First printer

Hi, totaly new in the 3d printing area and about to buy my first printer. Im a student so i dont have that much money to work with but have looked at the printerbot simple maker's kit for $515 ( that is with shipping and tax) on amazon and a printer at a local store, a vellman k8200 for $554.
Dont know which one to buy tho. Some tips would be verry helpful.

There are hundreds of posts nearly identical to this on the forum. I highly recommend you search for "First Printer" in the search and see what other people have said.

With that out of the way...

Kits are going to be the cheapest option but many people struggle to assemble them. If you are technically inclined a kit is not a bad idea, but you should expect to spend 20 hours for assembly, and maybe another 50 hours for calibration. Those estimates are high, but realistic. If you decide to build a kit the Printrbot Simple is a good choice. All of Ultibots kits are decent: http://www.ultibots.com/printer-kits/. Personally, I use a Blue Eagle Labs Kossel Kit: http://www.blueeaglelabs.com/.

You may also want to check this little printer. It's very new, and there's not many reviews, but yeah, check it out:
https://printm3d.com/
http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...d-play-printer

Thx for the tip! The M3D looks like a good first printer, cheap and not too big. That may be the one ill go for :D

Printrbot is great, I'm a satisfied customer. If you go on their website they have a very efficient support, good technical manuals for maintenance / repair. They also often develop upgrades so that you can improve your stuff as needed without going for a brand new machine. They especially did a lot of work recently on the Simple for the bed, the Z axis, the geared extruder, the full metal hot end...

They are not providing kits at lower costs anymore : from what I understand too many people took this option for the cost but didn't have the skills to assemble and troubleshoot correctly. They put both at the same price so that you pick the kit only if you want to enjoy the maker experience.

The printrbot range of printers is a good choice, the simple metal. As LuckyImperial says it is going to depend on your time and motivation to build a kit and also what you plan on printing, where you see yourself going with it. The UP Mini is also a good 1st 3D printer.

I bought the Prusa i3 x build kit because it was only 300 dollars, but it operates the same, and better than many printers up to double/triple its price. it can print 100-300 mm/s depending on if you are printing at 50 to 300 microns - so it can be very precise but also very fast. the machine also has a relatively large build area of 7.87x7.87x6.8 inches- and I find rectangular build area is more valuable than cylindrical build area.

the only downside to this machine is the dual extruder version costs nearly 150 dollars more, but you do get a cheesy filament spool mount with your order. I am currently looking into upgrading the single mk8 extruder to a dual mk8 extruder. the dual extruder will cost an additional 75 dollars, but isn't necessary for a beginner anyway - so expanding is better than buying one up front, especially if its cheaper.

Also, I opted to print my own filament mount and filter rather than buying those components, to save a few dollars

well that's why I made my choice anyway! good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LuckyImperial

Kits are going to be the cheapest option but many people struggle to assemble them. If you are technically inclined a kit is not a bad idea, but you should expect to spend 20 hours for assembly, and maybe another 50 hours for calibration. Those estimates are high, but realistic. If you decide to build a kit the Printrbot Simple is a good choice. All of Ultibots kits are decent: http://www.ultibots.com/printer-kits/...

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LuckyImperial & All -

Thanks for the kind words and interest in www.UltiBots.com. We are a family owned business providing 3D Printer kits, components, and filament. Great personal support, product quality, and quick shipping are our goals.

As an incentive to tryUltiBots, I have enabled coupon code 3DPB for 5% off your next order. The coupon is valid through October 14th.

Please call 772-257 one thousand or email sales )at( ulti bots.com with any questions.

Happy Printing!
Brad Norman
Owner - UltiBots

Seeing as you already made two options, I'd say go for Printrbot. Their printers and customer support is great.

hell , i own 3 printers already but the m3d looks fun just to jack around with :) tiny build area tho