Do you really need "smart" tools? The answer will SHOCK you! 

if i was to provide a service to ghana government and a petroleum company , industrial level , what 3d printer should i go for

This is the big win - if you want another identical (or nearly identical) holder 2 weeks later, you just have to send the file. With traditional methods, you have the setup, breaking down stock, and cleaning up you had for the original run.

Similarly, once you have jigs and methods down with the traditional woodworking, making additional parts is quick too.

​@@JohnC1less traditional skills needed with modern technology, so in these times easier to teach to anyone making it a cheaper option for bigger organisations. For the smaller 1 guy operations handtools and semi cnc probably will still be the most efficient

@@JohnC1 Why would you want to do the work by hand? It's more work you have to do and is more hazardous.

Design was already sorted out from the cad version so add that to your woodworking 5 hrs.

Yes, I dont have a lot of space in my apartment and a 3d printer for 80$ (Modified ender 3 Pro ) and a few regular tools work very well for me

I hear you. I can easily spend 5+ hours on a single part! Never mind if I tried to do that many. Curse my perfectionism. There's always something I'm not quiet happy with. lol

All 3 excellent points here, thank you!

To number 2, you don't need the level of equipment shown in this video. You can get a desktop laser capable of this for well under a thousand these days, maybe even half that on sale. 3D printers that are decent are under five hundred. So, $1K for the 2, which isn't that steep if you plan on using them for other things. I'd venture you could skip the 3D printer, as you could create that locking mechanism other ways with lasered parts and a simple pivot (nail/screw).

True. Travis is using high end tools in both fields. Buying lower end models will be cheaper but yield worse results or lesser capabilities. You can easily stand up a traditional woodshop for well under $1k, _especially_ if you're willing to shop on the used market. My point wasn't that one is better than the other, just that it's a significant factor that should be considered, and Travis did not address it.

"You only need to learn one thing for digital", oh boy... Have a look at the 100+ damn slicer settings for a simple printer. Leveling the damn thing, making sure it sticks, using the proper filament, etc, etc. Same for the laser, a whole bunch of parameters, and things you have to take into account just to run the damn thing. That's not to mention the whole CAD/CAM design process, along with using the proper construction methodologies, such as preventing overhangs and whatnot. "Design for manufacturing", basically. I own a bunch of power tools, from planers, to tablesaw and basics drills. I also own a pretty decent printer (artillery sidewinder x2). And I designed and built my own 24x48" 80W CO2 laser. I can confidently say that hand/power tools are SIGNIFICANTLY easier to get started with. "Easy to learn, hard to master", whereas digital fabrication tends to be "hard to learn, harder to master". I mean, in general, press a button on any given power tool, and it'll go "brrrr". Common sense generally tells you what you can do with said "brrr". Press a button on a digital fabrication tool, and you'll be lucky it doesn't wreck itself 😅

You can also paint them to match a theme in your shop. Personally leaving them a natural plywood color isn't something I would do.

Personally, I think the Ryobi tool wall looks better than any DYI I’ve seen. I don’t know what the strength of the tool wall is as I’ve not tried it

Think twice, cut once.

Me too!

Here to.

So true, I think the laser looks so incredibly ugly.

Agreed.👍🇺🇸

Agreed!

Going down the rabbit hole that nicifying (new word, you read it here first) shop-made projects can suck up more time than making them. So the question becomes one of what the goal is. Quick / utilitarian, or longer / prettier. I think shop made will win if you want to go the pretty route, versus laser. Of course, throw a low end CNC in the mix and you've got a whole new battle to consider.

@@DavZellShop Greatness. I have a half pretty half garage chaos shop. It’s difficult to want to go out there without small things to do. It’s the little wins that help me get through the big projects. Especially once big projects have finishing steps that keep delaying the final assembly.

Yes! Modifying a 3D design is quick, especially if you do it right with parametric inputs

I suspect that if you made 2x the amount of holders, digital production would be faster. The more repeats you have, the more traditional production has the disadvantage. The time spend on digital production is much influenced by complexity (of the part) and the experience of the user. Learning CAD is a lot harder then learning to use woodworking tools... Another question is, what are the upfront costs of both methods, how much space do both methods require and how much does it cost to produce (materials, power and consumables)...

@@Cergorach if you apply the same logic to traditional methods, making jigs, and templates would easily speed that process up as well.

@@awildeep Agreed. But now you'd have to add jig making time to the upfront design times. The design times for the digital fab is essentially replacing the jigs.

On the other hand, had he done the jobs in reverse order, he likely would have used more time designing on the traditional route and less on the "smart" route. And often, you don't need to design but can just download the models - that's where the digital way starts shining.

Heck yeah he does!

Yes that is included

Well, think about having to make many of these. While your cnc starts cutting at 7:00 a.m., you start setting up your assembly line/system. While your cnc cuts the second set, you assemble the first and so on. You can't do that with the by hand method. Also, the more you understand what a cnc can do, the less you have to do, and the more precise and repetable the work becomes.