Make Money 3D Printing | Over $100K Per Year

[@AustenHartley]

Best Ender 3 Pro Upgrades !! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGmmpKSLaM6diMU

[@raziarahmat4299]

I live in Karachi Pakistan I follow your

[@davischairmanindustries3412]

How long of an experience have you had with 3D printing? Do you know the best FDM printers for beginners?

[@AustenHartley]

@@davischairmanindustries3412 5 years ! And yes for beginners it’s an ender 3 or a Prusa MK3S+ if budget permits.

[@davischairmanindustries3412]

@@AustenHartley What do you mean by, if budget permits?

[@AustenHartley]

@@davischairmanindustries3412 the Pursa is much more expensive.

[@dsp4392]

Another con of 3D printing I think should be mentioned is the maintenance. Not only do prints fail from time to time, but as you use a printer, it'll require maintenance. After a few tens of hours of printing, the bed will need to be re-leveled. After hundreds of hours, nozzles will clog, belts will break, wires will fail, parts will come out of alignment, screws will loosen, the bed surface will degrade. 3D printers are highly mechanical devices and that comes with a lot of wear and tear. Make sure to keep that in mind when working out your pricing!

[@chancewindham1718]

My balls are highly mechanized.

[@tinnyelk2962]

Some of that depends because you can always use resin printers

[@duelentertainment9228]

I have had my printer for about a month and have about 100 hours on it. It has clogged, failed, has had thermal runaway, and has had to re level the bed cause it raised itself a bit and the nozzle scraped across my build while I was at work

[@LordEisenfaust]

@@tinnyelk2962 those have ever degrading light sources, which not needs to be replaced but the print quality goes down the nearer you go to the End of Life of the Light Source.

[@hd-be7di]

Most machines need re-leveling frequently because the bed has been leveled too high with not enough compression on the springs. Silicone springs are great since the compression force goes up quickly with very little squish compared to metal springs more gradual increase. If the bed still goes out of whack often, try to bolt on some M4 nuts behind the leveling knobs to prevent them from spinning. Good luck & happy printing ;D

[@Impecable..]

Amazing video! Only thing making me mad is the misalignment of those foam soundproofing panels lol

[@AustenHartley]

hahha the wide angle lens is not good for straight lines !! Will be fixed for next weeks video. Still a bit crooked for this weeks :)

[@robertruschak7083]

Print your own money like the Federal Reserve

[@Revenant483]

You said exactly what I was going to say!! That was triggering the hell out of my OCD 😂

[@goldenfox334]

Why did you have to point that out 👿👿👿

[@jroc2k]

Ummm ok

[@TheRicoRodriguez_]

3d printing has really came a long way. I remember in January 2019 the ender 3 was ~$350-$400 and a kilogram of pla was $50-$75 and now 3d printing is so common, all the materials are really cheap

[@R14-m4z]

Just bought a 10 kilos of PLA for 90 bucks bro. I feel ya though!

[@igorchak48]

Great video, I've personally made over $100K selling 3D Printed products! But I'm an industrial designer and can innovate and design new products fairly fast. I have 10 Ender 3 V2's and the biggest issue when you mass print is you constantly have to maintenance printers. I spent most of my time fixing or upgrading my Enders.

[@AustenHartley]

Hey thats amazing ! Congratulations ! If you upgrade those to Prusa Mk3S+ 's I can pretty much guarantee it will save you hours a day. We have anywhere from 5 - 15 running 24/7 and they are extremely low maitinence. I started with a few Ender 3's and they are amazing machines for the price and to start with, but if you're running them 24/7 consider a Prusa upgrade !

[@oarnaur]

@@AustenHartley I 100% agree. My prusa is so awesome!

[@the3dprintfarmers874]

Get your first Prusa mk3s+ ASAP

[@Just_Jesus_ef]

@@the3dprintfarmers874 started with an Ender 3, got a Prusa Mini, and now added a Mini+

[@Ryezn5057]

Do you need a larger print volume for your business? Like a cr10?

[@Falasi4]

I've had my Ender 3 v2 almost a week and can confirm not just getting it out, flipping it on, and things magically printing. Now that I've got it rolling out objects I've moved into dabbling in design with Tinkercad and starting to see where this could be a fun side gig. I've got a custom cupholder insert finishing up now with an old android phone doing time lapse mounted to a phone tripod I printed earlier this week! Great tips !

[@Jaydoublyou]

had mine for a week and it broke. Back to step 1 smh

[@Falasi4]

@@Jaydoublyou That stinks - Mine is still printing like a champ - 1 nozzle wore out about 2 weeks ago but there were spares in the supplies bag that I got with the printer. Aftermarket springs I put on day 1 have apparently kept the bed level. I've used up almost 3 rolls of filiment.

[@Jaydoublyou]

@@Falasi4 yeah the belt broke on one of the axis for mine. Still waiting for customer service smh

[@DarksealStudios]

the most important question to me is "Where do you get your jobs from?" making it is one thing, where does the clientele come from?

[@erikiacopelli451]

I highly doubt he will say as itll take away from him. Tho it would be awesome if he did say where to get them

[@DarksealStudios]

@@erikiacopelli451 then it's nothing but a click-bate title for me.

[@hillfortherstudios2757]

@@DarksealStudios I agree that he was intentionally vague to the point of uselessness. I have a business that is a 3d printing and design shop and how I would personally answer that question is similar to how I would tell any business owner to think"make the things that people need rather than make products you hope people will need". I understand that is vague too as there is a lot to that process but I just wanted to share that fundamental principle. Don't focus on the printing (as there are millions of people who can print something for somebody) but focus on creating value for somebody via the tool of 3D printing. What problem can you solve for a business with the item you create form them? I spend at least 80% of my time calling, e-mailing and meeting with people trying to find their needs. I hope this was at least marginally insightful for you.

[@DarksealStudios]

@@hillfortherstudios2757 thanks James, yeah... I focus my time in the making of the 3d item (selling the stl or obj) and have a 3d printer so it would be nice if the worlds would align. Oh well, back to making polygons.

[@isaiahhiggins]

etsy

[@3phasetinkerer]

3 years into 3d printing, cad designing, autonomous robot building (3d printed) and now looking forward to do this as my main work. I enjoy doing this after 3 years and your video confirmed that this is the only thing I want at to do in future, specially after my friends keep requesting automotive parts for their classic cars :) Thanks for the insights. Thumbs up

[@GORILLA_PIMP]

What kind of parts do you make for cars???

[@Nomadman4life]

I’ve been working with 3d printing for about 4 months now and it is extremely time consuming to learn all the aspects of 3d printing. I’ve spent days in my garage upgrading leveling and just learning about the printer the settings the software such as slicers and I’ve recently started with tinker cad to creat my own designs. I want to start a business in 3D printing but I won’t do it until I’ve hit that one year mark of learning. Also would like to purchase another printer so I atleast have two. It’s a great hobby just takes patience and the want to learn. For now I might just start small and make things for people on the side for cheap. But looking forward to starting that business next year. Great video thanks so much for sharing 👍

[@ddlc7022]

It is good that you are learning about the printer, when you are done learning buy a Prusa, it is pretty much like plug and play

[@freakface1234]

Well I just found myself on the internet, holy hell LOL I'm in the same boat as you man, I'm trying to have fun with it and the moment I get frustrated, I just take a step back and try later. It's a crazy learning curve.

[@DaveSmith-cp5kj]

Quit tinkercad, download designspark. You can make much better objects and IMO it is easier to learn than Fusion 360. I really like the spaceclaim software even though it is technically less advanced than other options.

[@digitalperson108]

@@DaveSmith-cp5kj +1. Great software, been using it for 3 years now. VERY capable.

[@jcoghill2]

Check your local Community College for a class in Solidworks. It's almost an industry standard. You take all their Solidworks classes and you can get a high paying job out the door too. If that's what you want.

[@miguelmoreno1375]

I actually love this idea of business, specially if you are of those people that love designing 3d stuff in a CAD software, because it also helps you to understand the fact of how to manufacture a piece, many times designers do some complicated stuff that even with a CNC machine could take so much work, so starting with a 3d printer could help to understand better concepts of manufacturing.

[@AustenHartley]

Couldnt agree more !! We print lots of products for clients and then eventually move to another more efficient manufacturing method when the volume is sufficient.

[@nsboost]

It’s a terrible business idea lol. Terrible terrible.

[@billyevans4522]

i have 10 3d printers and i use etsy i make 4500 a month. i use ender 5. 5plus and ender 6

[@DrGoldenFlap]

My wife makes arts and crafts and sells it as a vendor at fairs and events. Recently I started putting some of my 3d printed stuff out and in one day I profited little over $400. Kinda surprised about it.

[@AustenHartley]

Thats amazing and thanks for sharing ! Sounds like a fantastic opportunity with little competition.

[@gabesampson]

What items did you exactly print

[@ThisIsReLLiK]

The most important part of 3d printing that I have found is you need to genuinely want to take on the hobby. If you don't then it will just feel like work and endless headaches. If you do, its a great hobby that can potentially make money and you should absolutely try to do that.

[@cornertankcorner]

Also be very careful if you have a full time job because once you start 3d printing and selling it will basically eat up all your free time. Great video! Very informative. Thanks!

[@alexisdonies]

It's been a few years I want to start a 3D printing business knowing how profitable and interesting it could be. Thank you for that quality video that summarized it all and congratulation on the amount of views so far ;)

[@AustenHartley]

Hey thanks Alexis ! If you're thinking about it, and you like building stuff, I highly recommend it ! Cheers !

[@DavidGarcia-nx2gj]

I too highly recommend it! I started 4 months ago and I decided to prints molds and make things out of concrete and resin, I sell those and moulds made by plastic, and different types of sylicone with the models I print. That's a side job tho, I model, print and made some automated solid dispensers to make this a job not to spent too much time. I recommend to learn 3d modeling and basic stuff about electronics.

[@AustenHartley]

@@DavidGarcia-nx2gj Thats awesome ! Molds have been increasing in popularity and demand over the last few years for sure. Cheers David !

[@sespider]

Just noticed this video was published on my 42nd birthday. Cool. I'm new to 3D printing (less then a month at this point), but I want to step in squash what was stated about 3D printing. I'm no expert but since I chose to go into resin printing, I've done a LOT of studying. And resin printing IS NOT just "mostly used for tiny, very small, interrogate, highly detailed projects". Just because my Elegoo Mars 2 has a small build area, it does not automatically equal small projects. Model print sizes are only limited by your skills (and amount of resin). For Example: I am working on a a series of custom figures of my own design. And the smallest is to be set at 12 inches in height alone. Larger then size of what my printer is capable of printing. I am modeling it to be assembled in post. I also have a design in the works for a custom helmet/mask of my character monk (see profile image). It's a undertaking to say the least. But because I'm using a resin printer, I can print the parts at a very small scale and easily test their assembly connections, with out sanding (or very little sanding). That is something I can't do with FDM printers. Not to knock FDM printers at all. But fine details and smooth surfaces are impossible without sanding. And if you want to fill in the layer stepping, you must sand and fill those areas. Another plus of resin printers (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is the ability to easily print wax molds for casting. I've yet to find anyone using a FDM printer for this. My point is that I don't believe there is anything that can be printed on a FDM printer, that can't be printed on a resin printer. I don't see that being said the other way around. At least not yet. Please don't misunderstand. I plan on getting a FDM printer for my less detailed projects. I even have FDM prints I've purchased off Etsy. Each type of print has their pluses and minuses. Just don't knock resin printing as a miniature creation phase. It's far from it. Resin printers have been around for 20+ years. It's just now cheap enough for the common customer.

[@AustenHartley]

"My point is that I don't believe there is anything that can be printed on a FDM printer, that can't be printed on a resin printer." This is not really true. Let me explain. It is about finding the best tool for the job. High resolution, large volume resin printers are still very expensive. It really does come down to size, then ease of use. If someone wanted a model bike made in 1:1 scale ( something we have made ). It's is not something that is feasible to do with resin. There are additional constraints that must be taken into account. Cost of resin, #of parts, shrinkage and compatibility, print time, time to prepare supports, failure percentage... to name a few. Additionally and potentially most important - Material limitations with resin printing.

[@sarathkumarmulugurthi9206]

I am already skilled with Solidworks and actually love designing. So i might look into further learning 3D printing

[@isaiahhiggins]

Same, just ordered a Neptune 2

[@privateprivate8366]

My 3D printer will arrive tomorrow. Yes, I’m new to this but, it’s exactly what I expected. I’ve been working as a graphic designer, specifically in packaging, for decades and I worked as a sales person for Apple, for a few years. Other than just plain old technical technical and operational issues, there’s the customer aspect. So, like anything, part of it will be fun.

[@1WiggerMan]

How is it going. Im very interested in this business

[@privateprivate8366]

@@1WiggerMan apparently, I am not the person to ask.😆 Between dealing with horrific family issues and everything else, my FLSun Super Racer went into storage, without me even having an opportunity to open the box. Because there has seemed to be no closure to these issues I did, however, but a Silhouette Alta+. You may ask why the step down. It is not because I love it, even though I’m new to this. But, I figured out I would likely only be printing PLA, it fit on the edge of my desk, and it was enclosed. I have pets so, it’s a good temporary solution and escape to creativity, from my problems. As this just arrived, not too long ago, I have only printed 1 thing. You know when you buy a tabletop desk fan? There’s that center part that might have a logo? Been waiting to replace some stupid unclassy looking sticker, with a properly-sized dragon medallion. So, that was my test print and it turned out pretty good, especially for a first timer. I have other ideas, but am still figuring them out, as I slowly order filament. Not the answer you were looking for. But, that’s what it’s been. Most other 3D print people have way more production experience and stories to tell. I am, however, looking at the Bambu Labs X1C. Perhaps pricey as consumer/prosumer 3D printers costs, but thousands less than I spent on a brand new Apple Color Laser Writer, when Apple was producing printers. 😆 One of the major things stopping me is the amount of filament waste, however. But, I will not be printing resin, in my current living situation and, perhaps, never.

[@rodgermastenrm]

I just bought a brand new Ender 6 for under $100 at an auction. Can't wait to start making money.

[@fgc_7433]

I've been modeling in Blender for a year and a half and my friend just bought a 3D Printer. I really wanna start a business doing this. Thanks for the video. Now I just need to figure out what to make to sell haha.

[@NikCasto]

Do it! I'm considering the same thing, I just don't have any modeling experience unfortunately..

[@treekotreeko3487]

​@@NikCasto how are you doing now

[@richardbeien6676]

Solid vid, nice intro to 3d printing. I run 2 cr-10 V2 and one ender 3 V2 and do small scale production runs for past employers. Nice side income but by no means is this passive income. It takes ton of time, printing is a lot of work.

[@iskandartaib]

The local print farms on Shopee (something like a Malaysian Amazon) charge RM 0.30 (about USD0.07) per gram.

[@skywardsoul1178]

Generally for decent filament I'm spending between 25 and 40 USD equivalent. For CF nylon then it's potentially 2-3x that for 1KG.

[@legionjames1822]

I pay 190 for 800cc for cf nylon (onyx) from markforged. Probably like a pound and a half. But the quality and reliability of markforged 3d printers and products is absolutely top of the line. Kinda makes all this hacking away in cura pointless if I'm being honest.

[@Nicksperiments]

I pay $208 per kg for MakerBot Method CF Nylon

[@legionjames1822]

@@Nicksperiments that's chopped fiber nylon correct? Or is it some sort of carbon fiber nylon?

[@Nicksperiments]

@@legionjames1822 their data sheets don’t specify if it’s chopped or infused. It’s got really good mechanical properties but all the materials for that printer are extra expensive because each roll has a chip that tells the printer what material it is and how much is left

[@dungc6479]

The first time I hit "slice" and saw that 5 day print time, I had to put my head down

[@Galaxy-456]

LMAO I thought my 23 hour print times were bad, GL lol

[@tristansimonin1376]

Just change a few parameters and you can divide the time per two or three

[@dungc6479]

@@tristansimonin1376 Yeah you're right. I had to learn the hard way haha To any beginners out there, there's always a better way to do something so don't get discouraged if things seem to move too slow or aren't working out. Don't accept it unless it's as a challenge!

[@tristansimonin1376]

@Bryan White 0.1mm nozzle and 0.05 layer height work great to 😂😂

[@mjennings97]

Great video! Almost everything you’ve stated is true when it comes to my 3D printing business. 1 year in about 1,500 prints down!!!

[@AustenHartley]

Amazing ! Congratulations on it !

[@dextermorgan6665]

Do your reckon you will make money off them?

[@calebroberts1961]

Where do you mainly market your prints?

[@newell418]

Great video! I got into 3D printing after failing engineering. No I'm a 3D DESIGNING MACHINE!! Love it

[@junoexpress6]

Thank you for making this video! I watched this when you uploaded it back on February and I got the motivation to start a 3D Printing business on Etsy and have made 20K so far!

[@alicraft9542]

What’s your Etsy link ?

[@dennybaker6264]

What's your link?

[@Pr1tch4rd]

Hey man, just stumbled across your video! I have been thinking about this for years now without the courage to start. I am a mechanical and aerospace engineering graduate, disheartened by the engineering job market. This way I can design I build myself. Thanks to your video I may actually give it a shot finally! Thank you.

[@AustenHartley]

Hey man ! Absolutely do it !! If you're on the fence, get an Ender 3 from amazon for $200 ish bucks you can get started, try it out and see if you like it. You're probably familiar with Solidworks or a CAD variation, you could make that money back in a weekend. Cheers !

[@Pr1tch4rd]

@@AustenHartley Thanks man! I appreciate it. I'll be making a few appointments and comparing setups soon. The end goal is to operate in the way you do, offer my skills. Model and produce products or companies, prototypes, proof of concept models etc. I just have no idea how to market myself in that way from scratch. Any pointers for me? One more question, is it worth investing in Resin and FDM printing methods? I have the space to do so.

[@AustenHartley]

@@Pr1tch4rd Hey thanks man ! Absolutely! Honestly the best thing you can do is just get some service listings out there and see what people are interested in. It will depend on who you market to and what location you are in. The other way to do it, because it cost so little to make a 3D printed product, you could pick a product niche you like, make a couple products and see if they sell. For example, Store Signs - I had a few local companies ask me to 3D print their logos then started offering the service because there was demand for it. Once you start getting requests you will get a ton of ideas !

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

I'm a design engineer in Aerospace. We use 3d printers at work and it's alot of fun. I've just decided to buy my own as well. Hoping to make some cash on the side.

[@Hotwire_RCTrix]

My CR10 is old but heavily modified because the original was not great. This will get better but expectations will also get higher. People expect a printed item to look molded and they just don't. People also expect them to be as strong as a molded part and usually it's not the case. TPU is strong but not ridged and pla is easy but tends to warp or lose strength....

[@JediOfTheRepublic]

I like the idea of 3D printing as a service only because I am not good at design.

[@AustenHartley]

Thanks all for checking out the video ! Received a few messages about the printers listed in the description so here is my order of recommendations and why. These are all based on my personal experience and all printers I have owned and put countless hours on. 1. Prusa Mk3S+ (Not available on amazon, I'm not an affiliate, check local stores or shop.prusa3d.com) Extremely reliable printer. The quality and speed are comparable to printers that are 10X the price. Downside - they are more expensive than the cheaper alternatives. 2. Ender 3 V3 - amzn.to/3bWSiCR I think this should be everyones first 3D printer. This was the first printer I ever had, and I STILL have 3 of them. For under $300 the quality and ease of use of this machine is amazing. Great for learning. 3. Cr10 V3 - amzn.to/3qW6DDX I think of this printer as basically a larger version of the Ender 3. A lot of people want to print bigger items, and in my opinion this is the best large and affordable 3D printer.

[@flyingbanana2436]

I don't agree with the ender 3 pro. I use aliexpress prusas off aliexpress because they are literally the same. I have a genuine and knockoff. I also have a ender but it is bad unless you upgrade it alot

[@AustenHartley]

@@flyingbanana2436 I used a fleet of enders for my first 6 months and they worked great, just required more maintenance than the Prusas. Maybe you got a bad machine some how.

[@flyingbanana2436]

@@AustenHartley maybe. I just hate bed calibration. Also it has heat creep when printing petg. Also no such thing as a color change at a specific layer which I use alot for my etsy listings

[@AustenHartley]

@@flyingbanana2436 Yeah its great for PLA, definitely worth upgrading a few components if you're doing a ton of printing. But for like $200 its tough to argue haha

[@TheNinjaDog2]

@@flyingbanana2436 what's your etsy shop banana?

[@glraff3]

Myself, I don't understand how a 10 hour print would be even $20 though.... BUT on the other hand; if this is your business, that's your income, it makes total sense. In my case, I do it for people who just want something fun. It's more of a learning experience / hobby for myself. (my god have I learned a lot.) I typically don't go over $5 for anything because in the end, it pays for the filament. A couple prints for buddies or others who want something made, and boom, I have left over filament, plus a whole new spool to play with. Given that if someone wanted something very large, of course I'd have to go over my limit and explain why I would charge say $10-$15 for a project; but I love printing things and seeing the joy that people have when they see it in person. Again, just what I do... Not bashing or trying to take away from anything you're doing :) When modeling something comes into play, that's when of course prices jump and it begins to make sense why something would be so expensive.. That's your personal time used (Or job time) to figure out how to make something go from nothing, to a print. That I figured out the hard way, could take HOURS.

[@sedled2829]

I think i found out how to be stupid rich, Thanks for being part of Journey. I'm still in Mechanical Engineering School and your right, this is too new and too juicy not to take advantage of. But I think making a mold/cast is ultimately necessary to manufacture a product at scale.

[@geopro0780]

Between your great video and my reading the hundreds of comments below, (with you surprisingly answering most questions asked) I've learned QUITE a bit. Thank you!

[@yearls]

Heh, learning curve. It has taken me about a month, I think I finally got my bed level. Or, this new filament is just amazingly sticky.. I got a really good calibration cube out of it though. :D

[@TosinMusic]

Hey which filament do you use and do you have an creality ender 3 pro

[@truegret7778]

Good info - you touched all the pain points ;^) My goals are to tune / optimize a given print to achieve as close to "zero post-processing" as possible. In other words, for a given filament and STL, tune the print/printer to be as close to putting it in the shipping box right off the printer with near-zero clean-up. Good tips - thanks!

[@martino8114]

Hello I’m a retired defense engineer and I just purchased a 3d printer and 3d scanner and your video is very helpful

[@AustenHartley]

Appreciate you!

[@nantztopher1279]

OMG make those sound panels even...... My OCD is on fire looking at those. lol

[@Eden_M]

Sure, but his printers are busy, so do your boy a favour, print some spacers for him 😉

[@TheRealMisterJ]

I don't get it, look fine to me 😂

[@ratman4733]

Each printer is suitable for for a variety of tasks, it depends on how the product is designed, some are suited for FDM, some SLS and some SLA.

[@KillandMilproduction]

I really liked this video liked the "scripted" type video so you hit us with all the need to know back to back.

[@AustenHartley]

Hey thanks Tony ! Trying to keep it clean and concise and always providing real examples. Cheers man !

[@the3dprintfarmers874]

Nice video, followed a similar Ender > Prusa path. Have 6 mk3s with 12 more on the way

[@AustenHartley]

Amazing ! yeah I think its a good route ! I have tried a lot of combinations and just cant top the reliability and performance of Prusa for the price.

[@JayquanDeMarcusWashington]

I'm learning 3D printing at school, although most of our printers are not realistically affordable and do all the pre-print work for you

[@calvinneill1908]

I've been trying to figure out how to start a 3D printing company as it would be a first in my town. I am a vet so I'm looking to do my own thing. the Fact i found this makes me extremely happy and hopeful thank you!

[@calvinneill1908]

But I thinking I'm going to start off with resign printing first****

[@zeekmx1970]

Yes, I see the splendor of it, Manufacturing and Distribution, A beautiful thing. Goodbye Scalper.

[@woodyoulove-reynaldguibone6890]

You've just enlightened me with the question "Should I start a 3D printing business". And I have all these things you mentioned here @ 13:44 in my heart.

[@jed2055]

No, not a question, just an observation. I was waiting for you to mention 3D capture systems. A few models I looked at aren't terribly expensive and as they are tax deductible, a very good way of turning a real object into a virtual one ready for a bit of tweaking then printing but in less than half the time or better. Got to be preferable to sitting down and reinventing the wheel. In my crystal ball I see camera capture modelling becoming more and more common. Best to get in early, work up to a better/more expensive capture system and have it as one of your money making tools. Just got to be aware of copyright infringement is all. Good video Austen. I wish my printer made stuff as fast as you can talk 🙂

[@elisabethnm4492]

Something important you could say is what happens with the material after a 3D print failed. Is not just about the material not being too expensive, even though PLA is partly biodegradable, maybe if you're going to advise people to start a business like this, the recycling part of the material would be worth mentioning. There are even systems and devices that would allow recycling the material of your failed prints into new extruded filament. That's something to investigate, especially if you're going to really offer this service. And especially since this is a growing issue for the public. I am considering creating some of my own artwork through 3D printing services, so from the perspective of a customer, knowing what this 3D printing company does with the material would be the difference between having them as a provider or not. (Btw you can also use rPLA filament for starters) :) Good luck!

[@tiloalo]

Nobody will include that in a business, there is just no way to recycle pla on that scale yet...

[@elisabethnm4492]

@@tiloalo I don't agree. This is a very important aspect of businesses nowadays, especially if you have any hopes to exist for the next decades. If you start a business you can think about it, actually you have to. Even if you personally don't care, because your customers will. If if you don't, and your industry doesn't it's just a matter of time when people will start asking for alternatives and give very bad press to something as great as 3D printing. So you need to find a way to do it, and luckily there's quite a lot of people doing that right now, thinking about it and trying to find a solution.

[@sokool657]

You are absolutely right. It can also be cheaper for filament acquisition. I melt both old or failed project filament and plastic bottles down and squeeze them through a 1.75mm hole with a 3D printed part I made to collect it as re-usable filament. There are plenty of these setups around. While I mostly use this recycled stuff for less durable projects, it still allows me to sell things like dice or photo frames.

[@elisabethnm4492]

@@sokool657 love this!

[@andinbriwel1092]

Ok, I know this sounds nitpicky, but it could be important later - if someone pays you to design something for them, unless you have a written agreement otherwise, they technically own the design, even if they don't own the .stl file. In the universe of intellectual property rights, this is a, "work for hire," situation, where you were paid for your time to put someone else's intellectual property into a specific format - in this case, a digital 3D model file. They own the design, so they could legally go after you for royalties, or even all your revenue plus infringement damages, for every sale or license of the file you disseminate, and/or every copy of the final product you sell. So, it's good to get an atty to write up a quick contract for you, making it clear that unless otherwise stated or agreed, all intellectual property will become the property of the company.

[@AustenHartley]

You should always have a written agreement for any contract work you do. Statement and terms should also be included on the invoice.

[@benjaminkappler8240]

Even in 2024 this is a very amazing video. Thank you for being so thorough!

[@TreyHope]

Great video bro, I’ve been doing 3D printing as a hobby for a while and I’m looking to turn it into a business. This video really helped.

[@AustenHartley]

Thank you man ! Glad it helped !!

[@takeittothegrave6302]

Hey Trey,Incase you looking for 3d designer ,hit me up I'll make the best

[@downtimefun]

great sharing, thank you! I am more on the fence about getting a 3D printer or not... not sure what the competitive landscape is in 2022 (now)... anyway, super informative and practical views.

[@Jay-fp8iy]

I couldn't think of a business with more unexpected problems than a 3D printing business. Imagine the stress haha

[@AustenHartley]

I was constantly problem solving 4-5 years ago. Now with all the free resources it really could not be more simple. Just takes the time and effort to learn as does any business.

[@tyrannicpuppy]

I just bought my 3d printer so I could make my own Stargate ship models, coz they're so hard or expensive to buy here. But it's nice that once I've bashed out all the stuff I want, I could then use that thing I bought purely for myself to make some cash back. What a time to be alive technologically.

[@ericn391]

Literally making money seems like a dream for everybody! Imagine having your own personal mint

[@turboduckhead6179]

This is definitely something I should start doing. I have used autocad and Solidworks at school. The thing I am a little naive about is how to source customers.

[@AustenHartley]

Hey Turbo, Access to a Solidworks License is awesome. Really powerful software and used in industry all the time. In terms of getting customers, it's definitely the hardest part, I recommend starting on you local classifieds, just post a 3D printing service ad, you'll get all kinds of requests and can test the waters. Thanks for checking out the video !

[@turboduckhead6179]

@@AustenHartley Is that the program you recommmend? I was looking at Fusion 360 very recently..

[@AustenHartley]

@@turboduckhead6179 Yeah by far the best free program. It has a hobby license !

[@turboduckhead6179]

@@AustenHartley I never realised the hobby license. I think Fusion was £430 a year

[@AustenHartley]

@@turboduckhead6179 Yeah the hobby license is a great option ! It should be free for a year ! (free for a year for all students as well)

[@oneheadlight8000]

I prefer the sovol direct drive printers over creality.. it’s actually all the same components with a little bigger build volume, better tuning, and firmware / thermal runaway protection from the factory.

[@Kni0002]

earning the printer cost itself would be a big win imo

[@jknightbell4699]

Blender is a good design software too and the Cons were SPOT ON. I've had too many failed prints right at the end of the prints.

[@erikschiegg68]

I'm asking 5 dollars per hour printing time, file furnished, quality PLA included. Do not work for less than a toilet cleaner gets.

[@NinbAdam]

yeah true, doing a 10 hour print like that camera and selling it for $20 is kinda very low.

[@ratman4733]

It should be printing time + Materials tbh! I just finished a 100:1 scaled house and earned 175, but I had to mess around with the Mesh so there was labour there also

[@Envy889]

Been 3D printing for a few years now. About to start selling models and halo helmets.

[@SouthBayFamily]

Great video me an my son r newbie opened our GIDI Glod strip door Only did the test print Need to move forward Thanks

[@FranFroo]

I got an Ender 3 Pro a month ago during a promotion for $100, I've been painstakingly learning how to use it and learning how to use Blender. I have my Etsy shop set up and I'm working on making designs for products to sell. It's very comforting having this video basically go over all the pros and cons that I have already experienced, it helps me feel that I am on track for success. I just got a RaspberryPi and set up Octoprint last week and just got some square mirrors cut at the local glass shop yesterday. I'm learning every day! Thank you for this video!

[@niklasbrage7628]

Whats the name of your etsy shop?

[@FranFroo]

@@niklasbrage7628 OpossyPrints! I don't have much in stock yet but I'm working on it 😅

[@niklasbrage7628]

@@FranFroo I like the stuff youve got so far :)

[@greggorykacprzak446]

Do you have any resources on the legality of printing products with logos, characters from movies, or famous people? Like if I wanted to print a stand for pistol with a glock logo, print out a sports team logo, or print something such as baby yoda or something. Does that require a special license or permission from companies?

[@Jmoneybag91]

I would also like to know the answer to this question

[@bobd.]

What do you do when you are printing a file supplied by the client and 20 hours in the print fails. You troubleshoot and find the problem is in the file. Are you charging the client for that time and material? What about other print failure scenarios. Are you eating that time and material 90 hours into a 100 hour print job? You could have printed a lot of $20 45 minute widgets in those 90 hours.

[@AustenHartley]

Been there before. Unfortunately it's our job as the person printing it to confirm the file is printable before accepting the deal. In your specific case, I'd just refund them.

[@bobd.]

@@AustenHartley It was a hypothetical, I've have not been in that situation yet.

[@RobertARuiz-dw6ud]

Freakin’ amazing, brother! I’m retired and you kept my attention ion from start to finish! Getting into the Etsy link to look into setting up an account!👍👍

[@AustenHartley]

Thank you Robert ! Etsy is amazing, still my #1. The link there should have everything you need to know !

[@johne540]

I am going to order a prusa mini to start. Being an industrial designer and having used 3D printers through out my career I decided it’s high time I got my own. I do want to make a few bucks with it. Small stuff nothing too crazy. I would like the machine to pay for itself. Then I would like to make 1-200 per month on top of that. Then see how it goes and scale it up a bit. Not to mention make my own things to simply further my career.thanks for the helpful video.

[@AustenHartley]

Love it ! The Prusa Mini is a fantastic starting point.

[@TK2369]

Wow - such a great video. Do you have any mentors?

[@mrwhosmynameagain]

Likes your question.... Yet doesn't answer. What a guy!

[@Raz_Tactical]

I think 30 to 50ph is low for design work. Obviously depends on complexity but i would aim for closer to 100ph. Also i find its better to give a quote per project rather than an hourly rate. People are more likely to accept paying 100 for the design than paying 100 for the hour it took to design.

[@jiwbink]

INVALUABLE INFORMATION FOR A TOTAL ROOKIE! THANK YOU FOR NOT JUST THE VIDEO, BUT THE WEALTH OF INFORMATION. INFORMATION, TIME AND MONEY.THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT VARIABLES IN ANY PROPOSITION. THANKS AGAIN!

[@AustenHartley]

Always ! Thank you for the kind words !

[@hellowerld8592]

Im building a printer that prints more exotic and industrial materials reliably. Should i offer a service? Ive printed stuff before but the printer im building can print materials that easily withstand temps of around 150C without losing structural integrity.

[@Engineerboy100]

Killed it on the video, Loooooaaaads of great information, EXCELLENT! Thank you for posting. I'm thinking about doing 3D printing on the side. I'm a mechanical engineer too and I have 2 3D printers that I use to sell parts that I design and make for cars on my website, but I have never considered offering 3D printing services. Not a bad idea....we'll see. I have 2 X1 Carbons by Bambu Lab....But if my business grows I can always order more.

[@RB_Musik]

Been 3d printing for my workplaces for like 7 years now...i should buy one now lol

[@SchwartzMonster]

where are you getting filament for 10-15$?

[@Starclap92]

What type of filament did you use in the thumbnail? Might need to get me some.

[@Reaperc91]

Thanks for the info about starting. I am currently getting a printer to start a small business in Belize. There really isn't a market for 3d printers or the materials that go along with it.

[@wrightsonpage8867]

What’s the legality of people sending you files to prints that they have bought a license to print, but you don’t own a license to sell? There’s a lot going around right now about even free prints can’t be sold due to licensing and IP. For example, I can download damn near anything from thingiverse, but I don’t own the file. Even if I’m only selling my time and material I can be sued for “selling” a design someone else made. If I made a business for printing and someone requests a print that they download and don’t own a commercial license, who is liable?

[@HapliodHandler]

I thought he was going to talk about how to use a 3d printer to counterfeit money.

[@morty4697]

That’s why I clicked 😭

[@morty4697]

But still very informative

[@CasFN]

Me too lol 😆

[@Mutantcy1992]

How to make money 3D printing: 1. Go on thingiverse and find designs of funny little things you could see being a gag gift, like switchblade holders for Nintendo switch joy cons. 2. Ignoring the Creative Commons non-commercial license, download the files of these models and don't modify them at all. 3. List them on Etsy while your printer makes a handful of them in various colors. Edit: holy shit I was joking!

[@AustenHartley]

Haha that will get shut down pretty quick

[@Pygmyer]

Don't you have to buy a commercial license where you design the products in, first? Or buy a commercial license for the print you're printing before you sell it?

[@MKUltraXOXO-c3r]

why didn't you 3-d print a small spacer/guide to be able to square off your soundproof panels evenly? lol.

[@Handles_AreStupid]

"$100k per year". Except you need to front the cost of multiple printers, buy 1,000's KG of PLA, create a business from the ground up, pay a massive power bill and try to compete with people running the exact business you are but with a $2,000-$50,000 printer and selling parts for much cheaper. Making a print on demand business is not realistic unless you have a full print farm already set up.

[@rutniktrainer]

Great video. I am currently learning CAD design and I was curious if I can make money designing and printing stuff at home.

[@xavierhsu4746]

I just discovered that you also own onewheel, do you 3D print your own accessories? I’m thinking of using solidworks and a 3D printer to make the charger plug and fender, but I’m only started with a thought, haven’t have a chance to do anything yet

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

I sculpt high resolution statues in my free time, been working in games for a long time. I never manage to recover my investment/time selling files so looking for other options like maybe Patreon but ppl there expect files every month and highly complex statues can take up to a year or work. Made one statue and invested over a year into it sculpting, printing and painting, wonder how to recover my investment. The marketplace is broken bc most ppl sell files for next to nothing and are junior artists/designers.

[@vreview1649]

for the cost, what I would do is see how much the material costs per gram by dividing the cost of a spool by 1000grams if you are buying a 1kg spool. Then weigh the projects afterwards and calculate the cost. Finally, find how much profit you want and add that to the final cost of the print.

[@vreview1649]

but there are also other costs that come into play like production cost to pay off the 3d printer cost. If you dont add these costs if you pay 25 dollars for a spool, and have a 100 gram print, it will only cost 2.5 dollars so a bit too cheap.

[@AustenHartley]

@@vreview1649 Then you would need to keep a constant weight value of each spool which would be really tedious !

[@vreview1649]

@@AustenHartleyI took that into account and thought to stick to specific brands and have and average weight of spools

[@Genesis-dj7kw]

Note: By now you can find Ender 3's for 170 USD quite frequently as far as I've seen, lowering the entry barrier even further.

[@AustenHartley]

Crazy how far it’s come!

[@Genesis-dj7kw]

​@@AustenHartley Yup! Tho I'm not sure if a printer like the Ender 3 really is the way to go anymore. Looking at printers like FLSUN SR, which prints drastically faster and is way more reliable without much tweaking or issues to fix, spending the 400USD might be worth it. [[I'm talking from my experiences with the ender, where I spent like another 100€ and countless hours to make it run reliable.]]

[@johnpaullogan1365]

@@Genesis-dj7kw depending on what you are doing it would definitely imo non make sense to go with ender 3 wen you are expanding and getting more printers. if you are doing a bunch of one thing for an etsy shop something like a cr-30 makes a lot of sense for the ability to just let it run indefinitely. going up the ladder of printers as you expand is definitely a must but for people trying to get started and ender 3 is good enough to learn on without much investment. and i don't know about the sr but i do know the flsun c plus i got years ago was in absolutely no way beginner friendly

[@tamarao688]

Fantastic, thanks for the insight ! What material do you typically use for your projects ?

[@AustenHartley]

PETG or ABS for most functional parts, and PLA for prototyping or parts that are not subject to any heat !

[@OfficialHardrockFilms]

Thank you for this, has to be the best video out regarding this topic, very insightful. Ordered my Ender 3 pro two days ago and i honestly cant wait to get started. One question, I already have some experience with Blender, is this an okay software to use when it comes to printing? I know it works but I'm wondering if it's any major differences between Blender and the more used softwares, should i just get started learning one of them in the meantime? if so, which one do you recommend?

[@AustenHartley]

Hey Kevin, thanks for checking out the video ! And congrats on the new printer ! Same one I started with, great unit. When it comes to design software, if you already know how to use Blender, you're off to a great start. I would recommend checking out "Fusion 360". It's a pretty powerful design software with a free hobby license option. I use it for industrial and hobby applications and it is fantastic. I'm in the process of creating a series on how to use the software specifically for 3D printing but it is probably a month away from being complete, but you can find almost anything on youtube as well, and if you know Blender the learning curve wont be bad at all. Cheers ! Austen

[@bf1513]

I imagine that some of these dislikes are possibly from childern thinking you were gonna show how to "actually print money" which is btw totally not done on 3d printers, but more like haidelberg offset printers also it would be quite illegal might i add to those would came here with that impression.

[@historybuilder6644]

Haha

[@warrior3d27]

thanks! but your sound dampeners on the wall not being perfectly straight keeps drawing my eye :D

[@JBRider]

that thumbnail was genius XD

[@romeolz]

Does this still apply in 2024? Has the market changed? I'd love to get into 3d printing and I'm hoping the printer could pay for itself

[@draggy76]

i bought me an Ender-3 V2 a couple days who, cant wait for it to get here. No idea how to 3D print though.....

[@my3dprintedlife]

I'm going to print some sunshine and rainbows.

[@3dchill]

I thought about resin printing but our craft room has no ventilation, so that was out of the question. So far enjoying our FDM printer

[@ox_boogie]

Awesome video. Please fix the foam behind you.

[@martino8114]

Austen, I’m also a sculpture and I wanted to ask do you think I could 3d scanning my clay sculptures and print them? I’m thinking that would be a hell of a lot faster easier and cheaper than making molds and casting them…. Did that make sense I’m getting old lol

[@AustenHartley]

Definitely possible! tough to say without seeing them definitely possible! I did a video on 3D scanning a couple weeks ago with the chair. You should check that one out for a rough idea!

[@chikokishi7030]

People ask me to model and print things that are typically found in injection molded plastics. Then when i explain that 3D printed PLA simply will not be usable in the same situations they get confused/irritated.

[@bigwig2096]

The gaps on your wall art is driving me nuts! Lol the content tho 👍

[@disturbedfan545]

The money needed to buy a suitable CAD design software is kinda ridiculous. Free cad is a suitable option but it is quite the learning curve if you're coming form Inventor, solidworks, or CATIA

[@AustenHartley]

Fusion 360 is pretty reasonable for what you get.

[@disturbedfan545]

@@AustenHartley I just looked into a bit. Thank you for the recommendation.

[@AustenHartley]

@@disturbedfan545 Anytime ! I have a video on it on my channel there - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZnLe59oprOnp6c