3D printer advice ~$3000-$4000 range

[borisw37]

I'm in the process of selecting a 3D printer to be used for work. Would like to hear some input from the community. Here are the requirements that I narrowed down so far in order of priority:


1) Price <$4000


2) Reliability, repeatability. I'm a mech.e with decent amount of EE and software knowledge, so tinkering with the initial setup and configuration is not an issue, but since this will be used at work and infrequently I would like to avoid a time consuming setup, startup procedure for every print.


3) Material: Definitely looking at FFF not SLA. Goal is to make prototype enclosures for electronics, brackets and fixtures to hold electronic components, etc... So mostly interested in hard plastics (ABS?)


4) Quality, accuracy of build. A lot the 3D printed components will need to mate to existing hardware (circuit boards, lenses, etc..) so decent accuracy for the mounting holes to line up is important.


5) Tech support, availability of replacement parts.


Any and all thoughts are appreciated, I'm sure I missed something in the requirements so don't hesitate to ask.


Thank you,


Boris.

[curious aardvark]

You haven't mentioned the maximum size of the parts you want to print.

pretty much all printers will fit the other criteria.

But in the sub $4000 range their are some really cool candidates.

from the multi material Hyrel: http://www.hyrel3d.com/
to the 3d photocopying magic of the Zeus:http://www.zeus.aiorobotics.com/#!buynewlayout/cvsd

Or the Builder series with their two material one nozzle approach. http://3dprinter4u.com/?gclid=CjwKEA...xQRRoCYHDw_wcB

For that money you're in the sweet zone of quality light industrial machines.
Which also means there is a ridiculous amount of choice.

So have a look at the three very different brands I've linked to and see if that sparks a better idea of what you're after :-)
Personally I'd love any of them, though for sheer versatility and build quality I'd lean towards the hyrel - but a copier with 0.15mm scanning resolution - ooohh that's tempting and the builder nozzle would solve every single problem I have with dual extrusion.

Even with just those three - It would be a ridiculously hard choice.
But hyrel could add a clever multi-filament nozzle at some point and a scanning head - so, maybe that might edge it lol

plastics wise - I'd go pla or pet. Abs has just too many hassles - smells, shrinks, doesn't stick, cracks will never be the dimensions of the original model without resizing before print etc.
I haven't tried pet yet (got some, just haven't had time to try it) but by all accounts it gives the toughness (I did do a bend test and it's way tougher than abs) of abs with the ease of print and lack of shrink of pla.

But there are so many different varieties of pla now on the market, plus it depends where you live for what they cost. At the moment the states seem to have the best choice of premium filaments, with us foreigners having to pay exorbitant postage to get hold of it.

But hey, that's life :-)

[dwalden]

Personally I think that, in terms of money and quality, you can't really beat the Creatbot machines: www.creatbot.com. For around $2K, you get a 250x250x450mm build size (!), dual extruder, solid construction, all metal extruder - it's really a great machine. I use a Creatbot clone from a company called Mootooh - the quality really is great. I'm about to buy my second machine

[LambdaFF]

If availability of spare parts is an issue, ask their community and look at the country they're set in.
I love Printrbot but getting spares into europe is a lengthy process.

[Fusion3 3D Printers]

Is this the same person who started a similar thread on Reddit?
If so, a number of folks started a discussion about our F306 printer. Starting under $4K... speed, print quality, 12x12x12 print volume and able to run for thousands of hours without fault

[Davo]

But hyrel could add a clever multi-filament nozzle at some point and a scanning head - so, maybe that might edge it lol

PM sent, borisw37.

And FYI, we are working on both blended and coaxial extrusions of filaments and emulsifiables (including biogels). Which is one reason why we're not really working on a scanning head at present - although we do have another approach in the works...

[curious aardvark]

lol just wish i could afford one :-)

And what on earth is coaxial extrusion ?