Best options for new printer?

Given the following options when ordering a Prusa I3, which would be preferable for a first-timer:

Frame Material:
aluminium 6mm
steel 3mm
acrylic 6mm

Filament Diameter: 1.75mm OR 3mm

Nozzle Diameter: 0.3mm, 0.4mm OR 0.5mm

Filament Type: ABS 1kg OR PLA 1kg

I would go with:

aluminium 6mm
Filament Diameter: 1.75mm
Nozzle Diameter: 0.4mm
Filament Type: PLA 1kg

Hi,

Start to enjoy 3D printing with PLA.
ABS can be discouraging for the beginer.

Aluminium frame at last 6mm
MDF/brich plywood at last 12mm
Steel at last 3mm
acrylic 10mm or greater (acrylic is the worst choice)

Try to avoid full 8mm threaded rods Y chassis,
kits with front and back plates makes squaring easyer, and are more stiff.
For the Z axis You want ACME threaded rod shaft Nema17 motors with brass nuts.
You want a wade extruder and a proper hotend (E3D or Hexagon alike)
IMHO bowdens are better, but direct drive extruders are simpler to setup.
A display/sd card reader is interesting (faster prints, standalone printer)
Don't buy printers with exotic boards, stick with well known boards (RAMPS 4ex.)

Look at details :
cable management,
endstop placements,
quality of idler pulleys
belt tensioning systems on both X and Y axis
genuine electronics, Arduino (must see the logo), ReprapDiscount's Ramps, heatbed, display (must be white)...

Last : don't be cheap, or you'll pay for upgrades.

++JM

Steel:

[forums.reprap.org]

Hi RRuser,

You promote a lot what you bought.
There's good points with it, mostly the frame maybe, the wade extruder,
and bad points too, like threaded rods (M5 ?), Z couplers, LM8uu bearings...
A lot of standard parts indeed.
You say that kit is the best, what other printers did you experienced ?

++JM

I don't know if all is the best, since it's my first printer. Just the frame. Really that's the main part, which should last for years and can be moved from room to room with no change in alignment. The other parts seem to work great, and are very cheap to replace.

Hi again,

I enjoy what I own, but why should I be amazed ?
When I give an advice to someone,
I try to don't talk about my own choices,
but to give different possible paths
to help that someone to make up his mind.

The frame is important, you're right, but steel have pro and cons.
Steel conduct heat, current, is heavy and transmit a lot vibrations,
which is not realy wanted for our printers.
Some materials stands better vibrations, like MDF.
No raw material is supperior to any other
if you take advantage of its own properties,
and use an adapted building technique.
For example, 3mm steel is supperior to 3mm plywood,
until you use a torsion box construction.
Then the plywood should be supperior...

To me, the machine's architecture must fit the needs,
whatever the raw material.
But components, and first of all the guide system must not fail.
LM8UU are cheap and easy to replace,
but it's low quality components : noisy, wobbly...
Don't give too much interest to the frame,
all is important for a machine,
and there's mostly good and bad with any kit.

++JM

"Steel conduct heat, current, is heavy and transmit a lot vibrations,"

an aluminum frame does the same things except at half the weight...

the only instance where plywood is superior to steel is weight reduction and maybe easier to work with for someone who either is not experienced in working with metal or doesn't have the proper tools.

There is nothing wrong with talking about your own choices if they work. personal experience is much better then someone spouting off about stuff they heard about but never used. The only caveat to that is that the person states that its their personal experience. i didnt see the original post to know if RRuser did that or not.

Your absolutely right on the low quality components. You buy cheap components and you will just kick yourself later when your buying the better stuff anyway to work out problems with your prints. but to say not to give too much time to the frame is bad advice. the frame is what supports the entire machine. i've seen way too many instances where the acrylic frames crack and break either out of the box or overtime with vibration. I chose to go with a steel frame for my prusa i3 build because i had it... i can work with it... and after welding the frame together rather then bolting it..i will have no issues with fasteners coming loose or vibration. the only downside is its heavy. it weighs every bit as much as my delta thats a full meter tall and made from aluminum.

Hi again,

Confucius is right when he says
"experience is a candle that light only your footprints"
I was just arguing because RRuser was "promoting" his printer
the same way in several threads as ultimate awnser.

Quote
Freebird01
the only instance where plywood is superior to steel is weight reduction and maybe easier to work with for someone who either is not experienced in working with metal or doesn't have the proper tools.

Definitely I desagree. I'm skilled with metalwork,
I'm lucky enough to have in stock both metal sheets and profiles,
aluminium, steel, solid and pannel wood, and tools to make what I want.
I will choose wood or pannelwood in some applications for its properties,
if that properties match with what I want to build.
Sometimes you're wise to use metal, sometimes wise to use wood.
Even if you need weight and stiffness, sometimes you'd rather
use concrete instead of steel or any metal.

Don't get me wrong I like metal too, I own a cast steel mill,
and an aluminium pannel CNC.

I actualy experience a 19mm MDF box frame for a CoreXY printer;
after testing metal frames. I gave it a try after seeing the SmartrapCore.
Surprisingly a MDF frame is all you want :
it's stiff, it's straight, it's realy strong, it damps vibrations,
it provides a good insulation and keeps heat in
without getting warm and does not work as a thermical mass.
It makes the printer very quiet and it feels nice to the touch too.
A pretty good surprise, indeed !

++JM

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2015 10:28AM by J-Max.

I think, however, that you want heavy, and not light. I don't see how less weight benefits anythings. Heavy will stay in one place, and not vibrate as much.

Hi,

You're right, on a 3D printer weight less is only wanted for moving parts.
For structure purpose, mass can help limit vibration transmission,
but you will need a lot of mass to be effective on some frequencies.
Steel's density is high, that's true, but do a printer need a high density material ?
That's not the first expectation.

What you want first is a ridgid and square structure.
Then you want a structure that don't react to the operating range
of vibrations your machine can generate.
Steel react and transmit vibrations more than fibrous materials,
because fibers act as an absorber.

Anyways, a 19mm MDF pannel frame is not light at all.
My CoreXY MDF frame itself weights 16kg (35.5lbs).
AFAIK, a full steel kit (frame and stuff) weights 15kg (33lbs)... (see specifications page)

I know actualy steel frames are acclaimed,
principaly because of previous acrylic or plywood cheap framed kits.
Previously, people wanted most transportable printers.
I guess it's a fashionable taste.

I don't say steel is the worst material ever.
It's cheaper than aluminium, equaly stiff with thinner plates,
it can be cut accurately, it looks professionnal and you can hardly DIY it,
businessly talking, its weak point is only shipping costs,
and acrylic and thin plywood kits was an awnser to reduce cost only.
Note any thick MDF frame will be even more expensive to ship.

IMHO it's just not the best material, and I can argue why it is not.
Anyone is free to order and use any frame material.
I understand some people will stick to steel frames
much better than 10mm acrylic frames or more expensive aluminium frames.
Even if I believe it's not the ultimate choice ever.

++JM

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2015 04:24AM by J-Max.

My thanks to everyone for your advice and assistance.

Today I ordered a fully assembled Wanhao Duplicator I3.

No doubt I will have some tuning and modifying to do, so this is probably not the last you'll hear from me.

- Bill