Makerbot or Botmill

I have great interest in 3D printing and gonna buy one. I need your knowledge on which I should buy from.

I need to know I'm gonna get what I pay for.
I need to know which is easier for me as a first timer to build.
I need to know who possibly could handle shipment best, because I live in Sweden.

I'm looking at buying from either makerbot (thing-o-matic) or botmill (axis, or maybe even glider if it really works). I am very thankfull for any answers.

/MikaelP

Depends:

I think there are better options than both of those.

The BEST option is to self source, you can put a printer together for around $500 and give moeny back to the RepRap community by buying the parts from another RepRap operator. Best place to do that is emakershop.com, ebay (search reprap), or in the for sell forums here. I have a guide to this process here [repraplogphase.blogspot.com]

The next best option would be either Makergear's Prusa kit ($825) or Mendel-parts.com ($950) Sells Mendel kit (Sells is the 18 month old version of RepRap, Prusa is the 6 month old version).

The NEXT best option IMHO is the Rapman 3.1 from BfB. It's opensourceish (they never released their electronics or the new version of their darwin), but it's a known to be good printer for $1200 NEXT I would say Botmill (don't get the preassembled, I heard it's just thrown together, not nearly ready to print, not worth the extra money).

Finally I would say look around for someone who has a up! pp3d coupon. It's not open source at all, but there is a coupon you can find that will get it for you for $1500.

PERSONALLY I still think the $500ish version is the best option

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repraplogphase.blogspot.com

spacexula Wrote:
> in the for sell forums here. I have a guide to
> this process here
> [repraplogphase.blogspot.com]
> kates-guide-to-510ish-mendel-360.html
>

Nice blog! In you blog you wrote:

> Cheapest Full hot end: Makergear Hybrid Operators Pack $70 or $80 with shipping

Can you point me to pictures or instructions on how to mount the hot end that you mentioned to Wade's or Adrian's geared extruder?

Thank you very much for the fast and good answer spacexula!

Because I live in Sweden, first build and wanting to get started pretty quick with printing. I find that buying seperate parts from the ebay(US) is gonna take me too much time and energy, and I would rather just buy a kit.

The rapman seems interesting, but it seems it's lacking the heated bed, its plastic/glass instead, should it be a problem? And is it alright if I settle for the cheapest one to begin with?

/MikaelP

FWIW, unless they've changed dramatically, I suggest you avoid BotMill. It took many weeks not days for them to do anything after taking my money, the quality of the plastic parts was abysmal, and some parts were not included.

I hear that botmill has improved, but who ever knows around here...

Heated build plates can be added later pretty easily.

If you want the most open the box and run experence possible (quickest to plastic parts)

Rapman 3.1 and Makerbot Thingomatic are about dead even

Rapman has a normal build are, but Thingomatic has a heated build platoform and small build area.

I personally own a Makerbot cupcake, and have had LOTS of issues over the year, most Rapman folks are happy from what I have seen (though there are no where near as many rapman owners as Makerbot owners).

I suspect the Makergear kit is going to be really good, he has one of the best names in the community, but can't say for 100% certian till we see more of them in the wild (we haven't even see the Prusa kit print yet).

As far as starting self souce, it's the way a good chunk of us started, I purchased the MB cupcake, but that's not how most RepRap folk started.

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repraplogphase.blogspot.com

spacexula Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hear that botmill has improved, but who ever
> knows around here...
>

Not based on my experience. I bought an assembled Mendel kit from them last November. I don't recommend anything that they assemble themselves. The plastic parts at the time were printed on a commercial printer. They don't say that anymore in their website but the unassembled kit still costs about the same. It seems that the response time from them hasn't changed. It's still very slow.

Thanks for all the answers! It really helps!

I think I'm going with either the Rapman from BfB OR the Huxley from TechZone(man that's cheap!).

Thoughts?

Techzone electronics have a VERY VERY bad reputation. I have built a Huxley, there was a really good reason it was abandoned befor we saw it in a video and demanded it be released.

I always use youtube as a guide. When your looking at a kit check this.

-Can you find videos of it printing online (not just axis control, real printing)

-Are there multiple videos, from multiple sources. (Some venders will be scammy and run the same machine at their house, and at a friend, so be careful).

-Does the company have a good name?

Personally I would sugjest the Huxley kit from Techzone if they would stop including their disasterous set of electronics, even though Huxley is a pretty crappy machine.

Go with the Rapman, or a Makergear Prusa. Techzone huxley I fear is cheap for a reason.

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repraplogphase.blogspot.com

Haha Alright! Thanks again for the info.

What's wrong with Techzone electronics? I have their Gen 3 remix and it's working really well for me. I just tested their Thermocouple AD kit which also works as advertised.

BTW, I've noticed that the Makerbot and Thingomatic makes a lot more noise than the Mendel. Considering that they seem to share electronics, I was wondering if this is because of all the wood resonating with the half-step motors.

brnrd, I'm sure your not having issues, but a LOT of people are. I make sugjestions based off all the 300+ blogs I follow around the world, and all the feeds I follow

Not all Yugo's where bad cars, not all Ford Pinto's exploded, not all Chevy Grimlins where horrible. But enough where that I can't suggest them

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repraplogphase.blogspot.com

what kinds of problems are people having with them? I haven't read enough blogs about this myself. But perhaps the info would help me avoid problems or discover some that I haven't noticed yet.

search these forums using google with keyword techzone.

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repraplogphase.blogspot.com

brnd: Its bad assembly of the circuit boards and lack of support for them. I rebuilt the boards I got from techzone and they work as expected just like makerbot gen3, only real potential issue I saw was no common ground connection between the MB and all other boards.

You might have noticed when you bought your kit there was somthing in the description saying they are being bundled by botmill...ect. That's because I didn't want any misunderstanding they came from me.

@CdnReprap: When you "rebuilt" the boards, did you simply go over all the solder connections, and add a common ground (with a little help from a soldering iron and extra wire)? What other mods to the boards did you make? Are the schematics available to make this easier?

Thanks

I had to replace the rs485 chip, and a few pins on the atmega on the MB where not soldered, and on the extruder replace one of the H bridges on so I ended up cleaning up the whole board and ran it through a wave soldering machine. Now it looks as it should have when I first got it.

Connection wise I soldered all the connections on the back side of the boards between mb and extruder, when I did that I added a ground wire between the two boards see attached. Now it works and looks nice and clean.

I have finished setting up and running a techzone huxley with the monolithic electronics. I found the build quality of the kit to be quite acceptable (a few small warps) and the monotronics work beautifully. In addition I have found their customer support to be quite good. Lambert, kim, and kurt have answered any of the few questions/requests that I have had. I would recommend them to anyone.

I have also assembled a reprap from many various sources. The mechanics are fine to source from the community. I would suggest getting electronics from a trusted company as I got burned on an extruder board.

Happy replicating.

Hey mikael,

As someone who has just received a botmill glider two weeks ago, I can confirm brnrd's experience with botmill. Nearly two months late, warped parts, missing a few but critical pieces and essentially had to be totally rebuilt. I finally got it up and running after 4 12 hour days and this was supposed to be the fully assembled kit.

The makerbot is great, the support and software are amazing but has a smaller print bed than the Mendel. The Mendel was my top choice because of the build size and the lively online community.

Have you looked at the Up!? Seems like a great printer. Software is great. Does anyone know who makes Up's software? Can it be bought separately?

I originally had a problem with my plastic pieces, but BotMill replaced. They look incredible. For the money (shipping is free in the USA), if you can understand the reprap instructions, I would go with the botmill kit.

Mark Shulzt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I originally had a problem with my plastic pieces,
> but BotMill replaced. They look incredible. For
> the money (shipping is free in the USA), if you
> can understand the reprap instructions, I would go
> with the botmill kit.


Free shipping? Really? Their shipping charges has to be one of the most expensive that I've encountered.

Also, I don't think that we should be comparing a real plug-and-play commercial product, with one that you put together yourself, Botmill product included. Someone who just wants to print and not mess with the hardware would be better off going with one of the plug-and-play commercial options. Someone who either learn how the thing works, want to save some money and have time should look at the reprap options or other kits. Even if you buy a plug-and-play Mendel, you will still eventually end up doing HW work.

Hi all,

First of all i'm new around here and the gaggles of information i've learned has been instrumental as I learn (and sometimes struggle) about our machines. so, thx to all.


anyways, I recently ordered and received an Axis kit from botmill. i'm so excited to finish building it i cant contain myself!!! Everything with regards to my transaction was perfect. clear communication, free shipping (I live in the US), prompt delivery and most importantly, absolutely perfect parts. Later tonight i'll post some pics of some of the assemblies i've completed. Im almost 100% sure my pieces were printed on a Mendel, but maybe someone can confirm that from the photos I will post--sorry, this stuff is still so new to me I am a little unsure! ....

Either way, things went so well, i'm going to vouch for botmill

Thx botmill!

Larry S. Rhodes

The out of the blue, supper happy customer making his 1st post. You know, this NEVER happens.

Welcome to the community Mr Larry S. Rhodes. I am sure your going to love the Botmill machine and tell us all about it with wonderful high definition pictures.

If you have any issues and need live help freenode IRC is a great resource to help you though the sticky parts, and welcome to the community!

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repraplogphase.blogspot.com

I've been thinking the same thing, a few glowing first posters, I wish I was one of them!

Since no one is posting any pics I though I'd share, keep in mind that I received the "assembled" mendel from them only two weeks ago...

The pics...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56943336@N08/sets/72157626241187865/

@adrian - Your experience is consistent with mine. Very similar issues with the way they assembled the unit that I ordered last November.

brnrd:You hit the nail on the head.

"Even if you buy a plug-and-play Mendel, you will still eventually end up doing HW work. "

FWIW, I was one of the people who bought a Botmill kit last year and was horribly disappointed. I saw their posting about replacement parts, contacted them, and today received a set of parts that are gorgeous. The quality compares to a set I bought from nophead. I'm gonna get some more vitamins and electronics and assemble me another Mendel!

@spacexula: !! 1 post, 5 months ago so your approach was better [more straight] [otherwise we would have more posts and questions and photos etc. one in 5 months ] .... If I saw this back then I would say "1st post, super-happy customer ... hmmmm .... not impossible, but very very unlikely ... your text was much better )) .... straight to the point in real life 99.99% is the same as [ok almost!! ] 100% !.... and the welcoming text was also cute!!! *loved it*!!!