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HYREL 3-D Printers Were Developed by 3-D Printer Users (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the we-aren't-going-to-excited-by-a-printer-again-until-we-see-a-4d-one dept.

HYREL 3-D had a display Timothy spotted at last month's Maker Faire Atlanta. They're not trying to hustle Kickstarter donors; they exceeded their $50,000 goal by over $100,000. Their main pitch was (and still is) that they are making high-reliability 3-D printers that can run many hours without breaking. Project spokesperson Daniel Hutchison says he and other people he knows who were making prototypes and short-run parts in the Atlanta area were continually disappointed by the poor reliability of available 3-D printers, which is why they decided to make their own. Open Source? Somewhat, partially, kind of... but they have a bunch of proprietary secret sauce in their software, too. Daniel goes into this in more detail in the video, so there's no need for us to repeat his words when you can hear them (or read them in the transcript) for yourself. (Alternate Video Link)

29 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. How about Ultimaker? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They are indeed reliable and opensource, at least opensource enough so you can repair whatever breaks in day-to-day usage.

    1. Re:How about Ultimaker? by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      What else do you own that breaks in day-to-day usage?

      Everything can break in day to day usage. It doesn't break day-to-day, but it's the usage day-to-day that may cause it to break.

      Sounds like these 3D printers are a weird fad.

      Then don't participate.

      At least they pay for themselves in a year, right?

      Do you really need to make the same reply over and over?

    2. Re:How about Ultimaker? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

      Each has it's place, but ya. SolidWorks helps a lot, too.

    3. Re:How about Ultimaker? by 50000BTU_barbecue · · Score: 1

      "Each has it's place, "

      So does an apostrophe. That wasn't it.

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    4. Re:How about Ultimaker? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

      Finger memory :-)

  2. Re:But but but by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

    A ball screw for a 3D printer really is overkill, considering that the best prints I have seen so far come from a Tantillus that uses fishing line for its drive system.

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  3. Re:But but but by cdrudge · · Score: 1

    And when that fishing line eventually wears out and snaps, what happens to whatever axis that fishing line was supporting? It comes crashing down. With a Hyrel 3D printer, it looks like the Z-axis lifts up and is made of metal. That means there's a decent amount of weight that is being supported. I'm not sure a "professional grade" 3D printer should damage itself when a fishing line would break.

    Advantages for a ball screw is lower friction losses over an ACME or other lead-screw designs and for a use like this, is essentially maintenance free and will outlast the rest of the printer.

  4. Business skills missing by PoiBoy · · Score: 1

    What's missing with all these low-cost printers is a management team that can actually plan ahead, maintain inventory, and ship when you order. I hate the idea of having to pay a deposit, get on the waiting list, then (hopefully) get it a month or two later. Why don't they build inventory before flaunting their wares?

    I ordered an Ez3D Phoenix back in May, got asked to pay the remaining half of the invoice in September, and still haven't gotten it. Fortunately it wasn't expensive. Otherwise I'd be tempted to sue for fraud just to make their lives miserable.

    Seriously, these outfits need to learn how to run a business.

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    1. Re:Business skills missing by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      buy through amazon.

      anyhoo, there's plenty of 3d printer kits on the market that are well known designs, with 20 sources for the parts, that are shipping in a day or two of ordering. basically you're waiting 6 months to save 100 bucks(usual price for a prusa i3 kit nowadays it seems is ez3d + 100 bucks..).

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  5. Re:But but but by crioca · · Score: 1

    And when that fishing line eventually wears out and snaps, what happens to whatever axis that fishing line was supporting? It comes crashing down.

    Why wouldn't you replace it before that happens?

  6. Re:I Want by crioca · · Score: 2

    Those exist, they're called Repraps. http://reprap.org/

  7. Re:But but but by GrpA · · Score: 2

    Depending on your perspective and use, 3D printers can pay for themselves in a single day, and if you use Shapeways as your yardstick, they can pay for themselves with as little as a single roll of plastic ( Sub $1000 printer + 1 Kg of plastic vs $1 per gram standard post-print charge )

    I use an UP Mini - I've reliably put about 15 to 20 Kg of plastic through it already, and it's still working... It did start to fail once, so I put some silicon grease on the linear bearings and all was good. One day I'll get the next model, but this one has paid for itself 15 times over in about 2 years, and people buy entire arrays of Up Mini's to run as limited production - they are very reliable and rarely fail to print correctly. It's been about 4Kg since I had my last misprint...

    GrpA

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  8. Re:But but but by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

    Stratasys have been making reliable rapid prototyping machines for many years, and that making another one isn't a noteworthy achievement.

    The compelling thing about 3D printing is that there are open source, non patent encumbered implementations available.

    Making an open source non patent encumbered 3D printer that is significantly more reliable would be newsworthy. This isn't.

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  9. Re:But but but by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

    ...The filament coming from the reel is obviously too curved, but a bigger reel would be less practical (PLA would absorb significant moisture before the reel is used up).

    A small incandescent bulb might relax the filament with a touch of radiated heat...
    You might need to add a reflector or back reflector depending on the size of the area but I'd start with just a night light blub.

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  10. Green vomit by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Please don't use the Sony Vegas soundtracks anymore. I've heard them so much in my own editing I'm ready to throw up green vomit.

  11. Exactly why! by MindPrison · · Score: 1

    he and other people he knows who were making prototypes and short-run parts in the Atlanta area were continually disappointed by the poor reliability of available 3-D printers, which is why they decided to make their own.

    This is exactly why I've waited years to purchase a 3D printer even though I really want one.
    I'm going to wait another 5 years before the prices are right, and the usability is where it should be.

    --
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  12. Cartesian? Na mate, not reliable. by thatkid_2002 · · Score: 2

    A cartesian (like RepRap Mendel or this HYREL) based design always rattles itself apart and has very high stress on parts which increases as print speed increases. A SCARA (RepRap Morgan) or Delta (RepRap Rostock) have far lower stresses involved and shock from head movement is shared among multiple axis which decreases resistance/absorption problems and allows for higher print speeds.

    They go on about design, and yet they failed to analyze what was the root cause of the faiures and opted to apply bandaids instead.

    1. Re:Cartesian? Na mate, not reliable. by floodo1 · · Score: 1

      If you're going to talk about design and machines rattling themselves apart then you might look to the design of mills for cutting metal.

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    2. Re:Cartesian? Na mate, not reliable. by delt0r · · Score: 1

      Normal mechanical design can and does easily deal with this. You may not be able to make it fast with 8020 and crappy 3d printed plastic. But you get what you pay for.

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    3. Re:Cartesian? Na mate, not reliable. by thatkid_2002 · · Score: 1

      The same approach could be applied to a SCARA or Delta design for better results again - and likely still be cheaper.

    4. Re:Cartesian? Na mate, not reliable. by delt0r · · Score: 1

      There is a reason high end machines rarely have these designs. Its not because all the engineers working on it are stupid either. When you get down to the details that matter, like getting .01mm repeatably, vibration and flexure analisis. Basic Cartesian systems win out over large numbers of joins and hinges. The few machines that have been developed are not better nor are they cheaper. Which is why there really are not many of them.

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  13. Show us the results by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    This thing was funded and supposedly delivered almost two years ago. Let's hear from people who have one.

  14. There's reliability and then there's reliability. by mark_reh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It seems their idea of reliability is mainly based on the lifetime of the machine, which I get, but the real reliability problem with FDM printers isn't machine longevity, but the ability to start a print and know it will finish. My machine is built using 8020 frame- no laser cut plywood, and no 3D printed parts in the structure of the machine. I have been working to eliminate reliability problems from the beginning because I want to print full size human skulls from CT scans. Such prints take anywhere from 24-48 hours. The extruder has been the #1 reliability problem- it usually has some problem about 15 hours or so into the print. I've also had some problems with filament tangling on the spool. Slicing software has problems that occur with some STL files and not others.

    CAN buses are nice, but I'm not sure that does much unless youre setting up a shop with 20 machines on a network. Show me an extruder than can run without fail for 48 hours at a time and I'll throw some money at it.

  15. Re:But but but by gl4ss · · Score: 1

    well sure the advantages outweight, especially if you're able to sell a 2000$ PLA only printer.

    hyrels stuff is cool but dang it's expensive, closed design and did I mention expensive and aimed at more industrial use.. in which case,they better run hundreds of hours not not hours. even typical home reprap prints are hours. I'm tweaking a POS 500 $ pla+abs machine now that runs just fine on the 60-70 bucks electronics it has, for hours.

    oh and on tantilus, if the line breaks? nothing will break as the bed crashes down. the head doesn't crash into the bed. besides than that, on tantilus the bed doesn't move in xy.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  16. Re:But but but by floodo1 · · Score: 1

    These guys are practically falling over themselves to stress how robust their printer is and you are actually suggesting fishing line? Stop trolling please.

    --
    I KUT J00 M4NG!!!
  17. Re:There's reliability and then there's reliabilit by delt0r · · Score: 1

    Right now the stereolithography method has become much more viable for this sort of thing. The UV curing resins are now much cheaper and are comparable in price to to plastics used in FDM machines. With modern UV LEDs or laser didoes and a over simpler mechanical construction as well as better resolution. Personally i am looking at making one with a hacked tablet and a UV led array.

    Commercial models are still a bit pricey. But the DIY market is starting to get stuck in.

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  20. When I First Saw the Title by ComputersKai · · Score: 1

    I thought they'd created a 3-D printer using a 3-D printer.