MakerFarm 8" i3v Prusa build by Printbus

[tfast500]

MakerFarm has improved the detail and quality of the build guides considerably from that of the 8-inch i3v as of April 2014 when I started the thread. That alone eliminates the need for some of the detail included in my build thread. Some of the gripes we had about the i3v in 2014 (like the frustrating approach to setting Z-axis bed clearance) have been resolved through changes MakerFarm has made to the design. This eliminates some more of the need for build thread detail..

I am happy to hear that some of these things wont be an issue for me with this new build.

What reading any build thread will show you is that there likely WILL be things you'll have to figure out. There likely WILL be things about your prints that you won't understand. You likely WILL realize there's a lot more to 3D printing than you thought, and that there WILL be a lot you'll have to learn.

I totally get that. I am sure I will have so much to learn maybe even more then some newbies, but I am both eager and excited to do so. I am confident this will be a challenge I can take on and defeat.

Some prefer to rush through a build and see the printer working, perhaps backtracking to dress up the build later.

I am thinking ill probably be one of those people haha

Do understand that the slicing process includes somewhere over 100 settings regarding your printer, your filament, and what you are trying to accomplish in a print. Whether starting from the MakerFarm suggestion of slic3r or a slicer like Simplify3D, try to find existing configuration files or setup details that will hopefully give you a chance at reasonable results on initial attempts without the frustration of learning or guessing at all those settings up front. Plan to research and experiment with the settings. With time, you'll learn which of those are set-once-and-forget vs the few that have to be tweaked nearly every print.

This seems tedious hopefully its not too bad. I went ahead and purchased the Simplify3d software. I hope this eliminates wasted time trying to learn the many other slicers. It was a bit steep for me to spend that much on something I was ultimately clueless about but from what I have seen and read about it. It is truly the way to go. I have played with it and it seems great so far.

3D printing turns out to be too frustrating for some and fascinating for others. If you're expecting injection-molded print quality from a plug-and-play printer, leave the box closed when you receive it and resell it. If your degree of handiness involves only a pair of pliers and you're not sure where even those are, leave the box closed and resell it. I was and continue to be in the other extreme. For me, it provides a fascinating combination of electronics, mechanics, materials science, microcontrollers, and firmware programming that can be hard to beat, at a comparably effective cost as opposed to some other hobbies or interests.

I am very confident I have the skills to complete and enjoy this printer. I do come in to this understanding this will not be something to just plug in and use. I understand this takes a whole lot of tinkering. How much of that is required I do not know, but if you knew my life style and hobbies you would know I love to tinker!

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I do worry that I may be let down by the quality of prints that this and all other consumer grade 3d printers are capable of. I have looked online and have seen some pretty horrible stuff produced but have also seen some pretty great stuff which leaves me at some pretty high expectations. I am not sure how great these prints are in person as I have not actually seen anything in person that has been printed from a 3dprinter. I am pretty sheltered when it comes to this technology. You can imagine the small town I am from that I am very new to the 3d printing world.


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Welcome to the MakerFarm community, and enjoy your build. The thread traffic in the MakerFarm subforum is a fraction of what it used to be. When you get your kit, start a build thread and let us know how you're doing, posting any questions you run into there.

Thanks for the warm welcome I do plan to use this forum as a huge resource. I hope I don't ask to many newbish questions but i do know how to use the search function so i should be ok for the most part