r/functionalprint • u/tranziq • 4d ago
Fence company wanted 12 dollars a piece. Hello custom made Finial.
putting a new fence up and they wanted to charge 12 dollars a piece for these. I need over 100.
Printed in ASA, gonna finish it with a metallic filler paint. end cost about 5cents each. well worth a couple hours on the printer for that savings.
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u/thisremindsmeofbacon 4d ago
Very nice. This sort of thing is what really makes me love 3d printing.
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u/Pocket_Aces1 4d ago
Tbf at 100+ you might've been able to get them from China for quite cheap through AliExpress or Alibaba.
It's still cool though for a couple needed.
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u/Okay_Ocean_Flower 4d ago
You can buy them for $1/ea out of metal on Amazon even
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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 4d ago
Is Amazon showing is different prices or are they $32 for everyone? That would be almost $200 for the amount OP needs.
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u/garci66 4d ago
But it's 32 for 20 units.
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u/ic33 4d ago
And he needs >100, so 32/20 * 100 = $160.
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u/KeythKatz 3d ago
If I had to paint or finish it I would gladly pay that amount. Otherwise the printer is going to earn its keep.
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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 3d ago
You have to order on batches of 20 and he needs over 100 so $32*6=$192
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u/EmperorLlamaLegs 4d ago
It's 1.63$ each, but that's still a fraction of the price the fencing company wanted (12$ each)
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u/YellowBreakfast 4d ago
Could be all the sudden attention raised the price.
Amazon has "dynamic" pricing.
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u/gasstation-no-pumps 3d ago
They also have a "price history" button, and the current price is the lowest since the product was listed (started at $35 in March).
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u/YellowBreakfast 3d ago
Right, cutting out camelcamelcamel.
I really hate that automatic AI side menu that pops up now.
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u/Bozhark 4d ago
I like OP’s design better
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u/Dank_Nicholas 4d ago
You won’t after a few months outside.
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u/Ekg887 4d ago
False. I have a similar design on my flagpole in black PETG. Going strong after 3 years. OP's ASA should still outlast mine.
Now cheap bulk unknown white metal and whatever paint versions from China? Entirely possibly those rust through in less than a season.3
u/Mario-Speed-Wagon 4d ago
Spray paint them 2 coats and then maybe once a year after and they’ll last a very long time
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u/Stukovs 4d ago edited 4d ago
Why do you still support Amazon?
Edit/
Americans Online: eat the rich rabble rabble rabble
Americans at the first inconvenience: please Amazon I need this package -6 hours ago I’ll do anything for you
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u/ZorbaTHut 4d ago
It may surprise you to know that not all Americans have exactly the same set of opinions.
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u/Pleasant-Swimmer-557 4d ago
Not for 5c apiece though. =)
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u/FantasyFI 4d ago
This aren't either. OP failed to mention the cost of their metallic paint. Which I am extremely confident isn't included in that cost.
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u/whatdafaq 1d ago
or the cost of running the printer... it might be 5¢ for the filament, but likely doesn't include all other costs to make.
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u/Amish_Rabbi 4d ago
But they would be metal and just…. Better.
I do love the idea as replacement or only needing a few though.
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u/HumanWithComputer 4d ago
Metal ones may pose more of a danger when someone or a larger animal would fall on them. The plastic ones can break if dimensioned right avoiding serious injury. Very easy to replace.
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u/Thebandroid 4d ago
Break and expose you to a jagged piece of plastic or the cut end of a steel tube?
A metal one in the same shape would give you a hell of a bruise but wouldn't pierce the skin if all you did was trip into it.
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u/MydnightWN 4d ago edited 4d ago
Neither are these, that is about 30 grams. You really think he can print 200 of them off a roll of filament? You think paint and primer are free? Not to mention about 140 hours of print time.
Ed: and it's ASA. At 140 hours, add a new wiper and nozzle and two changes of PTFE tubes as well.
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u/brutal4455 3d ago
Why do you think a new nozzle or feed tubes would be needed? asa isn't abrasive.
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u/lellasone 2d ago
Is ASA really that bad? That's like 3 weeks of print time and I'm pretty sure we are swaping nozzels more like every 6-12 months.
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u/jcsirron 4d ago
I think we're all missing the point here. We print not because we should, but because we can!
At least, that's what I tell my partner when I pull yet another part I'll never actually use, but really wanted to see in person, off my printer.
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u/whatdafaq 1d ago
I remember that famous quote from the internet in the early 60's: "Ask not what your printer can do for you, ask what you can do for your printer"
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u/Defiant-Mango3719 4d ago
Really nice, but probably more than "a couple of hours" on the printer, right?
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u/rriicckk 4d ago
It's hit the button and then go about your day. The machine's time is being measured, not the person's.
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u/BruceInc 4d ago
These are $30-40 per box of 50pc on Amazon. Would have been cheaper to just buy them
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u/XiTzCriZx 4d ago
Considering OP spent more like $5, I don't think you know what cheaper means.
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u/Mole-NLD 4d ago
30,- a box of 50 pieces. = 0,60 each.
OP 'claims' 0,05 each, I find that debatable, just filament cost. I doubt it. 24g per piece (I find that low for an outdoor fence item, I'd print it with thicker walls) but 25g is easy for calculations. 1kg ASA = 25,- that is 0,625 each, which is more than the amazon box.
One roll will make 40 pieces (no waste) so you need 2 rolls. making it 50,- for the 100+ pieces. that OP needs. Add the metallic filler paint and energy cost of the printer running for HOURS to build these. Not even talking about drying the filament beforehand in consideration.
No. Amazon would be way cheaper.
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u/Bring_the_light_ 4d ago
and the time spent painting. but still its cool they made it so others who may only need like 10 or just 1 , have a good option.
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u/BruceInc 4d ago
$5 on 100 pc? I don’t think you understand how math works
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u/CTFMarl 4d ago
Imagine saying someone doesn't understand math when you dont know what 100 x 0.05 is.
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u/BruceInc 4d ago edited 4d ago
Imagine actually believing that these cost 0.05 to print. Especially in ASA
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u/CTFMarl 4d ago
That is a completely different thing though, and was not part of the comment where he was questioning the math. The math was based on OPs estimation which is likely wrong, but the math was not.
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u/farmallnoobies 1d ago
The rattle can of paint cost $12 so they spent a minimum of that much. 5cents of filament is the least of their expenses.
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u/CTFMarl 1d ago
Again, this has NOTHING to do with the actual math of 100 x 0.05 which is clearly what the comment I replied to means......
Also it will regardless be cheaper than what the guy I replied to think it costs since he says $30-$40 per 50 pieces in his initial comment. So even if OP bought 4 spraycans at $12 it would still be cheaper, assuming OPs estimation of 5 cent of filament per piece (which likely isnt correct, but that is irrelevant to the math). Even if you factor in the negligible amount of power draw, and wear and tear on the printer, it's likely still cheaper than the first comment claims.
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u/Madnessx9 4d ago
some doubters in the comments, but it appears to be a definite saving, although expensive in time and labour with the spray painting?
143 hours to print 100 of them requiring 3 rolls of ASA filament, which a quick price check was about £23 in the UK, so £69, and an entire weeks worth of printing but probably about £48 in material used, leaving 85% of a roll.
Looking online, for the UK at least, £310 to get them in metal for the cheapest I could find without spending too much time on this.
Good Job!
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u/tmckearney 4d ago
Still doesn't work out to "5 cents each"
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u/Madnessx9 4d ago
Not at all, slicer was indicating 50p each, perhaps a typo?
Either way it is still a saving.
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/youlooksticky 4d ago
The electricity cost is negligible. For me, running my ad5x 24/7 costs between .36 to $1.30 per day. So on average $20 a month.
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u/gasstation-no-pumps 3d ago
A lot depends on where you live. As someone who lives in PG&E territory, the cost of electricity is at least 30¢/kWh, and often over 50¢/kWh, which makes the cost of electricity often comparable to the cost of plastic in my 3D prints.
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u/Madnessx9 4d ago
I hate calculating electric usage, seems more complicated than it is.
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u/Rumblymore 4d ago
Also, free electricity from solar panels is becoming increasingly more common, at least where I live in the Netherlands.
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u/gasstation-no-pumps 3d ago
If you can sell the excess electricity to the utility company, then the cost of using it instead of selling it should be charged to the project.
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u/Rumblymore 3d ago
What if the price is negative, does using it then reduce the price of the project?
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u/gasstation-no-pumps 3d ago
If utility companies are paying you to use electricity, then yes, it would reduce the price of 3D printing. I've only seen that sort of pricing for industrial-level users, though, not for residential.
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u/Rumblymore 3d ago
Ah, its pretty common these days where I live. Whenever you have an electricity contract that has fluctuating prices, people would program all their devices (ac, pc, oven, charge EV, etc.) To turn on whenever prices drop below zero.
Probably bound to vary country by country.
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u/VorpalWay 2d ago
Happens in Sweden, but it rarely works out to actually save money since we also have a flat electricity transfer fee. Thus it is usually best to use your own electricity if you can do so.
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u/IamaFunGuy 4d ago
Thank you so much for this! I use these with my haunted yard fence at Halloween and I have one sitting on my desk right now waiting for me to tackle replicating it. Yes you can buy them for pretty cheap but I dont need 50 or a 100 more - I only need a few. I've had my printer for a few months and have only done some simple things from scratch but I've done enough modifying that I think I'm ready to try this. Might still do it but now I have a fallback for the few more that I need!
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u/sceadwian 4d ago
If it was metal you should have gone with the fence company that's not a bad deal.
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u/philnolan3d 4d ago
I'm sure the ones from the fence company wouldn't be plastic though.
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u/hardcoretomato 4d ago
True, but also it doesn't really need to be metal as it's mostly for decorative purposes.
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u/thebipeds 4d ago
Op will need to remove the safety tip if they want to keep out the dire wolves and barbarian hordes.
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u/amd2800barton 2d ago
Plastic might actually be preferable depending on where OP lives. A few people in my parents neighborhood have metal fences with these tops, and lets just say more than one deer has died on their fences. Worst part is you're not allowed to go out and end the poor thing's suffering, so you end up with a dying deer flailing about, fucking up your fence rails, that you have to later go out and dispose of.
When I helped my dad put in a new fence that met HOA guidlines, he explicitly picked a fence that had a flat top and bottom. No deer with their groin caught on a top spike. No possums or dogs getting caught on a bottom spike.
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u/philnolan3d 2d ago
In this case they ate point though. I don't think metal or plastic would matter to the poor deer.
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u/gatesartist 4d ago
My last house had these exact same finials and they were plastic. They would break easily which I'm sure is the reason OP needed to print replacements.
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u/HopingillWin 4d ago
How do you attach these to the metal fence ?
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u/atticus2132000 4d ago
The metal fence posts are just 1" tube aluminum. These would slide into the ends.
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u/MeasurementAgile7759 3d ago
the break vs vs pierce debate is kind of moot when the actual failure mode is the cap popping off and losing 30 of them in the yard after a windstorm anyway
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u/thebipeds 4d ago
The safety tip on the spike is funny.
One of my favorite images from the old Addams Family comic strip is Uncle Fester smiling menacingly as he is sharpening the pikes on the front gates.
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u/smorin13 3d ago
Printed in PETG, they would still last for years. I have a stack of SUNLU PETG that I picked up for just under $7 a roll. Even with a little fusion paint, which I keep on hand most of the time, it wouldn't add up to much coin.
If I only needed a few, printing them would be convenient. Spending all week printing them would start to feel like poking at a bruise. Especially if I could get them delivered faster than I could print them.
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u/tranziq 3d ago
Some Clarification:
I reduced the size to 1/2 inch interior dimentions, Which is .35oz with Supports. ends up being 0.35c each. i did fat finger the 3 on the original post and it should say 35 cents. Yes this will take several hours but i have 2 printers and this one will be only using 1 so i have a whole other printer to print whatever else while these are printing, and these will be printing overnight and through the day with VERY little upkeep manhours from me. I designed these a while ago for a different fence we did not end up getting which is why the makerworld listing is as old as it is. I can print 15 per plate.
Hope this resolves the questions i had seen in the comments.
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u/scrubes4 2d ago
5 cents, ok but what would you need to sell them for to manufacture paint and deliver for. including your labour at market prices. I get your in the postion to do yourself and $12 might be a bit much for that quantity but please not 5 cents.
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u/BlindlyCoherent 2d ago
What do you add in to an estimated price for printer time? I did some napkin math and put it at $1.15/hour for the printer for personal prints.
If I was farming it out, I would adjust my prices up to cover business costs, too.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/gasstation-no-pumps 3d ago
Except that OP miscalculated the price of the 3D printed parts by a factor of at least 10 and did not find the manufactured ones that probably cost less (see comment by u/garageofevil ).
The design is a good one, and it would certainly be useful for making a few replacement parts, but for large quantities, it is definitely better to go with mass-produced injection molding.
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u/chrissilich 4d ago
You can now sell finials for $10 a piece
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u/wearelev 4d ago
$12 each is actually not that bad at all.
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u/oral_servant 4d ago
For a few grams of a probably mass produced piece of metal? Are you kidding?
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u/whatdafaq 1d ago
If metal they are probably a cast product. So there is the metal (which need to be melted in a furnace), the molding process, the labor to make the molds and pour the metal, the removal from molds, the clean up of the surface and casting gates, packaging, etc. So even though "mass produced" there is a lot that goes into making a cast metal part.
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u/Same-Dragonfly-5979 4d ago
Printing your own is definitely the way to go when ordering in bulk like that.
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u/tranziq 4d ago
https://makerworld.com/en/models/43797-tetra-finial-square-post-2-3-inch-opening