3D-PO is great and ABS filament is extremely inexpensive to print objects. We buy plastic filament in bulk so you don’t have to. Here are our raw costs for plastic:
Natural ABS (off-white) — $10/lb +S&H
Black ABS — $12/lb +S&H
How much you print depends not on the final object volume per-se, but rather on the infill density you use to programmatically control the object’s density. So we charge for plastic by weight rather than by size.
Here are some cost guidelines for printing objects at Hive76, last updated 2009-09-05. The cost breakdown is roughly inversely proportional to monthly fees and takes consumables into account (such as double-sided tape, wear-and-tear on tools and equipment):
FREE — Your first 5 grams printed in ABS Plastic (5 grams is enough to print a dodecahedron, which can be printed in about 10 min. Fill with 3xM3 nuts during printing — makes a great cat toy!)
FREE — Printing any parts for Hive76, including more parts for 3D-PO
We’re instituting a $0.25 minimum charge for printing anything after your first print, to simplify weighing and accounting. If you’re only printing one thing, and it’s small, a quarter will cover it. larger things or multiple item print jobs will be charged at a more granular/weight based method. Failed prints are at cost, as core members are charged.
$0.11 or $0.12 to change plastic type from what is currently loaded (white to black or black to white, respectively) — unfortunately we lose this much plastic during the change procedure.
Core Membership
$0.03/gram, Natural ABS
$0.04/gram, Black ABS
Basic Membership
$0.06/gram, Natural ABS
$0.07/gram, Black ABS
Lite Membership
$0.10/gram, Natural ABS
$0.12/gram, Black ABS
Non-member
$0.12/gram, Natural ABS
$0.15/gram, Black ABS
We do NOT currently have a reservation system or 3D-PO time-usage guidelines. Please be patient when others are printing but also try not to monopolize 3D-PO.
Cost of Printing With 3D-PO
Legacy article: this content was migrated from the old Hive76 wiki and may be outdated or inaccurate.