Looking at Pegasus 12

[augerpro]

Looking to get my first 3D printer. We're pretty capable with anything tech or mechanical so a kit seems doable. Looking for a larger print area with good resolution/quality, and the Pegasus 12 seems like a good candidate in the <$1000 area?

If so, what options should I consider? I'm leaning toward the Titan extruder with e3d-v6 hot end. Deluxe add-on is unavailable at the moment. Also what model plastics have people had the most success with for high resolution prints with good consistency (I'm really hoping to run at the 50 micron the Pegasus claims to be capable of)?

[augerpro]

Couple questions regarding print material. If I upgrade to the Titan with e3d-v6 hotend, can it print nylon? How hot can the tip get, and what metal is made from? What are the pro and cons of 1.75mm vs 3mm considering the priorities of resolution and consistency?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Simple answers:

Get the 1.75 mm filament version. The 3mm stuff does not feed as well. There is no compelling reason to go with 3 mm unless you are doing 1 mm nozzle stuff (very much *not* high resolution). I have a pile of 3mm filament and don't quite know what I'll do with it.

Go for the standard direct drive extruder. Of the bunch MakerFarm offers at 1.75 mm, it will drive the filament the fastest without jamming. It will print anything the other extruders will print.

Go for the full blown E3D, not the lite. It's not much more money and you *will* need the higher temps, even for ABS.

The three main filaments you *probably* will user are PLA, ABS, and PETG. What you use past that depends a lot on what you are trying to do. You seem to be interested in Nylon. If so, you want to look at the cost of a filament drying setup (vacuum dryer). The stuff is *very* hygroscopic. The printer has zero impact on this, it's just the nature of the filament. The same issue applies to a couple of other exotic materials.

If you want to look at something else, the Prusa I3 Mk2 kit is a bit more money, but not a lot. It has a much smaller print volume. It also has some interesting custom firmware and software. That can be a plus or a minus depending on how handy you are.

Bob

[augerpro]

So the standard Pegasus extruder is that good? Or do you have specific concerns with the Titan? Also, dual extruder, handy or not worth the trouble?

Will definitely be going with the full e3d-v6 hotend. And 1.75mm.

Yeah I may not go with the nylon. PETG looks pretty good, and we'll also probably use some of the PLA/PHA hybrids. Woodfill and possibly the ceramic also, although I'm not sure if the e3d-v6 will get that hot. If not, we just won't use it.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Yes, the standard extruder is that good (or the Titan is that bad) depending on how you look at it. Neither one has a part cooling fan stock. That's a bigger issue than any difference between the extruders. It's not a hard thing to fix.

Forget about the dual extruder. It's not worth the hassle. The second nozzle drags all over the print.

Given that you don't have a printer yet, I would plan on keeping things simple at first. Things like ceramic literally eat the nozzle on a hot end. They also are a bit of a pain to print. The fill does not impact the temperature much. It's the plastic that the fill is combined with that mostly determines the temperature. PLA will print colder than ABS. PETG and ABS both print at similar temperatures. The heated bed is a bigger issue for ABS and PETG than the hot end. There a lot of printers that have the hot end, but not a good enough heated bed ....

The E3D-V6 with a high temp sensor will get hotter than any filament on the market today requires. The hot end with a thermistor will get hot enough for any filament a sensible person would wish to print. It also will get hot enough for a bunch of filaments that simply turn into a mess when you try to print them.

Bob

[augerpro]

Thanks for the info Bob!

[BLKKROW]

I have a Pegasus (Direct Drive) and an IV3 (Wades Extruder), I prefer the Wades Extruder. For Christmas I received an E3D Titan to replace the direct drive on the Pegasus. If I get it installed in an orderly fashion I will let you know how I feel about it.

But looking at it from an engineering standpoint, it is superior. I can go into details why, but essentially it has more torque and is about the same weight as a direct drive if I use a pancake motor.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you look at the basic engineering of the Titan with it's wimpy motor compared to the basic engineering of the higher torque motor on the "simple" direct drive extruder, the direct drive wins. It also wins when you have a filament race and see which one will actually push filament onto a print faster.

Note, this *is* sort of a dumb comparison. Running at a speed that you exhaust the extruder with normal filaments means running a *very* fast speed on the printer. That will result in sub par prints. If that does not bother you, fine. If you are running something really weird, there are enough variables there to write a book on....

Bob

[BLKKROW]

Hi

If you look at the basic engineering of the Titan with it's wimpy motor compared to the basic engineering of the higher torque motor on the "simple" direct drive extruder, the direct drive wins. It also wins when you have a filament race and see which one will actually push filament onto a print faster.

Note, this *is* sort of a dumb comparison. Running at a speed that you exhaust the extruder with normal filaments means running a *very* fast speed on the printer. That will result in sub par prints. If that does not bother you, fine. If you are running something really weird, there are enough variables there to write a book on....

Bob

The key when using the Titan is selecting a pancake motor that has sufficient Torque. Looking at the specifications of the default Nema 17's they have about 54 Newton Centimeters, of holding torque. With the 3:1 gearing ratio of the Titan you should be able to select a stepper with 1/3 of the Holding Torque of the original motor. However, I am selecting something with 1/2 of the holding torque in order to ensure I have more torque than the direct drive.

Doing this, means I will be using a motor with a length of 34mm compared to 48mm.

[augerpro]

So a different motor comes with the Titan? It cannot use the stock Nema 17? (is too much torque a problem?) Also weight was mentioned, is this an issue? Is the Titan w/ lower weight motor desirable just because it is lower weight?

BTW thanks both of you for giving me the sort of feedback I need!