Which size Prusa?

Hi All,

I'm thinking about getting my first 3D printer and so far it seems like the MakerFarm Prusa is a good place to start for someone who wants a kit. I've trying to decide which size to get. For someone who is just starting out would I really need the 12" or would I make out fine with the 8" or 10"? What are the real limitations of the 4" and is it worth the $110?

Also, wasn't sure which hot end to get. From what I've read the jheads are easy to work with for beginners but Collin from MarkerFarm said he would go with the hexagon over the jhead any day. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Scott

as big as your wallet allows and a hex...

Welcome to the board. 12" Hex.

Hi untruehero,

I guess it would take a little more background info about what you want to use the 3d printer for to give you a better answer. Generally, the bigger the print the longer it takes, the more chance for the printer to mess up. This rule keeps me printing things as small as needed and I have never used the full 8" limits of my bed.

That being said, if you've got the money, I can't see any reason why you shouldn't go for the biggest one at the time. For me it was a choice between 6" and 8" and I went for the 8".

Definitely spend the extra $20 on the hexagon, it's fantastic. You know you're going to want to upgrade the hotend eventually if you get the jhead so it's worth it to start with the upgrade. ;)

Not to hijack the thread but what makes the hex so much better than the j-head? Just curious.

The only concern I have with the 12" is possible warping, but it shouldn't be a big issue. The hexagon is a wonderful hot end, all metal, well built and it will basically extrude everything, ABS, PLA and all those special filaments. Basically its far more versatile and trouble free than most other hot ends.

I would put it up there in terms of quality with the E3D v6

[QUOTE=gmay3;40107]Hi untruehero,

I guess it would take a little more background info about what you want to use the 3d printer for to give you a better answer. Generally, the bigger the print the longer it takes, the more chance for the printer to mess up. This rule keeps me printing things as small as needed and I have never used the full 8" limits of my bed.
/QUOTE]

I really just want to learn about how to print 3d objects and go from there. No specific use yet except to make some dinosaurs for my kid. Right now it's just trying to pick up the hobby, which is why I wonder if the 8" would be OK. If I really enjoy it I can invest in more at a later date.

Thanks for all the responses. I do worry about the larger unit warping and holding up since it is wood.

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Originally Posted by untruehero

I really just want to learn about how to print 3d objects and go from there. No specific use yet except to make some dinosaurs for my kid. Right now it's just trying to pick up the hobby, which is why I wonder if the 8" would be OK. If I really enjoy it I can invest in more at a later date.

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It really boils down to a personal choice based on things like budget, space, and what you want to print. A number of people going for the larger printers have something specific they want to eventually make with them - R/C car bodies, model train cars, etc. Like gmay3 hinted, you'll likely be surprised how long it takes to print something, especially if it has an infill structure and you're shooting for good print quality. If you go with the smaller printer and really get into it, as an future upgrade option MakerFarm does offer a kit for the 8-inch that turns it into an 8x8x12 (12 inches in the Y bed depth).

As a rough guide, measure the size of your kids' toy dinosaurs. You'll find that the common Action figure sold today is 7" tall, which is a scale of 1:10. Something that size will fit on an 8 x 8 bed. If you put it diagonally on the bed you can get 11".

If your kids want dinosaurs bigger than than, tell then that the Gigantosaurs are over-rated and the really cool ones are the small raptors.

OME

You can print small items on a big printer but can not print big items on a small printer. Buy the biggest you can afford and it will extend the time before you outgrow it.

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Over the holidays, I will be able to look at and use my brother's 10" I3V right next to my 8" . I hope I'm wrong but I suspect the 10" is not as well engineered. There's more to enlarging something than just adding an extra 50mm to x, y and z using all the same materials.

for example, I think cheap windowpane glass and the PCB heated bed work well at 200x200mm. I think it may be too flexible/wavy at 250x250. I do know from my brother that the 10" has had more difficulty with bed flatness and Z bed level consistency. Over the larger size i suspect the amplitude of the irregularities is significantly greater. The larger size machines/parts haven't been made as long so there's less end user feedback.

If you don't mind being an early adopter and going somewhat experimental, then by all means go as big as you can afford, it's quite cheap to double the capacity of the printer. I tend to like a mature product and haven't needed to print something big yet, so I'm ok with the 8".

There is a downside to a bigger bed, which is particularly evident if you print ABS. That is, it takes a long time for the bed heater to bring the bed temp up to the 110C or so you will want for ABS.

I have a 10", and I have upgraded the power wiring to my bed to 14AWG. I also am using the heat bed relay, and a 30A power supply. And it takes a long time to get my bed to 110C. In fact, I normally lay cardboard on top of the bed to reduce heat loss in order to speed things up.

The 12" bed is going to require roughly 44% more power to heat it up than the 10".

So I guess the one word of caution I would offer regarding the 12" version is to make sure you plan to use a high capacity power supply, and plan to provide 12AWG or heavier power supply wires for the bed heater.

Jim

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Originally Posted by JimG

So I guess the one word of caution I would offer regarding the 12" version is to make sure you plan to use a high capacity power supply, and plan to provide 12AWG or heavier power supply wires for the bed heater.

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The docs tell you to have 12awg for sure. I am running 10awg myself, 8 if have to. I would follow your advice hands down though. Bigger hot bed more time to heat up.

i honestly don't have that long of a heatup time for either, on the 12"

i've only done a couple prints so far but the bed heats up rather quickly.

I got a cheap off ebay 12v 30A power supply off ebay and am using 12awg wire. so far so good.

i will say that having the 12" bed has already proven useful. I have been able to print the entire heart gear in a single print and it uses the entire 12" width.

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Originally Posted by sniffle

i honestly don't have that long of a heatup time for either, on the 12" .

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To what bed temp? Issues people have had in the past on the 10-inch printer have been in attempts at hitting 110 degrees.

Never bothered going that high yet... Hit 60 in about a minute. Im printing pla atm though

Great. I order the 12 inch. And I don't want to run into any heating up problem. I bought everything that was recommended in the pdf by Colin.

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Originally Posted by sniffle

Never bothered going that high yet... Hit 60 in about a minute. Im printing pla atm though

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