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    Senior Project Viability

    I am an engineering student in the US and my senior project is a new type of hotend. I am curious what the market looks like for my proposed product. I am hoping to get feedback as a potential user and, ideally, some advice on how to research it's viability as an actual product.

    I cannot disclose anything else, but I have the following stats:
    heating time (22C-210C) ~12 seconds
    power requirements 3-15 watts
    size - comparable to existing heating blocks

    I am curious what kind of price you might be willing to pay, how likely you might be to purchase it as a retrofit (assuming compatible mounting method), and if there is some place where I can get more information about the market.
    Thanks for your help!

    #2
    Good luck I think everything practical has been attempted?

    Get your mother to do a web search "3D printer hotend"

    I guess CIA can buy secret hotend?

    1.75mm / 3 mm? all metal? 210 C not high enough
    mounting?

    look at deltaprinter mini
    http://deltaprintr.com/shop/parts-an...e/mini-hotend/
    E3D
    http://e3d-online.com/

    Comment


      #3
      Cozmicray, I think there is huge room for improvement in the 3D printing space, imo it is not even close to optimised. We will see substantial changes within the next 5-10 years unless the IP gets locked down (which is what delayed 3D printing so much since the 1980's). The student is likely talking about an inductive heater or vaporisation tech (basically using a heat transfer technology that is faster than straight conduction).
      Giftneigung, I think your thesis supervisor and library staff will be able to help you, don't be afraid to go to other departments at the university and talk to lecturers there (e.g. business and marketing). A group of people on a forum can give you an idea on what the community wants from a product, but in terms of viability and assessment take the opportunity to leverage the resources at your disposal now, learn the best practice way of doing it from experts in their respective fields, you won't have access to them for much longer.
      Cozmic gave you a great response, he (and I think the community as a whole) care far more about filament compatibility and maximum extrusion temperature than they do about heat up time (as beds take a lot longer to heat than nozzles). If you want to make a viable product and are stuck in a thermo project, a bed that heated in seconds rather than minutes with a removable 2 sided build surface would be a good place to start (inductive cook tops).

      Comment


        #4
        I guess that if you would be in the upper price regions of current hotends you're good. But just as Christian already said, go to your teachers/professors. There must also be a marketing study, the people there might be able to help you as well.

        Comment


          #5
          while you at it make a hopper style we can grind up Coke bottles and just throw the pieces in without extruding into filaments first like Mr Fusion Back to the Future no Plutonium needed

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