that my economics on this are correct and that some time in the near future Shapeways will see the error of their ways. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoorObjecten Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 No hold on, "and 21cents per cubic cm for unprinted machine space" is incorrect. The 21 cents include both your model as well as the unused space around it. The space around your model (if not meeting the 40mm spacing) is also calculated because it means we cannot place other models inside yours. Although I'm unable to talk about financial stuff, the new pricing system is better for Shapeways (as we used to lose money on a lot of models). So for your model. Both the inside of the walkway (is that the right word?) as well as the space between the poles are calculated for machine space as the space is less than 40mm and thus no other models can be placed inside during printing. What you could do, and yes it means changing your model, is by actually removing the poles, you'll notice right away that the price will be lower. (maybe sprue them so the person can attach them after printing) Another option is by separating the sides of the bridge and make them so that they can easily be snapped together after printing. Because this way it's not calculated as a solid block like right now. Yes, this does change your whole model as it doesn't feel like 3d printing anymore but more like an assembly package. But I'm just trying to advice on possible alternatives Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penrhos1920 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Print in FUD. One of my models is cheaper with FUD - can't believe it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizmacnz Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Breaking down the bridge into pieces does somewhat remove the reason to 3D print. Could be laser cut or etches. As all the stair treads span between the sides assembly wouldn't be easy. The bridge printed in FUD is $12 more expensive. The N scale version of the bridge is printed in FUD and sells reasonably well. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebell Model Railway Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 The price rise has really effected my models too, sadly there's not much I can do to reduce the cost as some have doubled in price, sadly I have had to stop using shapeways and use other commercial printers which are about the same price before the price increase, I am still looking at ways of moving it away from commercial side, but I can understand the frustration... people want my items but can no longer afford it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penrhos1920 Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 The price rise has really effected my models too, sadly there's not much I can do to reduce the cost as some have doubled in price, sadly I have had to stop using shapeways and use other commercial printers which are about the same price before the price increase, I am still looking at ways of moving it away from commercial side, but I can understand the frustration... people want my items but can no longer afford it. Who are you changing to? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rue_d_etropal Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 If you look at the prices for some kits, then the price for a ready assembled detailed footbridge is not too bad. The relatively poor quality ones produced in China by big wellknown companies look OK from a distance but are a bit crude, up close and are not cheap. Sometimes we undervalue what we make. Also I have been involved in the hobby for many years, and model in various scales and gauges, and it is surprising how much variety in prices there is between scales, and country modeled. I like the idea of putting a loop round multiple part models. I have some cafe chairs, I had to change to singles, but I think I could easily loop them, and some of the mixed table and chair sets. Thats another thing to do. There does seem to be better advice here for model makers than on the Shapeways forum, not surprising really . Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.