It all depends on the size of the part and the material properties you are looking for. The resin from an Object30 does not create the strongest parts and the cured resin can be susceptible to UV. An FDM printer will print a part in a much stronger material like ABS or ABS+.
I would consider something more like a 3d printed tool or an aluminum tool for 10K parts. A 3d printer is good for printing a few hundred pieces, if small (I have done 300 pieces on a Dimensions 1200). A 3d printed tool can bring that number up to around a thousand or so. But after that, I would recommend tooling for that part, its faster and cheaper. Even the best the 3d printers still have some post-processing to deal with and they all go down at some point.
If you are going to invest 10-20k in a new printer, that is pretty much the cost of a small tool for injection molding. The parts will be stronger and the material cost would be lower.
We have an Objet500 Connex3 which uses the same materials as the Objet30 system although in larger cartridges along with the ability to run flexible and colored materials.
I agree with many of the comments offered here – 10,000 pieces is typically a much larger quantity than can be produced economically by 3D printing – unless there are part features which make injection molding impractical. Support removal is really no longer an issue as soluble support is now available across all of the PolyJet platforms.
Whichever Stratasys dealer you are working with should be able to run a sample part for you and provide material cost and run time information. If that does not work out for you and you are willing to send me an STL file I could at least let you know what your material cost would be to produce the part.
I wouldn’t recommend investing a machine to mass produce 3d printed parts. There are better ways to produce large volumes of parts using traditional methods and with superior end results. A 3d printed parts is always going to have its weaknesses. The volume your are looking at you could injection mold the parts and be way ahead of the game. You could even CNC machine parts and do better. Our Objet 30 pro was near 60K all said and done. Materials will cost you $600-$770 per cartridge and have expiration dates. Then you have to factor in maintenance contracts which are basically forced or service on your machine becomes a nightmare around 4K per year. We can help with production for CNC and Molding if you end up choosing an alternate path. Good Luck.
Thank you everyone for all the useful information.
We actually build and repair injection molds at our shop and this particular part is out of our league. I am not saying it’s impossible but it would be a very expensive mold for only 10k parts.
Here is a better look at the part that shows why it would be difficult to mold.
I am starting to think we’ll just hammer by purchasing several more FDM style printers.
Thanks again for all the input.
I wanted to think a polyjet would work because they can do some really cool stuff, but I don’t think its the right fit for this job.
Do you know any small injection molding systems? I’ve been thinking about getting involved in injection molding, but haven’t found much. Most of what I’ve seen are huge machines for industrial manufacturing. I’m operating out of an at home garage shop, so a crazy big or complex system that requires 480V is out of the question. This is the closest thing I’ve found to meet my needs, but the die size is a bit small and I’d like to see something a little more automated.
I would look at far east rapid injection tooling, or potentially protolabs.com
I don’t think the Objet would give part of sufficient strength, and the cleaning of support, build time and setup would be very time consuming.
We have an Objet 24 in-house and as long as the cleaning maintenance procedures are followed, with a yearly service, it runs extremely well and reliably. However, for a job like this we would not consider using it.
I completely disagree with the comment you cannot print end use parts at costs where you can make money and prosper. There are printers out there today that are industrial grade, have a wide range of engineering grade materials available and you do not have to obtain the materials from the vendor where you purchased the printer.
