I just got a quote on #3DHubs for the plastic in #SCOUTcorexy and it seems a bit steep at Eur70/670gr of filament. WHAT DO YOU THINK, IS IT A LOT OF PLASTIC I AM USING FOR THE DESIGN (NOT THAT I CAN CUT OFF MUCH)? The quoted price would be less if I would use 2020 extrusion and get rid of many clamps around the square tube but the difference will not be substantial. The only real cost saver would be a “pay it forward” type service that would print these for you for free and then, you’d have to print the same amount of plastic for someone else… unfortunately that type of service is not available here -or anywhere?.
I understand that, that’s why maybe 3DHubs should be left for larger jobs maybe even out of reprap realm. I was merely discussing it from a reprap pov because at some point it doesn’t make sense to build a printer when it approaches kits price.
That’s an enormous amount of plastic though, are they being built 100% infill?
I think it’s always been hard to make a self-source cheaper than a kit, at least for several years. The advantage is you get more control of what goes in.
70€ is totally reasonable. It’s roughly 15€ worth of plastic, 5-10€ in power, then the manufacturer’s time, shipping material + postage, it all adds up. Realistically, whoever is printing these needs to get the job done with less than 20 minutes of his time total to be profitable, which is already a tough to do unless the printer is spitting out the parts all by itself.
@Aric_Norine 30ct. These are rough numbers, assuming a printer using about 150W and printing at a medium speed and layer height.
I think you misunderstood me 
… I was thinking that maybe my design uses too much plastic parts when I saw that 650gr. Yes, Eur70 in Romania is not peanuts but that’s not my primary concern. I have asked the hub about the settings he uses for the quote: 0.2mm, 2 shells, 30%infill, no support.
Here is the thingiverse direct link to all the parts, laid down on bed (arbitrary size) if you want to take a look and maybe suggest different settings:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1487375/zip