How strong is the material it prints?
I'd say 'surprisingly, when you consider what and how light it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid
When we made the split ring shaped clamps that went round the 5D torch
(think Maglite) we were given the wrong diameter and they were printed
too small (easy to re-scale and re-print). Because the first ones were
of no use and about 10mm wide and 3mm thick (flexible enough to flex
and clamp round the torch with a bolt and inset nut), we let the torch
owner bend the unwanted ones to destruction. He was *very* surprised
just how much effort it took to both bend and finally break. It feels
like a reasonably resilient but also fairly stiff plastic?
Can also print with PET, ABS , Polyolefins ..range is expanding all the time
http://shop.3dfilaprint.com/
You also have control to print them solid (100%) down to 5% (honeycomb
infill), depending on the requirement. For most things, 50% is a good
compromise between weight / material used and strength.
Try more shells and less infill, lot of hollow objects will print fine with 0% infill, rarely go above 25% myself now.
A 1kg roll of 1.75mm diameter filament (£10-20) will produce just
under 1kgs worth of objects as there is generally very little wastage
(other than design mistakes or printer hiccups etc).
Everyone who has seen it running will stop and watch it and is
fascinated to find out how it works (to varying degrees etc).
Nearly as much fun as watching a fish tank. ;-)
Semi seriously thought about an app that downloads random items from Thingiverse and starts printing them , leaving people to guess what its printing.
Like watching potters wheel or something , is quite satisfying to watch ;-)
This is a fairly laid back overview of a MendelMax in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytxTRv9vAU8
In spite of having access to the printer for ~18 months now, the idea
that I can think of something I need / want in the morning and often
have it (or many identical copies) in my hand that afternoon (in one
of many colours) and without having to do much more than use a mouse,
is still pretty amazing. ;-)
Makes prtotyping a lot lot easier, physical shape in hand is lot easier to work out next stage than even best rendered graphics on screen.
Cheers, T i m
Have a Wanhao i3 , prints fine straight out of the box, paid for itself within a fortnight.
https://www.technologyoutlet.co.uk/c...ant=4410312453
Technology Outlet have a good reputation, other vendors abound.