Want to buy one. Right now around the $2,000 mark is my goal, might adjust up from there if it warrants it.
Don’t want to buy a cheapie with crummy resolution or gross limitations.
Let’s investigate and see what we can find out.
Most importantly, recommendations from people who have used them, both pro and con.
Thanks, Greg
I’ll second this, and move a comment over here from points at another thread over there.
Ive looked at a bunch of the sub-$1000 ones online, but have no idea how to rate them. Plus Im afraid of getting one that requires a bunch of tinkering to work correctly and consistently.
There seems to be both difficulty in setup/alignment/etc of the printer itself, and hard to use software. Ideally they should work like a printer, where I send it a file, and out the other end comes what I want with minimal farting around.
Bob, Dave Bodner demonstrated one at a club meeting. He use sketch up, and that isn’t as difficult as some auto cad programs I have tried in the past. And he “printed” it with what looked to be a typical looking print driver. So 3D printing is moving to be more user friendly,
MakerBot’s 3d scanner is under a grand also… that looks good, and the software seems pretty user friendly.
This one is just short of $3,000, but much higher resolution…
The Da Vinci 1.0 looks neat for $500. So does the Robo 3d and the Solidoodle.
I’m getting excited…
Off topic, but printing in stainless steel:
http://i.materialise.com/materials/stainless-steel
I think I need to find a comparison chart of features.
Looks like making a list:
build volume
speed
xy resolution
layer resolution
Are these the most important?
Greg
I’d love to monkey around with this stuff but being poor sucks. Should check out my local community college
At his seminar at the ECLSTS, Dave Bodnar said there was a rumor that HP was going to enter the market this summer. That could change everything.
Seems like it’s more than a rumor: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/28/why-is-hp-entering-the-3d-printing-industry/
Greg,
Max/min size of prints along with size of the printing area compared to the total size.
Greg Elmassian said:
MakerBot’s 3d scanner is under a grand also… that looks good, and the software seems pretty user friendly.
Junk INHO -
Very difficult to get a usable scan, doesn’t like complex shapes or dark color items, software creates a huge file that’s difficult to edit to change the image, also scan area is 8" square at best, you also need to build an enclosure as it will pick out items in the background and do some funky stuff trying to incoperate them into the scan
I’d wait for scanning tech to mature before venturing into these
Looks like making a list:
build volume = Very important
speed = Quality is more important then speed IMHO
xy resolution = same as Layer resolution?
layer resolution = Yeah the quility is what matters
Are these the most important?
Greg
Good list though aboviously price should be on the list
What material do you want to print? Abs, Pla, Nylon etc
There are 2 sizes of filament you need to pick one also 3m or 1.75m
ABS requires a hotbed / full enclosure to keep parts from warping with drafts, the library has ditched the 2x Makerbot ABS cause it is very difficult to work with, In fact all 4 of the ABS printers are currently either outright broken or printing like crap.
Greg- I have two 3D printers- I purchased the Afinia H480 over a year ago and would give top marks for best out-of-the-box experience ---- I has been a workhorse for me and, with the exception of a few repairs (covered under warranty) has been excellent. The warranty is for 1 year and they have cross-shipped parts so that down time was minimal.
In November I purchased the FlashForge Creator - it is about $600 less, has a larger build platform and has two extruders so that you can do two color prints. It is more troublesome and the software is more buggy but I can get excellent prints from it if I can take the time to get past its issues -cost is kept lower by using a plywood frame and generic hardware - the support (from the US office) has been very good.
Both printers are available from Amazon:
and
dave
Mark Dash said:
Looks like making a list:
build volume = Very important
speed = Quality is more important then speed IMHO
xy resolution = same as Layer resolution?
layer resolution = Yeah the quility is what matters
Are these the most important?
Greg
Good list though aboviously price should be on the list
There are 2 sizes of filament you need to pick one also 3m or 1.75m
Why would I want one or the other? Is there a reason for either one, or are there just two kinds?
I’d go with 1.75mm filament for detail stuff - Smaller nozzles will have a harder time dealing with larger filaments and the other way around, we tend to want a smooth finish and better surface in our models then say somone making a replacement grill handle
It seems that for what most of us need, the quality (which comes down to resolution and apparently smaller nozzles on smaller filament) is more important than speed.
Most of us will be doing short runs for ourselves or friends, I do not need a production speed machine.
Mark: xy resolution is different than layer resolution (the z dimension).
Clearly you want high resolution in all 3 axes but some manufacturers specify the z axis resolution separately from the x and y.
I already put price on the list, first post, under $2k for me.
greg
Depends on the printer, not all printers use the same x,y,z movements so thereofr the xy on one printer can be higher then another printer but not produce better quality
yes, you can fudge it up even if you have good resolution.
But poor resolution cannot be overcome… I know that much.
Greg
The Wall Street Journal had an article on th consumer 3D printer market today. They reviewed the Makerbot Mini. Generally favorable review. Quoted the price at $1,395. The general take from the article was that the technology is improving rapidly and becoming easier to use. They also mentioned Autodesk 123D Catch as an interesting conversion program. Not a lot of specificity in the article but a good primer on the state of the technology.