Hello,

3D prints are not typically ad durable as most retail products. They are unique creations many times in a prototype design phase as well. They cannot always be expected to withstand traditional product shipping methods.

Our 3d printing facilities have many years of experience with additive manufacturing materials. We package parts with care according to material they are printed in. Larger boxes, better packing, item suspension etc. These methods nearly eliminate breakage in shipping, yet naturally increase the shipping/handling expenses.

If you visit the Shapeway forums. It seems breakage is a consistent problem for Shapeways customers. We feel getting your 3d prints intact the first time is the priority. We have chosen UPS as our shipping services however we are considering other possible more affordable shipping services. We may turn this other shipping options on with time.

As for our sample kit. I will speak with our staff about making that a higher priority . As I understand you have anticipated it for a very long time. I apologize for the delay in publishing this sample kit. Please stand by. I will update you asap.

Marco

I would really like to try KW but the website is putting me off.

Uploading a file that works on shapeways gives me:
NO ID {model cannot print {Model volume must be greater 0.}}
(text format STL, no clue as to what the error means)

Clicking on upload another model then doesn't work and the web page needs refreshing
(IE9)

Starting again from scratch with the binary STL, the preview doesn't show and the model dimensions don't appear to be correct so I'm not sure it has uploaded correctly.

I'm not filled with confidence at this point.

Hello, I am sorry to hear you are experiencing trouble. Currently Kraftwurx.com checks models for print-ability and rejects them if any errors are found. Volume must be greater than 0 means there is possibly a small hole in the mesh somewhere. Usually other 3d print services repair these things and never provide you with or aware you of the corrected model. There is free software such as Netfab that will auto-repair models and make them 3d print ready.www.netfabb.com/basic.php


You may also email model files directly to customerservice@kraftwurx.com to make an order with us if you do not wish to attempt repair models.

I would be happy to work with you directly as the site in in beta condition and isn't performing ideally on all platforms especially IE9. It seems to perform best on Google Chrome and Firefox.

When a model is uploaded, you click the button of the unit of measurement you exported the model in. For example if you export a model for 3". Click the "in" button in the Model Editor in order to set the proper scale.

Feel free to chat with me in the instant messenger at the bottom of the site. We can share screens etc. I will aware our development staff of the issues you mentioned and notify you when they should be corrected.

Sorry for the delay and inconvenience.

-Marco

I'd like to see Kraftwurxs clean up and refine what it's currently got. You've got an amazing range of materials, and from the feedback on the forum, service is prompt and professional. But the website is really letting you down right now. I'd like to see it greatly simplified - decide whether you're targeting shoppers or designers with the front page, and shift everything else into links from the front. Right now, the site's structure is too flat in my opinion - it needs a steeper hierarchy so there is not such an overwhelming amount of info on each page. I find this is worst on the front page, the "My Account" control panel, and the "Seller CP". Not every page has to have a link to every other page!

Postage costs outside the US have been brought up before, I'm sure you're working on that.

The other major point of refinement: the materials list. Why do you not have a comparison table showing the major properties of each material - min wall thickness, min detail, modulus of elasticity, yield strength, price etc.? This way a designer could scroll down the table and pick out a suitable material with ease. Currently they have to click through many pages, download pdfs etc, to explore a handful of materials. Your huge range of materials is a major advantage over your competitors, you need to show that off, and make it easy for designers to find the right material for them.

Also, pricing on this page:
www.kraftwurx.com/3d-printing-support/3d...category/materials-2
Is not consistent with the actual pricing in the model manager! Imagine my surprise when I found that EOS Maraging Steel is not $61.94/cm³, but $27.77/cm³! Less than half the price! I actually stopped working on a design because I thought I couldn't make it economical after seeing the incorrect costs on this page.

Fixing this, and making a table of material properties would not even be a day's work for the right person.

I really want to work with Kraftwurx, but you're not making it easy for me.

Hiya,

Still, the 'Updates from the community at Kraftwurx' emails come in with: 'Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4'. I forget how long ago I reported this. I don't care that I see this in Thunderbird, no other email list I am subscribed to has this problem, not in over 10 years.

There are many pages full of spammed links, such as 'www.kraftwurx.com/3d-model-printing/3d-p...e-tractor-beam' Look at the bottom, hilighted in red: 'affordable Ohio car insurance'. Not to mention the more dubious ones in previous news links (not reported, had assumed someone would have taken care of that).

Regardless of the constant reminders of how unprofessional and broken the site looks and works, it has remained the same.

I am not commenting on the prints, which seem to have good reports, but you would have more people printing if the site wasn't as unprofessional and broken, to the point it gives a very questionable impression.

All these points raised, and from others, show our concern that no improvements have been made.

There doesn't seem to be any focus or effort from Kraftwurx. If you keep on asking and not doing, you will only increase frustration, and you have been advised of the required improvements and fixes a long time ago.

Cheers,

Luis.

Hiya,

Just saw the new feature in the Announcements page: 'New Features Exclusive to Kraftwurx'.

Guaranteed, if you poll the curernt site members on how they would have liked the 'Unbranded' store option, this would NOT be the way to do it.

This is locking it in to Facebook, how's that for branding...

No wonder that topic is locked for Comments.

Cheers,

Luis.