So, I'm in the market for a my first 3D printer, and I'm looking for advice/recommendations. I'm just dipping my toes with a budget of around £500-600, so Ultimakers and the like are out. The RepRap Prusa i3 seems to fit the bill, however the the variability in price and trust-ability of the store selling it - The most expensive is the original designer's store, followed by 3D printing special stores, followed by ebay kits - is giving me the purchasing anxieties. So, any recommendations on where to source a prusa i3 from, or should I be considering something else entirely?
I've got a RepRap Ormerod 2 and after a few mods its pretty great. If I was getting another one now I would get a Delta printer as the axis' don't need to carry any real weight and accuracy can be better. Also bigger build platform is easier and they tend to be much much faster for printing. Don't really have a recommendation on one but I would advise against the Prusa I3 as its a very very old design now that has been superseded. Check out this guys website on building Deltas https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/building-a-large-delta-printer/ https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com/2015/08/01/upgrading-the-large-delta-printer/ https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/more-upgrades-to-the-large-delta-3d-printer/ https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/upgraded-arms-and-bed-for-the-large-delta-printer/ Also make sure whatever you get isn't controlled by an arduino piece of ****. The duet board which the above guy writes most of the software for is really impressive and has a great web interface. They are just about to release a new version which has wifi and a much beefier processor and stepper drivers. https://www.duet3d.com/ http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?416,674772 Also do some research on hot ends as a lot of them are rubbish. I use a knock off E3D V6 extruder and its much better than the stock one and I imagine a real one would be better. Also get a selection of nozzles as fine work you want a 0.3mm and for large blocky structures you want something much larger to lay down thicker layers and more material for much faster prints.
Something more like this, then? http://www.think3dprint3d.com/3D-Printer-Kits/complete-3D-printer-kits/Kossel-Mini-3dPrinter-Kit
Actually, Josef Prusa recently released a mk2 version of his design, which includes the GENUINE e3dv6.
That looks great. Its got good electronics with the duet and dc42's ir sensor which I use and works great. Its also got the good hot end. https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/ormerod-and-mini-kossel-3d-printer-kits-compared/ Nice kit.
More questions... How much ABS/PLA should I order initially? Will I likely be left with much out of a Kg after testing and calibration? Is there variation in quality, if so, who supplies a good product?
I typically use PLA and the last stuff I bought was fantastic and I got it from here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-Printe...hash=item2ec9dd4b55:m:mCoXrr8RwtbzZdLtmFljjLA I got a kilo of white and it lasts ages. There isn't any waste material when printing (excluding supports and stuff) so if you imagine how much calibration pieces and small test items would weigh thats how much you have used. Each could only be a few 10s of grams. Its also often best to make things hollow (low infill) so are even lighter
Thanks for all the advice. That's all the questions I can think of, for now at least. Ordering it on Friday. Interested in my posting a build log of the kit on here?
Not yet. I ordered it last Friday morning. At the time there was a lead time of 5 working days, which was recently changed to 8, so I don't expect it to be shipped until tomorrow at the earliest. EDIT: Looks like I have a weekend project
