Hi, i have just joined the community and am looking to invest in a 3d printer in the near future (this year). Im trying to get input on what the best 3d printing setup would be for my budget and my needs, which will be personal projects at first, and i may try to branch out later on down the road. Any input will be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance!
Originally shared by Justin Hughes
I need some input from the community here. I will be getting a brand new computer and 3d printer setup in the next few months, probably sometime after July. Someone recommend a good setup for me, my buget is about $2k USD. Obviously i will be researching this, but i need a good starting point, and if anyone has experience with 3d printing, or any of the companies that make them, i would definitely appreciate your input. What manafacturer, model of printer, any specifics that i would need to be on the lookout for?
as always “what printer should i buy” is VERY open and can always start a FLAME war. so i will add my info knowing the backlash it may start.
first look at the list of options http://www.3ders.org/pricecompare/3dprinters/ you have the budget to get a lot of things but you need to narrow down what you really want from the printer. are you a tinkerer? do you want to build it yourself and see how everything works and interacts or do you just want to print things? do you like searching out deals on every part to get the best possible items for the price to build your wonder machine or do you just want to buy a full kit with instructions you can start building.
For me i chose the Printrbot Simple. i got to build it and see how it all fit and now i am working to upgrade it to print better and get a bigger build volume. if i got to do it again i would by the new all metal printrbot simple with 6X6X6 build area it just looks sweet. if you just want to get something you can start printing on you should look at the makerbot line in both cases the printers have a large community of contributors and blog posters that can help you resolve problems and ultimately print better. but again this is only my opinion
thanks
I think that printrbots are super solid. I am with @Steven_Hauser in the sense that the simple is a great starter printer. I do not however think that a makerbot is the way to go. I like printers that have open source software. I also like inexpensive repairability. I would highly recommend either a printrbot plus or an ultimaker. Both are great and have ups and downs, but most importantly both have open source software ( the printrbot is actually fully open source ). If you like a little bit of a challenge, then you should try building a reprap. They require more work and you will have to do some research, but i think that there is a reward when you see the thing that you put together print for the first time. (Im actually working on making the original reprap printrbot that brook used for the kickstarter as a little desktop printer.) One other thing is that you do not want any proprietary filament spools! I have a friend who has a 3d systems cube and the cartridges are outrageously expensive. Just my two cents. ’
It all comes down to what you want to do. If you want a printer to learn and print parts to build another printer Printrbot are an ideal choice.
If you want to just do production go looking at the ready built “pro” printers in your price range.
Its very subjective…
Thank you, @Steven_Hauser , @Griffin_Paquette And @Nigel_Dickinson for your input. Im an avid tabletop gamer and am getting into 3d printing so i can build my own models for a game that im currently designing. So for now all i need is something i can use to learn the software and start building prototype models and such. So i definitely will go with something open source. Again, thank you guys for the advice, i will start doing some research on the different models you guys have mentioned and go from there.
based on your criteria, get a printrbot simple.
Get something cheap and then you can make your own parts if you want to upgrade the current printer or make a new printer.
If he is willing to spend $2000 l, then he should get a printrbot plus fir about half that
SeeMeCNC has a premade little delta for a little ways over $1K. Yes, little. It is smaller than the Rostock Max.
I think that a premade cartesian printer or an easy kit would work just as well though.
Ya I would not get a delta as the first but I have seen the seeme cnc and that thing is nice!