Question about 3D Printer

Hello, Wilson. Element 14 itself is selling the PrinterBot and Cube systems, and while I would normally turn people away from any commercial system that required buying only THEIR filament in cartridges, I can say that if you are willing to pay the cost then you will generally have an easier time using a Cube than a home-made RepRap or Fab@Home design because there is less variation that will need tweaking to get started. That said, none of the current consumer varieties under about 2 grand will keep operating without maintenance that borders on rebuilding parts of the printer from time to time (service to the Extruder removing ground-up flament in the hobbed-bolt's grooves is a good example). If you are handy and comfortable with basic tools, there are many self-built designs out there that you might enjoy showing off to your friends and helping them print their own plastic components for their own 3D printers in turn. The RepRap (self-REPlicating RAPid prototyper) is a good example of a flexible design supported by a large community of supporters. There are Cartesian systems that move the extruder's hot end along x, y, and Z axis independantly, or Delta systems that move all three vertical axis in any translation of the end effector that all are built around the same basic components like the control electronics, stepper motors, etc.

For the book 3D Printing for Dummies, I used the kits MendelMax 2.0 and Rostock Max to have rigid aluminum-based versions of both cartesian and delta for the RepRap build chapters, but the Prusa i3 is a popular Cartesian, while the Rostock is a great delta. My co-author, Richard Horn, designed the RepRap 3DR as a great delta than can be mostly printed using another printer and uses standard materials like braided fishing line instead of geared belts and spindles, depending on what you have available  and how much you want to get locally.

Kirk Hausman

What would you recommend and what price range is it?

Hello Wilson

Like Kalani was talking about the MendelMax 2.0 is a great Cartesian style printer, if you are looking for a delta then the Rostock would be a good choice.  You might also want to check out something like the Pintrbot Jr that E14 sells.  This is a great printer for the price.  As for as if you should get a kit or not that's up to you.  Are you a type that likes to know how things work and assemble things yourself then I would get a kit to be assembled.  This will also help when maintenance or something isn't working like you would think as you put it together and know how it works.

Nate

I bought a Printrbot LC in kit form a little less than a year ago, having no prior experience with 3D printing.

Assembling the kit was fun but also a great learning experience in understanding how it all works and fits together.

It took some time to get nice results, but I've been printing regularly since then with consistent and clean results

Frederick

Frederick,

I could not agree more that assembling/building your own 3D printer is a tremendous learning experience. Until you move up to commercial-grade equipment, manual "tweaking" and minor repairs seem a common requirement for 3D printers, so a user might as well start by first learning how to repair issues that will later occur.

Kirk Hausman

Frederick,

I could not agree more that assembling/building your own 3D printer is a tremendous learning experience. Until you move up to commercial-grade equipment, manual "tweaking" and minor repairs seem a common requirement for 3D printers, so a user might as well start by first learning how to repair issues that will later occur.

Kirk Hausman