Best personal 3d printer?

Why don't you give a look at this:
http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/3d-p … usion.html

I bought one and put it together.  Full videos of every step and when I finished it was accurate to 1%.

By the way it is $570.00 at this time.

Bob

My take, first the botObjects printer is expensive @ over $3000 US according to their website pricing. Second, and to me most importantly, it uses a proprietary multiple cartridge filament system in a dual head printer. The cartridges each contain 45 meters of PLA filament for a single cartridge price that is roughly the same price as a standard 2 kilo spool of similar filament which contains approximately 300 meters. So as long you don't mind paying 6 times as much for your filament in small cartridges as you would another printer that uses generic spools then it may be a good deal.

The other thing to consider is the majority of 3D printer software available doesn't do multiple colors in a single print all that well if at all, so unless botObjects has written their own software to deal with that issue don't expect too much in the way of support for multi color printing.

Consider trying out the Lathon 3D printer. It has a dual nozzle print head capable of printing in over 8 different materials up to 80 microns and can print twice as fast as conventional dual nozzle printers. We're going to do a short release next week, so sign up to the newsletter at lathon.net if you want to hear more about it.

3D printing can be complicated, so it's best to start out with a straightforward printer. Priced at "under $1,000" (all the manufacturer has said so far), the Cubify Cube 3 is one of the simplest printers available. The company puts the filament (either ABS or PLA) in a sealed cartridge that is available in 20 colors, and is easy to change. The system also provides software that outlines a step-by-step approach to printing. The Cube's simplicity has its downsides. You have to buy Cubify's filament cartridges, which cost a little more than generic spools and come in only five colors. And Cubify's 90-day warranty is short for a printer designed to handle the rough and tumble of family or educational use. Overall, though, this printer's simple, user-friendly design and software make glitches much less likely.

I have an SD3 and a knockoff replicator from ebay, and have used 3 different makerbots at work.

I like the SD3 more because I can tinker and upgrade easily.  Every few months there is a new upgrade that is done to my SD3 so it is fun and challenging.  The build Vol is great and the new solidoodles 12" cube looks very interesting to me.

The knockoff is great because of  it being 1/4 the price ($650) and  ease of use and surface finish.  Cant really upgrade very easily, but it is nice to just get prints out the door easily.

I have worked with a rostock from cncme, but I did not care for that one as much as the SD3 or knockoff.  Wires kept getting in the way and print quality was not where I wanted it.  It is nice to have a larger vertical build Vol, but every .stl file I put in has a rectangular world box, so it keeps giving errors of the part is outside the build vol.  The best part of it is how open the design is, you can view from any direction and get a great view of the print, that was the reason for purchasing the printer.

#1 extruder is very important.
Direct feed extruder is awesome but its heavy because of the motor sitting directly on top of it.
Bowden feed extruders are much lighter and print faster but the print quality (lacking retraction feature) is questionable.
Moving platform ? If printer has platform move side to side or front to back, it will have issues. Issues like getting the bed flat. MANY of such issues.
Platforms that move Up and Down are awesome. Ultimaker has it but it cost little over $1000 USD and it also sucks at the same time because it comes with bowden feed extruder.

THere are light weight direct feed extruders on the market already so i guess ultimaker could use an upgrade.

I want to sell my ROBO and buy CraftBot.

Direct feed with light weight extruder setup + horizontal motion bed + enclosed case that will help with ABS prints to keep chamber temperatures more controlled is a CHA CHING for me !

Everyone likes the proprietary filament cartridges that printer requires I hear...

there is no one answer to this question and may never be as many factors determine required features of each consumer plus the cost limits many of them

Check this : http://makemendel.com/3d-printer

Thanks !!

Felix 3.0...large buildvolume, dual extruder, heated bed, molded parts, upto 50 microns accuracy (x,Y) and 10 in Z. And best of all, totally upgradable...but then again, "I, as Felixusa manager, might be biased" lol

Well in my opinion the Robo 3D Printer is the way to go for someone looking at 3d printers it boasts one of the largest build areas for the money and is expandable in many ways. The current version employs an autolevel system which works fairly well an improved hotend and many other features not available when I first got mine.

The only downside is the communication with the company itself. It should be considered spotty at best. Some people have no problems others have many issues. In this case the squeaky wheel DOES get the grease. When communication is made though they are very quick to try and resolve things with replacement parts and very few questions asked. They are still beginning so that needs to be taken into account.

On the plus side they do have very good forum with very helpful people to help weed out issues or further define what the issue is even before you communicate with them for replacements. Many time by using the forum many novice printers find out they were just doing it wrong and needed some assistance.

Upgradability is one of the things I love about it I myself have modified my printer to use dual extruders and was able to get successful 10 micron prints(hollow pyramids) they were just under 15mm tall and took over 90 minutes to print and while the surface at 200 microns or 100 microns you can still feel the layers when touched this print felt more like wet dry sandpaper.

The forum has been a wonderful source for upgrade ideas outside of the corporate Robo3D and have really made this printer the thing it is today.

So do yourself a favor and check it out I am pretty sure you will like it

Richard   off the shelf may be difficult  . You mention an ED3 v6 you should be able to print both fine with that head.
Colorfab wood fill  seems to be a bit smoother than the lay wood.
Put a ED3 v6 on a robo and it will print those materials fine.
I have a friend who has access to several printers and a variety of materials. He has done extensive testing.
Tin