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I planning on getting a resin 3d printer kit, and I don't want to take any risks building it myself. Where, or who, could I hire a professional capable of constructing a 3D printer kit? They don't necessarily have to specialize in constructing 3d printers, I just need someone qualified with the mechanical and technical skills for the job.

YetAnotherRandomUser
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Max
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    Why not buy an assembled printer? – tjb1 Oct 30 '17 at 19:04
  • What is your locale and budget? Which kit are you pursuing? – YetAnotherRandomUser Oct 31 '17 at 00:31
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    If you are not able to assemble a simple kit such as a 3d printer, you probably are not going to be able to calibrate the printer, maintain it over time, or even handle it safely. In all seriousness I suggest you spend some time building simpler things first. – Carl Witthoft Oct 31 '17 at 18:32

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If you have a makerspace in your area, you'll likely find individuals with reasonable mechanical skills suitable for simple kit assembly. Most kits are engineered to be reasonable assembly, not rocket surgery. Makers are by nature capable of construction, often from raw materials, and kits are typically not particularly challenging comparatively speaking.

Resin 3D printers are also simple in construction, as the component count is less than that of an FDM printer, or quite close in count. SLA designs involve laser modules, mirrors and alignment, while DLP designs involve light projection and light masking. Both designs involve vats and movement mechanics.

Even if you do not have a makerspace local to you, consider to contact one that might be nearer than farther away, as those spaces may have leads for you to locate a suitable victim/candidate.

Our local library makerspace often farms out contacts to me or other makers with the necessary skills to meet a patron's requirements.

fred_dot_u
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I agree that a local makerspace is a good option, but I will say this...

Buying a kit and building it yourself, even with some frustration and learning curves, will help immensely with your ability to calibrate and troubleshoot issues later. If someone else builds it for you, chances are if something goes wrong, you'll need to seek out that person for help fixing things.

I just recently bought my first 3D printer (FDM) as a kit. Building it was a slight learning curve - I'm a technophile and have built things with Arduino before, but never a printer and the specifics that come along with it. Getting it to actually print reliably took me about two weeks. However, I'm MUCH more confident now to take care of issues as they arise, and keep it running smoothly. The value of this experience can not be overstated.

Jesse Williams
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  • Although I agree that there is great value in assembling a kit, and also that I've assembled many things including a Genuine Prusa i3 MK2s, the OP desired to not build himself. I suspect that is why someone has tagged you for a -1. T'wasn't me, however. – fred_dot_u Nov 01 '17 at 22:36
  • I don’t mind the downvote. I understood the OP’s question, and was simply offering a counterpoint. Especially since the OP stated this desire was born of “not want[ing to] take any risks.” I get why that might be, but wanted to shed light on the position that can put you in down the road. :) – Jesse Williams Nov 01 '17 at 23:02
  • Though the downvote seems unwarranted since it was simply a qualified answer: makerspace is a good option, however... /shrug – Jesse Williams Nov 01 '17 at 23:04
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    I'll definitely consider building other kits later on, but I'd rather not take the risk on my first resin printer, as I'd rather at least have one working resin printer before I start messing with others, I don't exactly want to get caught in a situation where I have a pile of broken printers and no working ones, I didn't down vote you, and you do have good advice for later printers, I should get eventually get handy with these things, but I think I should get a working one first before messing around with custom mudded projector lasers, nozzles ect I'll give you an upvote (= – Max Nov 02 '17 at 19:58
  • dang it won't let me... I don't have enough reputation yet... =[, wait would it even be possible to down vote someone with my low level of reputation... oh well sorry I couldn't up vote you... – Max Nov 02 '17 at 20:00
  • @Max - all good! Good luck with your resin printer! :) – Jesse Williams Nov 03 '17 at 13:02