carl_m1968 wrote:I guess since you did beta test you could be biased. But my CT'c is the best I have had and I have had many. Again speed is not an issue for me as it is a hobby. I also have no issues with my bed. I set it a few months ago when I put a mirror on it and have not had to adjust it again in 30 prints. I have run print jobs on it that ran 36 hours. Yes you do get what you pay for most of the time. But there are also some diamonds in the rough out there that just need a little cleaning.
Note my hot ends are upgraded to MK10's and I am also running a Pannucat Devices Azteeg X3 Pro controller and a Viki II LCD so it is no longer stock. So with upgrades I spent about $1100 and am very happy. Again I feel this machine as you indicated is more for those who do this as a business and for income while I use mine for making project parts for my coilguns and laser projects. For me it's a hobby and pass time so I have a budget they would be lower than a business owner.
I'm sure it is a very good machine simply based on company rep. But it is not for everyone and I still feel the price is steep for a single extruder machine. But that is simply my opinion and should bare no weight as a none business user.
Biased? yeah, not really. My first SD4 is still my "favorite" (maybe I am a little biased towards that one? lol) and you want to talk about a diamond in the rough? that one definitely was... I probably have almost as much invested in it as you have in your CT'c, maybe more. New controller board, new power supply, new hotend, Lawsy carriages w/bearings, new smooth rods for those bearings to ride on, new heat bed... the list goes on... the only things left still stock are the frame, motors, and the Z axis. I don't generally need to mess with leveling the bed on this one anymore, either, I have it that well tuned & dialed in.
but back to the 8.10 - to put it bluntly, it would blow your CT'c away - with ZERO upgrades. It doesn't need any upgrades because all of the common upgrades are built into it right from the start.
The bed leveling system on the 8.10 is completely different than any other printer. There are NO springs in this thing. It is so stable that even after being carried down a flight of stairs, out to the car, a 4.5 hour drive over some rough highway, and being carted into the building over some rough terrain at the Milwaukee Maker Faire, it only had one corner ever so slightly out of adjustment - and it took less than 10 seconds to bring it back into level. It has 8 points of contact with the frame - that's right - EIGHT! Not 3 or 4 spring loaded points as most have, but Eight stable points.
I, personally, would hardly call a MK10 hotend an "upgrade", but, hey, there goes my bias again... I despise that particular hotend/extruder design. Two of the 3 FolgerTech kits I bought had those and I absolutely hated them. One has been upgraded to an E3D Volcano with the Titan Extruder - the other one got sold.
And my particular beta tester came with an Azteeg X3 board initially - it was OK - worked fine, but the Duet is a whole new ballgame - kind of like going from a local team to the majors. It was very easy to install, and was super easy to get the firmware installed on it since it loads on a micro SD card. processing is soooo much faster and smoother with the Duet, and as I mentioned before, there are multiple methods of connecting to it - USB, Ethernet, WiFi... whatever makes you happy.
The only reason the 8.10 has not taken over as my "favorite" yet is the bowden feed, and that is mostly because I am not really used to it. I am so used to the SD4 direct drive it will take me a while to transition. (I don't use the kossel much for the same reason, but it is a neat machine, so I keep it around.)
But, yeah, you may be right - this printer just isn't for you. You just keep plugging along with your old, slow CT'c... I don't have the time, or the desire, to wait on 36 hour prints when the 8.10 could easily do the same print in half the time, if not less, and with the same, or better, quality of print. If you have the time to wait on those painfully long prints, great for you. I don't. My printing time is limited to evenings and weekends. I do not allow the printers to run unattended here - EVER. We live way out in the country, in a 100 plus year old house - a fire here could be disastrous for us.
And just to be clear, yes, I do try to make a few bucks with my printers - mostly to allow me to buy more filament... but I am in no way making a living at it, I still have to hold down a regular job, and I do have a very tight budget to live on. The area I live in is just not a very good market for 3d printing (too rural and backwards to put it bluntly - the area is about 4-5 years behind the rest of the country in technology). But after seeing this thing in action, and the quality it produces right out of the box, I would be saving up to buy one if I didn't already have this beta unit.
but to each their own, I guess.
Oh, and no, I have not received a dime for any of this, or anything else I have said in regards to PrintIt Industries. The ONLY thing I have received is the beta tester printer. Am I lucky for having been chosen as a beta tester? Yes, I am. Very lucky (although initially I had misgivings about it, they were quickly put to rest once I got it up and running). Why I was chosen? I have no clue, but I am grateful I was - this thing rocks!
SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1