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Comment by diggan | Hacker News Reader

Kind of off topic but recently, I broke my washing machine by trying to open it while being locked. The little piece of plastic broke and I can't find a similar one anywhere... So I got the idea to make the thing myself, send the model to some company that provides single unit 3D printing in europe (I'm located in Spain) but haven't found any with reasonable pricing.

Anyone here know of such company where I can send my 3D model and they will print it and send it home to me?

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Since you mention price specifically I will use this to shamelessly plug my site www.3dprintingpricecheck.com. It analyses your .stl file in-browser and gets you quotes and estimates for the major consumer facing 3d printing services.

There's also www.supplybetter.com who cover a lot more services but take a little bit to get you the numbers.

Sculpteo[1] and Shapeways[2] seem to be the two largest printers. According to what I have read[3], they are priced roughly in line with the costs of materials, plus some overhead.

You may just want to find a maker space somewhere near you[4] and go print it there. Plus then you get to play with their kit and meet some cool people.

[1]http://www.sculpteo.com/

[2]http://www.shapeways.com/

[3]http://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/1b1701/is_shapew...

[4]http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Spain

Another option if you want to meet the person behind the printer is http://www.3dhubs.com. It's all about connecting people on a local level around 3D printing.

You might try to find someone online nearby who would print and ship it to you at cost. I would do it, but I suspect shipping from USA to Spain is cost prohibitive. Most hobbyists with printers would probably get a kick out of printing a functional part for someone.

Give these two subreddits a try:

http://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprintmything/ (small community, but dedicated to this)

http://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/ (pretty big community)

Or a local makerspace / hackerspace.

http://makerspace.com/makerspace-directory

http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces

http://www.3dhubs.com/ is exactly the kind of service you're looking for. Individuals will compete locally for print jobs, and you can have it made by a hobbyist nearby in Spain.

Curious: how do you define "reasonable pricing"?

I don't know about the OP, but in my opinion, it'd be anything less than or equal to an equivalent replacement part (if it were available--in the OP's circumstance it's not). For example, some manufacturers of vacuum cleaners easily charge in upwards of $20 for a small plastic piece that you wouldn't expect to pay more than $8 for. So, if on-demand 3D printing services could compete with that niche, it's something I could see being of use for aftermarket repair or replacement. Poorly designed plastic switches no bigger than your thumb shouldn't be more expensive than hose attachments.

The only thing to worry about is the manufacturers' response: I don't know how much money they make from replacement parts, but if it's anything other than a minor revenue stream, I'd imagine they might issue legal threats or takedown notices. I wonder if, in another 20 years, we'll see OEMs sending threats to 3D printing companies warning them not to sell replacement components even if customers sent them the schematic?

I just don't see this happening. Most mass market parts are made using methods that are very inexpensive and fast in large quantities: stamping, injection molding, and the like.

3D printing takes up a good amount of time on an expensive machine, plus operator time, electricity, shop space, etc.

Think about what your time is worth to an employer. The cost of a replacement part is probably relatively low compared to the cost of your time to fix the machine. Not to mention the opportunity cost of not having the appliance working.

You're talking about a situation where you'd like to get a price down to $8. It's very tough to make money selling physical products at $8 a pop, let alone things that must be custom made.

> Think about what your time is worth to an employer. The cost of a replacement part is probably relatively low compared to the cost of your time to fix the machine. Not to mention the opportunity cost of not having the appliance working.

My example was for an item in private use, not commercial. I don't know of anyone who actively bills for their own personal chores at home (such as, say, vacuuming or mowing their yard).

> You're talking about a situation where you'd like to get a price down to $8. It's very tough to make money selling physical products at $8 a pop, let alone things that must be custom made.

Maybe so, but you have to admit charging > $20 for a part that probably costs less than 50¢ leaves at least some room for competition, no?

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