Looking for Feedback from your RepRap experience

Hello all at the RepRap forums!

I understand the RepRap has spawned a number of different forms of 3D printers that people distributing to the public. I've been trying to find a website that gives a good comparison between RepRap's and all the other 3D printers on the market. I failed to find one so I've decided to create the service myself. I've listed several RepRap models on there such as the Mendal and Huxley (with all the technical specs I could find), and compared them against other printers on the market.

What it needs now is personal feedback from actual users and builders like yourselves. I'm hoping your feedback can help expose more people to the various models and capabilities of the RepRap as 3D Printing Pad becomes more popular.

3D Printing Pad

I look forward to your feedback!

Cheers,

Steve

Your site looks like a great start to something that will really help the community.

The only thing that I noticed was that some of the specs on the printers weren't correct. I noticed that a lot of the build area matches the exterior dimensions of the printer for example.

Will there be a place for a more in depth review of the printers (like Amazon) or are you just sticking with the star system? Can users add new printers as they become available?

-Chelsea

I don't see the Prusa Mendel 1 or 2. You have the Prusa Air mislabeled. (or under another name) Techzone also makes a (crappy) Huxley. I think an issue is the same exact printer is sold by different companies sometimes under different names.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2012 10:24PM by Entropy.

Great start! I would suggest making categories for the general designs of printers, most of the companies listed are either making prusa, huxley or mendel printers. Allow users to rate general printer designs and then within each general design list all the companies that fit under that heading.

Looking at your website right now, it would lead a new impressionable user to believe that 3D printers only come in ready made kits, when in reality almost all general 3D printers are based on open self-sourced designs. Starting with general design categories that have the companies listed within would help carry the open source mandate of the reprap project.

Just my two cents.

Looks good! I would recommend an RSS feed so people can be notified of new entries etc without having to remember to go back to the site.

And, I don't know if it helps any, but perhaps the following lists might yield one or two printers you may not have already found?

[reprap.development-tracker.info]

(This one lists those categorised as "Commercial" if that's more what you are looking for):
[reprap.development-tracker.info]

Some (most?) of the entries have a specification page with such info as Build Envelope and Size - wherever I could find the information.

Cheers,
Gary

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garyhodgson.com/reprap | reprap.development-tracker.info | thingtracker.net

Thanks for the feedback everyone! You are all much more knowledgable than myself about the specifics of each RepRap being produced right now. The idea for the 3D Printing Pad is to create a platform that better informs people about what is available in the 3D Printing world. Getting feedback from actual users like yourselves is going to expand my knowledge and help everyone at the same time.

Chelsea - Thanks for pointing that out, I have fixed the specs to the best of my knowledge. I do plan on having a more intensive review system once the website becomes more popular. I'm thinking of adding 4-5 categories to rate each printer on such as: ease of use, support, printing quality, and reliability. Does anyone have any suggestions on categories that might serve you better?

Entropy - I didn't realize there were so many variations of the RepRap when I first launched the website. Now I realize I have to dig more and figure out exactly which models are available, and which pictures match up to them.

nigel_mck - I also didn't realize the extent to which multiple companies are producing the same open-source model. I think this would be a great point to start looking at redesigning how the printers are categorized based on model first and company second like you said. THANK YOU for this bit of feedback.

garyhodgson - The notification system is something I'm looking to implement in the next version of the 3D Printing Pad. Also thank you for the list, I'll be sure to add the printers found there to the website.

Thanks for the feedback so far. You've made me realize that I need to rethink how the website is presented. I'm thinking the best route would be to categorize the printers first by DIY (non-assembled) and commercial (pre-assembled). I intitially wanted to focus on printers for the average household so I could help direct people to the printer that would work for them. Now I realize that there are two distinct types of people buying 3D printers: they DIY enthuisiasts (the open-source communities like RepRap) and the people who just want to print in 3D.

I hope to strengthen both sides with the vision of making printing from home easier and more accesible. I think 3D printing is going to revolutionize a lot of industries and human habits in the the next while. I'm a huge supporter of open-source projects because I realize the amount of passion and expertise behind the communites to help strengthen the products. I hope to earn the respect of the RepRap community and work with you all to make this technology break through faster!

Cheers,

Steve

This post might help you out [printthat.wordpress.com]

A good dimension to categorize the printers on is DIY/COTS. Another good dimension is whether or not the machine is a dedicated 3D printer or a generic CNC machine that can be used for 3D printing.

I noticed that you don't seem to have Makerbot on your list.

I've redesigned the 3D Printer pages to include all the suppliers selling each printer. I think it's a step in the right direction especially with the open-source printers having multiple distributers.

Check out the Huxley page for an example http://www.3dprintingpad.com/3dprinter/huxley
I've also updated the Mendel page http://www.3dprintingpad.com/3dprinter/mendel

Makeme: Thanks a lot for that source, I'm going to add some of those printers and possibly classify them in a better way. I've listed the Makerbot Replicator already, is there another one I'm missing?
http://www.3dprintingpad.com/3dprinter/replicator

To everyone else feel free to blast away at what improvements should be made or information that is wrong. It can only be made better by actual users like you all!

Cheers,

Steve

Hey great job on the website! I found it really useful as I've been looking for something that compares all the 3D printers out there right now. It's interesting to see how the Huxley and Mendel stack up against the other models out there.

Thanks James!

I've discovered about 6 more unique personal 3D printers, so I hope to be adding them in the near future for comparisons.

Thanks for making this reidsteven75. It helps me figure out what exactly is happening out there right now. I hope you can keep this updated as time goes on.