Yes, FineLine Prototyping will be droping Printapart. I received this message from our friends at PAP today:
Attention printapart.com customers,
I am contacting you today to let you know about an upcoming change to printapart.com.
As many of you are aware, printapart.com is a web portal operated by FineLine Prototyping Inc. We originally conceived of printapart.com as a straightforward, simple way to order 3D printed parts. We were able to utilize automation in combination with the resolution of the InVision HR 3D printer platform to offer high resolution parts at economical prices.
However, since the creation of printapart.com, two factors have changed. First, customers have embraced 3D printing technology, and are developing increasingly sophisticated part designs and applications that require careful consideration of factors like build orientation during the quoting and production process.
At the same time, FineLine has developed a more sophisticated online quoting system that allows us to review parts prior to building, while still offering the pricing structure developed for printapart.com. In addition, the FineLine site allows customers to quote other Rapid Prototyping technologies like stereolithography (SL) and selective laser sintering (SLS).
The net result is we are able to offer a higher service level, additional technologies, and the same 3D Printing pricing structure through the FineLine quoting system. In fact, we have already seen many of our printapart customers using the FineLine site.
So, effective March 1, 2011, printapart.com will no longer accept new quotes or orders and we will transition printapart customers to the FineLine online quoting system.
From now until the March 1 cut-over, we will deactivate new user creation, but current printapart.com users may continue to create quotes and place orders on printapart.com. However, we encourage you to start submitting your parts through the FineLine site. After March 1, we will leave the printapart account dashboards active for a number of months so that you can review past printapart.com orders, but you will no longer be able to submit new quotes or orders.
If you have not used the FineLine site prior to now, we have created accounts for you on the new system using your printapart email address. Within the next day or so, you will receive an email invitation to activate your new account.
If you have already created an account on the FineLine system you can continue use that account. If you're not sure, you can always create a FineLine account here. If your account already exists, you will be prompted to either activate it or change your password.
We thank you for your use of printapart.com, and we look forward to continuing to provide quality 3D printed parts for you on the FineLine system. If you have any questions about the transition, or about use of the FineLine site, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Andrew
_________________________________
Andrew Rogers
FineLine Prototyping, Inc.
http://www.finelineprototyping.com
Raleigh, NC
p: (919) 781-7702 x116
f: (919) 781-7612
andrew@finelineprototyping.com
They say they'll be using the same pricing structure, but from what I've seen parts printed on the Invision HR are slightly more in cost using FLP than PAP. Oh well, we'll see...
Yes, I received one of those too. The service is still going to exist, just under the larger umbrella of the parent company Fineline Prototyping. I fully expect the price to increase some but certainly welcome the greater attention they say they will pay to part orientation during printing and so on. After all, they wouldn't do it if they weren't going to make more money in the process either through reduced costs or increased fees, most probably both. I have several rapid prototyping jobs for clients to send them this month so it will be interesting to see how it all develops.
Paul
It doesn't sound like a terrible change; only an evolution. At the same time, they are not the only game in town. Maybe a less publicized company exists and produces equal or better results. We should investigate. -- Russ
To the Batmobile, Robin!
Seems to be growing pains with a lot of 3D printers. Volume is probably their friend and enemy. I know Shapeways is having trouble meeting deadlines and their quality while 1/10 the price is not near as nice.
cheers
Perhaps my choice of words ensued an ambience of over-inflation.
I just placed an order for a client with Fineline Prototyping, the parent company of the former Printapart. As a matter of curiosity, I quoted the part being prototyped last week on Printapart. When I ordered a prototype today on Fineline of the same part, the price was 11.5% higher. Significantly though, the prototyping timeframe was dramatically reduced from 1-2 weeks to 2-3 days and there are considerably more variables available in the quoting process. Perhaps one of the most important is the option of specifying exactly the orientation of the part during the prototyping process. Also the build area is much larger than Printapart. It's now 5" x 7" x 4" which opens up more possibilities for larger pieces. Smallest feature size is till .003", printing layers are .00125" T. I'll post more feedback once the part arrives.
Paul
Paul,
Thanks for that update and info. Seeing that they have increased the quality of their resilution by quite a bit...I think it used to be .005, and the detail/feature size has been refined.....I believe they used to say .010........then the 11% increase is definitely worth the extra $......heck, even if they only increased in quality by 11%....the increase would be justified. :)
Marc
I guess I have some collectors items now!
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages59.fotki.com%2Fv111%2Fphotos%2F7%2F777399%2F2992336%2FIMG_0976-vi.jpg&hash=69457cc9770cb0777312434d7de5292b2f4c0df1)
Received the wheel prototype earlier this week from Fineline Prototyping and they did an excellent job. I've published photos here: http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1351.0 (http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1351.0)
Paul