Is this a good 3d printer?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1682938109/robo-3d-printer
At this point, we have a lot of reasons to believe it is not, and no reason to believe it is. That said, nobody who is not trying to sell it has tried it personally, so it’s hard to say with confidence.
See also:
https://plus.google.com/100429913238121407719/posts/BsaVaWDwS3E
https://plus.google.com/100429913238121407719/posts/NN1ynQ8hPJV
I would generally avoid 3D printers on kickstarter.
There are so many good inexpensive printers already on the market or available as plans it’s difficult for me to imagine a new one being competitive unless it offers an unusually large build space – like 40cm on a side cube – or costs less than $500 or has extraordinarily good resolution, like printing with a 0.2mm extruder. (And that can result in its own problems like nozzle jams.)
Yeah, go for some established kit or from someone who at least has an established track record. Kickstarter not needed for repraps anymore BTDTGTTS.
That config reminds of the Italian POWERWASP: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20121214-powerwasp-your-personal-fab-from-italy.html
This printer was developed by a very dedicated team, let by my son Coby Kabili. I can vouch for them personally. I think it’s odd to read negative comments about this product when none of the commenters have direct experience with the printer.
I have no negative comments about that printer in specific, insofar as I have no experience, just about new printers in general – as befits the original question, asking for opinions.
So what makes that machine special to the users? Does it replicate faster? Is it simpler to build?
@Jan_Kabili Nobody’s questioning their character. What’s in question is the quality of their product. Respectfully, being someone’s mother in and of itself doesn’t make you particularly qualified to vouch for that, and I take exception to your implication that we are not qualified to comment on it.
The fact is that the prints they have shown to demonstrate the machine’s quality are sub-par, and some of the images show that they are using a mechanism that I personally designed, and using it in a way that I have specifically and repeatedly said that it is not suitable for. I qualified my statements by saying that I do not have direct experience with the machine, but to say that experienced printer designers can’t begin to form an opinion about the quality of a new printer from looking at its prints is like saying that you, as a mother, can’t begin to form an opinion of another parent’s parenting skills when you see their child arriving at school with fresh bruises every day.
“they are using a mechanism that I personally designed” - the reason why i love G+ ^-^
Recommendations for a 3D printer then? In the $1000-1500 range? How about the Spectrum Z510? I just want to get my feet wet and maybe design some toys for my 2 y.o. son.
Whatever you get, I’d advise – if it’s your first one – to get one of the really popular ones because there’s a lot of fiddly details of the “how do I solve this problem” sort and it’s essential to have a robust user base so you can talk to other people who have already solved those problems. If it’s your second or third, you understand what goes wrong and how to solve it, and then something like the RoBo that looks really sleek would be a lot of fun to use, but don’t try to learn new skills on a new machine. The RepRap machines are well-understood and their issues are well-documented: someone has already run into every setup and operation issue you’ll encounter.
missed to say: Bukobot