Product Review: Maker Farm i3 Prusa 8"

[RobH2]

Yea, but we have to wait for the Prusa i3 30" before we can print the wheels...

I like you base idea. I cut squares of rubber from an inner tube, folded them and placed them in 6 spots under mine. It made it quieter, reduced vibration and keeps from sliding when I move the bed around. Maybe I'll do a base then put rubber feet under that. The rubber is a great noise dampener and shock/vibration absorber.

[MeoWorks]

After 31 hours of continuous printing with numerous 90 degree corners and 10% infills, my stylized NYC skyscraper base for a custom Marvel superhero sculpt is finished. Printer basically sits on a 1/4 thick neoprene sleeve and doesn't miss a beat!

0.1mm height.

NYC Base.jpg

[RobH2]

Meow is right....puuurfect... I'm assuming you had no supports because the overhang was only around 20 degrees or something? Really clean. That's a Makerfarm printing at .10mm. Is that correct? Thirty-one hours, yikes... What was your perimeter speed? Had to be 15 or so to be so clean.

[MeoWorks]

You're correct, Rob, no supports needed on this guy. I was tempted to print at 0.05mm but decided it was a bit of a waste haha. I usually save 0.05mm for hi res character sculpts. But yes, 0.1mm at 30mm/s, I was being overly cautious due to the corners but it should be able to handle 50mm/s without problems.

Took a short video earlier, sorry for the dogs barking...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater

[RobH2]

You know, I believe what I read too much and don't experiment as much as I should. I read somewhere that the minimum layer for our printer was .16 and I've never gone thinner. I'm so glad that you've opened my eyes. I need to push the limits more. I mean, for the most part what's the worst that will happen, I'll waste some plastic? I'm going to do a super nice print of something at .1mm. Glad to hear that you've even gone thinner. I'm assuming at that thinness your E-Steps need to be really, really close.

[MeoWorks]

Yeah, I'd like to say it easy, but it took weeks to calibrate this thing to this point! Such a pain, but so worth it

Go for 0.1mm, this printer can do that height EASY!

[laserlotus]

Regarding, "I wonder sometimes if the problems people have assembling their machines is more due to inexperience with assembling kits of any sort, and a bit of a lack of mechanical skills" I would say that the problems are more easily mitigated by calibrating the laser cutter once in a while rather than expecting customers to have experience putting together kits and an aptitude for the "mechanics" thereof. I understand some people are really into the kit aspect and actually -like- assembling kits, but I think most people who want a 3d printer are more enthusastic about the printing than about the assembly, and I definitely fall in that category. This is not to say that I didn't do my best to assemble it correctly; after paying for the kit I naturally intended to make as good a printer out of my kit as possible and this meant following the official instructions as closely as I could. It's true that I didn't avail myself of the after sales support; I could've e-mailed their team (i.e., Colin) and said "look these parts really don't fit together can you send me another set". I chose not to, because, each time I ran into difficulty it seemed that forcing the parts together was a much faster way to get printing.

My advice to prospective buyers in this price range is still to go with a classic reprap rather than a -cheap- framed kit. Of course, people willing to pay more have a lot more options including higher-quality framed kits or fully assembled printers. The problem is nobody can enter the market and say "look, I sell a kit similar to makerfarm for $200 more and what that buys you is the parts actually fit together since I calibrate my laser cutter every day". Always the cheaper kit produced with lower cost will slurp up the whole market simply because 99% of folks will risk it for a $200 saving. Sending out replacement parts to the few people who request them is cheaper than calibrating the laser every day. So I don't blame the folks at makerfarm, I blame the mad rush we call capitalism ;-)

[RobH2]

That makes a lot of sense. I guess I got one on a day after a calibration. Mine fit so well that it was hard to imagine someone having issues. I have read a few posts about how graciously Colin sends new parts out. He really does back it up but if what you are saying is correct, he could save a lot of redundant mailings with more frequent calibrations. Thanks for that observation.

[DrLuigi]

To go back at the noise problem ive told earlier,

I noticed due the vibirations it had on lower speeds it could be just the glass/heated bed vibirating to much as it has alot of unsupported sides,
I did a heavier item on it when printing, it reduced the noise quiet alot,
So i guessed if downwards force reduces the vibiration with getting it more stabile, Upwards should do the trick as good,

I did some spongye material under the middle of the heated bed, aprox 1x1 inch, and it did reduce the noise quiet a bit,

I guess if you did this in a + pattern (2 horizontal, 2 vertical, one in the middle) it could reduce it quiet a bit.