I’ve only been a Hub since May but am interested in expanding. The trends data provided by 3DHubs is great, but for me what would be really useful would be data on actual orders so I can plan my expansion. For example, what % of orders am I losing by not having a big enough build area? What % of orders are for different materials I don’t currently print? Should I consider SLA (I’m current FDM only)? Does having a physical premises, even perhaps a shop-front, help and does it pay for itself?
What I’m looking for is a guide that’ll help me make good business decisions in terms of purchasing new equipment and other investments.
I don’t have a ton of orders but at least half of mine were for large scale (bigger than 20x20x20cm) prints, so I would say if you are only printing with a standard-sized printer you are surely missing out on potential orders.
Thanks @3DFlying, yep, I’m pretty sure build area is one aspect that is important, and mine will improve with the arrival (eventually!) of my Prusa i3 (to 250mm x 205mm or so).
Same thing here, thou i have also got one order for some clips that where so small i could barely print them. SLA might have helped on that
Just got one big order for a decorative gear thing with about 10 plates for a 200*200 bed. A bigger bed would just have made that more easy as i could print more in one go. Time wise it would have been the same. So far i have yet to reject an order based on the size of the print
physical premises or a shop-front. Dont think that matter much. I do it from home, and i just keep the rooms from the front door to the room where i print clean and tidy. Or at least i would put it in this way that if it was me i would continue in this way until i get enough orders that i can see that i could afford a small office. ie it should at least pay the same as daytime job + the office + some overhead. if the orders never come i dont have a big loss. Maybe i would end up with a expensive 3d printer… and then again i’m a sucker for things i have build myself so i might just build a X2 of the mendel90 i allready have.
Hi @Boelle 3DHubs filters orders that won’t fit on your machine, so you never get to see the “lost” orders because of bed size (or material, etc.), that’s what interests me the most, how many orders could I get if I had a different printer or offered different materials?
The shop thing for me is a combination of factors, but it’s mostly one of physical space. I’m printing from home right now and have room for only two printers in my office, add in the filament storage and it’s pretty cramped. I’m also concerned about the odours and fumes, etc. For example, I doubt it would be practical for me to have an SLA printer because of the requirement for cleaning the print, I really can’t do that in the kitchen sink The other aspect of being able to meet customers in a workplace is of benefit perhaps from a post order point of view, but I wonder if there’s also an opportunity for “walk ins” if people can actually see a printer working in a window somewhere.
I’ve been wondering whether it’s worth looking for like-minded others in my area who might consider getting together to operate a “mini hub” where 4 or 5 of us would have space to work and present a professional front.
I can assure you they do. I don’t believe there is any margin, however. Try to upload a huge part and you will see that the nearest hub is 100+ mi away.
@Boelle build volumes for printers are not secret, they’re public knowledge, no need for them to be set anywhere on the site to be edited, they can be part of the internal printer profile. I’d imagine that’s one reason why printers are chosen from a drop-down list when you set them up.
I’m sure @Asad3D can tell us whether print volume (and any other settings) are taken into account when filtering orders…
This is definitely a known quantity. When I wanted to add a new printer they didn’t list they asked for help in getting the specs for it which included build column. It make sense that there are printer parameters which we can’t alter on here.
My modified i3 has a build height of 650mm and I could not get a 3D Hubs quote from my own hub as the standard i3 ( that I started using ) was too small for the part I wanted to print. I had to ask 3D Hubs to add the custom printer to the list of printers ( which they kindly did after I verified the specs ).
Hey @cobnut, print volume is indeed taken into account when filtering orders/hubs. Hubs with printers that cannot accommodate the print volume of the part will be filtered out, although there is a margin for a few percent here and there. Hubs with multiple printers - say, one printer that can accommodate the print volume and one that can’t - will have the latter printer filtered out but will certainly show up in results. I hope that info helps!
Hi @Asad3D thanks for the confirmation, it did seem to be a logical thing for 3DHubs to do…
However, does this mean I must copy all my materials to my new printer that has a larger build area? My current printer uses the same size filament and can print all the new one can in terms of materials, the only difference is build area and minimum layer height. I did think I’d be able to get away with just adding one new layer height (in each material) for the new printer but I’m thinking now this will exclude me from the larger build area orders who want larger layer heights, so I’ll have to replicate all my materials, at all layer heights for the new printer?
well, I had the same thoughts and therefore bought an Rostock Max V2, approx. 11 months ago.
Since the printer is online I didn’t receive a single order order that was just close to fill the build volume - so for me the investment was not productive.
Interesting @Joerg_4, thanks (although I’m sorry to hear that!). I wonder is that’s because of the limited square build volume? Even in the limited orders I’ve had, I’ve had a couple that may not have fitted the round bed of the Rostock. The largest I’ve had was 220mm x 140mm which (unless I’m mistaken) would be quite a bit outside of the Rostock’s capabilities. The 280mm diameter sounds huge, but the 197mm square limit could be an issue…
