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Buying my first printer

Posted by EvIl_DeViL 
Buying my first printer
June 18, 2015 12:49PM
Hi all! I'm approaching for the first time to the 3d printer world and trying to valuate what's the best option for me in the reprap world.
I'm mainly a programmer with good electronics and crafting skills (I almost finished building an arduino based quadcopter from scratch),
so I'm confident crafting stuff (I use drill and jigsaw) and electronic component soldering.
I also like 3d modelling with zbrush and maya and I might consider printing some of my models in future.

That being said a little manual work doesn't scary me, plus if something broke I'd like to know where to put my hand to fix it!

I know this forum is full of posts like this but every half year a lot of distributors and new releases pops out and everyone has different needs.

I narrowed my candidates to:
Mendel
Prusa Mendel
Prusa i3
MendelMax 2.0
Mendel90

Here is my requests:
1) under 600€
2) buy from Europe to avoid customs costs.
3) vast diffusion so I can get better support and find information for the most common problems
4) metal frame (aluminium/steel) cause it looks it's stiffer than plastic wood or acrylic
5) most supported printing material possible (I saw you can print chocolate *_*. I'd love to!)
6) arduino based brain because I'd like to hack/improve it if I'm willing to
7) a kit is ok for me, but I'd like it to be complete (frame, non printable and printable parts, electronics, nozzle, heatbed...) or at least buy it all from the same distributor.

Link from trusted distributors are very welcome!

Hope you can help me!

Cheers
Re: Buying my first printer
June 18, 2015 01:06PM
I suggest that you read this before deciding what to buy: http://www.instructables.com/id/An-Almost-Reliable-High-Precision-3D-Printer-Son-o/

It may help you with understanding the weak points of some of the kits that are available in your price range.
Re: Buying my first printer
June 18, 2015 01:47PM
I can recommend two UK suppliers that I have experience of. Here is a summary:

RepRapPro

They sell the Mendel, Huxley, and Ormerod (I have an Ormerod 1). They have just added the Fisher, a small delta printer with an amazingly good price of just GBP199+VAT.

Plus points:

All RepRapPro machines use 32-bit Duet electronics, which is way better than any Arduino-based electronics - and yes it is hackable, the board and the firmware are open source. In particular, it supports Ethernet with a fantastic web interface, digital control of stepper motor current, easy configuration (i.e. no need to recompile the firmware every time you want to change something), and a native USB interface (i.e. fast and with flow control).

Minus points:

The printed parts they supply are PLA. You will have to reprint some of them in ABS as the first ABS job your printer does, if you want to print ABS.

Think3DPrint3D

They sell the Mini Kossel (I had one, which I subsequently converted to a bigger delta printer). Their Mendel 90 kit is currently being reworked and not available.

Plus points:

The printed parts they supply are ABS, so no issues with printing ABS straight away.

Minus points:

Their current kits use the ancient 8-bit Arduino/RAMPS electronics - although the RAMPS is a good quality ones (e.g. it has proper logic-level MOSFETs) and their stepper drivers are good quality 4-layer ones. This isn't really adequate for a delta. However, they did a special version of the Mini Kossel with Duet electronics for a friend of mine, so worth asking. See my signature for how to convert a Mini Kossel from Arduino/RAMPS to Duet electronics.



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].
Re: Buying my first printer
June 18, 2015 04:57PM
Absolutely if you have the money, build this one MendelMax 2.0
Re: Buying my first printer
June 18, 2015 06:33PM
Thanks for all your answers!
@the_digital_dentist: very cool and informative instructable! this confirm my assumption about the absolute needing of a steady frame to make good prints.

@thetazzbot: could you please elaborate? why is better than the others? I read mendelmax 3.0 is about to came out with better specification and lower (100$) price! how much a full kit cost as of today?

@dc42: when I first read your post about Duet I thought: "meh... I'd really love having an arduino based 3d printer so I don't need to study another platform. I hope it's not that much of improvement so I can stick with what I know... let's check... uh!? it's based on arduino DUE?! -> *_____*"
it's the first thing I wished to find when I saw many 3d printers are driven by arduino MEGA! I really love arduino DUE (more than UNO and MEGA) and I know it quite well (I recently interfaced a camera module to it) so Duet FTW! You gave me a hell of a info! grinning smiley

I'd vote for the mendel 3 with the Duet for 653.33€! is this frame solid? can duet be used on other printers like mendelmax? can I print chocolate with it *ç*?

could you please explain this better?
"The printed parts they supply are PLA. You will have to reprint some of them in ABS as the first ABS job your printer does, if you want to print ABS."
if my parts are PLA I can't print ABS? I read on this forum PLA is stiffer than ABS so for parts it should be better because the most repeated thing about printers is "the stiffer the better" o.o
Re: Buying my first printer
June 18, 2015 07:22PM
Quote
EvIl_DeViL
I'd vote for the mendel 3 with the Duet for 653.33€! is this frame solid? can duet be used on other printers like mendelmax? can I print chocolate with it *ç*?

No idea about the frame, I don't have a Mendel. The Duet firmware is very versatile, and you can always hack it if you need additional functionality.

Quote
EvIl_DeViL
"The printed parts they supply are PLA. You will have to reprint some of them in ABS as the first ABS job your printer does, if you want to print ABS."
if my parts are PLA I can't print ABS? I read on this forum PLA is stiffer than ABS so for parts it should be better because the most repeated thing about printers is "the stiffer the better" o.o

Yes PLA is stiffer than ABS, however it softens at a lower temperature. This means that if you want to print ABS, any PLA parts of the printer that are continually exposed to more than about 50C need to be replaced by ABS. Typically this means plastic parts near the hot end (e.g. the X-carriage), but if you make a heated enclosure for your printer then it could mean most of the plastic parts.



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].
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