3D Printing - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: cowasaki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2018, 11:15:40 am
content: I fancy a 3D printer to make cases and other parts for my projects. I've looked on eBay and also Banggood plus I've done some research but not really sure of what to go for. I'm quite happy to assemble it, do any wiring etc and would like something that I can modify. I have a lot of experience with Arduino etc plus experience with mechanical parts.Basically I'm asking if anyone has personal experience of building 3D printers, what to look for, what to avoid etc.As for budget, I'm not really sure I've seen them from £150-£5000 and I'm not really sure why there is such a disparity other than build quality, novel size, plate size, plate heating, control etc.

author: hagster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2018, 02:05:16 pm
content: I have a Wanhao i3 which was the gobto cheap printer a year of so ago. I have used some more expensive machines such as the Robox and Cubicon and my Wanhao is more than a match for them.Currently the go to machines seem to be the CR10s, Tevo Tornado or JGaurura A5.If you want a good project the Tronxy X5s is a really good base for a coreXY printer, but needs some work and extra investment to realise its potential.

author: AllTheGearNoIdea
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 09:41:37 pm
content: I have a Qidi One as it had good reviews. It came fully assembled and worked well out the box.

author: sn4k3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 09:56:11 pm
content: Depending on build sizes you have multiple good choises but i recommend medium anyway, small can fit most cases but sometimes you would wish have a bigger one.Prusa i3 MK3 (Original) [Best quality/price] 750€ kit or 1000€ assembledCreality CR-10s [Good Improved - 300 x 300 x 400] 470€Creality CR-10 [Good - 300 x 300 x 400] 340€Hint: Check Prusa mk3, if you have the money is one of the best printers right now. If don't have the money for such machine go for CR-10, with mods and upgrades it will perform very good, but stock will have decent results.CR-10 with lot of mods and upgrades will match or pass the price of MK3 but inferior in some aspects

author: ChrisGreece52
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 11:24:11 am
content: I have the Anet A8 i got it for 186 EUR + 0.5 kg of pla plastic .It is a great printer if you want a cheap solution with good results. Its is not consistent and you WILL have to upgrade some shady stuff on it if you have the time and extra money to spend you can make yourself a great printer with a 300 USD budget.You could basically upgrade it to the point that the heatbed and motors stay originalI have put an LCD controller Mosfets for the Bed and the Extruder and a PSU switch.I will in the future get an aluminium extrusion frame , change the board to ramps with the Arduino mega and get trinamic stepper drivers.If you want something that works reliably out of the box and is consistent (no tinkering needed) your choices are the CR10S and the Wanhao I3sn4k3 gave you an awesome choise i forgot.The prusa mk3 would be the best value for money (the CR10S has a big volume but the mk3 would be my choise as well)

author: cowasaki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 12:19:52 pm
content: Thanks everyone. I'm still interested in peoples thoughts. I plan to place an order in about 3 weeks.

author: hagster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 12:35:20 pm
content: If you want something truly plug and play, I can recommend the Robox Dual for £1500. It's a really good machine for some harder to print materials like ABS or PC and does dual material prints without wipe towers etc. The build volume is a bit small, but ok for most electronics cases etc.They have also just announced the massive RoboxPro for about £4K inc VAT. Huge build volume and comes with 3 different heads - Dual material, Single Material(detail+draft), Olson ruby head for abrasives like CF filled nylon.

author: cowasaki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 12:37:16 pm
content: Quote from: hagster on January 26, 2018, 12:35:20 pmThanks but unfortunately they are both well out of my price range. I was hoping to spend £300 approximately. I know I didn't specify a price range originally

author: sokoloff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 12:52:35 pm
content: If you want a 3D printer because you want the output of what a 3D printer can make, I'd buy the Prusa.If you want a 3D printer because you want to really understand how the 3D printer works and want to have that be your hobby, consider one of the cheaper printers. I have a clone of the FlashForge Creator Pro and it's a fine printer, but I've spent some time tweaking it and replacing a few parts. That's time that I'd have rather put into projects.

author: jasonbrent
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 02:43:20 pm
content: I recommend the cr10(s). Good stock. Easily modifiable for learning or need. Good price point great build volume.I have a cr10. I have a mk3 on order. I have a Monoprice Delta that will be going back to them....3d printing is another timesink, but entertaining. If you like to tinker, go with the cr10, IMO.I picked mine up from gearbest for $339 US shipped over the holidays... got to me in the US in 7 days.-jSent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

author: kPATm
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 02:47:14 pm
content: Like others have said the Cr-10s seems to get a lot of good reviews. If the money isnt a worry then the Prusa Mk3 would be a good buy. Also if you dont mind building your own from a kit then the Tronxy X5S looks like a bargain for a little over £200 with a huge build volume

author: kelchm
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 04:31:45 pm
content: I've been tinkering with 3D printers for around three years now. My first printer was a Printrbot Simple Metal. Since the Simple Metal, I've purchased a used Printrbot Play and used Printrbot Metal Plus as well as the Prusa i3 Mk3 kit more recently. The Mk3 is my primary printer currently while the Play and Plus are both in various stages of being upgraded. The Plus has had a Duet Wifi board fitted while the Play has had it's build volume upgraded and a Azteeg X5 mini board fitted.TBH, I'm not entirely convinced that the Prusa i3 Mk3 is worth the price Prusa is asking. It works well, but after having multiple printers that are almost entirely constructed of metal, I didn't enjoy the fragility or poor tolerances of the 3D printer parts in the Prusa i3 Mk3 kit. The electronics have also been a little bit of a letdown. I've had to entirely disable the filament sensor because it doesn't work well with Octoprint, and I've also experienced layer shifting despite the drivers being setup to detect layer shifting. I suspect Prusa is simply trying to do too much on an 8bit board -- they really should have moved to a 32bit CPU. I've also had to get both a replacement power supply and replacement rods/bearings from Prusa already.For someone starting from nothing today I think I'd recommend getting your feet wet with a cheap straight-from-china kit such as the CR-10. This will teach you the basics you need to know about 3d printing without spending a lot of money. Once you know what you are doing I think the best option is to build an open-source large format corexy printer like theHercuLien.IMO the best controller/software available right now is theDuet Wificlosely followed by one of thePanucattboards that runs Smoothieware.

author: cowasaki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 05:03:33 pm
content: What is a realistic maximum print size for a £250-350 printer?

author: LaurentR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 05:31:22 pm
content: 3D printing noob here. Got on the Prusa MK3 bandwagon and put the kit together over the xmas break. Lots of learning and suffering through the printer's teething problems (had some parts replaced, tested multiple beta firmware, printed some upgrades...). Given the frantic activity, I would expect that by March (when new orders would ship), this is all solved so you'd have a solid kit to play with.The printer is definitely pricey, especially compared to the Chinese competition (kits or fully assembled), but it is quite a bit cheaper than the current crop of $2000-3000 top printers with comparable results.I would recommend it if you:* Want to build your own printer to learn about the nook and crannies of how it works and the various ways in which tolerances and alignment impact the final result.* Are happy to upgrade your own printer with a variety of user-proposed improvements and extensions.Note that I don't mean that you _need_ to be tinkering with the Prusa. You could buy an assembled MK2S or MK3 and use the pre-made profiles and get great results. The printers don't _need_ constant tinkering. However, I think it is one of their value proposition that you get an evolving platform with an available upgrade path and constant improvements, by the company and by users.The Prusa user community is very active so you'd be in good company. And their customer support is pretty good, even right now despite the intense pressure they're in.If you're looking for either a cheap printer to cut your teeth on or something plain and reliable that doesn't need tinkering to produce good results, there are better options.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2018, 07:44:24 pm
content: Quote from: cowasaki onTodayat 18:03:33depends if you want to spend the same amount of money buying or making "accessories" for it in the following months or not ...also did you ask yourself what do you want to print with it ?you don't necessarly need a big printer. most of the parts are quite small.also big printers have big unaccuracy : the more size the less precision .if you are ready to modify your printer for months until you get something suitable, go for a chinese ANET (E10 for aluminium structure)if you want one ready out of the box, go for the cetus I linked a video above.both are around $300but are really not the same printer.IMHO, all printers in $1000-$5000 are too expensive for what they are.