Lulzbot Taz vs Felix 3.0

Hi All,

First post, and I bet you can guess where I'm at!

After a couple of weeks of research, getting the low down on various machines/designs, I've narrowed down the options to these two machines; Felix 3.0 or the Lulzbot Taz. Both will cost me around the same money by the time they get to Australia, and both have great reputations (that i can tell from the obligatory review searches!).

My dream machine would be the X400 or Gigabot (or some of the other larger format machines found here) , as they would print the parts I'm looking at producing in one hit, but they are well outside my budget, not to mention experience- which is zero!. (i read that larger parts require alot of learning time to get right, so i figure I'll take the advice offered to start small and learn from there). i should mention I need the 235mm build area at a minimum, which is why all the 200mm machines, despite many being really cool, just won't do it for me.

I'm not phased at building a kit, (both of these require assembly), and see myself building a larger machine later once I have the experience etc required.

My concerns with the Felix 2.0/3.0 is the bed looks flimsy and may wear out on the y axis (it doesn't seem to have much contact there), especially as i will be aiming to print at it's maximum build size (235mm), while I don't have the same concerns about strength with the Lulzbot, I'm wondering if it is as advanced as the Felix 3.0 seems to be? (looks very refined with it injection moulded parts and minimalist design). they both seem to produce very similar quality prints and come from reputable companies.

I think I've just about talked myself into the Lulzbot Taz, should I pull the trigger?

thanks

Andrew

While the Felix looks good and simple, I myself would go with the Taz if for no other reason than it has a heated bed so you are not limited to printing just PLA.

Unless someone owns both it's going to be hard to compare.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2013 11:11PM by tmorris9.

Thanks tmorris9, I think the Lulzbot is growing on me, the more I read about it and the Aleph Inc team, seems like a solid choice. I also review the specs and it's print volume dimensions are actually alot bigger than I had thought (298, 275, 250) which will give me the option of orientating the parts in all axis.

funny how just solidifying my thoughts in a post can help answer the question. thanks for responding!

cheers
Andrew

Hello Andrew,

If you do decide on the TAZ, don't fail to join the Lulzbot forum. A few guys have posted mods to enhance the quality of prints further. One posted an automatic bed leveling system. From what I understand, some of these improvements may have been included in the TAZ 2.

Quote
Haas08
I'm not phased at building a kit, (both of these require assembly)

Actually, the TAZ requires minimal assembly. It's not a kit, you'll be ready to print under an hour. Someone posted an unboxing/assembly TAZ 1.0 video on YouTube some months ago. The TAZ 2 shouldn't be much different.

Quote
Haas08
while I don't have the same concerns about strength with the Lulzbot, I'm wondering if it is as advanced as the Felix 3.0 seems to be? (looks very refined with it injection moulded parts and minimalist design).

I don't know much about the Felix, but I would say the difference is mostly philosophical. The Lulzbot people are deeply committed to the RepRap philosophy which is about "self-replicating printers", hence the printed parts. With the second iteration of the TAZ though, they're straying a little from this ideal as they replaced some printed parts with lasercut (or machined?) acrylic components, and the electronics casing is now in sheet metal. Printing parts is time intensive and they're expanding. Their printer farm has currently about 30 printers, and they plan to have more than a hundred soon. But the TAZ design is completely open source. Not many vendors are as open as them. You can find all their files, including the source files (not only the STLs!), manuals, bill of material including suppliers and prices, on their download site: [downloads.lulzbot.com]

Their development files are also available here [devel.lulzbot.com]

It's unfortunate for you that shipping to Australia is so expensive. Lulzbot has warehouses in the US, Canada and the UK. One can hope they'll add one in Australia someday if they keep having success.

Cheers NormandC,

Funny, I was just watching that youtube unpacking clip when i thought I would check on this thread. Yeah, it definitely is a minimal setup time, and to be honest, that suits me just fine. Normally i would love tinkering with a kit for hours, but I trying to remain focused on my main objective of prototyping the products i want to start testing. 3D printing is turning out to be a cool side benefit, plenty of good times ahead for me regardless!

I really have warmed to their Aleph's approach and commitment to open-source as well, being a long time Linux fan, I really respect the daring and vision that people like the Lulzbot team show in going into business on what is a radical departure from the usual 'secret squirrel' 11 herbs and spices approach.

thanks for pointing out the forum too, really cool. Hopefully I have time to contribute in between getting really rich (!) and tinkering with stuff ( ).

TAZ 2? Just re-read your post, i didn't see anything about that on the lulzbot site, time for a search i guess...

cheers for the posts people.

Andrew

Oh, OK, it is the TAZ 2 I'm looking at, didn't realize.

Quote
Haas08
I really have warmed to their Aleph's approach and commitment to open-source as well, being a long time Linux fan, I really respect the daring and vision that people like the Lulzbot team show in going into business

Yep, I know for a fact that they mostly run Debian and open source software. What's interesting is that their business is booming. They went to Fundable for funding and got fully funded in less than a day.

BTW have you looked at the banner on the website? They have a cyber monday deal on the TAZ 2.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2013 01:33PM by NormandC.

Yes, saw the banner! Been calculating the time-zones and I have about 5 hours to wait till it starts! Going to be a big day for them I guess.

checked out the Lulzbot forum and also the FreeCAD one (Been a while since I gave that a go, been mainly sketchup / draftsight and a tiny bit of blender lately) , looks like I'll definitely be seeing you around! Thanks for the help.

Andrew

Do they have printers to ship?

I thought I saw something that said they would have printers to ship by the end of the year but now I can't find it.

Even though I have a printer I am thinking of taking advantage of the sale.

Just answered my own question:

""A limited supply of printers are available to ship for delivery before December 25th (for deliveries within the US). Order before they are all gone!
All existing orders will also be delivered by December 25th or earlier.""

Well, I slammed the money on the counter and shouted, "TAZ me up!" to which they replied, "Certainly". We then stared awkwardly at each other over the pile of money. I began to back away slowly, left eye twitching, palms sweating, and hoarsely mumbled "I'll see you in the spring?". To which they didn't reply...but that could be because they promptly fell asleep; it was way past nap-time in Loveland!


In short, I bought one, they were very helpful regarding shipping and I hope to see it before spring.

I did it for the lulz...

Andrew

I held off on the sale. I figured life would get in the way and want the money, you know, food, electricity, credit cards....

Ah, Life. Expensive business. You have other printers though I guess?

Thank you

Yes I have an AirWolf 3D printer. I love the printer but I want BIGGER!!

Perhaps time to source and build one? I'm planning the second printer will be the bigger home build i really need. Just got to get the first one delivered first!

interesting article on scaling the mendelmax;

[www.mendelmax.com]

I am considering building one. The only thing really stopping me is that I own a small business that eats my time up badly. Also while I am very competent with mechanical, electrical and electronic I know close to nothing about firmware, software stuff.

A few things I've done for a living include working on animatronic shows, repair of pinball machines, video games (coin op), vending machines, slot machines, pool tables and anything else related to the vending, casino & coin op industry. I've built Battle bots (remember them?) and even helped build dune buggies from the ground up in my youth (almost 50 now).

I don't think too many people know much about software before attempting to set up an open source build/install whatever. The beauty of open source is the learning and participating, and not being locked out from the 'grown up talk' !

I know very little about those things either; which is why I'm chuffed Lulzbot just shipped my printer!!! Wasn't expecting that, really nice surprise. Should be here in a week.

good to hear you are busy, hopefully that means you are making money. I'll be going out on my own soon enough.

Andrew,

I have read your messages with interest, and the forum replies. I too have been looking to purchase a 3D printer for some time, and have minimal experience with them. Finally saved the cash to do it and have decided to purchase the Taz 3.

I will likely make the payment tomorrow.

Did your Taz 2 arrive, were there any problems, did you get up and printing quickly, print quality is good, support from manufacturer been ok?

Regards Phil.