jstarne1
Just like i did with the Solidoodle I am sharing my overall experience purchasing a new makerbot. I will compare some of the same prints i did on the solidoodle with makerbot. Take in mind 80 percent of the difference is firmware for the "reprap" makerbot controller and the Makerbot slicer is more consistent than the open source SLIC3R. Also I have a used unit that I have had for a week while still waiting on the new one. First things you should know is I like to get the best reasonable deal i can. I discovered a few Promos for Makerbot you can also take advantage of if you call their sales line. Take in mind not all promos work on their website. Currently ( as of April 7 2014) Replicator 2 systems are on sale at 200 dollars off without a promo code as well.
$200 off purchase price PROMO MAKERBOTFRIEND
Free Shipping PROMO LASTCHANCE
( this is emailed to you if you add any item to you cart and don't complete a order)
Filament 15% off BIRDHOUSE
at this time buy any 4 spools of filament get additional 10% off
20% gold conference pass BOT
Alternatively Amazon has makerbot filaments with free shipping if you need them quicker as well.
At this time the filaments i have and price before discounts to use are:
- Makerbot 4 rolls of white ( 8.8 pounds) $48 x 4
- Makerbot 1 roll of clear ( 2.2 pounds) $48
on the way are:
-Makerbot 1 translucent red (2.2 pounds) $65 -Makerbot 1 black filament (2.2 pounds) $48
-Ninja Flex black 1.1 pounds $60 -Ninja Flex red 1.1 pounds $60 -Ninja Flex white 1.1 pounds $60
Great enclosure set up Josh.
@Josh Very clever idea, you do what you gotta do and well it looks good :-}
Great idea Josh! Good place to let bread rise as well
I never walk into a thrift store/Home Depot with conventional ideas/needs. 
I did several ironman hands. One pair for each of my friends going to Dragoncon. That is our version of comic on in Atlanta Ga. A couple came out perfect but the rest had several layers screw up. They are usable though. Just glue the layers and fill with body filler. All printed from the same machines and same files. I printed them one after another. I wonder if I need to turn them off in between prints? It seemed strange the same printer with same gcode would render different results every couple prints. I will post the screw ups too.
The glove in the pic above looks fabulous! I know you will figure it all out using your amazing determination
@Josh - How stable are the shelves? I had a hard time finding a place i felt was solid enough for my SD2. if your printer is wobbling around on a flimsy base, that could cause those odd errors in the prints.
@antron , ironically the printer on the floating shelf seemed to print the same if not better than the one on the bottom. I had your same concern but my best prints have come from the top printer. The errors I believe are caused by temp drops from the heater in the extruder. I'm going to email makerbot about it today.
Ok so i have been away from the keyboard a couple days. I wanted to share my findings. The second printer was most likely jamming up the extruder because of inconsistencies in the filament. 6 times the extruder clogged. I was super upset I couldn't finish a print to save my life. I literally watched one clog happen and found it to be kinks in the filament. It looks almost like a knot and when it gets past the extruder. That ofcourse didn't explain how the temp drops a few degrees every couple minutes. Makerbot is sending me a replacement part to swap the thermocouples.