the bigger the print the longer the wait remember

So true  remember when you scale up  the scaling is proportional to the cube. Make something 3 x and it will take 27 times as long to print.
Large printers can benefit from larger nozzles.

The experience of building your first FT-5 will tax your patience to the utmost, or at least, if it's your first build. The construction manual is massive, but is poorly written and suffers from substandard photography. Once you're done, though, you'll know the machine inside and out and be much more able to do troubleshooting if issues arise. There's also a thriving online community full of people who are willing to help out.

I'd say, get the Folger FT-5 kit and save the money for a hotter hot end, a silicone heater bed, a filament dryer, a filament drybox, an enclosure if you need one, etc.

Hello All:)

I am looking for a DIY printer kit that i can buy from amazon, put it together, learn how they work and operate, have a decent build volume(at least 10 inches in height), has an autobed levler and is a decent price:)

My goals are as follows:
Needs to be good quality
Not to complicated to configure
Once configured, you can set it and forget it
Easy to replace parts if needs be
Tall build volume
Will allow me to learn cool new things
Has great software
Can eventually be put into an enclosure if i decide to

Ok, so that is what i would liek to do next in my 3d printing life. I love my davinci jr1.0. It has good software and i hace been using hatchbox with decent results. But im ready for something a little bit bigger and better. I do like the look and feel of a makerbot. I use those at school but i do not want to spend 2000$ on one.  Maybe i can make my new one look like a makerbot haha

thanks

$2,000 was half price for a Makerbot last I remember. the printer you describe was the Solidoodle Workbench and it too was a couple thousand bucks and never sold on Amazon. sounds like pipe dreaming

Tin Falcon wrote:

If you realy want an adventure you can get one of these. FT6 the f5 5s big brother   720x350x~400mm Build area

https://folgertech.com/collections/3d-p … 0065663062

Those are nice but they are on pre-order for the third of January.

not really desk top anymore either lol. maybe use it for your desk or to print your desk

If you realy want an adventure you can get one of these. FT6 the f5 5s big brother   720x350x~400mm Build area

https://folgertech.com/collections/3d-p … 0065663062

Those are nice but they are on pre-order for the third of January.

https://folgertech.com/collections/3d-p … 0065663062

Tha FT5 is tempting. As an engineer, i could seriously make some chill stuff with that

There are multiple post described their experience with FT-5 build process, so that you know what to expect.

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/16800/fo … -r2-build/
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/14957/folgertech-ft5/

I was also once passionate about large build volume printers, and got myself two CR-10S (300X300X400mm) and two CR-10 mini (300X220X300mm) when the deal is really good, they generate really good quality print after tighten all wheels and belts, but I find myself don't really need that large build volume. I guess it feels good that you know you can print large item just in case one day you need it, lol. The reality is I often print four or more items at once on my Ender-3 (230X230X250mm) and MonoPrice machines (200X200X180mm).

Newegg also carry these printers, if you are also boycott aliexpress or amazon for whatever reasons.

Yes, i did check out the link you provided me. I saw some kits but missed the ft5. Thank you for pointing that out to me. It is alot of printer for the price. I could litterally print a computer case with that thing haha.

"Not this one, it is over priced. Creality Ender-3 price should range from $160-$199, depend on the deal you get. Ender-3X and Ender-3 Pro is patched and patch-patched version and slightly more expensive."

Thank you. Yes, depending on if i want to wait 3 weeks or not would be my question haha.

Yes, i can spend 500 on a large printer which would be cool, or spend small amount on an average build and glue things together.

Tha FT5 is tempting. As an engineer, i could seriously make some chill stuff with that

Thank you for this. I had it saved in my wishlist for a few days. This is why i am here. I want to learn these things so thanks for helping me out with that. I could have wasted money, time and precious amounts of energy. I have also checked out the ender 3 and i do like the looks of that one. I have had that in my wish list as well. it has a 9inch print height and is a decent price. What are others opinions of this one?

https://www.amazon.com/Creality-High-pr … &psc=1

I know the link is from amazon, doesnt mean i have to buy it from there haha

Not this one, it is over priced. Creality Ender-3 price should range from $160-$199, depend on the deal you get. Ender-3X and Ender-3 Pro is patched and patch-patched version and slightly more expensive.

Ender-3: $249
https://www.amazon.com/Luxnwatts-Creali … ds=ender-3

Ender-3X: $269
https://www.amazon.com/Creality-Upgrade … ds=ender-3

Ender-3 Pro: $279
https://www.amazon.com/Comgrow-Creality … amp;sr=8-1

These are all amazon price from Creality agent company, they are about $100 higher than the price they got from Creality. But you get faster shipping and faster customer service. Creality use agent company in U.S.A. to reduce the cost for retail and customer service, that's why the list price from official store are always over priced because they don't want to compete with agents. You can also order from aliexpress for price of $170, $199, and $250, but it takes three weeks to arrive and replacement parts also takes long time to arrive if you are unlucky.

Ender-3's print bed is actually slightly bigger than 230 X 230 mm instead of advertised 220 X 220 mm, Z axis is 250mm which is about 9.8 inch.

CR-10 mini and Cr-10S are also good options and with larger build volume, but they cost around $320 and $430 and I would not recommend spend so much money on a 3D printer kit. Even with Ender-3, I would not recommend you get them at amazon price, wait and looking for deals if you are not in big hurry.

the FT-5 large format has a build area of 12" x 12" x roughly 15.5" high and costs $500 - that is a lot of printer for the price.
Bigger than the Prusa (which happens to be running behind on orders) for less money.

it will work just fine in stock form - there is no need to upgrade anything.
I did change the hotend on mine to an E3D Volcano AFTER building it stock and getting it running.

These were all printed with the stock hotend.

rc plane wing section - in progress

finished wing section

Z height test

overhang test - the part is upside down from the way it was printed..

Made with quality components

not a kit but a decent bang for the buck
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/17534/mo … -for-sale/
you will likely have to upgrade a few parts.

and as heartless mentioned the Folger tech kits are not bad , they do take time to build and you may want to upgrade some of the parts.

Thank you for this. I had it saved in my wishlist for a few days. This is why i am here. I want to learn these things so thanks for helping me out with that. I could have wasted money, time and precious amounts of energy. I have also checked out the ender 3 and i do like the looks of that one. I have had that in my wish list as well. it has a 9inch print height and is a decent price. What are others opinions of this one?

https://www.amazon.com/Creality-High-pr … &psc=1

I know the link is from amazon, doesnt mean i have to buy it from there haha

"Personally, I do not recommend "leaving the house" with a printer running, EVER.. with ANY printer.
Don't care what brand, model, etc.. there are just too many things that can go wrong and you could come home to a disaster.. as in something failed on the printer and it caught fire and burned your house down kind of disaster. "

I knew the hotend was that hot but can PLA or ABS ignite at those temps? I see what you are saying and your telling me not to even risk it. My unit is enclosed i have left the house or went to bed, so far no failed prints or any serious issues. But i do not want to take that risk either.

"maybe 8" if you are lucky, 7" practical would be more like it (specs may say one thing, but reality usually falls short by a little..)"
Im guessing larger format printers are going to be expensive or a hassle? the Creality has a 14 or so inch print volume but i know nothing of the CR10. Also, i will try and learn how to cut parts so i can assemble them in pieces. Can this be done with all ready created stl's such as those found on thingverse?

" stay away from Simplify3D (aka S3D)"
Thank you for letting me know. I was looking into this product. i was going to try the free trial and see how i liked it. I have toyed around with slic3r but i can not get it to work on my davinci. I do have threedubber and i know i can copy an old header file over but i really like seeing how much time, temp, etc on my lcd screen, but that is beyond the point of this thread. Thus said, i can see how slic3r is really great for open source printers though. I will have to check out ultimaker

Thank you for all of this info.

ok, so dont get it from amazon. duly noted:)

I have been looking at the ANET A8

is my height to small or to large? when you say "limited choices"? If it is to big, then anything that can allow me to print a paintball 10 round tube which is 8inches i think. I can always connect pieces together. YAY for duct tape haha

yes, close to set it and forget it would be nice:) im not looking for perfection in my parts. I mean, i have a davinci jr 1.0 that i set it and forget it and to me it produces decent parts to my liking. So anything that can produce just as good as parts as my jr1.0 and lets me leave the house while it prints, im cool with that because i can save profiles:)

Good to know about software. What do you recommend?

I can handle 8inch print volume and i think i would be fine. In fact, i would be more than fine:)
Thanks again

I also suggest NOT getting the Anet - anything - they are just not very good.

Do not buy the cheapest anything when dealing with 3d printers. If you want a decent machine, you are going to have to dig a little deeper.
Don't be "Cheap" - be "Frugal" instead. purchase the best quality you can afford - if it means saving for a little while, so be it - but do your research, and pay attention.

by limited choices, I am referring to the overall height.. the greater majority of printers are not going to give you 10" of height.. maybe 8" if you are lucky, 7" practical would be more like it (specs may say one thing, but reality usually falls short by a little..)

There are ways around the size limitations, too - splitting parts into multiple pieces is not hard to do.. might take a little longer to print, but it is an option.

Personally, I do not recommend "leaving the house" with a printer running, EVER.. with ANY printer.
Don't care what brand, model, etc.. there are just too many things that can go wrong and you could come home to a disaster.. as in something failed on the printer and it caught fire and burned your house down kind of disaster.
Do you really want to risk that every time you walk away from your printer?? It has happened a few times.
And the cheaper the machine, the greater the risk is.

Yes, there a lot of people that do leave them running when they are not home, or sleeping (just as bad, imho)
the hotend, for PLA, typically gets set to 200*C - that is 392*F - more than sufficient to start a fire.
for ABS - temp set at 235* - 240*C - that is 455* - 464*F...

Software... where to begin...
Repetier Host (commonly referred to as RH) is a program that allows you to communicate with your printer.
It does have slicing software bundled with it - both Slic3r and Cura - the 2 most common 'free' slicers
So RH is kind of an "all in one" package that allows you to operate your printer, load and slice models for printing, and set the printer in motion printing the desired model..
Both Slic3r and Cura are also available as stand-alone slicing programs.

But there are also many other choices out there, some new, some not so new..
Just do yourself a favor and stay away from Simplify3D (aka S3D) - prohibitive cost and things have not been going well for them the last couple of updates.