Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers?

Re:Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers? by adwn on Thursday October 15, 2020 @08:33AM (#24787898)

> An open source 2d printer would allow for a lot of things commercial printers don't allow for. For example, I'd like to be able to print on things which are not paper.

Those kinds of printers already exist commercially. The argument is the same: Printing on clothes or PCBs might be cool, but crappy DIY printers that can do that are even more niche than crappy DIY printers that print on paper.

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Re:Ask HN: Why are there no open source 2d printers? by wegs on Friday October 16, 2020 @08:10AM (#24799989)

I think the argument is that $200 crappy is better than $2000 commercial for a lot of uses.

If I'm labeling pins and parts on a PCB, I'll take low-quality labels over no labels any day. If I'm labeling how wood fits together on a laser cut, I'll take it. If I'm making educational resources, quality almost doesn't matter.

If I could have a 1980-era printhead I could control, I could do a lot with it.

And if we had that, quality would improve with time. Look how many years it took 3d printers to be useful for anything practical. I expect if we started even with 1980-era inkjet quality, we'd get to nice in 5-10 years.

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