Hey guys. As you know, I'm a wiz with cardboard structures, but those aren't really the best. I started to look into 3D printers, but with the huge number out there I wanted to see the opinions of those whom may have already gotten and used their printers for a while.
I continue to fall back on the da vinci 1.0 or 1.0 pro but shipping to Canada from the USA sucks with our $.70 dollar. Also am looking at the solidoodle press. Any recommended printers out there?
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Here's another option... Prusa i3... You are a smart kid, so this may be ok for you... It isn't as plug and play and it will need some tweaking for sure. I don't own one but it looks decent... It's a kit by the way so you will have to put it together... These guys are also in Quebec... Prusa i3
Anyway, I printed 3/4 of my inMoov on my Up! Mini... so the print bed isn't really all that small...
The Prusa i3 is a better PLA printer due to the fact it doesn't have an enclosed build space...
Also you really need to build an enclosure around it when printing ABS. Otherwise you get a bit of cracking and warping, which many open frame printers do. I am planning on printing Rafiki on the two printers I have. So far they are doing the job.
A 23 hour print failure is real painful if you are doing a 150 x 130 x 120 mm part on any machine, but I have been successful more than disappointed.
I posted a review on my printer last year.
Ron
With a kit, you have a starting point. The settings to run the steppers will all be close to good and tweaking is a lot easier. Starting without this makes the process a lot more difficult and you end up designing a robot to use those metal rods that you purchased for your 3d printer named Rafiki...
A kit is not a disassembled printer. It requires you to double check every part to be sure it fits correctly. You need to be sure all electrical wires are crimped fully and are not going to fall apart. I have even had solder joints be loose. Building a kit is not a quick build. Don't get me wrong, it is worth it but you must pay attention to details. I modified the heck out of the hardware and firmware on my second printer. Now it prints better than the original kit I bought.
You tube has a lot of information. Educate yourself, check out forums, then ask around. Look at the features offered, then you can decide what to get.
The last issue is because you built it you know how to take it apart to fix it. Parts are easily available. Spares are needed for the extruder and hot end, but are cheap.
Ron
I have printed with PLA, flexible, wood and T-glass filaments - pretty easy!
Yes, the Makerbots seem expensive, but you get what you pay for. If you want to buy a printer that you need to continually "tinker" with buy a cheap one for a few hundred dollars, however, if you want one that continually performs spend the money and get a good one.