Rostock Max: Suitable for a first-time builder?

A friend of mine and I have been making use of the MakerBot Replicator Dual here at the office for the past several weeks, and it's been such a good time that I've given thought to putting together my own, with his help. I'm not a mechanical or electrical whiz, but my buddy is, and we're confident that we can put together a RepRap bot of some sort without too much difficulty, even if it takes a while.

Initially I leaned toward a Prusa i2, in kit form, but then I ran across the LulzBot AO-101 and that turned me on to the MendelMax 1.5 format. However, as is often the case when I do more reading, I found out about the Rostock Max and it got me pretty excited.

My big concerns center on reliability. If I'm going to convince my wife to let me spend the money, I've got to have something that isn't going to fail miserably every time I try to print. Sure, I know that there isn't a single printer that has 100% reliability, but at the same time I don't want to have a ton of issues that require hours and hours to solve.

The MendelMax 1.5 looks like a fairly proven machine, and the kit price (at least from Ultibots) is within reason...but the Rostock Max from SeeMeCNC is a couple hundred dollars cheaper, has a bigger build volume, and looks like it might be simpler to assemble. But it's a much newer design, and that makes me nervous.

So what's the best course of action? How's the reliability and ease of build for the Rostock Max? Is the print going to fail if I bump the printer even a tiny bit? (My buddy thinks that'll be the case.)

Or, should I just pack it up and stick with the MakerBot at work...which is more temperamental than reliable?

My 2c and I own both printers.
Many may disagree with me, but if you are not familiar with adjusting a 3D printer to get quality results, there are enough additional challenges getting a Rostock style design dialied in that I'd recommend the Mendel Max for a first time builder. On the Mendel Max You can certainly do cheaper that the one you'r looking at, a friend of mine bought from a vendor on this board and it was an excellent kit for somewhere in the $700-$800 range shipped.
That's not to say there is anything wrong with the Rostock, when dialed in they can produce stellar prints. in fact I'd say that mine has the best layer alignment of any printer I've personally used.
But the MendelMax will produce fantastic prints as well.

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My blog [3dprinterhell.blogspot.com]

I also own both and I'm in agreement with Poly. The MM is a rock solid, easy to assemble platform. It has it's challenges but if you do your research and learn from others problems, you can start with solid mechanicals. This will allow you to learn how to print; more than half the battle IMHO.

To be fair, you cannot mess up the MAX by bumping it. Once assembled it is solid and calibration lasts. However, there are alot more mechanical intricacies to hash out before you get to the "learning to print phase". Also, I shudder at the thought of a new user trying to establish a bowden system. There are many that have done it, and I think the key is Steve's extruder. I lost a part to my Steve's and tried to use my experience to do something different (still failing at it). My two cents

I've had a 'reprappro' mendel for about 8 month. Easy to build up and worked straight away; the firmware was already on the electronics board so getting great prints was just a matter of spending some time with settings - initially with skeinforge then later with slicer. I built a rostock delta about 3 months ago, sourcing the parts on line. The build went well. However . . . I have spent about 30 - 40 hours trying to get firmware loaded onto the Arduino mega / ramps 1.4 electronics board ; with no success. Now the printer sits in its own corner collecting dust. In my opinion, anyone with some engineering common sense and a few tools can build the hardware but programming the delta version of marlin or repetier, is the difficult job.
If there is anyone out there in Mansfield area, willing to help me load firmware, I can travel to you or collect you and feed you with beer if you can help my delta. Johnpanter@hotmail.com

Was it the Blomker kit, by chance?

Anyway, this is all excellent information. I'm certainly leaning back toward the MendelMax.

Polygonhell Wrote:
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> My 2c and I own both printers.
> Many may disagree with me, but if you are not
> familiar with adjusting a 3D printer to get
> quality results, there are enough additional
> challenges getting a Rostock style design dialied
> in that I'd recommend the Mendel Max for a first
> time builder. On the Mendel Max You can certainly
> do cheaper that the one you'r looking at, a friend
> of mine bought from a vendor on this board and it
> was an excellent kit for somewhere in the
> $700-$800 range shipped.
> That's not to say there is anything wrong with the
> Rostock, when dialed in they can produce stellar
> prints. in fact I'd say that mine has the best
> layer alignment of any printer I've personally
> used.
> But the MendelMax will produce fantastic prints as
> well.

Yes that was the one.
It was a nicely put together kit, I wouldn't personally assemble it exactly like he does, but it's very complete.

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My blog [3dprinterhell.blogspot.com]

What about the Kossel Pro that is currently on Kickstarer? It has auto bed leveling making it a lot easier get starting.... It also uses proper linear bearings that are super easy to install.

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