Increasing output / speed

[ukracer]

Not necessarily, it depends what you want to do. If you're printing small intricate things maybe so but for more 'engineering' practical things you're probably not going to notice much and does it matter? Prints can also be stronger as you've less layers to tear apart.

I printed 2 long rods. Well there were around 12 in tall and 81mm diameter.
I knew about the sheer possibility because of the way the layers sit when printed upwards.
They only had 20 infill but both broke .....I thought they would as the kids grab the cross bar and let it take their weight.
I am now turning down a bit of Ali tube I had lying around so I can stick it inside the Cross bars. As the complete goal is pvc tube the pvc will snap before the Ali tube.

 

[ukracer]

Why would I want five printers?

I already have. Well I have 7 if you count the 2 Anets. But I don't count them as they are not what I would use myself.

So I was thinking of selling all of them and seeing how much more I would need for a Bamboo.

 

[Screwdriver]

I mean a nozzle change is 30 seconds....

Yes, it's the first thing I would recommend. After that, things can easily spiral out of control!

 

[Screwdriver]

If you had 5 printers would you sell them all to get a bamboo?

Ah ok. Well it would depend why I had so many and the only reason I can think is for mass production with parallel print jobs on the go.

Or maybe I'd have one giant printer for big things, a super fast rat rig, portable one for, err, showing off. I dunno. Unless you're running a factory, you don't need five printers and in any case I wouldn't be without the multi filament option now, plus the Bambu is plenty fast enough (I rarely/never run it in "ridiculous" mode anyway).

Paradoxically (or is that ironically) because the speed is so acceptable, I'm wishing it could make bigger prints so a big slow (cheap) printer is something I would consider partnering it with. It's 256x256x256mm but that's sadly not true because a small corner is used up as clearance for the automatic bed adjustment routine. Annoying because it just stops me from printing one of my iPad case designs in one go. Wouldn't be without it though, using it right now to make some more fittings for my LED lighting batons - a tripod mounting version for example.

 

[Screwdriver]

I guess it also depends if people have any work to be getting on with.
I have yet to find anything people want printed. Horse shoes are about the biggest niche product you could get I reckon.

It would be nice to be able to make a few quid selling 3D printed stuff but I still think the most important part is the design. If you can design you have half a chance but most stuff on thingiverse etc have limits on commercial use (obviously). If anything else existed others would be able to.print it.

I rarelyprint off "found" models though I will check to see if anyone has already got something out there. The only reason you'd want your own FDM printer is if you're doing your own designs imho. Otherwise you're just printing tat. I find it invaluable for everything from repairing, replacement parts, prototyping to functional items like stands, clamps, lighting rigs but everything I do relies entirely on being able to create the model myself.

You wouldn't want a lathe or a milling machine that could only make parts designed by someone else and even then, not even parts designed specifically for you.