3D Printers for the home shop and User satisfaction.

Question

I have searched around a bit and have yet to find a discussion about the cheaper end 3D printer quality vs. user satisfaction. If this discussion is already out there and I missed it, please feel free to point me in the right direction.

I am getting closer to making my first purchase of a 3D printer for my home shop and wanted to see what people have tried and what they like. I have read Make magazine reviews, I have watched YouTube videos, and I have gotten to use a higher end system where I work, but I would like to see what the makers at element14 are using and how you like it. With systems like the Printbot simple beta and the Makibox comming in at $200-$400, the RepRap types and larger Printbots in the $500-$800, and higher end Up and Replicator printers running from around $1100 to just under $2000, there are a lot of options for the home user. With this in mind for those of you that have used one of the home 3D printers I would like to know the following:

Which printer did you use?

What material did you print with? (PLA, ABS, Something else)

Did the print match the STL file?

Were you happy with the results?

How easy was the printer to use and how well did it hold up?

If you were going to purchase a 3D printer or get a new one, what would it be?

Thank you in advance to all who take a few minutes to share your experience with me and those that read this on element14.

Chaos1ao

Nate1616 · Answer

Well I have used both the Lulzbot Prusa 2.0, AO-100, Makerbot Replicator, I have also built all the Repraps on the market currently. The material I use is primarily PLA just because I have kids and it doesn’t have such a strong smell. I also have ABS, polycarbonate and Laywoo-D3(wood based). The prints did match the STL file with little visible imperfections All the printers I have used I was happy with. Now there is some variation in print quality but not that bad. All the printers were easy to use, well at least the ones that I bought since they came with direction. I remember the first printer I built it was such a learning curve. The only thing that did not hold up was I had some printers with printed bushing and they would wear out after hours of printing but just swapped them out with Iggus bushings and had no problems. If I were to get another printer I would have to go with the Form 1 by Formlabs since the technology isn’t the extruder type. Nate

Former Member · Answer

For home-level 3D printing, most of the common platforms enjoy relatively similar capabilities in terms of the type of filament that can be used (PLA, ABS, nylon, composite filaments like Daywoo-D3, etc) and the layer thickness is relatively close (.1-.17mm). In general you want to keep your layer thickness at or below 80% of the nozzle width, so the nozzle size will affect your plans. For non-thermoplastic extrusion, you can go with the syringe-based Fab@Home or use the Universal Paste Extruder on a RepRap variation. Hyrel 3D has a higher-cost and more professional looking extruder that can handle up to clay materials (play-doh, skulpey, etc).

For a prosumer model, the MakerBot Replicator 2 has a very solid metal frame making it slightly more robust than the older wood-framed Replicator. RepRaps can also be made from extruded aluminum frames and there are a number of different models depending on the build volume and "cool factor" you want - deltas (Rostock), cartesians (Prusa and Mendel), SCARA (Morgan), inverse-delta (Simson), etc.

For the book "3D Printing for Dummies" I am currently writing with RichRap (http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118660757.html), I am using RepRap kits with extruded aluminum frames (the cartesian MendelMax 2.0 by Maker's Tool Works and the delta RostockMax by SeeMeCNC) and have really enjoyed the simplicity of assembly compared to self-sourced RepRaps I have built before for K-12 classroom settings. I have been curating topical content for 3D printing using the Scoop.It platform for some time, and you can take a look at a lot of the current technologies there if you want: http://www.scoop.it/t/3d-printing-and-fabbing

You can make a RepRap using little more than threaded rods and stepper motors from old printers if you just want to get started for the lowest possible cost, and then use that to print the pieces for a larger more complex model later. If you can use basic tools and solder together components, I would recommend that so that you can get into 3D printing with full knowledge of how your equipment works and how to fix it when it fails (and yes, this will happen from time to time).

Kalani Kirk Hausman

@KKHausman

http://kkhausman.com