Help me choose a printer with these criteria...

Hi all, I've recently started a course which gives me access to a workshop with lots of nice tools, 3d printers, laser cutters, 4-axis milling machines and more. I am no longer constrained by material costs or ability to work said materials so I can build pretty much any printer I choose. So what do I go for? One of the Prusas, Mendels or Deltabots? Build complexity is no longer a factor in what I choose, I am now more interested in a better printer, with good print quality and resolution and fast printing. What would you choose?
Thanks!

I'd recommend a Mendel90. They're sturdy, easy to build, and great printers.

With any printer (even the $$$$$$ commercial units), speed and quality have an inverse relationship. Finer layers produce a somewhat smoother object, but takes longer to print. You may want to look into photolithography rather than fused deposition modeling...

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-David

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Check out my FolgerTech Prusa i3 (plexi) at MindRealm.net

Delta can bring headaches if you change any measurement, and their calibration is not easy. May I suggest you look at CoreXY printers ? They are mostly scalable and pretty easy to set up. The transmission conception is great and brings a lot of stability to the heads carriage. They can print as fast it's possible to go. You can easily make some build-in enclosure, and manage wiring and electronics compartiment with a clean result. The overall architecture inspires confidence. Just have a look and say what you think.

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Collective intelligence emerges when a group of people work together effectively. Prusa i3 Folger (A lot of the parts are wrong, boring !)

Quote
Zavashier
Delta can bring headaches if you change any measurement, and their calibration is not easy. May I suggest you look at CoreXY printers ?

Most delta firmware supports auto calibration, and even manual calibration of a delta is not difficult. CoreXY is nice for the XY plane, but leaves you with the problem of keeping the bed perfectly level while moving it in the Z direction.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

CoreXY is nice, if you build the Z-bed right, you won't have trouble with leveling.

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http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

Thanks, some good stuff there! While I love the sheer coolness of the Deltabots my rational side is telling me to go with something that more suits my needs, corexy looks very interesting. Z movement shouldn't be a problem as I'll have help with construction if needed (and I'm handy enough with tools and machines anyway). I haven't come across any detailed plans or instructions for the coreXY yet, are they mostly built and designed from scratch or are there any good designs out there?

take a look at this corexy : [forums.reprap.org]

Thanks again! After much reading I've come across the Eustathios (see also Ingentis, Tantillus) which I really like. I've only found one comparison between the Eustathios and CoreXY design here (read README.md) and it sounds a lot more promising than the CoreXY. Anyone have any opinions they'd like to share on this?
His Z seems rock solid, something I might emulate even if I keep the CoreXY design.