1 Topic by Tin Falcon

  • Tin Falcon
  • Tin Falcon
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: New Jersey, USA
  • Registered: 2014-08-01
  • Posts: 2,424

Topic: Competition for form labs ?

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20180924- … a-sl1.html

Prusa reasearch anounces  open source resin printer  Prusa SL1  for $1599 USD

The form labs form 2 is  $3350

Soliddoodle 4 stock w glass bed------Folger Tech Prusa 2020 upgraded to and titan /aero extruder mirror bed
FT5 with titan/ E3D Aero------MP mini select w glass bed
MP Utimate maker pro-W bondtech extruder
Marlin/Repetier Host/ Slic3r and Cura

2 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Competition for form labs ?

Tin Falcon wrote:

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20180924- … a-sl1.html

Prusa reasearch anounces  open source resin printer  Prusa SL1  for $1599 USD

The form labs form 2 is  $3350

It uses the same process and technology as the Wanhao Duplicator 7 which retails for $500. So Prusa might be a little late and over priced to the resin world.

They also say they are not trying to compete with Formlabs or even the Photon which I might add they call flimsy.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

3 Reply by Tin Falcon

  • Tin Falcon
  • Tin Falcon
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: New Jersey, USA
  • Registered: 2014-08-01
  • Posts: 2,424

Re: Competition for form labs ?

I have not taken the time to read the full article or do a head to head comparison .
It is apparently fully open source and has the support of Prussa behind it.
Also one can save three hundred by purchasing a kit.
These are due to ship jan of 2019.

Soliddoodle 4 stock w glass bed------Folger Tech Prusa 2020 upgraded to and titan /aero extruder mirror bed
FT5 with titan/ E3D Aero------MP mini select w glass bed
MP Utimate maker pro-W bondtech extruder
Marlin/Repetier Host/ Slic3r and Cura

4 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Competition for form labs ?

Tin Falcon wrote:

I have not taken the time to read the full article or do a head to head comparison .
It is apparently fully open source and has the support of Prussa behind it.
Also one can save three hundred by purchasing a kit.
These are due to ship jan of 2019.

Not criticizing your post or anything. Just pointing out they are late to the game with the technology they are using and for the price they are asking you could get an actual Form 1+.

The question will be if they offer resin as well and the resin is lower cost than others. Because at that entry price they stand some stiff competition of their own. Wanhao actually has very good support as well if you don't mind the time difference between your region and theirs.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

5 Reply by justsomeguy

  • justsomeguy
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-10-31
  • Posts: 302

Re: Competition for form labs ?

From what I read, it uses LCD like the Wanhao but also does some kind of tilt and peel like the form labs machines. Perhaps that mechanism is why the extra $.

6 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Competition for form labs ?

justsomeguy wrote:

From what I read, it uses LCD like the Wanhao but also does some kind of tilt and peel like the form labs machines. Perhaps that mechanism is why the extra $.


I can't really see a few extra pieces of sheet metal and a motor adding $500 to the unit. I know for a fact as I have had to replace it that the tilt motor in the FORM printers are about $35 bucks. But I guess they have their reasons for the high cost. I just think it is going to be a hard sell if the tilt is all that is going for it while the peel works just as well.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

7 Reply by yizhou.he (edited by yizhou.he 2018-09-26 15:54:46)

  • yizhou.he
  • yizhou.he
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Boston, MA
  • Registered: 2017-07-05
  • Posts: 1,322

Re: Competition for form labs ?

Wanhao D7 and Anycubic Photon are made in China, Formlabs Form 2 and Prusa SL1 are made in USA, there is 3 times difference in material and 10 times difference in production cost, not to mention Formlabs Form 2 and Prusa SL1 have more complex design that require more custom-made parts. I think Prusa tried very hard to get the price down to $1599 while maintain enough profit rate.

(Da Vinci 1.0, Jr. 1.0 RAMPS, miniMaker) X4, (Creality CR-10S, CR-10 mini, Ender-3) X4, Anycubic MEGA X4, Anycubic Chrion X1, ADMILAB Gantry X2 (MonoPrice Maker Select V2, Plus, Ultimate)X4--Select mini X1, Anycubic photon X4, Wanhao duplicate D7 X1.
iNSTONE Inventor Pro X2, CTC Dual X2, ANET-A8, Hictop 3DP-11, Solidoodle Press, FLSUN I3 2017X1

8 Reply by carl_m1968 (edited by carl_m1968 2018-09-26 16:05:35)

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Competition for form labs ?

yizhou.he wrote:

Wanhao D7 and Anycubic Photon are made in China, Formlabs Form 2 and Prusa SL1 are made in USA, there is 3 times difference in material and 10 times difference in production cost, not to mention Formlabs Form 2 and Prusa SL1 have more complex design that require more custom-made parts. I think Prusa tried very hard to get the price down to $1599 while maintain enough profit rate.


Other than the tilt which is actually very simple there is very little difference between this machine and the D7 to be honest. It does have a bigger LCD and build area but still not worth the extra $500.

They also don't say if it is made in the US or not. Since they bought out Futur3D my guess is they are building these at that factory since all the equipment is there to do so. So they are most likely being made in Czech Republic and not the US.

In either case I guess it comes down to what brand you want and what you are willing to spend. For their price though you could have a real Formlabs machine if you know where to look.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

9 Reply by yizhou.he

  • yizhou.he
  • yizhou.he
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Boston, MA
  • Registered: 2017-07-05
  • Posts: 1,322

Re: Competition for form labs ?

If you look from user side, there is very little difference between this machine and the D7, but look at the production side, let's focus on the cover for example, D7 have full metal cover, you don't really need many special equipment to bend a metal sheet to make that cover, you can make one for $10 in China, material and label included. The cover for Prusa SL1 and formslab are more complex and need more custom-made molds and special equipment to make. The average cost decrease if mass production, if they sale as many unit as iPhone (which I doubt they ever will), $50 is possible if they made it in China. Functional wise, the difference between these two cover? very little, fancy one allow you to watch what's going on inside, can be useful for troubleshooting, does it worth 5-10 times of the price? That depends. But I got the feeling Wanhao D7 and Anycubic Photon will sell more units just because they are more affordable and they can get similar quality prints after whatever mod people can do with minimal cost.

(Da Vinci 1.0, Jr. 1.0 RAMPS, miniMaker) X4, (Creality CR-10S, CR-10 mini, Ender-3) X4, Anycubic MEGA X4, Anycubic Chrion X1, ADMILAB Gantry X2 (MonoPrice Maker Select V2, Plus, Ultimate)X4--Select mini X1, Anycubic photon X4, Wanhao duplicate D7 X1.
iNSTONE Inventor Pro X2, CTC Dual X2, ANET-A8, Hictop 3DP-11, Solidoodle Press, FLSUN I3 2017X1

10 Reply by justsomeguy

  • justsomeguy
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-10-31
  • Posts: 302

Re: Competition for form labs ?

I also read of some kind of active cooling for the LCD that they claim will lengthen its lifespan. There may be a number of these small features that bring the price up from the D7.

I think this printer will find a niche in the market and sell decently.

11 Reply by carl_m1968

  • carl_m1968
  • carl_m1968
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: Far North almost not Dallas
  • Registered: 2014-10-17
  • Posts: 6,512

Re: Competition for form labs ?

A fan blowing across the LCD is active cooling. In fact I added that to mine when I was adding the Pi for NanoDLP. I made a slot near the top of the reflector where it will not really have any effect on reflections and channel air through it from another fan.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

12 Reply by Tin Falcon

  • Tin Falcon
  • Tin Falcon
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: New Jersey, USA
  • Registered: 2014-08-01
  • Posts: 2,424

Re: Competition for form labs ?

In either case I guess it comes down to what brand you want and what you are willing to spend. For their price though you could have a real Formlabs machine if you know where to look.

I think this printer will find a niche in the market and sell decently.

Both very true statements.  IMHO the prusssa fans are the targeted market . the Prussa is a very popular and respected printer . It is open source so often copied  sort off. And the Chinese import market is very different from the USA made top of the line market.

I would assume that big appeal hear is using open source firmware and software.

Soliddoodle 4 stock w glass bed------Folger Tech Prusa 2020 upgraded to and titan /aero extruder mirror bed
FT5 with titan/ E3D Aero------MP mini select w glass bed
MP Utimate maker pro-W bondtech extruder
Marlin/Repetier Host/ Slic3r and Cura

13 Reply by justsomeguy

  • justsomeguy
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-10-31
  • Posts: 302

Re: Competition for form labs ?

I think the D7 firmware and nanodlp are opensource as well.