New.... Some help on what to go with is appreciated

I want to thank anyone in advance for your assistance.

I am looking to join the 3d printing world and am exremely exicited about using these amazing machines. I am however trying to decide where to start. I will admit that I am somewhat impatient but thourough when it comes to making a purchases like this but the information I find seems to be somewhat lacking. I believe I have narrowed down my search to either the mendlemax 1.5 or the mendelmax 2.0. Sadly the technical specs on the mendelmax 1.5 are as lacking as my experience, hence my post. Can anyone provide me a bit of guidance on which kit to go with? I am also open to any suggestions on where to start.

To give some background I have a full wood working and metal working shop, run a locksmith/security company and have a lot of experience with programming & cad software. I will admit that in the 3d printing world I know very little but doubt I will have an issue with a difficult build.

The reason the mendelmax is appeling is the larger surface area as well as the speed. I also like the fact, even though non reprap according to some posts, of the aluminum frame parts. My heistation is which one to go with. I see the mendelmax 2 on Makers Tool Works for $1595.00 but the 1.5 is only $699.00 w/ $100.00 shipping from Blomker.com. I don't doubt there is an advantage to v2.0 but is it worth nearly trippling the price for a first timer.

Thank you again & happy printing.

Russel

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2014 10:51AM by russel.bogner@gmail.com.

Both printers have a good reputation and a large following. I am familiar with maker tool works but, not the other company. It really depends on what you want a printer for. Typically the more you spend the less finicky they are but that is not always true. Really you can mod almost any printer to make it great at doing whatever you want it to. I've had a printrbot plus for a while and it started out pretty basic. Now it has a 17inch by 9inch bed with a 17inch z axis. It started out much smaller. It has two extruders instead of one and can out print printers costing thousands. I've gotten it to the point where I can just tell it to print day in, day out and its very reliable.

Make sure you are buying it from a reliable company. I don't think you could go wrong with anyone of the mendalmax designs but do some research on who your buying it from as there are some bad vendors around. Since printer can print their own upgrades and if you outgrow the platform you can always use the main parts to build a new one specific to your needs. If your interested in finding out more information on printrbot printers, you can check out my website that is linked within my signature. They are a great company to work with and have some reliable bots. No matter what you buy, I hope you find a great printer.

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If you're good at handcrafting, going without any kit is quite an option. It's open source, so you (should) have everything required to make your own from stuff found at more general stores. Some shops sell printed-parts-only kits, there are electronics kits, and so on.

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Thank you for both of your responses. Looking at the Printrbot I am definitely looking more into that. My orginal searchs brought up the simple but the 4x4x4 build surface didn't seem large enough. I also noticed that they are available on amazon which is convienent. Looking at the Plus I did notice they just came out with the V3 which I read the article on reprapsquad but I am curious if it would be worth waiting for and paying the additional money for. The option of going with the v2.1 looks fine but I wish it was available as a kit any ideas where I might find that? Amazon has it assembled but printrbot only shows the new version as a kit and the v2.1 doesn't show up at all.


I did debate sourcing everything on my own but from looking at the amount I would save it would be outweighed by the time required. Especially not knowing a huge amount about the components and how it all works.

Thanks again

The differences between a Blomker Mendelmax 1.5 and a Mendelmax 2.0 due are the Y axis design (though many MM1.5 upgrade to W rail) and the build envelope as well as the number of parts, type of parts and method of assembly. The MM2 is designed for manufacturing rather than DIY though it is still a moderately easy DIY build. A big driver of the cost are the cut frame plates on an MM2 compared to the printed parts on an MM1.5. I can cut several sets of MM2 parts in the time it takes to print a single set of MM1.5 parts. The cost is in the operation of the waterjet (or laser) but it's a much quicker process.

The Blomker kit uses generic bearings and smooth rods whereas the MTW kit uses motion parts from Igus and Misumi. The MTW MM2 uses TR10 lead screws compared to M8 threaded rod on the Blomker kit. The difference in the motion components and the cut parts alone is several hundred dollars. The bed on the MM2 is cut aluminum compared to MDF with the Blomker. The Blomker uses an MK2 heat bed and the MM2 uses a polyimide heat bed/spreader design.

The Blomker kit seems like a good deal for the money even coming from Malaysia (Fed Ex can get it here in a few days) but comparing the two kits isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison. While both kits share a common name there are some differences that make a direct comparison difficult as they are basically two different machines though both use aluminum extrusions.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2014 07:36PM by vegasloki.

If you end up self sourcing a printrbot, the plus v2 files are available for all the parts with the exception of a few upgrades like the dual extruder. I am in the midst of transferring over all the dual extruder and carriage from mine into cad files. The dual extruder setup will change over some of the parts to the v2.1. So you would have a hybrid of sorts much like mine.

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Check it out here:
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---------| For Everything Prototype Related |------
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Quote
vegasloki
The differences between a Blomker Mendelmax 1.5 and a Mendelmax 2.0 due are the Y axis design (though many MM1.5 upgrade to W rail) and the build envelope as well as the number of parts, type of parts and method of assembly. The MM2 is designed for manufacturing rather than DIY though it is still a moderately easy DIY build. A big driver of the cost are the cut frame plates on an MM2 compared to the printed parts on an MM1.5. I can cut several sets of MM2 parts in the time it takes to print a single set of MM1.5 parts. The cost is in the operation of the waterjet (or laser) but it's a much quicker process.

The Blomker kit uses generic bearings and smooth rods whereas the MTW kit uses motion parts from Igus and Misumi. The MTW MM2 uses TR10 lead screws compared to M8 threaded rod on the Blomker kit. The difference in the motion components and the cut parts alone is several hundred dollars. The bed on the MM2 is cut aluminum compared to MDF with the Blomker. The Blomker uses an MK2 heat bed and the MM2 uses a polyimide heat bed/spreader design.

The Blomker kit seems like a good deal for the money even coming from Malaysia (Fed Ex can get it here in a few days) but comparing the two kits isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison. While both kits share a common name there are some differences that make a direct comparison difficult as they are basically two different machines though both use aluminum extrusions.

That's a pretty good explanation.
BTW: Blomker Industries are OK I have dealt with them a few times and no problems whatever.

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