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MakeShaper Addresses The Replicator+ « Fabbaloo

MakeShaper Addresses The Replicator+

By on December 6th, 2016 in materials

Tags: , ,

3D printer filaments from MakeShaper
3D printer filaments from MakeShaper

A filament producer now offers filament specifically for the new MakerBot equipment.

While a few desktop 3D printer manufacturers have gone the proprietary materials route, MakerBot is one that thankfully has not. However, thereā€™s a catch. The spool holder for the new Replicator+ is embedded within the machine as shown here.

The MakerBot Replicator+ inner spool holder - in the open state
The MakerBot Replicator+ inner spool holder – in the open state

The unit slides up to load a spool and then can be closed during operations.

Technically you can use any 1.75mm PLA plastic filament in the Replicator+, so long as it fits within this spool chamber.

Yes, you could rig up some kind of exterior feeder system that accommodates any size spool, but then you run into this problem:

Nevertheless, some filament producers are willing to develop filament spools that fit precisely into the Replicator+ specifications. One of them is MakeShaper, who announced the availability of such spools this week.

Itā€™s interesting to examine their site, as the filament filter shows this:

Note there's a
Note there’s a “size” called “MakerBot”

ā€œMakerBotā€ is now a size!

The company offers Replicator+-compatible 220 or 900g spools of PLA in 1.75mm format in twelve fancy colors. While the Purple and Neon Orange look great, I think Iā€™ll stick with Gray.

Pricing is where it gets quite interesting. For the 900g spools, MakeShaper charges USD$24, which is quite a good price. Meanwhile, MakerBotā€™s online store quotes USD$48 for many colors, and USD$65 for specialty filaments – including Neon Orange!

The question here is whether Replicator+ operators would risk defeating their warranty (and their MakerCare support contract, if they have one) in order to reduce the price of materials by at least half?

For some Replicator+ operators, this would be a non-starter. In a big corporation or institution, for example, invalidating a warranty could be out of the question.

On the other hand, smaller players using the Replicator+ with less bureaucracy – and some bravery – might wish to partake in lower-priced materials, particularly if they print a great deal.

Letā€™s do some arithmetic here to see how this could work:

A new Replicator+ costs USD$2,499. Thatā€™s equal to the savings on 104 spools, if you bought from MakeShaper instead of MakerBot. In other words, if you somehow ruined your Replicator+ while using third-party filament, you would be able to replace it fully. Thatā€™s a reasonable amount of filament, many months worth. So in some cases this could make sense.

Via MakeShaper

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By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!