I need a 3D printer for some prototypes @ work,

I need a 3D printer for some prototypes @ work, I don’t need something cheap but something it with a good price/quality ratio and I need to print both with PLA and ABS. I saw the ROBO 3D printer ( http://www.robo3Dprinter.com ) and i liked it. I’m mostly printing pieces that must glue together with good precision or some gears ( not havy duty things! ). any suggestions? :slight_smile:

Their prints thus far have turned out really horrible, I couldn’t recommend this machine to anyone. And unfortunately it seems a lot of people have moved to PLA with unheated beds, which really sucks. Short of building your own kit, I’m not sure what to recommend.

@ThantiK “unfortunately it seems a lot of people have moved to PLA with unheated beds, which really sucks.” What do you mean by this?

Check out Objet’s Connex line. Only commercial box with digital materials. Find your rep and have them do an ROI for you. Having your STL file will enable your sales rep to give you an exact price on materials for an ABS like material. Good luck!

Even though you don’t “need” a heated bed with PLA, it is still nice to have AFAIK. @Matteo_Franceschini I would look at http://reprap.org or the Make 3D printer roundup they recently published to at least get you started on the potential printers out there. I would strongly suggest getting a printer from a reputable source and one of a design that has been tested. If you are looking for low-end plug and play look at the Solidoodle line (though from what I can tell from their mailing list you may be looking at a very long wait, 6-10 weeks). And #MHaters aside, a lot of people really like the Makerbot Replicator line for being relatively plug and play with good results though I’m not sure their new version does ABS.

If you’re willing to put more work into building it people get excellent results with the Mendelmax 1.5 design (2.0 looks nice too) and printers from @Diego_Porqueras_Deez Deezmaker. Makergear’s M2 also looks like a solid updated machine that is easy to assemble (from what I hear, I do not own any of these). I own a printrbot LC which I would not recommend as something that out of the box would get you what it sounds like what you want. The Ultimaker is a very nice machine but is expensive.

Also, all vendors you look at should print you a benchmark so you see and feel first.

@Jay_Couture I mean that OP wants to print in ABS. A lot of the people who sell kits you buy now are either outdated designs, overpriced, or lack heated beds. You have to have a heated bed for ABS.

http://objet.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Connex500_letter_Stratasys_lowres.pdf. Here’s the one with the biggest tray. You can go down in product from here. If Connex is too pricey, Eden is next down but no digital materials.

@ThantiK pitch? I’m not selling! Plus, this is for a commercial application, not a hobby… Business does not typically have the time or resources to have an employee build, tinker and experiment on someone else’s dime.

thanks to everyone! I’m new to this world and i obviously choose too quickly! I didn’t know about the #MHaters , i just thought that the replicator was an expensive hobby machine, not something reliable (as i read only bad comments about it!).
I’m curious @ThantiK , why is it important to have heated beds? Which materials are more advantaged by that?
@Kelleigh_E you’re right! I dont have THAT much time to spend trying to fix beta-printers issues and problems… It’s not (yet :stuck_out_tongue: ) a hobby!
Stratasys machines are amazing, I think i’ve found what I wanted! I have one more question though: they’re using some strange kind of materials (none I can recognise o.O) … Has anyone experience with some of them? Does the ABS-like matirial glue with acetone like normal ABS?
Thank you so much for your help!

the heatbed is needed more while working with ABS ,to help the plastic stick while you start printing.

Yep - ABS REQUIRES a heated bed. Absolutely, positively, HAS to have it. No getting around it.

yeap without it the prints wont stick you have trouble with warping etc. you don’t need a heat bed with PLA so you could use that .

@Matteo_Franceschini if you don’t want it for tweaking with it, but for work prototyping and stuff like that instead (like me), there are many interesting choices (I’d mention the makerbot but i know the community will shred me down to pieces and feed my limbs to an extruder :stuck_out_tongue: ). I haven’t used it but from the specs, I think the Type A Series 1 gives you good value for the price/size and it can use ABS. I plan to buy one in the near future. If anyone has one I’d LOVE to hear opinions. But, whichever machine you choose, it’s important to stay away from proprietary manufacturers who sell cartridges of plastic and don’t allow machines to use standard filament.

@Giovanni_Salinas don’t fear the community. I have a friend with a replicator and he really likes it. It fits him. I would never buy one but I’m me. People need to be honest, in both ways.