I found this thread very informative. Now ... what I'm wondering, is there any printer that doesn't require all this constant tweaking, strengthing, maintenence, etc.? Something in the $2,000 to $3,000 range maybe? Doesn't have to be large volume, just really accurate (and stays that way) and easy to use and maintain. The more I read about these things the more I think it's better to become proficient at using the 3D creation/modification software and pay someone else to do the printing as needed. Still, it would be nice to do it myself, but I'm not sure I really want all the hassles.

There are companies that are trying to produce "drop in place and print" printers. I would say that the best one at doing this so far, from the research that I have done is the Ultimaker.

There are issues with ALL 3d printing types. There are 3 different types that I know about that are mainstream. 1 of them is extremely expensive and isn't good for parts like gears and the like. This is through a powder that has resin spit on it from a nozzle. The second is the laser/resin type where laser hardens the resin on a build plate. Still pretty expensive and there is some post processing that is required. It does produce amazing prints though. This type, I would guess, would require less maintenance if it were in a very clean environment. The third is the most common where a print head moves around on rods to lay down layers of melted plastic. This is the least expensive, but I would guess it has the most maintenance required. There are belts, and pulleys, wheels, gears and bearings, along with fans, springs, motors and screws. As such, there will be maintenance to keep the printer printing at a high quality level.

Technology on these printers is improving all of the time. Unfortunately, when a company jumps out with something really revolutionary and fails, they get bashed more then applauded. Makerbot is an example. I wouldn't touch their new printers with a 10 foot pole right now, but they are trying to do some things that are needed in this area. They are trying to push to make the industry much better, but unfortunately, they came out with a product that wasn't tested enough. My guess is that they were trying to rush it to market they were purchased by another company, who wanted to get this product out of the way to work on other projects with them. I don't know what happened but it wasn't good. MakerBot's name got tarnished even though they had a great previous product line.

If you dont want to do any maintenance, and want it to work like a light switch (which sometimes break also) I would not get into 3D printing at all and pay 10X the cost to print the part. If you want to be able to print your own parts, no matter what technology you go with, you will be doing maintenance. Even computer printers, which have been around for what, 40 years or so, have springs, screws, belts, motors and many other components that go bad. The difference is that they are cheap enough to just go buy a new one so people really don't fret much about them. I used to work for a company that used very expensive laser printers to print out hundreds of thousands of documents at a time. These broke a lot and even caught the print shop on fire on a couple of occasions. The reasons for the fires were lack of maintenance on the printers.

@d.cochran Thank you for the information. That's pretty much what I thought. I used to build everything from scratch. Hardware, metal work, software, whatever. But I'm at a point in my life where I no longer find as much pleasure in that as I did so I look more to just buying what I need so I can concentrate on my end goal and not so much the details. Not that all that was a waste of time as I learned a lot and it was fun at the time. Still, I think I'll just pay the 10X cost and let the maker deal with the headaches. Thanks again.

Any time. It sounds like you are making the right decision for you.

This is in no way an endorsement of this printer. I just saw it in my email and thought I would share.

hobbyking page

I due to a change in plans ( cash shortage LOL ) I bought a Borlee 602 3D printer kit. I will be assembling it when I return from a trip. I have heard good and bad about kits, but I have looked at the features of this one and decided to get it. I will build it and report how it went together and how it works.

Sorry Dave, but the Solidoodle was not affordable and this one comes with Wifi and an SD card reader which allows stand alone printing thus freeing up my computer. Thanks for all your time discussing the Solidoodle 4.

Regards,

Ron

No need to be sorry. I just was offering my opinion based on what I had seen. Glad your getting a printer.

On a side note, the schools solidoodle is going back to the school on the 15th. I too am now in the market for a 3d printer

I liked the idea of the SD card option. Wifi I won't use but it is nice to have. I planned on modifications anyway so at least if I build it I will know how it goes together. It didn't get a great review on the assembly quality but again the basic layout of the machine looks ok. I'm a tinkerer so $385.00 is a decent price for a machine which should be upgradeable in the future.

3D printing is still new and many changes and improvements are being made daily. I won't feel like I am throwing away big money if major changes come up down the road.

I will post my results when all is done and I am happy I will have a 3D printer to play with.

Ron