Is THIS Better than 3D Printing?

Fancy grabbing a pair of forever shades? 😎 Check out our 100% recycled plastic Loops here:

"3D printing that would be WAY better!" ⬅️ This is the type of comment we get on our videos daily. And while 3D printing is a fantastic technology, is it superior to injection moulding? It really depends on your definition of better... Cheaper? Faster? Higher quality? More sustainable? We decided to pit 3D Printers and Injection Moulders against each other to try and settle things once and for all.

🔗 Links to what we used and referenced in the video:

Big thanks to Arts University Bournemouth for the use of their Innovation Studio for filming.
Instagram: @‌aubinnovation @inspiredaub
Linkedin: @‌aub Innovation Studio

#BrothersMake #HDPE #PreciousPlastic #HDPERecycling #RecycledPlastic #RecycledPlasticBottles #PlasticShredding #InjectionMoulding #PlasticRecycling

♻️♻️♻️

FAQ:
➡️ Our workshop is powered 100% by renewable energy. We don’t use any energy from fossil fuels.

♻️♻️♻️

Music by Epidemic Sound

[tomholroyd]

Now do an episode on mold making. How much does it cost to DIY a comb mold?

[doubleleterlady]

I had no idea that those curtains were for flies!!!

[jim-i-am]

You guys should collab with Slant3D on a 'challenge' to refine the scope of when to use 3d print farms vs. when to invest in injection moulding. I agree with your conclusions that each has their place. It'd be very entertaining to see two very passionate sides of the argument go head to head, though ... sorta like a heavy weight boxing match for plastic production!

[rickytleung]

3D printing and injection moulding have their use cases and I love the fact that you gents went through the pros and cons between the two technologies and processes. Use a 3D printer to help prototype a design with the intention of using injection moulding later for larger scale manufacturing. I'd imagine the aluminum injection moulds costs quite a bit of money and time to fabricate so using a 3D printer to iterate through your product design makes the most sense, minimizing the cost and time spent creating the moulds for injection moulding.

[zippybean]

You missed one thing. How long does it take to make an ejection mold ? That needs to be added into the total time.

[thenextlayer]

3d printing excels where you want to be able to customize or personalize items. Not for mass scale manufacturing generally. So not a great comparison. But a fair point.

[antronk]

That print orientation of the comb in the slicer is 100% engagement bait ;)

[ZURAD]

3D printing shines with custom tooling. You could make a simple pneumatic press with 3D printed parts for taking those beads off of the sprues all at once

[paulpardee]

Why did you print the comb in that orientation? Just off the top of my head, that would be the absolute worst orientation for it - the forces are going to be perpendicular to the layer lines and you'll break teeth, AND it would print much slower because you have to wait for the small layers to cool, AND you'd have a ton of stringing (potentially).

I used to be in industrial plastics - injection molding, blow molding, crown molding, the works. I'd say the biggest benefit of 3D printing is consistency and ease of use. We'd have machines that would be cranking out parts without issue all night, then someone 3 buildings away would sneeze and we'd spend the rest of the shift trying to get the parts going again. You'll sometimes get prints that don't want to cooperate, but I've never had the issues with even my cheap, ancient 3D printer that I had with the big injection molding machines.

But ultimately, you're right. Injection molding does one thing, it does it very well and very quickly. 3D printing does a nearly unlimited number of things, very slowly and with a rough finish. For now... I think the story will be very different in 20 years.

[skyriftnetwork]

Don't forget manual labor when calculating the price of injection molding, 3D printing is mostly automated leaving you free to do other things. Injection molding requires you to be there the entire time.

[LucianoFoxtrot]

If 3d printers could make parts cheaper and faster, then industry would have stopped plastic injection long time ago.
It can makes part at home, which is already impressive.

[donart]

What’s the cost of molds against 3D printing files

[adama]

If you want to make massive abounts of the same item then injection molding is better. If you are prototyping, making complex parts, short runs or a job shop, 3d printing is better. Making 3d filament is also a valid use to recycle plastic.
For the average person, they will get WAY more use out of a 3d printer than injection molding. For the small boutique recyclers trying to make the most product, the injection molding will make a lot of sence.

[MrQuantumvisions]

moulds are expensive add another 5k for a cnc machine and probably £30-50 for material then your getting closer to equality
3d printing will always be faster for one offs or prototypes
injection moulding is always cheaper for mass production

[oasntet]

The Crafsman has made some discoveries that could drive the cost of injection molds down significantly, especially for small batches. He got a couple blank molds made, and then slots high-temperature silicone molds (made from positives that are resin-printed) into those. So he can make injection molds at home. They won't last as long as CNC'd molds, but they can be iterated on for much, much cheaper.

[pat_link_]

Great video, injection moulding can make usable things from recycled plastic, and 3D printers create prototype problem-solving solutions. In my opinion, they are difficult to compare, but you did a good job demonstrating it. Both have their place in a good markerspace ♻️

[Mister_Mxyzptlk]

You should make a collab with Slant3D. You could design a functional part for injection molding while Gabe could design a part for the same function for FDM mass production and finally you could do the math and cross-check the forecasted costs. That would be something really interesting to watch...

[mr.hardstone]

I have 3 3d printers (2 fdm, 1 resin) and run a small 3d printing service and I adore 3d printing, but 100% they're just not practical or appropriate for a lot of tasks. I'd never consider printing a comb because regardless of resin or filament or infill used it just won't have the structural integrity to be useful, especially for the long term compared to an injection moulded one, and especially compared to one which can be endlessly recycled.

[chrisco]

It takes 200 hrs (8 to 9 days) to print 9000 beads on my single Voron 3D printer (costs $600 to build) - this is actual print slicing calculation. Estimated with beads having an 8mm diameter and a 1.6mm hole. There is zero plastic waste, and total labour cost is about 45 minutes - 5 minutes to clean the print plate once daily for 9 times.

[eymamma]

Don't worry about the waste from the 3D printer.
Just buy an injection molder and make the waste into beads :D