Philips debuts 3D printable components to repair products
No more rigging your own fixes, download the official part.
Not as good as them offering the repair parts themselves I feel like, but this is still super cool!
Edit: it sounds like they also offer some parts themselves! Thats honestly fantastic
As long as they're offering the models for free, probably cheaper for the end users at least.
i mean you still have to get them somehow, i doubt getting them shipped to you is going to be cheap and good luck getting the average person to figure out how any of this works in the first place
Hear me out, in a way that's actually better, because you can modify the original models to make them better.
Like the guards on these razors have usually annoying flaws: they are too thick, which pushes a lot of hair down, and the bottom is too round and doesn't lift the hair. You can take the model from Philips, remix it, and get exactly what you need.
And if the company is smart, it will enable sharing of improved models.
Not to mention, if you have the model you can print it even long after the product support has ended. No company will support a product they stopped making half a decade ago, but you'll still be able to print parts the same way.
Just share your own design on one of the 3D model sites, no license/open license. Just be sure to remove any Norelco data from the file.
They probably already did offer spare parts on at least some products if you really wanted them, but shipping is pretty prohibitive on stuff like that.
Also, they take up space in super markets, if they wanna sell them there. If they just wanna sell them on a webshop, they still have to package and send the parts which costs a lot of money aswell. I think this is the absolute best case, and I (might be biased because I own a 3d printer myself) think 95% of people knows someone who have a 3d printer, that would love to print something like this for other people
I agree but also this future-proofs the replacements. Phillips could always stop selling ones they make.
They sell guards through a 3rd party. They don’t advertise it well, so it took me some time to find them last time.
Nice idea. Now make the batteries replaceable in things like shavers, and stop making the replacement foils the printer ink of the personal grooming consumables world. For those that don’t know, you can buy a battery operated shaver for say $60 and the replacement foil and cutter will cost $30-40. Half the cost of a new shaver for a small bit of plastic and metal.
They were replaceable in the old Norelco shavers. It required soldering. If you're 3D printing then soldering is on the same level of technical skill. There's even a solder bridge to disconnect the battery.
Also, allow the blades on the newest model to be reversed. The old version could be reversed, so when the leading edge got dull, you could flip it around.
With the newest version, it's nearly impossible to use the back edge because of the curve of the handle. Clearly designed to reduce blade life by half.
My braun has a replaceable battery, it's a li-ion 14500 (AA size but 3.7V), they're a couple bucks.
I just don't buy battery operated stuff that doesn't have to be battery operated. That's why my bathroom has electrical outlets. K.I.S.S. principal.
I tried to find an electric shaver that plugs into the wall two years back. I gave up and got one that takes AA batteries (rechargeable ones may be expensive but still cheaper per use than proprietary bullshit)
Dude, Just buy a a Wahl clipper set and avoid that headache.
Mine has a big beefy wall-plug one, and one that runs off two AA batteries. Also sturdy as fuck and I've abused and misused the damn thing for like 15 years and they are both still going strong.
Clippers or shaver? Clippers don’t shave close. I do have a Wahl clipper, it’s great, but it doesn’t shave.
I'm with you dude. Every electric shaver I ever bought just kept breaking, so finally I got a pair of Wahl clippers. That's the only thing my beard doesn't just eat up. If I need to get closer I wet shave
Those aren't capable of what a OneBlade can do. Not the same thing at all.
The OneBlade is awesome! Philips is also a European brand.
I'm using mine for i think 10 years now. I used to hate shaving so much, and i still do, but i can't imagine a better solution to be honest.
I always thought the oneblade was just super overhyped, but it's actually been so much better than my last razor. So it's cool to know that they do user-friendly stuff like this too
It's because it doesn't get a "close" shave, so it spares the skin! I loved using safety razors, but my skin didn't. Traditional electric razors were even worse than blades.
But the OneBlade helps a lot. And it's awesome that you can buy all kinds of attachment blades for shaving every part of your body. Plus, it's cheap, portable, and now a little better for DIY parts. I just wish it used a user removable 18650 cell or something. I think you basically have to discard the entire unit if it stops holding a charge :(
Well this is cool as fuck! Make sure you print in ABS or better if your printing this
Petg or ASA would be fine too. I wouldn't do PLA it wouldn't last. And I wouldn't do anything glass or carbon fiber infused if it's going be touching and dragging on skin.
It's one 1-3mm guard. I'd like to see a couple other sizes but it's a good start.
I have a oneblade with the adjustable length but it' be nice to have a static size that I can print.
As long as they don't lose money on their subscription products (like razor blades) they are glad to make sure your device requiring subscription supplies is functioning and you're invested in more regular purchases of consumables.
This looks like a win win situation to me. You don't have to replace your item and they continue to sell consumables.
They probably don't make much money on the "razor" sale, the consumables though are almost all profit. It costs me a dime per blade for my safety razor which performs better anyway and can't really ever break, plus it's solid metal so easily recycled some day not that it would ever die in normal use cases.
Jokes on em, I (don't own any Philips product anymore) just buy off brand.
But hey, repairability might make me consider their stuff in the future.
We need to start making these legally required for companies to sell their products. If possible, require them to use local printers/small batch manufacturing facilities for even the initial manufacture (so long as those facilities exist).
If possible
What's the license of the files? Are third parties able to modify and sell them?
Let's not let perfect be the enemy of good...
Right. It's pre-emptive to prevent people from profiting off of 3d printed replacements.
That sucks
OneBlade is a ripoff to the playbook of razor and blades model anyaway.
Oh. We're supposed to replace them? I've been using my original set for two years.
I use a new blade every 2-3 shaves but then they're 12ct each (BIC). Decent safety razor costs ~35 Euro (Merkur 23C, unchanged for more than a century now), cheap "vegan" (i.e. plastic) brush what five bucks, two small stainless steel bowls (one for soap, the other for foam) in a three pack from the Euro store, soap costs are negligible even if you go a bit fancy (but do use shaving soap, foams and glides much better than hand soap). Alum as astringent, store-brand glycerine/aloe vera face wash. Advantage over alcohol-based aftershave being that you wash off the alum, stopping the skin irritation.
Never, ever, buy a safety razor from a brand that sells cartridge blades. I have a Wilkinson, cheap plastic which isn't the actual problem the bad part is the geometry: They seem to have specifically designed it to make safety razors look bad, the blade angle isn't right, the gap isn't right, it doesn't tension the blade properly. The Merkur isn't high-end (chrome-plated brass and zinc) but has very good geometry, hence as said unchanged for a century.
Mine broke after a month and a new blade costs as much as the whole thing.
Edit: i mean the flat thing.
That exact thing being showcases broke on me while I was shaving my junk over my toilet. It fell right in.
I wish I had a 3d printer now though because being able to print another would be awesome.
Hmm... clever, if you 3d print your junk, you can make it any size you like.
Even black!
Philips trimmers SUUUUUUUUCK.
I had an electric trimmer. The plastic attachments for the various shaving grades were fixed at each end with the smallest possible fragment of plastic. So as you're going over the curves of your skin, those tiny plastic fragments were guaranteed to break before long, rendering the entire trimmer useless, even though it technically still worked. Ordering replacements, which were guaranteed to break, was more expensive than buying an entire new trimmer.
Switched to a different brand and no problems whatsoever.
There's no way a group of people working for Philips sat around designing that shit and didn't know it was designed to break. Planned obsolescence. Fuck Philips.
Howdy, i was about to invest in a Philips trimmer, and now I'm wondering what brand you recommend?
As someone who has used a few Philips trimmers, my experience is that they are decent especially for the price. I usually buy cheaper stuff
I'll try to remember to check this when I get home. I forgot what my current brand is. But the plastic attachments are designed in such a way that I have zero concern about them breaking.
