Robo 3d initial thoughts

I recently picked up a used Robo 3d printer. After a week or so of tuning and getting things to fully function here are a few of my thoughts on it.

While I a new to the Robo3d and to the reprap 3d printers in general, I am not new to 3d printing. I have an old Stratasys Genisys XS that I bought used around 2001. I actually purchased the Robo3d to print the parts I need to retrofit it to the reprap style and controllers. This is a very large machine (300lbs) and used proprietary software and expensive wafers(instead of filament). It is built like an industrial machine though and has THK and Thompson linear rails and all. It was very accurate and produced nice prints in 2001. It has been sunset by the manufacturer long ago though. Below is a pics of a print from it I still had lying around(note: it is dirty and has a break on the one leg)

I have to admit I am extremely impressed with the Robo 3d. Yes it can have some issues and some things might be better designed, but for the money I think it is a great entry level product into 3d printing for those who do not want to start from scratch. Yes the commercial product I listed above worked right out of the box, but it also had periodic issues(clogging of the screw driven extruder with the wafers was a big one).
Yes it has been almost 15 years since the older model I have was made and in the reprap world that is probably forever. The Genisys XS was probably about $10k or more new though back then.The open source 3d printing segment as a whole is very exciting and making great strides.

I still have issues every 10 or so prints but seems to be getting pretty solid these days. Below is a pic of my latest print see pic below(a dust collection hose adapter. I wrote a generic thing that can be used for any hose adapter that can be found here http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:560647). But all in all things are going well. I still have some issues with items that needs supports but I think that is more of a software issue than the Robo3d. I am only printing with my medium settings and have not spent much time trying to get better prints as most of the things I print are more function than aesthetic.




Some suggestions for the Robo team.
1. Season the nozzles before sending them out. I can understand seasoning in the machine might cause manufacturing delays. But I just threw the metal portions in a toaster over at 400 for like 15 minutes with some vegie oil a couple times and mine has worked great since.
2. Not sure if any sort of bracing at the top between the 2 sets of screws and rods would help with any stability.
3. Since it does need periodic tweaking and adjusting, make the top easier to remove from the machine. I know if looks nice and all but is a pain to have to remove and reinstall. Maybe attach the wiring for extruder to #2 so it is easy to take off.
4. Have a settings file or something and install as part of the software. The default settings in Matter control didn't work at all for me even though I selected Robo3d printer which I would expect to set good setting from the start.

I would like to thank the Robo3d team for creating a good product at a reasonable price. I also would like to thank all the active folks in the forums who are a wealth of info for those starting out with the Robo3d. Hopefully the Robo3d folks give them something on the house occasionally for all their efforts.

Just my thought and observations.

 

Thanks. Good to see such an active support community for a product.