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Choosing a 3D Printer!

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by PatchMaster, Jul 11, 2014.

  1. PatchMaster

    PatchMaster New Member

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    Hi, Folks!
    I'm mostly new to this whole 3D printer thing, so I could use some help with it. :)
    Trying to find a cheap yet high quality printer, and after searching around the possibilities, I found this one!
    Looks nice and the outcome seems decent too!

    Any suggestions guys? :O
     
    #1 PatchMaster, Jul 11, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 11, 2014
  2. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    This is general guidance and not specific to the craftbot.

    A few things to consider:
    -When you're backing a crowd sourced printer, think of it as supporting that company/person's idea and not as buying something that will arrive at any specific time. It may arrive months or even years late or possibly never at all. If you want a printer *now* buy something available. I think Robo is through their latest shipping bump and offers a good printer. Printrbot offers a $350 makers kit version that is good quality and easy to assembly. Lots of other good established options.
    -Those published outcomes are from a well loved and calibrated prototype. There's nothing saying they'll be able to ship printers that perform like that without you having to tear down the printer and completely rebuild it.
    -Many of the new crowd sourced sub $400 printers, let alone the $200 ones are failing. The technical minded people developing them don't realize the logistics and costs of actually manufacturing something in volume until they're in it. They certainly don't understand what is going to be facing them in terms of customer support. Makibox is the prime example. Honestly, Robo is an example too. They're not failing, but they've had a really steep learning curve, are still coming up that learning curve in some ways, and have had to increase the price from where it was at their kickstarter. Of course it's also a better printer now as well.
     
    #2 Printed Solid, Jul 11, 2014
  3. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Not sure if you work for craftbot but don't link to competitor printers please.
     
    #3 Mike Kelly, Jul 11, 2014
    2 people like this.
  4. Peter Krska

    Peter Krska Active Member

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    I have the original Robo3D printer and I love it.

    I was thinking of buying one of those $200+ printers and after seeing a video of the poor performance, I jumped ship.

    I saw another video about the Robo3D printer and it looked promising. Good print from a newby.

    A lot of people upgraded this and that on the printer to get success. I left mine as is and just followed advise to get it dialled in. Any printer will need to be dialled in. As long as you don't have defects in the electronics and such, it all about tweaking this and that to get a good print.

    Once you're dialled in, it's print after print. It's such a blast.

    Now my problem is juggling prints and deciding on which is next.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk in Canada
     
    #4 Peter Krska, Jul 11, 2014
    2 people like this.
  5. Mikethinks

    Mikethinks Active Member

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    Right now for the price the Robo3d is the best printer your going to get for under $1200 with a reasonable build volume that can consistently print high quality prints. Its not perfect but with an investment of some time, a few self printing upgraded parts and practice, you can make amazing prints from it. There are some better printers out there (Ultimaker comes to mind), that are faster, and have a little more polished design, but you are talking about the difference between $800 and $2500, and the Robo prints are just as good with practice and patience. Also with the autolevel feature on the Robo3d, its like printing for dummies...in a good way, no need to spend 20 minutes leveling the print bed.

    I would stay away from printers that:

    • Are knock offs of knock offs. Amazon is filled with $1200ish makerbot knock offs. They may be excellent printers, but its hard to know just what you will get as the competition is so high for these units that prince point is the only real differentiation they can have, so I am very wary for what corners they will cut to get the price lower than the other 10 companies making the exact same printer.

    • Use proprietary filaments, as the cost is at least 50% higher than it should be, you cant know how high it will be in a year, or if you'll even be able to get filament 2 years from now. Plus you are limited to what they decide to make, and cant buy all the amazing new filaments that come out every day.

    • Have a build volume less than 6 inches across. There are just too many things that you cant do if the build size is too small. Its one of the reasons I didn't buy a 3 arm delta printer. I love the idea of a delta printer, but the lower priced ones (under $1500) all have maximum build sizes that while tall, are not big enough width/length. Its so much easier if your print volume is near cubical, so you can always turn the model and orientate it on the bed for the easiest print.

    In the end it really comes down to how much you want to spend. The Robo3d is the best you will get within $500 of its pricepoint IMHO. It a lot like cars, you can spend a lot more than you have to, and get something that is only marginally better, and you still end up at the same place when you drive somewhere.
     
    #5 Mikethinks, Jul 12, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 12, 2014
  6. Peter Krska

    Peter Krska Active Member

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    One thing you could also do is to go to anyone else's forum and see what problems they encounter. No matter the cost everyone has problems. It's now a matter of believing in the product and setting it up properly.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk in Canada
     
    #6 Peter Krska, Jul 12, 2014
  7. Galaxius

    Galaxius Well-Known Member

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    It's not just the printer you need to consider but also the community. I backed the Robo3d kickstarter and am very glad I did because the/this community is awesome. The willingness to help, encourage, and improve is outstanding. It was members of this community that inspired me to learn, share, help, and try give back which has made my 3d printing experience so rewarding.
     
    #7 Galaxius, Jul 12, 2014
  8. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    The base printer will probably be able to print very soon after receiving it but as many have stated above it will have bumps and support from Robo can be bumpy at times as well but it is getting alot better. For its price I still believe it is probably the best one for its size , community support and build volume. Help form others and your own creativeness will make it into the printer you can actually be proud to own as it is capable of doing some very impressive things with some standard mods people here can help you with.

    Keep in mind many of the mods you will do to make your style/method of printing easier so may not be for everyone in the same way thea every mod that is out there may not work for you. That however is what makes it fun and interesting.

    As an example I myself created a very popular bed leveling mod that many people prior to the R1 are using to help level the bed and it works great you, however, in getting a new R1 will not even need them so mods will come and go as they are needed but all can be useful to someone.
     
    #8 tesseract, Jul 13, 2014
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