# 3D printed modification parts



## whiteyj (Dec 28, 2014)

I've been making some modifications to my grinder, namely removing the doser and adding a small hopper, which seems to be a fairly common thing. Especially for those using ex-commercial grinders in the home.

After hunting around for parts to do the mods, I ended up drawing what I needed in CAD and have started 3D printing them. I've only got around to printing the hopper so far, aiming to do the doserless funnel this week.

Got me thinking, would this be a useful service to offer around?

And if so, how much would people be prepared to pay? The cost of materials is not too much, but the electricity to run the printer adds up (my hopper took 6 hours to print), and I would need to consider my time to draw up the pieces in CAD and set up/maintain the printer. I wouldn't be looking to turn a profit as such, but equally I wouldn't want to end up out of pocket.

Thoughts?


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## NJD1977 (Dec 16, 2014)

Definitely sounds of interest yes.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I would be interested, as I was thinking of buying a printer myself as well. Would be worth offering a price to those who can design their own CAD drawings.

From what I hear working out the kinks takes time, and failures are common. All this would need to be worked into your costing. There are services that offer the same thing online, but they all tend to use industrial machines with expensive filament, the advantage of a home machine is that the materials are cheap.


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## whiteyj (Dec 28, 2014)

Yeah absolutely - the nice thing about offering it through here is that it can be completely personalised pricing, etc.

The issue with most online printing services is also that they calculate their prices using 'swept area' as opposed to the volume of material used or time taken - 3Dhubs, which is the biggest website aimed towards hobbyists, etc., quoted over £110 for a hopper - I would be thinking closer to £30, maybe even cheaper.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I went down to my local FabLab to try and print a hopper lid. They only have a very basic DIY build jobby and then an industrial machine for their commercial clients. The part was somewhat complex, and had cavities, so would only print on the commercial machine... Price was £180, haven't been back since. Materials on a home printer would have come to about £28 I think, the difference is insane.

I still want to get my own printer, have always been a tinkerer and would love to be able to print my own parts.


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## Eyedee (Sep 13, 2010)

What about a picture of the hopper, plus naming the machine that it fits, with a price you would accept.

This might allow people to make a better judgement.

Ian


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## marcuswar (Aug 19, 2013)

Funnily enough a friend of a chap at work just got a Ultimaker 2 3D printer and so he came in with some Raspberry Pi cases he'd printed for him. They took 8 hours to print and he recons it cost him approx. 90p in materials and 6p in electricity.

I'm so tempted to get one.... must resist ... must resist.


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## drude (Apr 22, 2013)

This might be a cheaper way to get prints than some of the places mentioned - https://www.3dhubs.com/

IMO, calibrating a 3D printer (well, a homemade one like mine as opposed to a lovely £1,500 one) is far more time consuming and error prone than learning how to dial in a grinder. Cool tech, but it's some way off being ready for primetime at a good price.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

£20-30


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## whiteyj (Dec 28, 2014)

Drude - I mentioned 3Dhubs earlier on - they calculate their costs on 'swept area', so while it's good value for solid items, for large hollow bits like hoppers and funnels, it works out very expensive.

The calibration and maintenance can indeed be a faff - I've had a fair bit of experience with a range of printers. Since I'm going to be using it anyway for other projects I figured it may be worth offering the services around.

Perhaps once I've got a bit more time at the end of next week, I'll put up some examples and prices and see if there's any concrete interest. For reference, the hopper I printed is a 67mmOD, which I would probably be looking for £25-30 for, without a lid (but could be made to fit the existing hopper lid).


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## Beanosaurus (Jun 4, 2014)

Could be of use, very decent and intuitive website, unfortunately based all the way over in America -

http://www.shapeways.com/materials/steel


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## drude (Apr 22, 2013)

whiteyj said:


> Drude - I mentioned 3Dhubs earlier on - they calculate their costs on 'swept area', so while it's good value for solid items, for large hollow bits like hoppers and funnels, it works out very expensive.


Didn't spot that you'd mentioned them. I also got a quote for one of my stls and found it amazingly expensive. At those prices a kit printer could pay for itself pretty quickly. There's bound to be a market for a more reasonable priced printing service.


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## lscarmic (Apr 28, 2016)

Just curious is anyone has a CAD file for the Gaggia MDF doser lever. Thanks!

Lee


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## whiteyj (Dec 28, 2014)

Haven't got a CAD file for it, but if you were able to send me the lever (even if its broken), I can knock one up pretty quick.


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