1 Topic by dyfeb

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Topic: coming back to 3d printing after 4 years, is this a good one to have?

I had sold my old 3d printers years ago because I had little use for them.

Now I have a job where I need prototypes milled or printed and Im at the point where I may need a 3d printer again for personal use.
it's just going to be for printing prototype parts and cases for devices I am developing, so i don't want to spend much and dont care about material options other than ABS and dont care about dual heads. That said, some parts require decent mechanical precision so I need good bed adhesion.

This seems promising: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Newest- … autifyAB=0

being aluminum frame and all. That said, what will you guys offer?

2 Reply by yizhou.he (edited by yizhou.he 2018-06-07 17:52:29)

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Re: coming back to 3d printing after 4 years, is this a good one to have?

If you want to print ABS, find a printer with case. Otherwise you are going to have layer split at extreme weather. And order from Aliexpress usually take 15-21 days to delivery if ship from warehouse in China and you might need to send it back to China to get it serviced.

(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

3 Reply by dyfeb (edited by dyfeb 2018-06-07 18:06:38)

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Re: coming back to 3d printing after 4 years, is this a good one to have?

3d printers with cases are overrated and pricey in my opinion. You can make a case for $10.
And getting a Prusa serviced? It's either the nozzle jammed, steppers, PCB, heating plate or bearings/belts worn out. Easier and faster to fix or swap yourself than get it serviced.

Sure for custom printers such as Ultimaker might make sense to get it serviced.

4 Reply by heartless (edited by heartless 2018-06-09 16:52:18)

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Re: coming back to 3d printing after 4 years, is this a good one to have?

i saw the word Geeetech in the link and went " Oh Gawd, NO!" did not even have to see the whole thing..

Geeetech is JUNK! so is Sintron.

Do not buy from Aliexpress - seriously - unless, of course, you like wasting your money.

There are far better options out there for decent prices. Research!

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
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5 Reply by Tin Falcon (edited by Tin Falcon 2018-06-09 18:07:24)

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Re: coming back to 3d printing after 4 years, is this a good one to have?

IMHO there are lots of boxes of junk sold as 3d printer kits. Some will  make a decent print when completed. others you are lucky to savage a few good parts.
Hooney and Flying bear are also names to avoid.  As soon as sales drop they will just come up with a new brand name.
IMHO  you are taking a huge risk purchasing a 3d printer or kit directly from china.
Also I am learning that even honest reviews can not be totally trusted as reviewers often receive prototypes cherry picked machines etc or they may receive a great machine from a short production run it received good reviews orders come in and the the Manufacturer is scrambling to make demand and poor quality parts are substituted for good ones.

IMHO if you want a prusa kit  buy a PRUSA kit https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/17-3d-printers


You may want to read this discussion as well some interesting insights.


http://www.soliforum.com/topic/17394/re … d-printer/



Here ia a much better option than the original this is NOT a kit but will require minimal self assembly.


https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id= … gLS-PD_BwE

I have a MP mini and it is a decent printer for the price these do have some limitations and are a little locked down For instance my other printers I can access the firmware Through repitier  Host. The MP mini i can not access this option.  .   but IMHO a much better option than the kit you mentioned . still check return policies before you buy read watch reviews etc.

So this is a decent printer but not designed to be tinkered with or upgraded without hacking it.
Also some of these machines are hard wired meaning the motor leads and home switches may be soldered to the board. This makes replacing parts more difficult.
Like heartless said do your homework.

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
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6 Reply by yizhou.he

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Re: coming back to 3d printing after 4 years, is this a good one to have?

dyfeb wrote:

3d printers with cases are overrated and pricey in my opinion. You can make a case for $10.
And getting a Prusa serviced? It's either the nozzle jammed, steppers, PCB, heating plate or bearings/belts worn out. Easier and faster to fix or swap yourself than get it serviced.

Sure for custom printers such as Ultimaker might make sense to get it serviced.

OK, have no idea you are really experienced. The previous suggestion is for newbie. I do agree you can make a case with little cost and 3d printers with cases are pricey. Still I would not recommend the Geeetech Prusa i3 A Pro, for me the bed leveling screw is deal breaker, not that you can not Mod it, just not worth the effort for $300 machine.

I would agree with Tin Falcon, MonoPrice Maker Select V2 and its advanced model MonoPrice Maker Select Plus are good cheap alternative to Geeetech Prusa i3 A Pro. I own four Maker Select V2 and three Maker Select Plus. Their list price are $299 and $399 and often have $100 discount with promotion code on many important holidays.

I got mine from ebay that are all for sale by parts ($80-$150). Issue including nozzle jammed, z-axis square calibration issue or bed adhesion problem that are easy to fix. You do need some Mod such as Z-brace etc to make it print stably and reliably, should not be a problem for you.

https://3dprinterwiki.info/wanhao/wanhao-duplicator-i3/
https://3dprinterwiki.info/wanhao-duplicator-i3-plus/

You can easily upgrade the open source firmware for Maker Select Plus but not as easy for Maker Select V2 (don't have bootloader and need another arduino to flash, but not impossible.)

You do need to build a case if you need to print ABS in cold weather with both of these two machines to avoid layer split issue.

(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