Highest quality 3D print FDM printer - Beginner help me pick Prusa or alternative

Hi, newbie to 3D printing. I've spend about 2 weeks just reading reviews and researching. I'm sure some off these websites get paid for promoting a model, so I figured what better than to ask hobbyist in a community.

My requirements:
1. Highest quality print, smooth surface (I don't want to see the string lines, I want smooth surfaces, I realize this means it will print slower possibly and I'm fine. I understand the quality of the stepper motor is what determines quality)
2. Under $1000
3. Will admit I have not done as much research on material, I expect mostly will print PLA and PETG. I know Direct drive is better for the more flexible material, but likely wont do much of that. Looking to initially print RC parts for now, possibly even a fuselage and wings down the road (hence why smooth surface is critical)
4. Reliability - I want a printer that prints, I don't want to spend hours each print to tinker once it is dialed in.

Everything I've read has let me to the Prusa Mini+ or i3 MKS+. I would get the kit, not afraid to assemble, I'm an engineer so I tinker with everything. But I don't want to tinker with it every print, would like reliability and set it and forget it.

Based on my requirements, what do you all recommend?

Cheers

2 things.

1) you CANNOT get a totally smooth surface from an fdm print. Thew technology jus6 does not work like that.
You can sand and fill after printing - but even with the new 'ironing' function, even a smooth surface would show the filament lines. Certain slicers will let you can change the actual surface pattern. But it's not possible to do away with it entirely.

sounds like you might be better off looking at resin printing. Yes it can be messy and smelly and you touch the uncured resin at your peril.
But superb detail and very smooth prints are pretty much standard with even the cheapest resin printer.

2) autolevelling is mostly ane xcuse to sell you an uneven bed.
A properly flat printbed fitted with nylock locking nuts and properly levelled, is bettre than any amount of 'auto levelling'. A phrase that really does not describe the actual process of bed level mapping.

If done properly and with locking nuts - a bed need only be levelled once. And then it's good until you change the bed surface, of printing setup. It won't go out of level.
So pay for a flat bed not silly gimmicks that hide the fact the bed is not flat.

I'm not ahuge fan of prusa. So I'd say go for the mini if you really wnat one and spend the extra cash on something larger, better built and a lot cheaper.

Admittedly joself has created the perfect business model. In that you buy a kit of parts from him that most likely costs prusa less around $150 and then assemble it yourself.
I'm not convinced that 3d printed pet-g parts are equal to injection moulded parts. But that's where the prusa firmware based around the stepper drivers comes into play.

There is a lot of clever engineering gouing on there - but you really do not get value for money.

A lot also depends on what sort of maximumj build volume you want., what sort of materials you would like to print and whether or not you would benefit from an enclosed bvuild volume and high temperature nozzles.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TENLOG-Hand...16&sr=8-7&th=1
The tenlog dl3 pro is probably the best value for money printer around.
It also uses linear rails obn all three axis - something prusa only do on their nww multi tool head printer.

So that's worth looking at.

Thank you for the feedback. This is why I posted on this forum. I agree with you in that Prusa is making a killer margin for what they are selling. I'm sure if I had more experience I would build my own printer from scratch to get the most value out of it.

1. Agree i think it will be virtually impossible to make it like injection molding but I figure if i use a 0.25mm nozzle and set the layers as small as possible it should yield better results at the cost of speed.

2. Interesting feedback. Are you saying the Prusa bed is not flat or just in general the auto-level for other manufacturers is a gimmick due to poor quality control on the bed?

I looked at the Tenlog printer on Amazon USA and there is several listings all the same model with mixed reviews 3.5 Stars and the one star reviews are a real concern.

Please keep the feedback coming this is invaluable.

Any other suggestions and feedback?

I tend to find amazon one star reviews are pretty much from people who have cocked it up themselves.
Or have absolutely no clue what they've bought or thought someone was going to leap out of the computer and do it all for them.
I mean they're probably not all total idiots, but a lot definitely are ;-)

Prusa beds are flat - never heard otherwise.
What i mean is that the basic prusa i3 has changed very little from the mk1. The current mk3s still uses the same 8 bit rambo board. But they have upgraded the stepper drivers to add the extra functions across the model 'evolution'.
And various minor tweaks to the printed parts.

Assume you are buying a kit of parts - the tenlog wins on pretty much every count.

Also assume that any problems you have will need to be fixed by you.
At the end of the day most people won't be shipping a machine back - if you would like a masterclass in how to send printers back.
Talk to bikeracer2000. He's the forum expert on it.
But generally he's buying the mid range machines and a lot of what you're paying for there is customer service.,

Pretty much all budget printers will have their own niggles.
At the end of the day you're buying a precision plastics factory for a few hundred bucks.

Even my sapphire pro has a couple niggles. The firmware has very odd pid control, but easy enough to work round.

Yes there are a few different models of the tenlog.

You want the one I linked to, it has the 600w power supply, hi temp extruder and a few other little little upgrades the next one down doesn't have.

Also bear in mind that if you buy it from amazon and it doesn't work - it's really simple to send it back.

But it does largely depend what you want to print.

An 0.25mm nozzle and tiny layer is definitely NOT the way to go.
Talk about making a rod for your own back, as well as waiting weeks for anything to print.

If that kind of thing matters to you - go resin. No ifs no buts, that's really what you want.

Resin costs have come right down and there are now plenty brands offering tougher resins and reduced odour resins.
There are even water washable resins if you don't have anywhere to store a vat of uisopropyl alcohol.

Also print volumes have risen.

https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Photoc...1498594&sr=8-3
pretty good place to start.

If you just want to wet your feet then this is about the best starter unit on the market:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/16501459244...QAAOSwcEVf3~9s

Also for hi resolution prints resin machines are a LOT faster.
Each layer is done in around 8 seconds. No matter how large the model or how full the print bed - each layer always takes the same length of time.

On an fdm printer with a 0.25mm nozzle even a smallish model could take 20 to 30 minutes a layer.

What is it you're thinking of printign that needs to be so smooth ?

Thanks again for the feedback.

You are right the reality is the majority of the reviews are generally by folks with little to no experience, but as you eluded there are some who do know what they are doing and have had a pretty bad experience.

Good to know the prusa has a flat bed, I believe the mini+ from what I read is 32 bit. I believe the mk3+ is still 8-bit so you are right they have not made many changes.

I'm going to look at the reviews again for the one you recommended, just want to avoid a situation where its a major headache and i spend more time tinkering then being able to print.

My thought was with the 0.25 it would just make the model smoother, this would be for printing a fuselage or wings. I don't know how well it would even work but figured it is worth a try. In general i plan to use the standard 0.40

Resin is really not an option due to family and pets and kids etc. I'll have to do with FDM for now although I agree it probably has more details.

I plan to also offer free wheel chair and prosthetics for owners with pets who can't afford it for free so the model you recommended being able to do dual prints is attractive if those issues reported in the bad reviews don't manifest themselves. Seems like I need to keep doing research and reading

Quote:

---

My thought was with the 0.25 it would just make the model smoother, this would be for printing a fuselage or wings.

---

oh well that's not a problem.
Sanding blocks and sanding cloth ar your bestest buddies here :-)
pla & petg sand brilliantly and fairly quickly.
I also use microfiles a lot and have a cheapo heat smoother kinda thing tool, that is pretty useful.
It's essentially a usb powered soldering iron with a specially shaped head.

Nylon and polyurethane really don't sand - at all lol
But you can heat smooth them.

And you can always paint with varnish or resin for a super smooth finish.
petg I find really sands smooth quite quickly. And as it's a little tougher than pla - would be ideal for planes. You see a lot of quad designs using pet-g.

Love the idea for the doggy prosthetics.
I have a 'bionic' dog - she had a cruciate ligament go and they vet actually reconfigured the joint to work without needing a cruciate ligament. So she's now got a metal plate holding it all together.
The leg is better than new.

Many years ago we had a dachsund who lost the use of his back legs. We ended up carryng the legs in a sling (pair of tights) - it never seemed to bother him and after a number of acupuncture sessions, he actually got enough usage back to walk on his own again.
Which our vet had claimed would never work.

But if those little wheeled carriages had been around, we'd have definitely got one, he'd have been death on wheels for sure lol
He was still beating up staffordshire bull terriers with his dodgy back legs. Toughest dog we ever had.
Loved people, hated anything on 4 legs taller than he was.

If you ever need any help with that, let me know.

Back to the tenlog - if you look at the amazon reviews, they tend to lump a lot of reviews for different models from the same maker into listings for different models.

So for best comparison - make sure it's specifically the 600 watt 300c nozzle (useful for nylons, and some other industrial at. filament types) review you are looking

And I know it's cynicism verging on paranoia, But I'd put money that a lot of negative printer reviews have been 'sponsored' by creality.
They pay a lot of youtubers - so why not amazon reviewers as well. From their point of view it definitely makes marketing sense.
But that could just be my sneaky criminal mind at work there.


As far as I can see the tenlogs have changed a fair bit from the earlier models.

No 3d printer is ever perfect, and always expect to add some custom modifications.
That's modifications, NOT upgrades.

Modifications are cheap and often done with printed parts.
Upgrades are when you go out and buy new hardware - almost never necessary.

Example: my sapphire pro has no upgrades, just modifications.
I printed a simple bracket that converted it to a direct drive extruder. And printed a top mounted filament holder and changed the printbed nuts from standard to locking nuts. And updated the firmware.
IT's been levelled only twice in about 20 months.
Once when I set it up and once when I had to change the nozzle over, after cocking up a previous nozzle change.
Heat the bock up and make sure you've tightened it properly - yeah lol

I can't see anything on the tenlog pro model that would need to be upgraded.
But there are most likely modifications you can make.
My delta is still all stock parts - but I did do a fair bit of modification: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2386628
Zero upgrades and I think all the mods were printd on the actual machine.

So don't necessarily expect to need to make any changes, but don't assume, if any are needed, that they'll be difficult or expensive either :-)

You pet stories bring a smile to my face. Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I'm a little surprised no one else has chimed in on this post. I'm going to go back and take a look at the models specific to the 600 watt 300c nozzle again. It's easy to get lost and go down a rabbit hole. I'm like a squirrel when I hear about mods or upgrades I start to look at those before finishing what i started then before you know it a few hours pass and I become despondent thinking about everything I have to do to make it reliable and bullet proof and call it a day. Its a vicious cycle when there is information overload and being a perfectionist does not help. I've had a few people tell me to just get the ender 3 v2 and its just as good as prusa and it seems like everyone has an opinion and what their favorite brand is. No general consensus on any model. I'm just hoping i don't make any regrets after the purchase that would really set me back.

I've got three bulletproof printers.
All using different amounts of printed modifications, but all still 100% stock hardware and electronics.

The problem is that most people watch the numpties on youtube. Whose viewing figures partkly depend on them doing constant upgrades.

Very rarely have I ever seen anyone actually learn how to use a machine properly.

Oh it doesn't print fast enough - I'll have to change the extruder and hotend.

NO, all you need to do is to adjust your retraction settings and increase the print temp slightly.

I regularly print at 150mms with a 0.5mm nozze on my delta. It's rough, but workable
And all I use for cooling is a 30x10 mm fan and my own design turbo duct.

The sapphire pro 150mm/s with a 0.4mm nozzle is my standard print settings.

My really really cheap plywood i3 happily printed functional at 200mm/s

Why the vast majority of the internet never prints at more than 70mm/s - I have no idea.

Me I'd rather spend 10 minutes with a sanding block than wait another 12 hours for a print to finish at a higher resolution and lower speed.

So bear that in mind. youtube is driven by upgrades, nolt mods.
And as most youtubers get given the printers - they have zero investment in that machine and spending money to upgrade actually makes them money on a machine that was free.

Also bear in mind that the 'I can make any video I like and the people who supply the machine I'm reviewing have no say in it'.
Is complete bollocks.
In order for them to keep getting machines, they cannot say what they might really think or nobody will ever send them another machine.
Likewise, being given a $500 printer that you are free to sell - does not count in my book as being 'unpaid'.

Which is why i say: buy a machine with good hardware that won't need upgrading (so NOT a creality lol) and expect to do some minor mods - but be prepared to be really happy if it turns out no mods are needed.

That is a really good point about mods and upgrades. It is clear you have a wealth of experience when it comes to 3D printing. The level of details you are taking about is the low level details that I would tinker with but starting out from scratch no way I would know that unless you mentioned it here. Agree about the youtube folks getting free parts. So no creality for sure got it. If you had to recommend a single extruder what would you recommend?

well I honestly think my twotrees sapphire pro2 is hands down the best built machine around.
It's a corexy setup, so really fast and precise.
The top is a solid sheet of 6mm aluminium.
The bed support rods are 12mm diameter and the base is made from a lot of 2.5mm sheet steel.

It has a few minor modifications that I think need doing.
But literally it's one printed bracket to convert to direct drive and the locking nuts for the bed levelling.
I also changed the print surface it came with for a sheet of dirt cheap self adhesive pei.
Not a necessity - (cough) unless you destroyed the original sheet adding the levelling knobs.

And a top mounted filament holder. I printed mine but you could make the same with a piece of wood and a short length of 10mm dowel and some cable ties.
And I can send you the new and improved firmware files - definitely essential.

For the money it's just insanely good value and built like a tank.

But once you've got the sapphire pro setup properly. It's totally bombproof, never needs the bed levelling, prints fast and accurate and looks great lol
https://3dprintboard.com/showthread....corexy-printer

have a look through that - the print volume is only 220x220x210.
Although I have printed a 280mm long thing on the diagonal :-)

If I had the space to put another one, i'd get one while they are still available.
As it is I've just unboxed my voxelab proxima resin printer and have not a clue where it's going to live.
Noisy damn thing (the proxima - the sapphire is completly silent in operation).

Lets put it this way - I'm already - before printing anything - considering upgrading the proxima to silent stepper driver lol
Between the cooling fans and the noisiest stepper motor I've ever heard - it's a noisy beast.

So other than the saffy.
Hmm, something enclosed with 300c nozzle would be good.
I'd like to play with polycarbonate - and at the moment I can't.

After an hour of wading through amazon, honestly the tenlog is the best I can find.
And bear in mind you don't have to use both extruders at once.

Should one die, the spare is already installed and ready to go :-)

I can't find a corexy with 300c hotend.
If necessary it would be a fairly simple upgrade (not mod :-) )

But as I've just started on my resin journey, it's not something I'll bother with.
I find that polyurethane can be used for pretty much all the high impact prints I do.

The prusa mini is a decent machine - but it is a bowden extruder and they just suck for flexible filaments, so that's limited you right there.

Here's one thing I use 'flexible' prints for: https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1638371218
The thing about polyurethane is that you can print it as thin as 0.2mm for indestructible total floppiness.
Or as solid as my loght up dog 'balls' - which are not only virtually indesructible, but dog proof as well !

It's hands down my favourite material to work with, and you need a good direct drive extruder to do so.

For the dog carts and other prosthetics, it would be perfect for all sorts of parts.
stiff when needed, bendy when needed and tougher than a honey badger on steroids :-)

So if I was getting a first printer and had the money - I genuinely can't see anything else under $1000 I would boy.
The tenlog dl3 pro 600watt 300c nozzle, jst does it all.
And an enclosure would be pretty simple to make.
I'd probably use polystyrene sheet on the outside of cheap perspex.

And don't forget you can make all your own fixtures and fittings :-)

If I had real money - my all time favourite fdm printer is a Leapfrog Bolt. Probably not much change out of $10,000

My absolute win-the-lottery-first dream 3d printer is the stratasys j55 prime O-M-G !
It's like something out of science fiction.
Five printheads, using uv cured resins, but each layer is cured immediately after deposition.

So you get finished parts straight from the machine - as with fdm - but with resin quality, full colour, texturing and multimaterials in a single print.
Has a pretty big build volume and will sit on a small desk.
I mean just WOW !
The lottery win is necessary as the resins can run up to £600 a litre - so there's that :-)
But the whole stratasys polyjet setup just blew me away at the tct last year.

But back down to earth, fdm.
Value for money and zero upgrades needed.
I just cant see anything else to match the tenlog.

The flashforge pro2 idex is a nice bit of kit, but pretty small build volume.
But it is enclosed.
But no hi-temp nozzle - 265 is a as high as it goes, and that's no good for polycarbonate.
https://www.amazon.com/FlashForge-3D...s%2C170&sr=8-8

As a box ticking exercies, only the tenlog really does it all. And you can make an enclosure easy enough.
Bear in mind that you are only looking for 40-60c inside the enclosure.
It's the consistency of the temperature for the build volume rather than the absolute temperature.

For materials that shrink a lot, keeping the whole print the same temperature until it's finished is what you are aimng for.
You're not building an oven :-)

You build an over if you want to print PEEK ;-)

Having said all that - deltas are pretty cool lol
I have a biggish one and a mini one.

But I can't find one with a 300c hotend.
I have seen one with a direct drive extruder recently.
But but a clue where.

So again we're back to box ticking and the tenlog.

Also bear in mind you canput a different size nozzle on each extruder.
So maybe a .25 for real fine work and a 0.6 for rapid printing.

Or a 0.4 and a 0.8

It just adds a whole new layer of flexibility.

Which I have just realsed I should do to me click'n'print dual extruder.
DOH !
Never occurred to me before lol

This game is a constant learning curve :-)

Right then - once I've got the proxima started off tonight, I'll have a look at the knp nozzles :-)

Wow thanks for the wealth of knowledge. Really going to take my time and consider everything you wrote. Agree on the direct dive and flexibility with more flexible materials. You are selling me more on the Tenlog. Let me see which of those options is the one you reference with the 300C hot bed because there is a few on amazon here in the US. thanks again

Prusa are not as expensive as they may first appear. They are brilliantly designed using high quality components from trusted suppliers, but the true value of their printers goes well beyond the base hardware. The customer support is generally excellent, the firmware is updated with genuinely useful extras quite frequently and supplied for free (as is the prusa specific slicer software that is a pleasure to use), the accessories Prusa supply (such as their Smooth PEI, textured and satin powder coated print sheets) are often unrivaled in quality, and their own range of filaments are truly excellent quality. The ecosystem is designed to work effectively and efficiently, and the printers are extremely reliable. The amount of time saved printing rather than fiddling before and after every print is impressive, and the print quality is excellent. I started the hobby many years ago with a Malyan m150 and then bought a tronxy x3a. I learned on these machines and got to grips with understanding the ins and outs of hardware and printing techniques before buying a Prusa mk3. I now have 2 x mk3s machines in a bespoke vented enclosure and I'm so impressed with Prusa that I will very likely buy their kit again in the future.

Thanks for the feedback Titan, your comments I think is a general consensus when it comes to prusa.

I guess my question to you would be why did you go to Prusa and not go the route
curious aardvark said by making those mods to your existing printers?

Talk to me about corxy printers, I keep reading they are much faster and the future. Is this true?

I made lots of mods, both 'tried and tested' designs by others and bespoke parts designed by me. It improved all my various printers (I didn't previously mention that I once ran a print farm of monoprice mp10 and mp10 mini's too), but one day I realised my time was worth more than doing all the upgrades and mods myself, so I took a chance on Prusa for sheer reliability right out the box and never looked back. Building the mk3 was a joy, with excellent instructions in full English. All the parts supplied were top quality (Trinamic driver stepper motors and beautifully made parts with no poorly finished sharp edges etc.). I'd really enjoyed learning and tinkering with my earlier printers, but I'd come to the end of that road and welcomed the ease of ownership the prusa seemed to bring. Since then I've updated it to the mk3s and added a raspberry pi with camera and octoprint. It all just works. Print quality is excellent and, contrary to some people's findings, the auto bed levelling is exceptional. I certainly don't miss having to adjust the bed screws after a print was hard to get off the bed. And that literally never happens because the prusa uses instantly removable spring steel sheets with various finishes suitable for the different filament types.It all comes down to what you want as a user. I'm glad I learned about the relative basics of 3d printing on cheaper, more 'hands-on' machines, as I learned loads. But I love the sheer productivity, reliability and ease of use the prusa affords.Re. CoreXY, there's loads of info online to read about the potential highs and lows of ownership. Prusa are just about to release the XL, a CoreXY machine that looks very promising. lol. Good luck, whatever you choose.

Appreciate the feedback, always good to hear perspective from others even with various point of view.

I started to look at SLA again thinking perhaps I can put it in the garage away from family. Than watching the post print process again brought me back to FDM. Wish there was an option of speed and print quality of Sla with 0.5mm layers but with the ease of an FDM after it finishes just pop it off and go. Aside from all the hazards of the resin just the cleanup and post cure process takes so much time. And with my OCD of keeping things clean and always ready for the next print I'll be spending more time on pre prep and post prep with SLA.

I spent quite a bit of time looking at YouTube videos comparing SLA and FDM prints. SLA is really what I'm looking for in terms of quality and strength but boy the post process is killing me just thinking about it.

I'm beginning to wonder if I should just wait until maybe some hybrid option comes out with an FDM and SLA that has the best of both worlds. Surely as time goes on there's going to be further improvements you guys would both know very well having had so much experience.

I keep leaning one direction then I get feedback from someone like you guys and I go to the other direction and I'm indecisive again.

right lol

I do not fiddle about before or after a print.
once the machine is setup and working - it's set up and working.

The people who always fiddle, will always fiddle.
Look at the number of mods and upgrades available for prusa machines.
If you're a fiddler (lol) you'll fiddle no matter what the machine.
If you just want to print, than that's what you'll do.

Okay now I've done 2 whole prints I reckon I'm a resin expert (lol).
Well obviously not, but I am a very fast learner.

Detail level - holy smoke batman - I actually need a microscope to see some of the engraving on a 10mm bird skull I printed.
speed - yeah, impressive, the more you print at once, the faster it works per part - the exact opposite of fdm.

Materials.
Thi is where it gets interesting. I'm currently using a clear water washable resin. No discernible smell, and no inflammable liquids needed.
When printed and cured it looks and feels like slightly cloudy acrylic. This is cheap resin, so i suspect that you can get much clearer resins if necessary.

There is nowhere the range of materials availabel for resin than there is for fdm.
And won't be for a few years yet.

Post processing.

Resin
let it drip for a bit.
remove buildplate, pop into cleaned icecream tub (all the mod cons) take to sink.
rinse it all under the tap.

remove any supports, rims etc.
Pop into the cardbox box lined with aluminium foil, pop the uv spotlight on top - switch on for 10 to 20 minutes or so.

FDM post processing.
remove from printbed, remove any supports, sand if necessary.

The two systems are definitely 'horses for courses'.

For size, sheer variety of materials, practical prints and cost effectiveness - fdm uis king.

For small items that are intricate or highly detailed - but with limited materials, resin is vastly superior.

So for example - the dog prosthetics - fdm will do pretty much everything.

If you wanted to make some tricky parts form a small setup then resin might be useful.

Desinging for resin and designing for fdm - both have their specific requirements.
And it's fairly easy to work out.

I haven't designed anything specifically for the resin printer yet, still nailing down the settings and trying different slicers(the initial 'fiddle' stage).

Once I've got it where I want it - it really is plug and play.

Given how cheap a small resin machine like mine (voxelab proxima 6) is.
For the cost of a prusa. You can get both the tenlog and the proxima. With money left over for some filament, resin and a uv lamp.

One thing I will say the proxima is an impressive bit of engineering. Really heavy duty.
A resin printer has one moving part. The buld plate that simply goes up and down.
So the more solidly it is built (20mm deep linear rail and ballscrew) the more precise the platform can move.
The resolution of the proxima is 0.05mm layer height and as it;s a 2k screen - it's also equivalent to a 0.05mm nozzle diameter.
I've seen machines that claim smaller layer sizes - Um, why ?
I have to magnify prints by 60x magnification, simply to see fine detail.

That's also the cool thing about resin - you only print at the highest resolution.
Thereoretically you can print with thicker layers, but why bother ?

So if you are interested in making decorative items and small things - then resin is probably best.

For everything else go fdm.

Oh yeah - the toughest part of resin printing if you have dogs - keeping the hairs out of the vat !
worse if you have cats as they will climb on surfaces. So lots more hairs.

And don't gorget build volume. The prusa mk3+: 250 x 210 x 210 mm
Slightly larger than my sapphire.

The tenlog is 300x300x350
For fdm - Bigger is generally better.

When I was starting out, there was a lot less choice.
You bought a replicator clone. And just had to decide to get the dirt cheap ctc one with really awful reviews or the more expensive flashforge one with much better reviews.

I think i spent somewhere between £3-400 for my flashforge creator.
£200 for my he3d k200 delta
paid £80 import tax for the Klic-n-print - which i won in a competition
And £100 for the sapphire - second hand.
My i3 was £89 - and while sort of functional. At that price point you really do get what you pay for lol. But it is full prusa spec: linear guides on the printbed, direct drive extrduer and dual z-axis screws and motors.
That is the only one of my machines that will be upgraded at some point - Actually that's a lie.

My monoprice mini delta is currently awaiting a new motherboard with silent stepper drivers. And an extruder move mod.
The mini delta was a christmas present.

The proxima comes in between the delta and saffy. But that is with everything needed to make stuff.

So: small and intricate - but not necessarily super strong - resin wins, better resins are coming on the market all the time.

Big, small medium - strong, practical and decorative - fdm.

Corexy versus I3

Okay there are 4 basic ways of engineering head movement in an fdm printer (I own all 4).

1) your basic cartesian. The printbed goes up and down, the printhead moves in the x&y directions. The weight of the stepper motors are moved with the head - not fast, but reliable

2) I3 - the printhead moves left and right and up and down - the printbed moves forwards and backwards. has the potential to print very fast - but few people ever seem to do so with i3's - no clue why. Tall thin objects can be tricky. The stepper the x axis stepper motor moves with the x axis carriage.

3) delta - possible the most industrial looking. Printbed remains statitonary, printhead is moved by three stepper motors, which remian stationary. has a lightweight print carriage and is amazing for tall thin objects. But not so great for very large items.
<span class="ILfuVd"><span class="hgKElc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUN_YI46MjU

4) corexy - kind of across between a cartesian and a delta. The printhead is moved in the x&y and the build plate goes up and down. However through some magical configuratuion of the belts and stepper motors. The motors stay stationary and the head is pulled simultaneously by both motors. This results in increased speed & precision. it's no coincidence that corexy printers are the fastest currently available.

Then you've got bowden versus direct drive.
Which is a whole nother lecture lol

Really good info as usual and the explanation of the difference between FDM printers is fantastic.

This is just info I've read and seen on various videos, the resin even the water based from my understanding should still be treated in the same manner. Should never be washed in a sink and the solids, resin in the bottom of your tub should be treated as toxic waste. The difference between the water variant is you don't need to clean it in an IPA, instead you can use water but you still treat the resin with the same level of vigor.

The post process clean up also means you need to clean the vat, and the screen must be free of left over resin. You will need to store the IPA because you will need to reuse it as it is not a cheap consumable if you throw a quart away with each print, straining the resin in the IPA is another process. Fumes was another they touched on in the videos. Post UV curing is probably best done in a cure box, another $50-100 cost as leaving it in the sun causes burn spots and doesn't have the UV-C needed apparently. Than there is the lack of filament sensor/resin sensor, so you would need automatic resin refill system(an upgrade) if you have large prints. The monochrome or RGB LCD is also a consumable similar to the base of the vat. So things to keep in mind for the life of the SLA printer.

When it comes to strength using the same volume of material SLA can't be beat if I understand, sure your infill needs to be adjusted between FDM and SLA when doing the design but as you eluded it is fairly simple. So when printing animal prosthetics it leads me to think the SLA is the better option. Now I know you mentioned build volume is an issue and you are correct most of the SLA are small but there is a few which are larger like the ancubic photon. Still not as large as FDM.

https://www.amazon.com/ANYCUBIC-Phot...%2C168&sr=8-13

It would be really nice if a hybrid 3d printer comes out. The corexy printers i read about have apparently not so square design causing issues with belt tension and design overall affecting build quality. I feel like i'm waiting for something that does not exist.

Nope fdm is the better option.Many reasons, some I've mentioned before.Resins are not currently considered to be skin safe.The cured resins are stillimited in their physical characteristics. And 'strength' us measured in a variety of ways.Resins are - mostly - hard and quite brittle.Pla is almost as hard but a lot less brittle, skinsafe and requires very little post processing.And while there are a couple flexible resins around, they are still nowhere near as versatile, cheap or safe to use as fdm polyurethanes and flexible plas.As far as using a seperate sink.Have no plans for that.It's going to end up in the srwer system, no matter where you wash it. And to be honest there is no noticeable resin in the parts ice been making. Given what you said. Then nobody anywhere, should ever use any resin printer.So like everything, you makes your choices and you takes your chances :-)

Thanks for the feedback I'll keep reading. In reference to the waste you are not supposed to flush that in the drain. That's why people use funnels and coffee filters to strain out the resin in the wash bath. In any event thanks for the input

lol well somewhere down the line it all has to go somewhere.

If you can't throw it away or flush it away - where is it supposed to go ?

My point is that you either dispose of how you can - or not bother going anywhere near resin printing.

You simply cannot use a resin printer AND follow everysingle guideline.

It's kind of like the 'guidance' often given for using 3d printed items in the kitchen.

The first things i ever designed and printed were stuffing tubes for my sausage stuffer.
I've been using them for the last 8 years or so.
It's the only way you can get the correct diameter for inserting into the collagen casing tubes.

Now the internet (who did not study biology and chemistry at college, as I did) tell you that there will be bacteria in all the little layer lines and gaps.
Well, yes. every single surfce in your home, no matter how rough or smooth is covered in bacteria, all the time, always.
If you wash 3d printed items in hot soapy water, then they will be every bit as safe as anything else you own that you wash after use.

So as long as the thing you make is not itself in herently toxic. It's a as foodsafe as anything else you own.

I also think you're getting alittle confused.

The only things I have washed are the finished prints. After an hour or so of being left to drip dry back into the printing vat.

Any unused resin will be filtered and poured back into the bottle.

Today actually as I need to find out if the bloody firstlayer over exposure is down to my using transparent resin or not.
The detail and precision on every single other layer is just incredible. But I simply cannot get a clean first layer, just will not leave any gaps.
It's seriously annoying lol

So no uncured resin is going to be poured down the drain.
If at any time I spill any - and I've got the machine standing on newspaper.
The spillage will be zapped with the uv spotlight and then the cured paper popped into the bin.

If 2 or three drops of uncured resin are being washed off the models, I would be surprised.

You are supposed to dispose of the resin like hazardous waste, just like to do with everything else that's considered hazardous.


I'm sure you'll get the first layer issue stored out