I can't wait any longer, I have to commit to get a 3D Printer. I have seen all the Printer Guru's create their own versions from RepRap or purchase Makerbot or other systems and create amazing parts.
I was wondering if I could get a summarised list of Pros & Cons from experts who have created or used these marvelous devices.
Hopefully, someday soon I'll be able to join the Richard Gear family !
(I've been working with hairygael & the inmoov robot brain - and am really impressed with his 3D thingyverse parts)
(oh, at the moment I'm leaning towards PrintrBot Plus 20cm x 20cm http://printrbot.com/shop/plus/ based on CtC's recommendation when he built an aluminum PrintrBot)
I have ordered a MakiBox some time ago and I’m still waiting for the R&D process to end. They are trying their best to ship the first 300 units by Christmas, so I hope I’m in that first batch. Anyway, I chose MakiBox because it was the cheapest I could find ($300 plus $50 fast shipping worldwide) and as a bonus, it will print from pellets instead of filament. In the near future it will be able to print from chopped milk jugs and PET bottles. Read more about it here: http://makibox.com/pages/makibox-a6-faq
GroG: I’m in the same boat as you. I’m starting to consider jumping into the world of 3D printing as well. It’s just too tempting, even despite the cost! And it seems that if you sell kits of at least just the plastic parts for other 3D printers you might be able to recoup some of the initial cost.
The person who is selling this kit also has an extremely detailed set of instructional videos about how to assemble the kit, which is compelling to me. I’ve watched the whole series twice now, haha.
Just wondering what others think of that deal. I know it’s on the higher end price-wise, but that kit comes with some nifty features – notably the LCD/SD card reader, and the acrylic holder for the power supply/electronics. It also comes with a whole bunch of fans, and it seems her overall part selection is probably the top-end stuff, which is also compelling to me.
Not knowing enough yet overall, however, I’m worried that it might not be a great deal. To the 3D printing gurus: any advice?
A printrbot kit will run you half the price of that MendelMax. Given, it will be less print volume, and, less exacting, but, for getting your feet wet, you can’t beat it. An LCD and SD card reader would cost you about $20 to $30 to add. With a bit of poking around in the marlin firmware you can have full control over your printer just like CtC does with his newest printer. If you decide you can’t live without something the size of the MendelMax after you have spent time with the printrbot, you can always move to it. The bonus is, you will have had time to understand things on the smaller printer, and, the printrbot will have probably 1/2 to 3/4 the footprint of the MendelMax.
The Printrbot is definitely for me one of the other strong contenders. For me, the prospect of buying one 3d printer that I’m going to want to replace soon after I purchase it, however, doesn’t seem great (you’ll never re-sell something like that for retail, so that pathway is an immediate financial loss at least to some degree), and initial budget in-and-of-itself is not a major issue for me atm, within reason (more than $1,500 is almost definitely out of my range). My general experience with making large purchases on various types of equipment is that if you go with the cheapest option, you’ll typically regret not going for the next best, albeit slightly more expensive, option later. The Printrbot also has a 4-6 week lead time for ordering, which is a major bummer (I think if that alone weren’t the case I’d be much less reluctant). The smaller print size is a detracting factor as well, even if I don’t have an immediate understanding of why I would need a larger size, yet.
So, even with the 400-500 price range difference, I’m like the MendelMax kit option. It’s also nice that I won’t have to mess around with 10 different vendors and their various shipping/turnover times, and the immediate satisfaction is definitely worth something. I haven’t made my final decision yet (and I’m trying to keep the option of not buying one at all in mind, as it is a large purchase) but I’m definitely leaning in the pre-arranged Mendel kit direction, at least in some capicity.
Thanks for all the great input. Thanks TH your reasoning makes complete sense to me. I’m making a list for Santa - just need to check if 20 X 20 cm is big enough for something I have my eye on to print…
Never saw a Rostock before - I remember a while back about the fastest pick & place was using the same sort of design… wonder how quick it is…
Hopefully (after I get size confirmation & Santa’s blessing) I’ll be printing !
Could you elaborate? “not exactly thrilled” doesn’t give us much detail.
Have you tried other systems? What are the problems you are having? Why would you expect something else to be better? How would you improve it? What have you done with it so far?
Yes but not in the same category (low budget, extruder)
What are the problems you are having?
Some of the parts are not made well - one part snapped rather easily after not placing much stress on it, other parts don’t fit well and the “instructions” are plagued with wrong information
Why would you expect something else to be better?
The RepRap looks like a much better design - it’s more expensive but if I had to do it over again, I’d buy a more expensive printer. There are others that appear to have better design, higher quality parts, and more experience in them so the bugs are worked out and improvments have been improvised
How would you improve it?
I would have included a small bit of the special, heat resistant tape to mount the temp sensor, worked out the bugs before sending them, and would have provided updated instructions. Their customer support could also use some help - I requested information about purchasing a plywood extruder mount but never heard back from them.
What have you done with it so far?
It’s in the final stage of completion. Maybe when I either repair the broken part or relaced it with a new one and then finish the build it will do a good job.
Thanks, that’s helpful. I’ll do a little research on the RepRap. I do know, even the guru’s don’t always get it right the first time. I’ve watched TinHead over the years - and his product is amazing (micro-6 toothed gear) - but for every glowing example he show’s I suspect many horribly disfigured and mutilated bastard Gear children … who were quitely swept away in the heartless & discremenating process of Gear evolution.
If so, I can’t believe you are having customer service issues. My Prusa had a part that cracked due to overtightening. Not having a printrbot, I can’t comment on the hotend. Fortunately, with everything being pretty much opensource, you should be able to install a different hotend, if the stock one doesn’t suit you. I would also guess there will be a bit of a learning curve. I would suggest you don’t expect perfect parts from the get go.
I would guess you are correct with respect to the bastard children. I am less than mechanically inclined, so, I have had more issues than my friend that is more intuitive about the whole thing.
I’m wondering about the reliability of them. Like as I understand it they take a bit of “tuning” initially before you can expect perfect prints. But once you have it tuned, can you then just focus on designing and printing or should I expect to have to tune the machine for each design I want to print or is it more in how you design and slice and dice? Of course I imagine the answer to this is perhaps tied to which system you buy or if you made it yourself. It was actually CtC’s aluminium printrbot and the original printrbot that got me keen to dip my toes in the extruded plastics puddle. On a side note I’ve finally gotten my ramps1.3,marlin firmware and motors working with the control panel in pronterface and I’m stoked. One small victory in the journey of constructing a 3d printer. : D
Your answer is a wonderful yes… but it takes a while.
I fought my machine(s) for quite a while, calibrating this and adjusting that --It took forever, it was painful, it was maddening. I could not find information, and there were countless variables --some of which changed others. It was a fight and it took a long time.
Now, that said, my machine is now calibrated --and has stayed so. I have long forgotten the hours it took to get this guy running and I now use it as a click-and-go machine. I never adjust anything (other than total speed), I never tweak anything --I design what I want, export it, run it through netfabb and print. No fuss, no muss. The machine works consistantly every time I turn it on. It works, it works, it works.
It is a glorious moment when you get to this “everything works” stage --but you can get there, and you don’t ever have to go back.
Thanks Chris. That is encouraging and I know it is what I have to aim for now. I know what you mean about the countless variables. When I first looked at the configs it was just too much info at once to take in and while there is plenty of info out there it sure takes some research to find it. Good to see you are ok after the storm. I’ve seen other coastal areas did not fair so well.
