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  1. #1
    Technologist
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    Brand new to the game, thinking about a low-cost DIY kit

    Hello.
    Firstly, I would like to introduce myself. I've been aware of 3d printing for some time now, but always felt it financially out of my reach. Just a couple days ago, I stumbled on a youtube video by Tekzilla introducing the Printrbot company. I was immediately excited over the possibility of both buying a printer for as little as $350, and building it myself as a kit.
    Some exhaustive research later found a couple of things that got my mind spinning even faster. I found videos for an even cheaper DIY setup with QU-BD oneup for $200. I did some research on this and found that plenty of people are designing their own modification parts for these to bring out the best in the setups, and posting them on thingiverse.
    My question is this, I feel the building process would be an educational experience and would help me in my plans to start printing. Is either of these build kits a good starting point, in the forum's opinion? should I instead start looking at the RepRap, or is there another direction I should be looking in?
    Don't worry, I've also entered the contest, but knowing the laws of averages, I'm still planning on buying and building one.
    Thanks in advance for any replies I get to this.
    Total newbie at this.

  2. #2
    Staff Engineer old man emu's Avatar
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    At a quick glance, the only two things wrong with the two sub-$300 QU-BD printers are the print bed size (200 x 200 mm is now about the entry level size) and the absence of a heated print bed. You would have to add $160 for those. You are up to about $450. They appear to be a very simple design, so the process of assembly might not provide much in the way of tuition.

    You could build a RepRap design for that amount, but it would involve a lot of hunting down bits and pieces.

    The next way to go is to buy a tried and tested printer kit from a reputable supplier. For another $90 (over the QU-BD + bigger bed + heated print bed) you can get one of these: http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/3...extrusion.html

    These are the duck's guts of entry-level, assemble-yourself printers. Plus there is virtually instantaneous after-sales support from the manufacturer, and pretty quick support from this forum.

    Will you outgrow the makerfarm? Probably not unless you go into full-scale 3D printing services.

    Old Man Emu

  3. #3
    Super Moderator JohnA136's Avatar
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    We have the Printrbot Makers kit. It is easy to build and prints awesome! It does have a small build area but for someone looking to print small stuff on the cheap, it is a great little machine! Best bang for your buck in the $300.00 range! We have also build many, many others, Cupcakes in the early days, RepRaps, Replicators, Prusas, Kossels, etc. so we have a good base to judge from.

  4. #4
    Student GameProps's Avatar
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    I've played with the Printrbot and it's a pretty easy system to work with and from what I have seen easier to build than some others. If that QU-BD is the one I think it is out of Arkansas (where I live) I have heard mixed reviews. Ditto the comment made by John, most of the ones he mentioned are good for entry level printers.

  5. #5
    Super Moderator Geoff's Avatar
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    I have been super tempted to get a metal Printr Bot, for $500ish they look like a bloody well made machine and the output from it , for me seems very reasonable for that price.
    If I didn't already have 3 and a 4th printer being built, I'd get one tomorrow, but my wife said 1 printer was the limit, 5 might just break last straw
    Hex3D - 3D Printing and Design http://www.hex3d.com

  6. #6
    Student rvanwaes's Avatar
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    I picked up a Prusa i3 kit from eBay for $350ish and am fairly pleased with it. It saved me the time of sourcing all the parts from China and elsewhere and comes in at a great price, but I've had to buy some replacement and upgrade parts to keep it running. Most of the parts are pretty cheap, but they work well when calibrated properly.

    I ran into some issues with pieces missing from the kit and some that were not functional. I'm on my fourth RAMPS board from 2 different suppliers - 3 were duds and 1 I fried myself because I got a little trigger happy unplugging things before shutting off the power. Be extra careful wiring everything up, because you'll pay a premium if you don't want to wait for parts from overseas.

    Overall, I'd say the kit is a great way to go if you want to understand how everything works and get a little experience in everything that can go wrong.

  7. #7
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    Thanks for all the input! I'm still leaning toward the QU-BD two-up, but the main issue is cost over quality (I know, red flag) but I'm leaning more toward the two up since I can source a heated platform for a little cheaper with some ingenuity.
    As for the hit or miss reviews that Gameprops mentioned, believe me, man. I'm hip. I've been looking at their online forum (fabric8or.com) and it looks like they hired on at least two new customer service reps to help out. I believe they bit off more than they could chew by putting these guys on Amazon before fulfilling all their kickstarter orders.
    As I mentioned already, I'm still very new to all of this, other than quite a bit of obsessive-compulsive research.
    I'll keep it in mind to look around for a used printer if I can keep the costs down, but I would rather use a DIY kit, so I can do all the learning I can while building it.
    Really appreciate all the input from y'all!

  8. #8
    Technologist
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    A little more looking around, and hopefully this is not a dead thread (don't know the schedule of this forum yet), but I found this guy for $350 http://replikeo.com/en/KIT001. Believe me, even though I was thinking QU-BD, I'm not against going a different rout. My only question is, has anyone dealt with this company yet? Another thought, I know the railing on the makerfarm i3 is a v-slot rail, but other than that, there's quite a bit of difference in price. Does it have anything to do with the fact that Replikeo is overseas? Or maybe because they are relatively new to the market? Not knocking Makerfarm at all. Really liking everything they offer on their site, and their pricing for everything looks good. You can understand a raising of an eyebrow over something like this, right?

  9. #9
    Staff Engineer old man emu's Avatar
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    A couple of points:
    1. They don't provide the gross weight of the package containing the printer and the filament that comes with it. That adds to the shipping cost which adds to your overall cost.
    2. While the build materials and components appear to be up to standard, the Prusa i3 design that they are selling is now superseded by the i3v which has much improved motion transmission.
    3. After sales service. What's the time difference between your home and Salt Lake City compared to your home and Europe?
    4. Numbers of users. This is a reflection of sales volume, but there are more people to help you with a Makerfarm than with most of the other Prusa makes.

    Gee! I think I sound like a Makerfarm salesman. I'm not. Just an old emu who has been short of money for "toys" like you, and has had to carefully appraise my spending decisions in light of many factors.

    The Makerfarm i3v 8" is $200 more than the replikeo, but it is money well spent. If I had the time, and could hide the purchase from Old Ma Emu, I'd fork out for the i3v upgrade kit for my i3.

    Old Man Emu
    Last edited by old man emu; 12-06-2014 at 04:16 PM.

  10. #10
    Technologist
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    All good points, Emu. I ended up just going through the motions to see how much it would cost for shipping. Turns out to be nearly a wash between replikeo and makerfarm, if I wanted the printer delivered within a week. What a joke! A friend of mine ordered a blue laser from a hong kong company and got free shipping for his entire order (lighter than a printer, sure, but still....).
    All this being said, I want to thank you folks for the help. Turns out my buy will most likely happen after xmas season, but for now, replikeo is definitely out.

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