Shapeways files for bankruptcy

https://www.voxelmatters.com/shapeways-files-for-bankruptcy/

by jes5199 • 2 years ago

19 10 2 years ago

voxelmatters.com

jitl• 2 years ago

What is the “AM industry”? Mentioned several times but not described.

6510• 2 years ago

Additive Manufacturing

jmclnx• 2 years ago

Never heard of them, seems to be a 3d printing company for products an individual would design.

I wonder if this could be due to a fall in prices of 3d printers ? I can only assume prices have fallen for those printers.

wlesieutre• 2 years ago

They also had higher end and more labor intensive processes like precious metal castings, I assume by printing in a resin that can be burned out of a mold, then casting in the void it leaves behind.

I always figured this was the main part of their business, and people who just wanted 3D printed plastic parts were either doing a small quantity or would buy their own printer and not be repeat customers.

https://www.shapeways.com/materials/platinum

There are services like CNC machining and injection molding too, not nearly as easy to bring those in-house compared to 3D printers. But also more competition in that space.

surfingdino2• 2 years ago

High print prices, economies of scale can't match injection moulding. A lot of 3d projects can't get off the ground, because of it. High unit prices of 3d-printed items kill sales and the cost of launching projects using injection moulding is beyond the reach of a lot of designers. I had to park mine, because I cannot sell my project for $60 per item and to sell it for $5 I'd need to pay ~$15k for the mould, material, manufacturing of at least 10,000 items for the market where I might sell 500 to 1000 items. It just does not add up.

slau• 2 years ago

I’d be interested to understand why the $60 is incompressible or an unsellable price.

Did you consult with a print farm to see how much they could produce your items for, or was this based on you producing them yourself? Also, designing for manufacturability is a thing, and slightly changing your design can yield massive improvements in costs.

I’m not saying 3D printing is magic—I very much understand there are very strong limits. But the jump from $60 to $5 seems massive.

ortusdux• 2 years ago

I first learned about them over a decade ago when people started getting chunks of their minecraft worlds printed out in color. The results were quite impressive.

https://www.realtimerendering.com/erich/minecraft/public/min...

PCBway seems to be pushing more 3d printing and CNC services. I wonder if this ate into shapeway's profits?

r2_pilot• 2 years ago

That makes me kind of sad, my first custom designed 3d print (in nylon, no less) came from them.

IanCal• 2 years ago

Oh no! My wedding rings were printed there. Very fond of them.

I was intending to get them remade a bit bigger.

Shapeways files for bankruptcy

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