P3 Steel

I had a local machine shop just quote me for either the 2.01 or the 2.5 DXL as "Cutting the DXF you sent, material and laser time you're looking at $200.00 plus tax with a 2-3 day turnaround time." Is that what others have found locally because I know we are expensive as all get out and for some weird reason the p3 steel just never caught on here in the USA.

As it is that was for 1/8in steel which I would still need to prime and paint (no powder coat ability here) due to rusting overnight here.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

i3 Steel frame kits available on ebay for much cheaper.

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madmike8
i3 Steel frame kits available on ebay for much cheaper.

All from Spain from the same guy and I asked about him on the eBay forums and every last one said if it were them they would not do it for numerous reasons.

emachineshop quote:
File: 1447438355_PRUSA_i3_steel_3mm_lasercut_2.01d_irobri.dxf
Quantity: 1 set of 25 parts
Material: Steel A36
Thickness: 0.125", +/- 10%
Turnaround Time: 6 business days (excluding transit time)

Price: $436.93, including UPS Ground shipping

Good grief.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

I get aluminum versions cut locally out of 1/8" for about 60US per frame including material, but the trick for me is I have to get 6 or more frames cut at the same time from the same sheet of material to get the price down. So I either plan for a group order or just sell the extra frames to recoup the cost.

With aluminum there's no painting required.

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outcastrc
I get aluminum versions cut locally out of 1/8" for about 60US per frame including material, but the trick for me is I have to get 6 or more frames cut at the same time from the same sheet of material to get the price down. So I either plan for a group order or just sell the extra frames to recoup the cost.

With aluminum there's no painting required.

Then it wouldn't be a p3steel too, lol.

Here it doesn't matter as I ask the local shops and the cheapest I could get it down is for 5 at a time and a 10% discount. The problem here is that our taxes are horrible and prices keep going up (water rate is about to go up 22% because some contract expired and the large company is getting out of the dung hole). Even our Mayor said if people do not like our taxes "there's the door". Basically this city is going down a path like Detroit, Michigan and already we have lost about 40% of the big companies here as they move out to other counties.

So, a shop has to charge a lot due to the political greedy nonsense or they could not afford to stay in business and it is not getting better but worse every day as the city is sinking, like Detroit, so they want more and more and more as more and more and more of the businesses leave. I have a building here that I left in 1998 (was used by IBM) and is just a small office space that has not had another thing in it since 1998. Buildings are rotting and some parts of my city looks like "bombed out Beirut" or something out of Stephen King's The Stand. I am trying to escape here myself.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.

Time to build a CNC plasma cutter, you know you want to.

It doesn't seem to me that 1/8" steel sheet is much better than 1/8" aluminum sheet. It is going to make a floppy frame unless you're welding it to some structural members. Why not use 1/2" steel and be certain that it's going to be rigid? 1/2" steel can't cost much more than 1/8" and cutting it is about the same if they're using a plasma cutter.

As far as cost goes, if you're expecting other people to do all the work, of course you're going to have to pay for it. They're going to charge what they need to make it worthwhile for them- i.e.- they need to make a profit to keep the lights on. If the price is too high, do what everyone else does and order a kit from China, then wonder where all the jobs went and why your town is going "down the path of Detroit".

When things get too expensive, you either give up on them, find a way to make the money to pay the price, or figure out how to do it yourself. Maybe you've reached the DIY stage...

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

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the_digital_dentist
It doesn't seem to me that 1/8" steel sheet is much better than 1/8" aluminum sheet. It is going to make a floppy frame unless you're welding it to some structural members. Why not use 1/2" steel and be certain that it's going to be rigid? 1/2" steel can't cost much more than 1/8" and cutting it is about the same if they're using a plasma cutter.

As far as cost goes, if you're expecting other people to do all the work, of course you're going to have to pay for it. They're going to charge what they need to make it worthwhile for them- i.e.- they need to make a profit to keep the lights on. If the price is too high, do what everyone else does and order a kit from China, then wonder where all the jobs went and why your town is going "down the path of Detroit".

When things get too expensive, you either give up on them, find a way to make the money to pay the price, or figure out how to do it yourself. Maybe you've reached the DIY stage...

I have no issues with people keeping the lights on but I do have a problem with people being taxed into poverty like this city has been doing. Luckily the mayor who told everyone "there's the door" if they didn't like the continual tax hikes (sometimes 3 times a year) was just thrown out on his ass by the people and he was a long term mayor. Anyway that is politics and this is about getting a frame.

3mm steel is supposed to be as strong as 6mm aluminum, or so I have read, and if you even looked at the p3 steel you would see it is pretty well made and you can actually pick it up and cart it around without fear of having to spend more time getting it all back in alignment.

edit: I did some more digging and according to Ford "Aluminum being a third as dense as steel, you can have three times the thickness before you have the same weight as steel." So, weight being equal Aluminum will win out but 3mm Steel would equal 9mm of Aluminum which is hellish to work with (some local shops were already complaining about 6mm as being just "too damn thick to work with" so 9mm Aluminum I doubt they would even touch). Now 6mm Aluminum vs 3mm Steel weight goes to the steel and I think strength, and rigidity, does too.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2015 03:38PM by Dark Alchemist.

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I await Skynet and my last vision will be of a RepRap self replicating the robots that is destroying the human race.