Software feature that tells you how much the part "costs"

The software tells us how much resin is used, but it would be nice if it did the calculation to show how much the part costs to print (in resin). This would be useful when printing parts for other people.

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Based on $150/L, that’s $0.15 per cubic centimeter.   Simply multiply the volume by $0.15 to find the cost.

…or £0.10 in UK sterling or €0.12 - approximate figures at today’s exchange rates, of course.

Does the software show total volume of the prints with the software generated support structure so you can know this before you send it to the form ? If not, it would definitely be usefull to get a reading of total build volume as well as build volume of whatever individual object you have selected.

It’s easy enough to get the volume for the object in a program like blender but this won’t take into account the software generated support structure or any scaling you might choose to do while placing your object on the build platform.

On a related side note. Can the software reexport STL’s of the object with the support structure included ? I could definitely see some use for something like that.

Hey Eric,

The software does show the total print volume, including support structures.

Excellent, that’s exactly what I needed to know, thanks :slight_smile:

“Based on $150/L, that’s $0.15 per cubic centimeter.   Simply multiply the volume by $0.15 to find the cost.”

For Europe  150$ + 83,60$ + 19% Custum Tax + 25$ (FEDEX FEE for customs clearance)  = 302$ for 1 Liter so cost the 1 cm² 0,31$

I hope they offer US Parcel too I don t need FEDEX SERVICE

So,  If I punched the buttons on my HP48 right, that works out to about $2.50usd / cu in.  At school, they charge $9.00usd / cu in for a ABS part with support.  I was told that that also includes a markup for processing & power consumption on a Dimension 1200 printer.

Reid

…and by comparison to Shapeways “Frosted Detail” and “Frosted Ultra Detail” at FD: $2.39, FUD: $3.49 / cubic cm.  (~1/10th the cost and no waiting a couple weeks for a part to be delivered!)  Only takes using a few bottles of resin to make up the cost of the printer in that case. :slight_smile:

As Aric mentioned, it’s a simple calculation but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a nice feature for the software.  I want to do the same thing because I have lots of requests to print for other people.  Rather than doing the calculation every time, I’d love to see it on the info bar.  Also, I think we should specify in settings our cost per mL so we can adjust for higher shipping fees to other countries or simply by adding an overhead for tray replacement, wasted resin, our time for cleaning, etc.  It would be a great feature and as a software engineer I know it would be a quick win with not much development time.

As a related feature, whenever a failed print happens the cost should flash on the screen while the Form 1 plays the “sad trombone” sound effect…

http://www.sadtrombone.com/?play=true

Haha Bill, that would be awesome.  Sad, but awesome.

james

I’m looking for someone that has formlab1 machine that can do 4 different parts for project I’m working on, willing to pay for the parts and shipping, let me know if you’re interested   jgeorgefm@gmail.com thanks

how about it calculate all the time spent trying to calibrate a print, failed prints, months spent waiting for printer delivery, shipment costs, electricity costs etc and tell us how much each part should cost for it to be profitable?