Show HN: Makely – 3D Printing for Everyone | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Makely – 3D Printing for Everyone

makely.me

10 pointspetargyurov7 comments

I put my printer up on a previous website like yours. That website based their price on weight and print time. The result was that I got a lot of orders for tiny items and never any orders for large runs. The setup and packing time time plus packing materials for a small order is just as long as for a large job so I was not making any money and it was just a huge pain dealing with these tiny fragile parts.

Can you please clarify how you are going to handle pricing? My preference would be to let suppliers bid.

Hi Jemm,

We don't decide the the price - you do. We also don't force feed you orders - you get to choose the projects you want to work on. When you see a listing you like, you can submit a quote, at which point a message stream is opened between you and the customer. There you can iron out any details and even adjust your quote.

Your concern is echoed by many other creators, which is one of the reasons I started Makely in the first place.

Hi HN,

I want to show you my solo project, Makely, which I have been working on for a little over a year.

Makely lets you find 3D printing enthusiasts and small businesses that will help you to 3D print your ideas.

I created Makely because I saw how, despite existing giants like 3DHubs or Shapeways, 3D printing is innaccessible to the everyday user. With current platforms, the minimum requirement is an existing 3D model - this is actually quite a high barrier - 3D modelling is hard, and modelling for printing has its own requirements.

Makely eliminates the need to have a 3D model ready and any knowledge of suitable materials. You just need to post a description of your project and the creators on the platform will send you a quote of how much it would cost.

If you own a 3D printer, you can start earning by taking on projects.

Happy to answer any questions!

- Petar

Maybe it would make sense to support more than just 3D printing? How about CNC machining? It's even less accessible than 3D printing.

I thought about this and it's something I will probably expand to in the future. I am less familiar with CNC services and this was already a large undertaking that I didn't want to overcomplicate things at the start.

Hi, does this platform support designers with no printer?

Yes! As a creator you can select the services you provide in your profile settings. We provide the option for those creators who only create 3D models.

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