Questions for ASME article

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rpollack
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Questions for ASME article

Post by rpollack » Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:54 pm

These questions were sent to me for an ASME article...your perspective is welcome.

1) What would you say are the most innovative/interesting aspects of your products that would be of interest to the lay person, and why?
2) What would you say are the most innovative/interesting aspects of your printers that would be of interest to mechanical engineers, and why? Some engineering details would be fine to include.

Thank you,
Rick

jsc
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Re: Questions for ASME article

Post by jsc » Mon Mar 30, 2015 8:25 pm

I'm sure they're coming to it from the perspective of how aspects of your printers as products are interesting to lay people/MEs, but one interesting aspect of 3D printing in general is that they very often introduce their owners to the world of mechanical engineering, and maybe start turning them into engineers a little bit. After starting out by printing models from Thingiverse, many users often go on to begin learning CAD and designing their own models, whether it be for improving their printers or unrelated projects.

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Jules
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Re: Questions for ASME article

Post by Jules » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:42 pm

Ugh! Really hate questions like that.......What the heck is a "lay person?"

As a "non mechanical engineer", I liked the fact that in under a month, with no prior knowledge of 3D printers, I've been able to create several items that would have cost more than the M2 to have prototyped. Since no one else needs them, it would have been ridiculous to do it. So "ease-of-use" is definitely a BIG plus with this machine. Consistency of prints is another biggie. There's always going to be a learning curve on any digital machine - this one made getting good results much quicker than I'd expected. I have not had to waste time trying to figure out why my bed had gotten out of level or why my print failed. (If a print failed, it was always due to something I did wrong, or a setting that I forgot to change, not the fault of the machine.)

The metal construction is appealing, as well as the wide variety of materials that can be printed on the M2. That gives me room to experiment down the line, as I get more comfortable with the machine and my designing abilities grow. (Like Jin said, definitely getting better with CAD.)

The continuing development of improvements for the machine (V4 nozzle, dual printing) seems to be an ongoing thing for this machine as well. So it's like the machine is growing along with me. I like that, since I have no intention of slowing down the learning process. It will continue to get easier, and more accurate, and as a small outfit, it will be far easier to implement these changes than if you were tied into a set design on a mass-produced scale. Improvements will get rotated out to the users faster.

And I like the fact that the M2 has much better quality control over their machines than the mass-produced models. Mine, when I received it, was perfectly set, screws perfectly tightened, filament tension perfectly set, safely packaged, clear set-up instructions, easy set-up, extra screws, tools you might need - all included and clearly labeled. You run test prints on the machine before shipping it out - that is superior.

I also like the fact that you thoroughly test your improvements, modify them, and wait until they are ready before you ship them out. Even if it delays the target date for a release, there is nothing more damaging than sending out an update or modification before it has been completely tested. It just creates confusion. (No chaos here.)

Maybe the most "innovative" aspect of the M2, is that the company that makes them uses currently out-dated values when building them, with quality and customer satisfaction being paramount. Difficult to quantify, but I feel smarter every day for having chosen it. (And smug, to a certain degree. Truth in advertising. :lol: )

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