Folger Tech Kossel Delta VS. Folger Tech Prisa I3

What are your thoughts?
Still trying to narrow down what to build.

I chose the kossel because of the stationary build platform and footprint Vs. Print space, and I would like to tinker with magnetic end effector and other potential accuracy improvements.

Ordering from Folger, one thing to keep in mind is the time frame your order might arrive in. I ordered my kossel 3/5 got a shipping label printed 3/18 and it still hasn't actually left yet.

I have heard they are having issues with parts shortage and or mixup, but it is all in the main thread. Speaking of which, make sure you read them lots of information to help you make your choice.

I'm a sad user of Folger's Prusa I3. I don't recommend it for many reasons, especialy quality issues. The Kossel with its linear rails looks much better engineered. BUT, I still dislike Folger's extruder, you'll get cheap parts anyways, and the design have some strange points : why the vertical rails are so high if the arms can't run at the top ? To me Folger provide kits at low price. You can't provide good components at very low price. You'd rather buy a good kit than buy a (low) price. I spent more than $100 to make my folger's kit work as needed.

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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 !)

Zavashier:

Those people that buy these machines with the hope of making precision parts quickly will be disappointed but with work like yours, Zavashier, the machine can be improved. But it will never be a precision machine nor was it intended to be. Want precision and speed, find yourself 50K$+ and you can buy what you want.

Some buy it as a hobby or pass time activity and they will get a big bang for their buck because they will pass the time and will learn a lot in the process. An upside here is that the Folger guys are helpful and are on the continent so shipping doesn't take forever.

Enjoy it folks, you get what you pay for is the old adage.

deltas look cooler and are faster... nuff said

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greggo
deltas look cooler and are faster... nuff said

Are they much faster? I was leaning towards the Wilson TS by MJRice, but now up in the air again.

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Ecky
Zavashier:

Those people that buy these machines with the hope of making precision parts quickly will be disappointed but with work like yours, Zavashier, the machine can be improved. But it will never be a precision machine nor was it intended to be. Want precision and speed, find yourself 50K$+ and you can buy what you want.

Some buy it as a hobby or pass time activity and they will get a big bang for their buck because they will pass the time and will learn a lot in the process. An upside here is that the Folger guys are helpful and are on the continent so shipping doesn't take forever.

Enjoy it folks, you get what you pay for is the old adage.

I just wanted it to work properly, that's what the extra money was all about. That money was for a new extruder motor (mine was blocked) more powerfull for the same size, a new X motor, not powerfull enough in my opinion, too much prints wasted for lost steps issues. New bed, its termistor cold value was around 70°C, new bearings, le provided LM8UU was gappy and noisy, ans most of them had square balls when they did not fall out. New extruder, geared indeed, new hotend with proper cooling, for no more clogging. New Y carriage, the acrylic one bends like chewing gum under the heatbed's heat. Several new fans for the whole machine : cold end, PSU's that sounds like a lawn mower, new Ramps (a transistor broke), new Mega (cannot work without USB power), new Z threaded rods, none of the provided ones was straight. And some more, but I get upset when I give the whole list. As you can see, nothing about a $50K precision machine.

Appreciate I've seen some other Prusa I3, from kits or from user's BOM, and most of them was ways better than Folger's. When you buy a kit, you want to don't have problems with parts and the build. That's what you expect. Not to have all that things to fix or replace because it don't do what it's supposed to do. That's why I don't recommend the Folger's kit. I was a newbie into 3D printing, that's why I bought a kit. But as graduated engineer, I can appreciate if something is wrong and why. To me, you don't get what you payed for. From the Y carriage to the extruder, passing by the linear guides, It's definitely not a machine that can works properly. With Folger's kit you buy a price, not a good i3.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2015 06:14PM by Zavashier.

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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 !)

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Zavashier
I just wanted it to work properly, that's what the extra money was all about. That money was for a new extruder motor (mine was blocked) more powerfull for the same size, a new X motor, not powerfull enough in my opinion, too much prints wasted for lost steps issues. New bed, its termistor cold value was around 70°C, new bearings, le provided LM8UU was gappy and noisy, ans most of them had square balls when they did not fall out. New extruder, geared indeed, new hotend with proper cooling, for no more clogging. New Y carriage, the acrylic one bends like chewing gum under the heatbed's heat. Several new fans for the whole machine : cold end, PSU's that sounds like a lawn mower, new Ramps (a transistor broke), new Mega (cannot work without USB power), new Z threaded rods, none of the provided ones was straight. And some more, but I get upset when I give the whole list. As you can see, nothing about a $50K precision machine.

Appreciate I've seen some other Prusa I3, from kits or from user's BOM, and most of them was ways better than Folger's. When you buy a kit, you want to don't have problems with parts and the build. That's what you expect. Not to have all that things to fix or replace because it don't do what it's supposed to do. That's why I don't recommend the Folger's kit. I was a newbie into 3D printing, that's why I bought a kit. But as graduated engineer, I can appreciate if something is wrong and why. To me, you don't get what you payed for. From the Y carriage to the extruder, passing by the linear guides, It's definitely not a machine that can works properly. With Folger's kit you buy a price, not a good i3.

This is what scares me about the Folger Kossel and leans me again back to the Wilson. Haven'T heard anything bad about the Wilson TS from MJRice. However I really like the idea of building a Kossel though.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2015 08:53PM by Michaelj.

a folgertech kossel will get you .1mm detail which is very high quality and you can get it for dirt cheap if you put in the time to do everything right. And yes Delta's are much faster, I don't have a cartesian printer but the only thing limiting my kossel's print speed is the speed of extruding the plastic... it simple has trouble keeping up with the speed of the effector. My guess is roughly 4x faster based on print times reported from print times of other people on thingiverse

At last count ebay shows 1065 Folger Prusa I3's sold. Lots of people, like myself, bought from their website and those orders don't show up in that number. That's a TON of 'sad users' out there.. Or... you never hear from the people that are HAPPY with their Folger i3.

I love mine.. Best $300 i've spent. I have access to a Makerbot 5G ($2.8k.. ick) and a Lulz Taz 5 ($2k.. sweet printer) and my Folger i3 prints are comparable to both. It's not as fast and rock solid as the Taz 5... and not as pretty as the 5G BUT IT WAS $300!!

Make sure you hear from the other 1000's of users out there... not just the complainers

Btw, i've had good (not great) support from Folger Tech. I ordered a Kossel to play with as well.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2015 03:55PM by TheLost.

The FolgerTech's support awnsered me 3 weeks after my messages, when I opened a dispute on paypal. Through, I asked for new Z rods to replace the bended ones, some broken parts of the frame, some bearings to replace the unusable ones, and they send it with a bonus LCD screen. The bearings was not better, the rods came bended too. Just the frame parts was useful.

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TheLost
Make sure you hear from the other 1000's of users out there... not just the complainers

They are not delighted by their kits, except those who are no comparison point... I help in a lot of threads about problems or required modifications with Folger's i3 kit too. There's daily threads. Today's. Maybe you can find a worst kit. Obviously, since I built the Folger's i3, I've seen other prusa i3 working printers. It's clear both was better than mine. Unfortunately

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2015 06:33AM by Zavashier.

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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 !)