Amortization time?

[pablobell 0]

Hi,

I am starting to print for profit and wondered how to calculate the machine's amortization cost. My guess is that it is much higher than the material cost.

My first numbers are like this: printing an average of 5 hours a day, in six months that's about 900 hours. So to amortize the printer in 900 hours the amortization cost will be: 1.5 - 2 euros per hour.

Then, my question is: how many hours will the Ultimaker last before breaking? Is 1000 hours too much o too little? I could account for the cost of some replacement parts. How long have you been printing?

[SandervG 1,519]

Hi Pablo,

Because the Ultimaker is a DIY-Kit, or at least has an open design you can always replace parts when needed.

A proper assembly, usage and maintenance is needed to reach the Ultimakers full attention.

The Ultimaker is not Plug & Play, the Ultimaker needs to be calibrated and settings need to be set.

Therefor it is hard to say, parts will probably not break, but there is a chance due to experimenting or wrongful usage some parts get damaged.

You could consider a spare hot end v2 (if you want to plan ahead).

Have you also taken filament and blue tape in account?

[Daid 304]

Going on that a 0.75kg roll is 30 euros. And that a full roll can be printed in 30 hours, on quality settings at high speeds. Which puts the price on a euro per hour for the materials.

But Joris prints a roll in a few hours if he wants, but he is insane

As for the printer, so far I've only seen the old extruder wear out. The new extruder with the bearing wheel seems to have less wear. And then, even if some parts wear, you replace the parts, not the whole machine! I've yet to see any machine to show signs of wear. Except for the one machine which needed belt replacements because of improper assembly (The belts where worn, because the pulleys where skewed)

[pablobell 0]

Thank you for your replies!

I am a molecular biologist and figured out I could start selling some simple lab equipment, such as tube racks and pipette holders.

I will calculate the costs of each part adding supplies (PLA, tape, cutter blades, sanding paper, etc) + labor (my time spent designing, setting up the machine, and maybe toolpath calculation) + hardware amortization (machine cost + parts shipping + extra tools I bought). Then multiply by some safety factor to account for failed attempts. I will start with a hardware amortization cost of 2 euros per hour and a safety factor of 1.5, but the latter will surely change with time and experience.

Last part I printed took 6 hours to print, had a supplies cost of only 2.5 euros and a hardware amortization cost of 6x2=12 euros.

Has anyone figured out other numbers?