Decent 3d scanners under $1000

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨3dprinting@lemmy.world⁩

I’m looking to get a halfway decent general purpose scanner, and the market is all over the place. I don’t need anything with industrial engineering precision, but I would like to be able to scan broken parts around the house to print replacements with at least decent precision.

I expect most of my use cases would be in the 1cm³-1dm³ range, but it would also be fun to be able to scan bigger subjects. Mostly people, so I can make personalized tabletop minis, but I also like the prospect of miniaturizing other things.

Blue laser looks super cool, but also very pricey.

What are the best options in the $500-1000 range? I’m kinda outta my depth here.

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

IMALlama@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m not going to try to dissuade you from getting a 3D scanner, but for functional prints a pair of calipers, some radius gauges, and a profile gauge will you really far. Once you get some reps in with CAD it also won’t take you long to model your designs. CAD is a great skill to learn and as you do this again and again you’ll start modifying your designs to make them easier to print.

source
- agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yeah that’s what I’ve done so far, but anything that’s not made of a few simple shapes gets annoying real fast. Compound curves, tone of details, and organic shapes are more time commitment than I’m willing to spend for most things.
  
  source
  - tofubl@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I wonder if it will be less annoying with a point cloud. You’ll still need to model it, only with a digital reference, correct?
    
    source
tyler@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
PolyCam is free. You can also use photogrammetry and free software to model it yourself. It’s not complicated but takes a beefy computer.

source
- agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’ve dabbled, but based on my results I feel like dedicated hardware would provide enough benefit to justify. My computer is reasonably beefy, but I’d rather pair that with a beefy front end.
  
  source
Nenutzerbame@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Check out Revopoint, they have scanners in this price range

source
- agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That was the main brand I was looking at, still it’s difficult to decide between the options.
  
  source
  - jsheradin@fedia.io ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I picked up a used Revopoint Metro X with accessories for ~$600 a little while ago. There's quite a learning curve to getting a good scan quickly but a couple afternoons of practice were enough to figure it out. The turntable is pretty flaky (random bluetooth disconnects) but the scanner itself is great.
    
    source
HelloRoot@lemy.lol ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I guess iphone (one with lidar, so one of the pro models, but it can be as old as 12) with a 3d scanning app might be the best general purpose in this price range…

Whats also interesting are diy rotating bed scanners like fabscan.org which come at 200-400$

source
- agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yeah that’s why I asked this here instead of just googling reddit. Subscription models are very much not my vibe, I like buying a thing and consequentially owning that thing.
  
  source