Decent, low priced Prusa/Mendel printer?

Looking for Christmas gift suggestions.
What is a decent, inexpensive Prusa/Mendel printer? I have built a FolgerTech Kossel kit, and a Cartesian and two other delta printers from scratch. So, I am not afraid of crappy instructions as long as the parts are good and the kit is solid. I am on a quest to build at least one of every type of printer. Hmm, maybe an SLA printer? Hmm...

Thanks,
DLC

you should forget kits and start building contacts with parts supplier you got corexy in the collection yet ? have a peek at the hypercube on thingiverse or the H300 " which is the dual Zaxis of the hypercube

My Anet A8 does everything I ask of it.

If you want to build one of each type, just curious, is that one of each type of machine (core xy, replicator style gantry, ultimaker style, delta, scara, polar) or just to have one cartesian, one delta and one scara/polar. Depending on your answer, is a simpson on the list? As for good prusa/mendel kits I quite like the look of the tevo tarantula. Alumjnium frame is nicer than acrylic and i like how much quieter wheels are compared to rods and linear bearings.

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jinx
you should forget kits and start building contacts with parts supplier you got corexy in the collection yet ? have a peek at the hypercube on thingiverse or the H300 " which is the dual Zaxis of the hypercube

The reason I generally start with a kit is that I can't get ala-carte parts as cheap as I can get those parts by buying a kit. The one exception to that rule is my micro Kossel; I could get Makerbeam XL stuff easily and the shower door rollers and such were also easy and cheap. Everything else I printed myself. Having never built a Prusa/Mendel printer before, I don't know what I need to get. As an example, I just scratch built a Kossel Delta for 3mm filament that I wanted to use linear rails instead of shower door rollers. A FLsun kit was cheaper than buying just the linear rails and 2020 extruded rail ala-carte, and I got a controller and heated bed for the trouble!

Yes, the CoreXY/Hypercube is on my list! Like the delta printers, the seeming complexity of the mechanics is fascinating!

Thanks,
DLC

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Trakyan
If you want to build one of each type, just curious, is that one of each type of machine (core xy, replicator style gantry, ultimaker style, delta, scara, polar) or just to have one cartesian, one delta and one scara/polar. Depending on your answer, is a simpson on the list? As for good prusa/mendel kits I quite like the look of the tevo tarantula. Alumjnium frame is nicer than acrylic and i like how much quieter wheels are compared to rods and linear bearings.

Basically, I want to experiment with one of each category, I consider the Prusa/Mendel the same because they move the bed in the Y plane and the head in X and Z, Cartesian moves the bed in Z, deltas don't move the bed at all and I don't completely understand what Core XY does yet... There are obviously subsets of the main groupings, some different enough to be of interest. In truth I am fascinated with the FDM technology itself. I like to build things, and as anyone into robotics, RC aircraft, etc. understands; you never have just one. Eventually, you play with enough things that you just HAVE to design one yourself. My micro Kossel desktop was my first entry into that DIY arena.

Thanks,
DLC

I've made good experience with the geeetech i3 alu - it's a rigid frame and they improve the design of the parts ncluded all the time. Former versions had issues with the extruder, for example, but they listened to the people and changed the design accordingly.
Prints very nice (I'd say), cost me about 230€ by ebay for the complete kit, and packed in a ikea-Lack-enclosure it is barely hearable (which is good, since it's sitting in the living room).

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dlc60
Basically, I want to experiment with one of each category, I consider the Prusa/Mendel the same because they move the bed in the Y plane and the head in X and Z, Cartesian moves the bed in Z, deltas don't move the bed at all and I don't completely understand what Core XY does yet... There are obviously subsets of the main groupings, some different enough to be of interest. In truth I am fascinated with the FDM technology itself. I like to build things, and as anyone into robotics, RC aircraft, etc. understands; you never have just one. Eventually, you play with enough things that you just HAVE to design one yourself. My micro Kossel desktop was my first entry into that DIY arena.

Thanks,
DLC

The prusa is a derivative of the mendel, the first iteration was even called the prusa mendel. To me 'Cartesian' just means the gantry or bed moves in plain X, Y and Z. Whether that's a mendel or replicator gantry or whatever. CoreXY is a cartesian printer to me, it typically uses an H type gantry where the gantry moves in X and Y. The difference here is that the X and Y axis are coupled together, so the motors work together to move the print head in X and Y (only one motor does the work in diagonal movements, so basically the reverse of a typical Cartesian). It's more or less a Cartesian printer with it's coordinate system rotated 45 degrees.

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stahlsau
I've made good experience with the geeetech i3 alu - it's a rigid frame and they improve the design of the parts ncluded all the time. Former versions had issues with the extruder, for example, but they listened to the people and changed the design accordingly.
Prints very nice (I'd say), cost me about 230€ by ebay for the complete kit, and packed in a ikea-Lack-enclosure it is barely hearable (which is good, since it's sitting in the living room).

The Geeetech i3 gets some pretty awful reviews. But, all the Chinese kits get some pretty awful reviews... I will put it in my comparisons. It has a nice solid look to it.

thanks,
DLC

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Trakyan

The prusa is a derivative of the mendel, the first iteration was even called the prusa mendel. To me 'Cartesian' just means the gantry or bed moves in plain X, Y and Z. Whether that's a mendel or replicator gantry or whatever. CoreXY is a cartesian printer to me, it typically uses an H type gantry where the gantry moves in X and Y. The difference here is that the X and Y axis are coupled together, so the motors work together to move the print head in X and Y (only one motor does the work in diagonal movements, so basically the reverse of a typical Cartesian). It's more or less a Cartesian printer with it's coordinate system rotated 45 degrees.

I didn't know what else to call it. I reference Cartesian as one where the X/Y operate in a fixed plane and Z moves vertically and separately; this is the simplest of the printers. I put the Mendel/Prusa and CoreXY into two different other categories. I put the delta's in a single category, whether Kossel or Rostok.

I just like gadgets, especially those that do their job in clever ways.

Thanks,
DLC

I usually call XZ toolhead, Y bed printers either an i3, prusa or mendel since most people recognize them under that name and "fixed gantry" either doesn't ring a bell or people don't know what it means. The designs you're calling cartesians are H gantries (because they look like an H), where the toolhead moves in XY and the bed in Z. There is also the gantry system that people recognize from the ultimaker, which I don't know what exactly to call. Crossed axis gantry?

As for deltas, to me the difference between kossel and rostock is akin to mendel and prusa. Same gantry and mechanics, just some different design choices that resulted in slightly different machines. There are also more types of deltas. Kossel and rostock are linear deltas, there are rotary deltas (as seen in many industrial pick and place bots) and "grounded" deltas like the simpson. There is a very, very deep rabbit hole for how you can move something in 3 dimensions. A couple of years ago there were a lot of weird and wacky machines popping up like the simpson, tripteron, rhombot, theta printer and more.

There are several variations on polar and scara printers that embrace more or less of the polar kinematics. Some printers move the print head in XZ and then rotate the bed in Y, some rotate the bed and the effector arm and have a vertical Z, some have two pivots on the effector arm and a vertical Z, and some go all out robot arm like the S.A.P.E. They all look awesome but I think some of them are very hard to make usable in a reprap. Robot arms are great, and for that reason they are widespread in industry, but are hard to make rigid and sturdy on a budget. If you hear about any more weird and whacky machines please share, I love that sort of stuff.

EDIT: Sorry, I should get back on topic. If you aren't fussed about losing out on the heated bed, there are some cheap kits like the tronxy X1 or creality ender(?) that use a cantilever setup and have the bed move in Y, toolhead in XZ. I personally like the tevo because of it's stripped back and minimal design (while avoiding a cantilever, though I'm not sure how much it benefits with only a single sided drive). I'd avoid acrylic or plywood/MDF frames either because they are brittle or have tendencies to warp respectively, and you can get metal frames for not too much more these days.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2017 11:49PM by Trakyan.