[email protected] wrote: > Here is the problem: The cost of the tool is much higher than anything it > can produce. With all other tools the value proposition is the other way > around. You buy a $300 set of wrenches and a $50 book to save thousands in > auto-repair costs. You don't spend thousands of dollars in tools to fix > one or two small plastic gears.
Your analogy is broken. The obvious analogy is to a paper printer, which typically will cost you $100 or more, and produces output worth a few cents. > Unless and until the value proposition gets inverted it will remain a > nerd-only curiosity. Yes, I want one, it would be cool, but they need to > bring more to the table to justify the expense. Your point is still valid. Printers make sense because most of us have a need to produce hundreds of pieces of paper with ink or toner applied. Not many of us have a need to spit out hundreds of small, unique plastic parts. I would probably get more value out of a micro mill, which costs about the same, and can handle aluminum, brass, and steel, in addition to plastic. (Even better if the mill is hacked to turn it into a CNC mill.) A CNC router is also appealing, but I don't have the space for it. Someday when there is a factory assembled, well functioning 3D printer for $300, I'll certainly consider it. In the mean time I'm more apt to get familiar with places like AA where this equipment can be used for a reasonable fee. -Tom _______________________________________________ Hardwarehacking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
