Ultimaker vs MakerGear Prusa

I'm new to 3D printing, and have been trying to come up to speed on the options available. I'm looking to buy a kit or completed printer that is somewhat idiot proof, because if the build is too involved I know that I will not have the time to see it through to completion. I've been looking at the MakerGear Prusa versus the Ultimaker, and I'm trying to better understand the pro's / con's to each printer. Any thoughts/recommendations?

Build volume is about the same. Construction would probably be about the same. Adjustment and calibration would likely be easier on the ultimaker since more of the smooth rod constraints are defined by the laser cut board rather than nuts and a jig. Never built an ultimaker, but I have built both a Prusa and a Makerbot. Ultimaker boasts a very fast print head travel speed. Don't know if that translates into faster prints overall or not. Prusa would likely benefit from community upgrades to a greater extent.

Thank you bryanandaimee. You mentioned that you have built a Makerbot and Prusa. What is your opinion of Makerbot versus Prusa? I realize its purely superficial, but the Markbot packaging is very visually appealing. It is one of the reasons I'm intereseted in Ultimaker, it looks cool!

Prusa has a heated bed. The lack of any heated build platform on the ultimaker would be a deal breaker for me. ABS is my material of choice and bad things happen if the bed is not heated.

stackman Wrote:
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> if the build is too
> involved I know that I will not have the time to
> see it through to completion.

Then you only want to look at Prusa variants.

You will probably need a soldering station, wire strippers, a vice or a huge c-clamp ... these builds are not simple. If you are not deft at working with low voltage wiring you probably want to order some more cable and iec header pins and connectors (1x3 and 1x4) as you don't get (m)any extras. (Hey, kit vendors, advertise if you give extra parts that people break!) You will probably need a laptop or PC power supply that you can cut and strip to power the machine. I don't think any kit maker gives you a power supply.

I would say that any variation in the machines will be minor in the long run, as you can upgrade and tweak once yours is in operation and you know what you are doing. But I will say this, buy the machine that has the most documentation from the vendor! Don't rely on the wiki, demand step-by-step docs up front. See if they show you how to build the extruder hot-end and how to connect the power supply.

@Stackman - if you have questions about the MakerGear Prusa kit, please stop by the MakerGear IRC channel . You can ask questions and chat with people who are actively assembling/operating MakerGear kits.

If you are not in a hurry, check out the recently announced MakerGear Mosaic.

Rick

I agree that the box bots look better in general. Also if you ever have to transport it the box bots seem to have an advantage there. I don't have my Prusa printing yet, but I'm told the quality of prints you get is better on Prusa than on makerbot largely due to Z axis wobble issues on the makerbot I think. I can't comment on Ulitmaker print quality but I think the newer kids on the block have learned lessons from the past. Also I own the makerbot cupcake and I think the newer makerbot thingomatic has better print quality than mine. Though it may not seem so at first the build size can be limiting on cupcake/thingomatic. You may not ever print something that takes up the whole build volume of a mendel (4.500,000 metric hours of printing , but often it helps to have some extra room for objects with long skinny things sticking out like mounting bars etc.

>What is your opinion of Makerbot versus Prusa? I realize its purely superficial, but the Markbot packaging is very visually appealing. It is one of >the reasons I'm intereseted in Ultimaker, it looks cool!

@Mark2 I'm not sure that the Prusa design is necessarily the best for newcommers. Initial frame build might be simpler, but overall if you include jigging, squaring, etc, and calibrating the machine, you will likely get a useable print faster on the box bots as the rod positions are constrained by the laser cut wood. On the other hand MakerGear has a very good reputation so it's a tough choice. Re: power supply, it looks like both ultimaker and makergear include one with their kits.

Does anyone have experience with the Rapman (from Bits from Bytes)? I have read it is based upon the Darwin, but users seem to be happy with it. It does offer the advantage of 2 print heads, and I don't think I've seen that on other printers.

There is also the eMaker Huxley kit.

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Whatever you do, dont buy from TEchzoneCom. Their parts and approach are not professional. They do try their best to support after purchase, but its not worth the number of hours. Their kits are not a full solution. I had problems with their hot tip and had to buy a separate one for 50$ and still having difficulty mounting it on the small huxley. They also did not ship the correct powersupply for which I had to wait almost 2 weeks. Also techzone instructions are incomplete and very amateur as you can see on the reprap wiki.