I am an aspiring prop maker/cosplayer and in the market to acquire my first 3d printer. I have talked to a few fab lab employees and looked at alot of forums on the subject and everything worth while had been from about a year ago. I have been looking at a few models at various price range such as the Lulzbot mini (top of budget), Qidi Tech (mid range), and then Hictop Printer (lower budget). As fellow creators I want your input from experience on what would benefit me in the long run in terms of bed size, print speed, layer thickness, and worth of value.
3D Printers!! New please help :)
- Thread starter Rks3th
- Start date
tsenecal
Well-Known Member
I just went through this myself, 5 months ago, and decided to buy "the easy-bake oven of 3d printers" that was a mistake. there are no short cuts. whatever you do, buy the kit, assemble the kit, learn how it works. there is no such thing as a printer that is "already calibrated". even if it comes from the factory calibrated, given enough time, things will loosen up, shift, or wear out. then you will need to know how to take it apart, put it back together, and re-calibrate it. a few tips: buy one that has two stepper motors on the x-axis, has as large a bed as you can afford, has a heated bed, doesn't require anything that is proprietary (no special filaments, etc), and finally, and most important: buy one that has a huge following/community so that your questions can be answered by people that know what they are talking about, and not just some customer service idiot reading from a script.
FrightMaker
Well-Known Member
Definitely check out the Wanhao Duplicator I3 - for the price and size, it's tough to beat! Have already printed 3 helmets, musical instruments, and parts for my speeder bike (see my posts for my details). Best of luck and watch out - it's addicting!
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Makerbot replicator 2 is very dependable
baylor
New Member
I have a 2015 model Flashforge Creator Pro that has been excellent. I crossed the 450 hour mark today with zero maintenance, which I imagine to be normal as my boss and coworker also purchased one and their printers are running strong as well.
Here are some prints, some with post processing. At 0.1mm layer height the lines almost vanish.
I'm not affiliated with flashforge, just a happy customer.
Also, I would budget in a good slicer as well, it really can make a difference. All of these prints were sliced with Simplify3D which runs an additional $150.
Here are some prints, some with post processing. At 0.1mm layer height the lines almost vanish.
I'm not affiliated with flashforge, just a happy customer.
Also, I would budget in a good slicer as well, it really can make a difference. All of these prints were sliced with Simplify3D which runs an additional $150.
swhite228
Well-Known Member
Because one is never enough we have the following at ScalePhotons:
M3d- nice but pla only and a small print area. We are looking into replacing it with the M3d Deluxe
Flashforge Creator Pro - like Baylor said it is the work horse and used the most in client printing. We have had a couple of issues with ours but I blame us not the printer.
Rostock MAX v2 - bought by my business partner and never used because we are waiting on a replacement board for the one he wired wrong.
and the one I just settled on ordering for home...
Folgertech ft5. My reason for the ft-5 was good reviews, cost ($499 vs the Rostok $999), and larger print area than the Rostock and Creator Pro. Folgertech also has a router head ready to start shipping that will allow the ft-5 to be used as a basic c-n-c router.
https://folgertech.com/collections/...s/folger-tech-ft-5-large-scale-3d-printer-kit
Worth of value can be hard to judge, what is the price point YOU want to spend? I help maintain about 30 or so 3d printers at work and have 5 currently running at home.
My equipment list that I've owned with * marks next to the ones I still have:
Dremel Idea 3d printer
Makerbot Replicator 2x
Wanhao i3 (my first and very recommended printer)*
Flashforge Creator Pro*
Flashforge Creator X
Lulzbot Taz Mini
Lulzbot Taz6*
Monoprice Mini Select*
Folgertech Ft-5 (currently being built though have used it at work)*
All of them have their merits, the FT5 is a kit and not one I would suggest to a beginner. The Dremel is limited in materials and has no heated bed, avoid the Makerbot Replicator 2x like the plague, in fact, avoid Makerbot all together and get one of their clones like the Flashforge machines, which have always been workhorses for me. The Mini is a fun printer and easy/cheap to start with. The Wanhao i3 or its rebranded clones are great beginner/tinkerer printers and the Lulzbot printers are great, though they are pricey. Frankly I would have probably not purchased them if it weren't for my work discount.
My equipment list that I've owned with * marks next to the ones I still have:
Dremel Idea 3d printer
Makerbot Replicator 2x
Wanhao i3 (my first and very recommended printer)*
Flashforge Creator Pro*
Flashforge Creator X
Lulzbot Taz Mini
Lulzbot Taz6*
Monoprice Mini Select*
Folgertech Ft-5 (currently being built though have used it at work)*
All of them have their merits, the FT5 is a kit and not one I would suggest to a beginner. The Dremel is limited in materials and has no heated bed, avoid the Makerbot Replicator 2x like the plague, in fact, avoid Makerbot all together and get one of their clones like the Flashforge machines, which have always been workhorses for me. The Mini is a fun printer and easy/cheap to start with. The Wanhao i3 or its rebranded clones are great beginner/tinkerer printers and the Lulzbot printers are great, though they are pricey. Frankly I would have probably not purchased them if it weren't for my work discount.
The max I would want to spend is $1250 (before tax) which is the price of the lulzmini, so top of my budget haha. I am currently inquiring from lulz to see if they offer any student discounts (fingers crossed) cause I would love a large print bed. Another thing I have been interested in is the ninjiflex material so I want to make sure I have a printer that can handle that kind of filament.
Both the wanhao and the flashforge are not great for handling flexible filament out of the box but both can be easily modded to do so fairly affordably. Now it may be a "standard" answer in any 3d printing group but I still really recommend the i3, though just buy it from monoprice. Its an open machine, fairly moddable and when tuned correctly, produces nicer prints than my my flashforge. At the moment it still produces much nicer prints and thats a $350 machine vs a $100 machine right there. Both are great but I feel that the wanhao/monoprice i3 would be the best machine to learn on and keep under budget.
Just to note, if you run these printers often, make sure you get a reliable and proven one. My flashforge machines are work horses but are known to have underrated wiring for the heated beds, sometimes causing burnouts and fires...I've upgraded all of the wiring for my beds myself with thicker gauge wiring so thats been fixed, but its still an issue even with new units. The Taz machines are quality, they stand behind their product and even after warranty, you may still get a lot of help. Pricey yes, but good stuff. Since I already have a couple, I'd actually like to check out the Raise units sometime as I've heard a lot of good things but never gotten to use one in person.
steve48442
Well-Known Member
I have a ctc printer would anyone know why it stops printing . this has just just started it says there is a usb fail I replaced the usb cable it still douse the same thing I even unloaded the softwear and reloaded it still have the same problem
I have owned a Rostock Max V3 by SeeMeCNC and the printer is excellent! It is a kit so there will be assembly but me and my 12 year old son put it together in 2 weekends. I has a large capacity and very good accuracy. All printed on my Rostock MAX...
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