OT: 3D printer?

[barry.peterson]

I doubt I'll splurge but have noticed 3D printers can be much cheaper than I had assumed, but the set-up seems finicky. AND, there seems to be a steep learning curve.

 

Right?

 

(My experience is generally that you get what you pay for...)

 

 

[+remowilliams]

I'm new to the hands on/owner aspect of the 3D printing area, like two weeks new.

 

The prices have come down quite a bit and you can can get quite a lot for your money these days. Unsurprisingly higher end gear is generally well, higher end - the feature set and capabilities you are looking at are going to determine the price.

 

There is absolutely a large learning curve to do this correctly. Overall though I have found the process to be immensely rewarding and insanely frustrating at times. I am getting better though

 

I can also see why people pay many thousands of dollars for self leveling printers now...

[+arcadeshopper]

I bought a chinese delta dual print-head printer.. off ebay.. kit so I had to assemble it, the manual was an exercise in frustration.

 

It prints, but it was a pita to assemble and calibrate in fact I need to re-calibrate it. It also didn't come with a parts fan so I had to get a fan duct printed and attach that.. It's supposed to "auto level" but that part has been highly problematic so I just do it manually. Dual printheads really made my print area smaller as I couldn't reliably get them both to work, so I just use one.. Delta has a cool factor, but the print area is actually smaller than a xyz printer.. it's good for tall objects but not for wide ones..

 

If I do it again I'll just order a prusa, the print quality is much better and its stupid easy to set up and operate. Unfortunately they are more like 900$ and there's a multi-month waiting list for delivery.

 

Like you said, you get what you pay for..

 

Greg

Edited August 1, 2017 by arcadeshopper

[mdilling]

I own both a delta printer (Sintron) and a cartesian printer (Anet A8). The delta printers, while they do have a wow factor are very finicky to keep dialed-in and printing properly. The cartesian printers are much easier to work with. I'd say once a week or so, I re-level my Anet and reset the z-axis height. This takes approximately 15-20 minutes and is easy todo, just tedious. You also have to spend some time dialing-in each new type of printer filament that you use - PLA, PETG, PPLA, ABS... . Overall, it is very enjoyable.

 

Regards,

Michael