You don’t have to buy a 3-D printer to get started with 3-D printing. This brings the cost of 3-D printing down to the cost of raw print materials only, plus a small fee to the owner of the printer you use. In fact, if you’re willing to drive a bit, you might be able to get started for free—although don’t expect much for that price.
The Increasing Number Of 3-D Printing Services
About a month ago, the UPS Store—a nationwide franchise of over 4,300 locations—announced that they would start putting 3-D printers in their stores. The current locations are a bit limited, but this was the first big push by a large chain store to make 3-D printing available to a large number of people.
Prices for 3-D printing are still variable, but they mostly depend on how much material your design uses. The material spool used by the Stratasys 3-D printers in the UPS Stores costs $150 for a 30 cubic inch spool. That’s $150 for roughly a pint of material, which makes 3-D printing expensive—put not as expensive as it would be if you also had to pay for the Stratasys printer, which has a base cost of over $20,000.
3-D Printers And Maker Spaces
The printers available in the UPS Store are mid-range business 3-D printers, but there are cheaper printers with cheaper material costs available too. A great place to find these are maker spaces, local organizations (usually co-ops) which buy equipment and then let members use it for a monthly or annual membership fee.
Most mid-sized or larger U.S. cities have at least one maker space with between two dozen pieces of equipment and hundreds of pieces of equipment. 3-D printers and laser engravers are reported to be some of the most popular pieces of equipment at maker spaces across the country.
Maker spaces also often offer introductory classes to 3-D printing even to non-members, giving you a chance to learn about 3-D printing for free or for a very low cost (and, of course, giving you a chance to sign up for a regular maker space subscription once you get hooked).
Free 3-D Printing
As 3-D printers draw more and more attention, some businesses are using them as promotional tools. Once such business is the always marketing savvy Microsoft. Microsoft has teamed up with MakerBot, a company which produces a home-style 3-D printer for less than $3,000, to create what it calls the MakerBot Experience.
Like the maker space classes, the MakerBot Experience is a chance to learn about 3-D printers and get some hands-on experience. Unlike the community classes, Microsoft and MakerBot are subsidizing their demo, so there’s a good chance that you’ll come home with a free (but small) 3-D printed object. (Tiny action figures seem to be the most popular.)
The MakerBot Experience is available in select Microsoft Stores, but even if you miss your opportunity to attend it, you can be sure more and more businesses will be using 3-D printing demonstrations to help get potential customers in the store. And as 3-D printing takes off, you can also expect to see more established businesses like The UPS Store offer 3-D printing on business-quality printers.