I just finished my first order and it made me think of a few things. This customer wanted a fairly simple part produced, a relatively small ABS piece, he listed hoseclamp in the description. On his order sheet the resolution was listed as high, which 3D hubs lists as 25-100 microns. While my printer is completely capable of printing .1 layer height, not every print should be. So i went through the ordering process and was surprised to see a few missing questions. I feel, as a hub, that having clear expectation from the customer are important, especially when were dealing with measurements this small. A few lines for layer height, infill percentage and shell count could be beneficial for the order page. When I initially received the model I just assumed it would be .2 layer, printed it, wrapped it and only when i was double checking address did I notice the “resolution”. Printed up another set at .1, they were barely discernible. I understand that these are all questions that can be asked before accepting the job, but doing that through status updates seems a bit clunky.
I would love to hear how other people determine print parameters, specifically height infill and shells.
if i remember correctly the volume that 3dhubs calculates for the pricing is the printed mass for 20% infill and two outer shells. But i don’t know how many solid layers and what nozzles size are used to calculate this.
I am planning on making a datasheet for any customer, then you can just copy and paste it into the comment section and your customer has to give you more detail about the printjob.
Many people, that use 3dhubs as a printing service might not be informed about how a 3d printer works and what parameters are needed for making a print, so it’s difficult to ask customers about detailed information when they have no idea, what a “shell” is.
However it would be too difficult to explain every customer what the parameters are, that you need to know.
The best would be to explain general things, like how thick do you want your outer surface of the print ? With that information you can calculate the amount of outer solid layers and shells for the print.
Most of the other settings are given by the material you use. If your customer is not sure about what material fits his/her need you could post example pictures of the filaments you offer and explain their key features.
I totally agree with you, and am also putting together a small guide “to what you want”. I am also working on a filament swatch that would highlight these adjustable parameters.
I completely agree! customers should be given an infill option and a layer height option with corresponding price adjustments for the parts they need. this is very important as the infill and the layer height adds material and to a huge extent TIME to the job.
the difference between 300 microns and 100 microns in an FDM print is 1 hour to print vs 3 hours to print or 10 hours vs 30 hours in the case of the model i am printing for a customer now. that should certainly come in to play when price is concerned. and if a customer does not require 100 micron resolution then perhaps they could save a buck or two…
