Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

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DomSCR
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 9:21 am

Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

Post by DomSCR »

Hi all!

I'm starting up a new antweight combat society at my university and in order to do so I need to plan out costings etc.
We would like participants to be able to 3D print their antweight chassis and I am wondering:

How much does the filament cost to 3D print one antweight, roughly? In terms of weight how much filament material does would a typical antweight consume? Let's say it's a typical 2WD with servo lifter. I know it will vary from bot to bot, but I'm not sure what kind of ball park I am dealing with here. For our purpose I think PLA would do the job!
Any help would be appreciated!
Cheers!
Tufty
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

Post by Tufty »

My last print was roughly 45g, with a spool of PLA filament (1kg) being about £15-£20.
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
DomSCR
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2021 9:21 am

Re: Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

Post by DomSCR »

Wonderful, that's much cheaper than I thought!! thank you! :D
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MarkR
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Re: Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

Post by MarkR »

I think the Hackspace charges something like 5p / gram, so it's still only a couple of quid, to use the Reading Hackspace's nice 3d printers. That includes some maintenance costs on the machines.

My 3d printer at home is broken; I think this is the default state for such a machine.
Robots: Betsie - RaspberryPi controlled flipper bot with gyro stablisation - too clever for her own good?
Stacie - tidy flipper; 4wd driven by hair bands
Tufty
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Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:39 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

Post by Tufty »

MarkR wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 6:11 pm I think the Hackspace charges something like 5p / gram, so it's still only a couple of quid, to use the Reading Hackspace's nice 3d printers. That includes some maintenance costs on the machines.

My 3d printer at home is broken; I think this is the default state for such a machine.
I've been looking into replacing mine for the exact same reason, I just can't justify the costs yet :lol:
Current active ants: Scrooge McDerp | Ply-By-Wire (likely not to see competition) | Grinding Nemo | When Unicorns Go Rogue
MySolderIsOlder
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Re: Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

Post by MySolderIsOlder »

Don't forget to multiply expected unit cost by any random number between 2 and 10, depending on the number of failed prints and corrections made after you realise *THAT BIT JUST ISN'T GOING TO FIT IN THERE IN REAL LIFE EVEN IF IT DID IN FUSION... :x :x :x *
Stuart (Tony's dad)
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MarkR
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Re: Cost To Print An Antweight chassis/parts with PLA

Post by MarkR »

Cost of 3d printing (today's fun)

£200 cost of printer
£20 /kg cost of materials
£flip amount of swearing and buying spare parts, fitting them and it still not printing reliably !!?!?

Yes cheapo 3d printers are a scam :) . Join a Hackspace with a good 3d printer and someone who knows how to maintain it.
Robots: Betsie - RaspberryPi controlled flipper bot with gyro stablisation - too clever for her own good?
Stacie - tidy flipper; 4wd driven by hair bands
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