
pranav
India
Asked
— Edited
It's been a long time... How's everyone? Josh, Rich, DJ, Aameralis...
Guys,
I'm planning to buy a new 3D printer. There is no limit on the budget. Which 3D printer do you think is the best one to buy. I need high quality printing and I'll be using it almost everyday... So I need all your help... Please let me know which one's the best...
1) What are your needs?
2) Do you like to fiddle with settings or do you want to push a button and just print?
3) Do you want to print in just PLA or other types of material, ABS, nylon etc?
I have a flashforge creator pro and it works awesome.... for my needs
If you are talking about plastic extrusion consumer grade printers, Makerbot 2 continues to get the best reviews, although others seem to have caught up and are gaining in popularity.
Alan
You might also look at purchasing 2 Flashforge Creator Pro's. These 2 together would be about as fast as an Ultimaker 2, but if you have one go out for some reason, you wouldnt be out of being able to print.
The ultimaker can print at about 1/5 the layer height of most of the others. This gives great detail. This also give a lot longer prints. Printing at 100 microns is no issue with this printer and it can do so at the same speed as the others at 300 microns.
The price of the ultimaker 2 is about 2500 usd which is pretty high. Like I said, it may be better to get 2 flashflashforges. This is the debate going on in my mind this month anyway.
I would stay away from the last version of the makerbot for now. They have over engineered the extruder and have been having a lot of issues with it. Check their forums and other sources online. I would be buying this one if not for the issues.
The MM3 is a great printer also. I have been to this shop and spoken to these guys. I just want an enclosed design to help with heating. A box is cheap though. The package only comes as a kit though, but it is a very well built one when completed.
If you dont want to worry about overhangs as much, I would suggest getting one that has fans by the hotend. You can mod the flashforge pretty easily to have this. I would be doing it if I choose that route.
I also dont like the Y axis moving on the build plate. If you think about it, you are adding weight to the build plate, as it prints. This is changing the properties of the printer far more than moving the Z axis as it prints. These run off of rubber belts and I would feel better about gravity working with me instead of against me. Just my thoughts and one of the reasons I believe that the Ultimaker\makerbot\flashforge route would give better prints in the long run and have less issues in many areas.
I would look for a printer with a 3 point bed leveling system instead of a 4 point system. These are some things that I have learned with the reprap Prusa I3 that I built. It will be donated to the School that I help so that they can enjoy it as much as I did.
It has a larger build volume, faster speed, better layer resolution. pretty much everything you would want.
http://3dprint.com/41825/makerbot-smart-extruder-clog/
So which one will be better? 2x or 5th Gen?