Hi all,Just wanted to share my first 200 sets of injection molded parts for my project:http://ift.tt/2Dzj8gv cost was $3800 USD (Made In America from ProtoLabs) and it includes 200 pieces as well as the mold for future production (I did do some negotiation to get the price lower from $5500 USD in case folks were wondering). The price per piece is $3 from hereon (I plan on producing around 2000-3000 pieces total). The cost using a 3D printer to do this would be $170K USD at least when going through 3DHubs (using SLA resin as it MUST be leakproof). The total cost of 2000 pieces when injection molded (including the initial mold) is $9800 USD. The cost is dramatically lower than the numbers I see thrown around (tens of thousands USD in CHINA).I prototyped it initially on my Prusa i3 MK2S and YES I had to make adjustments specifically for injection molding (not everything that you 3D Print can be injection molded, you MUST Design For Manufacturing).It looks like a simple tank, but it went through maybe 6-7 iterations on my 3D printer before I was sure it satisfied DFM requirements. The material used is a PMMA Acrylic. The turnaround time from sending in my CAD files to getting my 200 pieces was exactly 17 days (much less than the 2-3 months that many folks purportedly state).18 out of the 200 pieces had a chip on or crack which was due to the shipping. I’ve already sent in a complaint about that to get either re-imbursed or replacement.Would I recommend it? Most definitely yes if you plan on making a few hundred pieces or more. The time savings, cost of materials savings, fumes saving, electricity savings, and functional superiority make it a no-brainer. Less than a few hundred pieces? 3D printing is your best bet as the cost of the molds won’t justify the project. You would have to determine the threshold or break-even point and it will differ from project to project. http://ift.tt/2logsvx