I bought a Makerbot 2X just when it came out as my first 3D printer. I didn't want to buy something to tinker with so I didn't buy a kit.
Things went bad really quickly from the start. I had take the design of whpthomas and print an extruder just to get the machine to work (http://www.thingiverse.com/taskman/designs). Later whpthomas created 2 aluminium extruders for me. From the start I didn't have much fun with FDM. I bought the Makerbot so that I could print phasers and equipment for my laser skirmish business. Nothing worked, everything cracked or distorted or broke apart.


Long story short, I found the DLP technology and decided to build a DLP printer and I couldn't be happier. Yes I do still have failures here and there, but I am upgrading my software so that I limit the failures to a minimum. The printer is so stable I have had insects fly into the resin and I printed over them. So my prints had bugs in them, real bugs, not programming bugs


I have already printed more working parts with my DLP printer than I have with my Makerbot 2X. Actually thinking about it, the only thing that I still have that was printed on the Makerbot is a bracelet I made for my partner. Everything else is in black bags.


I want to compare FDM to Christmas. You start a print at night, when you wake up in the morning and walk to your printer you might have a piece of coal sitting there or a nice present


DLP I think can be compared to ebay/Amazon. You place the order and the next day the item is at your door ready to be used










I will answer the questions for DLP
Are DLP printers really plug and play or require less maintanence or are more reliable?
- The basic version of my machine only has a Z motor and it uses the sanguinololu controller. Very few moving parts. Plug the printer into the USB port of your machine, start the app and connect




They don't have/need hotends, extruders, heated beds, belts and pulleys to have issues there.
- My upgraded version has a resin heater, but it is a seperate component and it isn't being controlled by the sanguinololu. If it fails and you are printing at 10 micron Z you will probably have a problem
- I have other upgrades on my machine that I won't mention at the moment that make life nicer




But is there nothing in that technology that a non-tinkerer can use them without problem?
- I am trying to write my software so that it works for everybody. When you start the app it asks you to connect to the printer, probably the most complex part. Currently you need to select the comm port. You are then taken to a tab that contains all your models. You can click on the model and select it for printing. You then select the level of detail, check the preview, make sure the projector is focussed and print. I could add something to the software so that it never asks for the detail, or show the preview so that if you have it configured once then it will just always use those settings




Just a guess, are the lasers calibrated properly? Is it easy to calibrate the beam if it isn't? Are the laser scanners decent quality and reliable machines?
- Since I am talking about DLP. The projector is calibrated/focussed by the user and it is very easy, you just turn the knob. Projectors have been in use for many many years by consumers. They are very reliable and just getting better constantly


Is the liquid they use cured evenly/uniformly? Any known problems with layer curing?
- If you over cure it will bend and distort. It can take some time to get the correct display time. I normally start off at 600 milliseconds and work up from there. If you don't have a wiper then you need to print at an angle or you will get bumps on top of the part. Printing at an angle will require supports and more clean up and longer printing. So you need to decide if you can live with the bumps and sand them off or live with the supports and sand them off




Is the print attached to the bed with no issues unlike the ABS/other print on an FDM printer heatbed?
- Sometimes there is still bending of the items and they sometimes come lose. I am printing a Toyota scale engine at the moment and the last part had probably 1mm lift in the one corner




Are all the printed parts destroyed by sunlight? Or is this just a claim from someone who isn't aware of the variety of resins available.
- Not sure, I use sunlight to cure the parts. I also printed parts for my laser skirmish/laser tag business and we use the respawn boxes in the sun. No issues


I've also heard support is pain to get to work and remove from the print.
- I use Meshmixer currently to create my supports. I did write it in my app and then figured rather don't reinvent the wheel at the moment. For big things I create 3mm thick supports and small things I create 0.5mm supports. They just pull off and you can sand the marks away




I won't make the same mistake twice. Not gonna spend money on an SLA printer in the future if it's going to be as much of a pain to use regardless how good the print quality is compared to FDM.
- I haven't switched my Makerbot 2X on in probably 6 months. I will probably not sell it because I will get nothing for it, it will probably go into the cupboard. From my limited experience with FDM, just Makerbot, I can't recommend it. Reading forums about FDM printers you see how many issues people have with all the parts that make up an FDM machine. DLP is easy. one controller, one motor, one projector. If the projector fails, replace it or the lamp. I can't see how it can be possible to make an even more reliable printer than a DLP machine. Things get difficult when you try to print at 30 micron X/Y and 30 micron Z, but that is to be expected. High detail takes work to get perfect