3D Printer, which one is the best?

Hi everyone, okay I'm going to do the ultimate illegal thing in a forum an ask a quesiton without searching for it first, so I will try to make my question more specific.

Basically I would like to buy a 3D printer, but I'm not sure which one, I hear an see a lot about the makerbots, but for some reason something about the reprap kind of makes me like it so much more.
Basically my thought process is like this, I would prefer to buy something under $2000 although I'm happy to go above that if its worth it. I guess the biggest part is going to be obviously quality versus cost, as I'm not too worried about things timewise.

The other things to keep in mind is that I'm a complete noob, and have little idea in terms of 3D printing, I've looked up quite a bit but still I would prefer something either already made, or pretty much made or at least a kit, so basically no building myself. One day I hope to make my own Reprap but I don't really have the time at the moment.

Also theres the point of whether to wait for the new replicator or the one coming out next year, which I'm also keeping in mind.

Other then that, thats about it, so was kind of wondering what you guys would suggest in buying for a complete noob. In terms of what I will use it for, it will basically be used for moderate prototyping and to print things from thingiverse

So, you want an already built "turnkey" one, or would you consider buying and assembling a kit ?

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

What do you mean by turnkey? As in fully built already? I guess so yes
Or well depending on how easy it is to put a kit together (or how likely I am to accidenlty destroy something) I probably would actually be happier with a kit, as I do really like putting things together. But as I said before I'm really new to this type of things, and so I'm not sure how fragile or hard it is to put together.

I recommend you to take a look at assembly instructions, its for older Prusa, but IMO its best way how to get idea how difficult is it to put printer together.

Another set of assembly instructions for a different machine. Just click on the "View Raw" to download.

Not an endorsement, just for information's sake.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2012 08:24AM by akhlut.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

hi guys, thanks heaps for that, looked through a few of the assembly instructions and they look like it has been done really well. I am now toying with the idea of building it much more compared to before. Is it fairly easy to order just all the parts? and is the price range normally pretty good? I'm from Australia so it doesn't give me too many options I don't think for parts although it will probably be a lot cheaper then the delivery of a whole 3D printer.
I was wondering what is the quality like of a Reprap compared to the replicator?

Whereabouts in Australia are you Trustnoone, down the bottom of the forum list are the country specific forums, and inside the Australia one, there is one for each captial city. Most Capitals have a Usergroup who hold Pronter nights, in Melbourne its every first and third monday of the month. You would be more then welcome to pop along, ask some questions, have a look at a variety of completed printers, as well as see some being put together. Im assuming most other capitals would be similar, although Melbourne does seem to have a larger number of Printers then other Capitals.

3 months ago I was asking the same questions, I went the build a kit way, and now feel confident that I can both fix things that go wrong, and improve things Im not happy with.

GaZ

Thanks heaps, just checked out through the forums now, unfortunately I'm from Adelaide and don't really see one from that there, but I did find a few things for prices and stuff like that in Australia for kits and things in the forum.
I've seen a few of the replicators and I think even a Reprap at my univeristy though which looks really kool, so I reckon I might go in and ask to get something printed just to see what its like.

Being able to imporve things and learning more from it does seem like a really good way to go, now I'm tossing up between whether I have the time or not, since if I do, then I might do the kit version and put it together myself

You will be better off if you build it yourself - when something goes wrong you'll have an idea of where the problem lies and maybe how to fix it.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Id suggest to buy one unassembled. You learn a lot just from putting it together. But to try and build one with no expereince is a tall task IMO.

I agree with the kit process, having not long finished sourcing and assembling my Prusa Mendel, i have yo say thst i feel much more comfortable with the machine and that troubleshooting is easier as i am more aware of each parts function.

I hadnt seen the ultimakers in action prior to this post though. Those things are crazy fast

Beware - If you plan to build your own hot-end, it will take a while (month or two) before you master it and get good results.

Mechanical assembly is just the first step. This is very easy if you have all materials. This step is extensively documented (with youtube videos).

Electrical assembly is Step 2 requires an equally long tutorial that does not exist.
You might have to address wiring layout, wire lengths, connectors, securing wires and electronics, power supply, etc in this step.

Finally, hot-end and filament extrusion is Step 3 which takes the longest time of all (including calibration).

This is my friendly advice based on personal experience building Prusa i2 by self-sourcing all items.

Building yout own hotend is easy, I did it (of course I have a mill and a lathe...) but do you have some A tap and Die set? maybe a hack saw and some sand paper?

Wiring? really... for a thermistor and a resistor? seems pretty straight forward I'd think, and wire length... really?....

You can get .5mm (or whatever) drill bits fairly easy and cheap, of course it's not as good as using a reamer or something, but just always use the drill bit one size smaller FIRST then go with your final drill bit size to ensure accuratness.

Hard to calibrate?? It will take about 3 prints to make sure your print is good with your own nozzle size, don't be scared it's not as hard as the previous poster makes it out to be. Think about it, alot of people use .5mm nozzle and type .4mm in the program, tell me just how much this matters in terms of being .008mm off?

Kickstarter is the best 3D printer in the market, There is no complain about this and speed of this printer is really good, One of the best 3D printer in the market according to speed and working... It's a little bit expensive but any one buy this, Price should started from $2000 to $10000...

Hi everyone, I guess thats the biggest problem I'm having, I do have no experience in this and I don't know if I have the time not to mention 1 to 2 months to be able to put one together. I don't really have any tools either, unfortunately I'm staying at some student housing so its not entirely easy to be able to bring many tools in here. To be honest this is only really true for the next few months, by about march, I should have a lot more free time and will even have tools.

Do you guys suggest it would be better just to wait untill that time and then make a reprap, or should I just buy something that is easy now? Or would it be better to get something fairly cheap and look into a reprap at a later point in time?

@Amathaon hi, would you mind linking to the 3D printer you are talking about? I took a look but could only find this one [printrbot.com] ? Cheers

I think he was joking. But if you're unsure don't leap in just to get started. Better to wait and do your research. The more information you have the happier you will be in the end.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Amathaon Wrote:
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> Kickstarter is the best 3D printer in the market,

Which one?! There are lots of 'promised' printers on Kickstarter. And have you tested them all?!

trustnoone - I'd recommend building your own if you have space/ability, rather than buying ready-assembled, you'll learn so much more about how to fix it if it goes wrong. Buy a kit if sourcing all the individual parts looks daunting - it will cost you a little more, but saves a huge amount of time. Go for a well-established company, that way you should get the support you need to finish it. If you want one NOW, the printrbot is a fair printer, and easy to build, and a bit more compact than the Mendel/Prusa repraps. I'd go for a lasercut Printrbot Plus for $699 [printrbot.com] - the lasercut version is a bit firmer than the printed version. If you are prepared to wait, kits that are based on the Prusa 3 design (which is an evolution of the printrbot and Prusa Mendel) look to be taking over - like the new lulzbot [www.thingiverse.com] , though you'll need to wait for a kit to come out.

That is a really interesting point of view, I haven't really heard of the Prusa 3 design, how long do you think untill this version becomes popular? It might be a good reason for me to get the printrbot plus now and that way I can learn about how it works and what its like, plus its fairly cheap. And once the Prusa 3 design becomes bigger and I've got more time and have done more research, I might look at upgrading as such to the new reprap.

Check out our AO-100. It is fully assembled and calibrated. It comes with 15 pounds of filament and a wide variety of tools. If you want to get a printer and be printing within an hour, this is the way to go. I can ship you 50+ overnight, should you desire--these are ready to go TODAY. The build quality is excellent done under strict factory conditions (see factory floor here: [devel.lulzbot.com] ).

[www.lulzbot.com]

Have fun,

-Jeff

Dear Trustnone,

I like your name 'Trust None'.

I was in your position couple of months ago. Now that I have assembled one, I would recommend you to build one. Yes! it is not as simple as it is ( I am a moderate techy guy) but the fun in making the thing work is enormous. Believe me, I enjoyed it

And the reason why I liked your name is due to my experience with the kit I purchased. I should have done more research and checked out the forums. The quality is not so great, Support is accessible but not helpful and build instructions are worse.... but this has given me a great opportunity to educate myself and and i am on the way - not yet there....

Given your budget you will have enough room to play and break. There are very good examples in the forum and abundance of information. See the other thread from Gaz (gazob), pretty impressive build. I will put some of my own soon. Good luck

Couldn't find a thread for the AO-100, this is the closest I could find. But I reviewed it today on my blog here... http://www.creations3d.com/2013/01/03/3d-printer-review-lulzbot-ao-100/

Looking forward to getting my hands on the Lulzbot TK-O and the Pi Maker http://www.3ders.org/articles/20121206-innovative-pimaker-has-a-build-area-larger-than-makerbot-replicator-2.html