Have you heard of CraftBot ?

225x200x200 print volume with horizontal movement heat bed (like ultimaker) and cost $699

I am not advertizing, i simply look for feedback.
I hate moving bed but $699 was all i could play with at the time.
Ultimaker 2 is $2500, thats half of my car cost , so i wont even know if its good at all. Even if its the greatest printer out there, with one color print and suffers same issues as all other printers do, its not worth $2500.
But the $699 craftbot sounds interesting.
It has similar design, rest can be replaced with better hot end etc, just like ROBO gets replaced with e3d hotends almost always.

 

It's selling on Indiegogo for $496 now. It has 8 days to go. After the funding campaign, the retail price will be $699.

I like the quality of their build (based on the info they provided on Indiegogo). I prefer z axis moving bed over y axis moving bed, taking much less space. Considering the features and the quality of the build (looks very high precision and sturdy), I believe it's a very good value.

I like it very much so I backed it on the Indiegogo. Can't wait to receive mine by end September (hopefully).

 

Gonna need allot more then just saying its great. Need some video reviews and how supported their customers are before making a move even if its too late for $496.
I see no YouTube reviews on that printer so its hard to tell if it prints and what are its issues.

The only issue with ROBO i have is the bed. It cannot be perfectly flat resting on 4 screws. It needs solid base just like the ultimaker or thi new craftbot.

 

It's a project on Indiegogo and the company is new, so no product on the market for review yet. No one knows how well it will print but based on the info and the updates on Indeigogo, it's a risk I'm willing to take.

No printer is perfect, so I expect that I'll be using the knowledge I gained from owning my Robo 3D to apply to maintaining the CraftBot.

 

Tony,
On paper the printer looks good. Remember that the company is in Budapest Hungary. Shipping will be around $100. Support will be from Europe. It would probably be worth the money to wait until it is in production and you can check out reviews of the real product. Depends if you think saving $200 is worth the chance of it being late or not meeting specs. or quality.

 

Thats exactly where i was going.
$200 is a small price to pay for quality assurance.
But then horizontal motion bed ? I would pay $200 to ROBO if they would make horizontal bed mod to my robo, thats basically all it needs to be perfect

 

You meant vertical motion z axis bed, right?

What quality assurance, from Robo 3D? ;-)

 

No, Tony wants the bed to move in the Z axis instead of horizontal. Basically it would be a new printer design.

 

Quality assurance=reviews of people who used it and who know what they are talking about, as well as being able to afford more then 1 in order to compare in the first place.

I picked ROBO over PRUSA because it seem to have less to worry about, Parts were molded instead of printed and it was already assembled.
It needed nothing to work VS ton of self assembly and weeks of troubleshooting for a newb like me.
Sure now ill get your printer working as it should in minutes, but back then i needed some reviews to make up my mind.

 

I agree with you. It would be nice to have people with experience to review new products and provide their valuable feedbacks.

For new products which no one has a chance to review it yet, there is always a risk.

I looked at both Cobblebot and CraftBot. I chose CraftBot based on similar reasons like your choosing ROBO over PRUSA (minus user reviews). I based my decision on the way CraftBot builds its machine (CNC and laser cut, non printed parts), the crossed CoreXY mechanism they use, no assembly required, touched color LCD display, etc...

For a new company, someone has to be brave enough to buy their first products based on whatever the info available at the time. Otherwise, no new company can sell anything. I guess I'm just one of those fools.

 

Very nice. All metal brackets etc instead of plastic by the looks too. Let's hope it works out of the box like that too. I'm keen to see your feedback.

 

I hope that it will work out of the box too.

I know that many 3D printers are not perfect, so there may be some adjustments need to be made. I'm just hoping that the prints will be more consistent and repeatable after fine tunings. That's what I'm looking for.

Looks like the x carriage is more heavier than Ultimaker's, so I believe that the print speed will be slower than Ultimaker. At this moment, I don't know how fast it can print compare to Robo.

 

ALSO:
They have far better software to print. Its called CraftWare.
Juts by opening it the first time you see that people had not only knowledge but expirience that allowed them to make something so complex and easy to use.
Its like CURA on steroids.

It does not support direct print yet, but who cares, most of us print with SD cards anyway.

 

CraftWare has many great features. It is still in beta stage, once those bugs eventually get fixed, then it probably will become one of the top slicers.

It's not just about the hardware and software.

The way the company's planning, communication, updates, responses, all showed that it's very professionally run with very smart people. I hope that they can continue to keep that kind of level after the funding campaign ends.

 

For those whom might be curious to find out how good or bad (depending on your expectation) CraftBot's print quality is.

Below is a link to some of the prints showing CraftBot.

http://www.thingiverse.com/Tomi_3D/made

FYI, Tomi_3D is a 12 year old boy who is the son of one of the CraftUnique members and is featured in their video.

They believe that the quality can be improved further by tweaking the slicer settings. Don't know what the setting of their print setting are though.

 

Very intersting on Oldham coupler.



According to CraftUnique: "We have bended that threaded rod on purpose in order to show how Oldham coupler works."

Anyone knows and care to explain how Oldham coupler works? How does it help in z wobble or z ribbing with bend threaded rod?

 

CraftBot FilaFlex filament print.

 

I want pellets of this stuff. Where do i buy ?

 

CraftBot VIP backers start to receive their printers. The CraftWare is still in beta stage and has bugs. They also has resolved some of the issue dealing with LCD display communication issue to the main controller board.

Here is a link to the prints one of the backers posted. Looks quite good I would say.

http://craftunique.com/forums/view-thread/23

 

I've been using my Robo3D printer for 7 months straight.

I am starting to get the wear and tear issues. Mainly worn out wiring and I need to replace my bed heater and the extruder wiring broke.

I am able to continue to print, even on a cold bed, (still waiting for my replacement parts)

And a quick fix on the wiring harness, I am back to printing.

The Robo3D printer I have is amazingly robust and easily fixable. The forum has many knowledgable people in it there are a few who are dedicated help and will get you the help you need should there be an issue.

Why change the success to something that is unknown?

You could buy it and then post your successes. We could then compare prints. The real way to know if it's working is to get one and try. Every printer no-matter the cost, will have issues that can be fixed. Does the other printer guys have a forum? Check it and see if there are any issues and whether there is someone there to help you along.

If not, get a Robo3D printer instead!


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