PRO
dbeard
USA
Asked
— Edited
I am looking for recommendations on an entry level 3d printer. Something that I can use to print some parts but also learn without breaking the bank. Any suggestions?
Andy Very interested to see how well this printer works for you as I have been wanting a cheaper 3d printer to just play around with and this one fits my price range nicely. Cant wait to hear about it. Thanks Ken
I will be away for about a week. I will report once I'm back and it is complete. Meanwhile check ebay for the kits. Many to choose from and many reviews. Some good info on Youtube.
Ron
Ok,,, all done, after much effort, and making parts on my kit. I will start a new thread in a day or so. Got back from vacation and need to finish catching up. Ron
@d.cochran
Hi Dave,
How did your old Reprap run when you used it? Does it still live? Ron
I couldn't ever get it to reliably work. It would run great for about a week and then something would change and it would start printing like junk. I tried 3 different controller boards, 3 different hot ends, 2 different sets of stepper motors, many different software configurations and about 5 months of tweeting things. After having about $1800 tied up in the printer I decided to cut my losses and took it all apart so that I would quit spending money on it.
The solidoodle 4 has printed far better with much less headache for 1/3 of what I put into the reprap but I also learned a lot from the reprap.
Dave, Thanks for getting back to me... Sorry to hear you had problems with your Reprap. I hope I have better luck with mine. I will be posting my runs in the next few days. So far the system seems to be dependable and easy to use. I have only run a few smaller parts in pla, and they came out decent. I used a middle setting and got a decent quality but I will try a fine setting on the next part I run. Next week I will try ABS and plan on printing larger projects. Stay tuned.. Ron
I didnt go with a kit, which I should have. I chose the route of piecing mine together from parts and then trying to make it work. I am glad you went with a kit. With a kit you have a starting point. Piecing it together like I did, there was no starting point which caused a lot of issues.
I wish you the best. Let us know.
Another new entry level 3d printer, the PrintRbot PLAY:
PrintRBot
Here is a review of it, showing the good and bad points. PrintRBot Play Review