@Antron007, I don't own a Maker-bot. I own a Maker-bot clone. It is the same as Maker-bot, but has Way more improvements. I would recommend it to anybody. It is like the Replicator. It prints both ABS and PLA. The Solidoodle seems made better because it is metal.

@moviemaker- Clones are cool. Did you build it or could you tell me what brand it is? I already want to build one but I wanted to own one and get familiar first.

It is called the FlashForge Create, you can read about them here on a USA site instead of having to go the the China web site.

FlashForge 3D printer

@Antron007,

 It is in my opinion the BEST Clone of the Makerbot. You get all of the features of the Replicator1Dual Extruder for about half the price. It is a Flash-Forge CreateII. They duplicated the Makerbot Replicator and gave it all the upgrades. It is almost identical. It runs Makerbot software. The downside for me was that i purchased it from a FF Dealer and not FFusa.com. I would have prefered to have bought it in the USA. I now have to wait for China to ship parts in warranty. But, I have to pay the postage. $30 to send me a $15 part.  Once it is out of warranty, I can purchase the parts in the USA.  I can still purchase the parts now, but FFusa does not support items bought from Dealers. That includes Ebay, Amazon, other dealers. FFusa is the ONLY authorized dealer in the USA. You ought to see the Factory. It is HUGE. I LOVE this machine.

That looks pretty awesome. Still just a little out of reach for me but I'm hoping that the SD2 will keep me busy long enough to save up for one. I might build a 3d printer once I'm more familiar with the mechanics of them. Thanks for all of the great info.

@Josh- I know you've been busy with the truck but, how's things with your printer going?

I turned the printer on today to try and print something small and the Z axis motor that moves the bed won't move...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lthYHfWYJo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sorry about your troubles Josh.... However, this is precisely why I wouldn't invest in new technology until it matures to the point of reliability... I thought about getting one, but unless I spring for the expensive Makerbot I am just going to hold off until reliability catches up with the industry.

Josh have you tried turning the Z shaft by hand and see if you can raise the print plate up ?