[Noisebridge-discuss] request for recommendation for 3-D printer

pdbogen at cernu.us pdbogen at cernu.us
Tue Jul 2 17:18:17 UTC 2013


Howdy, Jim.

On Mon, Jul 01, 2013 at 09:51:40PM -0700, jim wrote:
> 
>     I'm considering getting a 3-D printer for some kids and I hope someone 
> can recommend something that's good but in a relatively low price range (I 
> don't know 3-D prices at all, nor would I feel comfy buying any 3-D printer 
> regardless of its price--I want to buy one that works, is robust).

	I have no personal experience with any of these, so caveat emptor. The 
most affordable working-out-of-the-box 3D printer I've seen so far is the 
Solidoodle 2nd gen, at about $500:

http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=56

	I personally would 'require' the Pro upgrade, which adds $100 or so, 
but adds a heated build platform and upgrades some components (power supply, 
spooler.) So, total $600, but that's still pretty affordable in the 3D printer 
space right now.

	I don't know of a better option short of building your own (a la 
RepRap or something similar). You can probably do this in the low $200-$300 
range, depending on how much effort you want to put in scavening parts vs 
buying.

>     If there's some 3-D printer that's relatively expensive but is waaay 
> good, I'd like to know of it, too.

	RepRapPro is selling a "Tricolour Mendel" right now, which can print 
in three different colors. Their website seems down right now; I don't know if 
that's permanent or not. So that's cool. I noted this device to cost $1,100, if 
it's still available.

	The MakerBot Replicator 2X is a "ready to go" printer that has dual 
extrusion, i.e. can produce prints in two colors. It's pricy, at around 
$2,800.

	The Form Labs Form 1 is pretty sexy; it's a stereolithography printer, 
meaning it hardens very thin layers of epoxy using a laser. There's a lot of 
shapes it can do that thermoplastic extrusion printers can't. It's the most 
expensive in this e-mail, clocking in at $3,300. On top of that, it's a 
pre-order, which isn't expected to ship until October of this year. (Though 
that's getting increasingly close! So that's cool.)

	Finally, a word towards quality- with the exception of the Form 1, all 
of these printers should produce more or less identical prints. They have the 
same extrusion head diameter (which determines the resolution in the XZ plane) 
and the same layer height (which determines the resolution in the Y plane). 
Mostly what you're paying for is build quality (i.e., actual physical quality 
of the device), build volume, and in some cases, extra features like heated 
build platforms (needed for certain types of plastic), multiple extruders, and 
so on.

	Hope this helps. If anyone has heard of anything else in this that 
could extend the continuum- i.e., ready-to-print printers cheaper than the 
$600 Solidoodle- I'd love to hear about it.
--
             .
Patrick Bogen .
            ...
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