Buying the M2: Help me start out right
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
I got my M2 in November and have been printing like crazy! I don't have much free time on my hands and I don't like leaving the printer unattended so I am kind of restricted on how much I can print. With that being said, every second I am home there is something printing! I haven't had a single clog (knock on wood) and I have had 0 failed prints that were a result of the printer. Every failed print I have had was either my stupidity from entering the incorrect settings in S3D or from me printing over USB and the computer going to sleep.
Now I triple check the preview on S3D and if the print is over an hour I print with the SD card. I also just change my sleep settings on my computer to "never" while I am printing just to be safe.
In comparison to my old Flashforge printer and RepG, I had 3 boxes FULL of failed prints! I pretty much had a 50/50 chance of a print coming out right. I can't blame the printer entirely. I am sure it had a lot to do with me using ABS and and ReplicatorG. Either way, I am glad I made the switch to the M2 and Simplify3D! And also PLA.....
I had my reservations about PLA, but after getting hands on with it I have no issues with the finished parts.
Now I triple check the preview on S3D and if the print is over an hour I print with the SD card. I also just change my sleep settings on my computer to "never" while I am printing just to be safe.
In comparison to my old Flashforge printer and RepG, I had 3 boxes FULL of failed prints! I pretty much had a 50/50 chance of a print coming out right. I can't blame the printer entirely. I am sure it had a lot to do with me using ABS and and ReplicatorG. Either way, I am glad I made the switch to the M2 and Simplify3D! And also PLA.....
I had my reservations about PLA, but after getting hands on with it I have no issues with the finished parts.
- pyronaught
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Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
Given the complexity of S3D, that's actually a pretty cheap price. All the heavy lifting in 3D printing is really being done in the software. The CNC technology the printers themselves are based on has been around for decades and is pretty rudimentary. The engineering that went into the extruders and controller boards is simple compared to the brain power it took to pull off slicing software. This is why you see a market flooded with printers but only a few slicing programs.helifrek wrote: I always thought these guys were out of their minds paying $140 for a piece of software! After my first couple of prints, I have to agree that it is worth every penny!
I think the guys that are crazy are the developers who spend all their time writing complex software programs and then give them away for free! I will never understand that "business" model, or lack thereof. People have to pay bills and the vast majority of your waking hours must be spent on activities that you will get paid for unless you're some kid living in your parents basement, college student, trust fund baby, lotto winner etc. As a software developer myself I detest all the free software flooding the market. Not only does this spoil the consumer into thinking software should be free, in some cases it actually breaks the market for some kinds of software by making it impossible for any competing product to enter an area already dominated by a zero-cost product. Browsers, databases, Forum software and .NET based CMS software are good examples of broken markets. It is actually surprising that S3D can make money with Slic3r being free. It's damn hard to compete against free.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
I figured out the open-source software model not long ago. It's a fantastic resume ... people who make money with open-source software either do commissioned bugfixes/plugins, or you have the ultimate trump card when applying for a job in the language your open-source software is written in.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
- pyronaught
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- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:24 pm
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
The thing is, if you are capable of writing something like slic3r then you don't need to apply for a job-- you've already created the basis for your own company. They would make a lot more money just selling the software than selling bug fixes or plugins, and could still sell plugins even if selling the software too. Unless the number of programmers creating these programs is rather large in that one or two people aren't doing all the work. I guess in that case then no one person is spending all that much time on it either. But then I don't know how a project like that could be managed without becoming a mess.insta wrote:I figured out the open-source software model not long ago. It's a fantastic resume ... people who make money with open-source software either do commissioned bugfixes/plugins, or you have the ultimate trump card when applying for a job in the language your open-source software is written in.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
Woah now, there's many kinds of smart. "Being good at software" does not in any way translate to "being good at running a business".pyronaught wrote:The thing is, if you are capable of writing something like slic3r then you don't need to apply for a job-- you've already created the basis for your own company. They would make a lot more money just selling the software than selling bug fixes or plugins, and could still sell plugins even if selling the software too. Unless the number of programmers creating these programs is rather large in that one or two people aren't doing all the work. I guess in that case then no one person is spending all that much time on it either. But then I don't know how a project like that could be managed without becoming a mess.insta wrote:I figured out the open-source software model not long ago. It's a fantastic resume ... people who make money with open-source software either do commissioned bugfixes/plugins, or you have the ultimate trump card when applying for a job in the language your open-source software is written in.
That attitude is why many people are employees and few are business owners -- which is honestly fine. I don't want to deal with the hassle of running my own company, I'd rather just get paid large sums of money for doing the thing I want to do, which is write software, run printers, design lingerie, whatever. And, if I try to sell my slic3r, somebody else will come around and write a free one anyway. It works well enough for Simplify3D, but I know a lot more people running Cura / slic3r than S3D.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
- pyronaught
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- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:24 pm
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
True, but software is a much simpler business to run than most other kinds. Writing software is the primary activity that you need to be good at, then the other stuff is easy. Boring or tedious sometimes, but easy. There's a large number of programs out there that are just one-man operations being run from a home office. I've been doing it for 10 years now. There's almost zero up front costs, zero inventory costs, no manufacturing or part sourceing to deal with, no spending big chunks of money on stocking parts and materials and no shipping or distribution costs in most cases. That eliminates a lot of the headaches of running a business right there. The only drudgery is writing documentation and fielding support calls or emails-- the rest is no different than what you'd be doing working for someone else, except now you get paid EXACTLY what your work is worth and not a penny lessinsta wrote:Woah now, there's many kinds of smart. "Being good at software" does not in any way translate to "being good at running a business".
That attitude is why many people are employees and few are business owners -- which is honestly fine. I don't want to deal with the hassle of running my own company, I'd rather just get paid large sums of money for doing the thing I want to do, which is write software, run printers, design lingerie, whatever. And, if I try to sell my slic3r, somebody else will come around and write a free one anyway. It works well enough for Simplify3D, but I know a lot more people running Cura / slic3r than S3D.

The down side is that due to the low barrier-to-entry of software development, competition can be extreme. No matter how small of a niche application you dream up, there's usually someone else already doing it and, if not, it won't be long until there will be once your idea is out there. Then of course the worst-case scenario is someone breaks the market with a free version and you are screwed.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
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Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
So I'm two weeks in since assembling the M2.... and I love it.
Quality is MUCH better than the makerbot 2X I was using before, and the nozzle never clogs.
The only problem I have had is the need to calibrate the Z height every build. This is because the M4 screw sinks down over time. A simple nylock will probably fix this, I just have to get my hands on one. Does someone else have a solution to this?
Quality is MUCH better than the makerbot 2X I was using before, and the nozzle never clogs.
The only problem I have had is the need to calibrate the Z height every build. This is because the M4 screw sinks down over time. A simple nylock will probably fix this, I just have to get my hands on one. Does someone else have a solution to this?
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
Did you put the jam nut on the Z screw? Put it on the underside and reef that sucker down once you have Z set correctly.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
- pyronaught
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- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:24 pm
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
The location of that Z screw is one thing I don't like. It's very hard to get a wrench in there.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.
Re: Buying the M2: Help me start out right
Put the nut on the underside of the spider instead of on top. It's much easier to get a wrench down there, it works the same, and you can turn the threads on the underside of the spider to adjust the bolt.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org