Closest thing to an industrial grade printer?

[Mjolinor]

Why not buy a used one?

[DBFIU]

Why not buy a used one?

Used stratasys? I would image it still be in the tens of thousands, a little over budget for me. I think the WanHao can do what I want. I jut havent heard of them before. Are they any good?

[Mjolinor]

Wanhao are just the same as any of the Makerbot copies and are getting very cheap 2nd hand. Some clones are better than others. I paid £100 for mine.

Probably spent £5000 in time sorting it out though.

You can get a full functional Stratasys for under $5000 and often as low as $3000 if you have time to search and wait. They work in exactly the same way as all the other FDM printers, suffer from the same faults and are mended in the same way.

[DBFIU]

Wanhao are just the same as any of the Makerbot copies and are getting very cheap 2nd hand. Some clones are better than others. I paid £100 for mine.

Probably spent £5000 in time sorting it out though.

You can get a full functional Stratasys for under $5000 and often as low as $3000 if you have time to search and wait. They work in exactly the same way as all the other FDM printers, suffer from the same faults and are mended in the same way.

You paid 100 pounds for a used wanhao? Which model?

I dont feel its worth it to buy a stratasys if they suffer the same basic issues as enthusiast machines. Really, what do they offer that we cant get today from a consumer grade machine?

I am really thinking about getting a wanhao but I don't think I will get a used one. How is customer support for wanhao?

I like the 5S, but it only prints PLA because no heated bed. I wonder if there is a mod for that.

[curious aardvark]

Professional grade prototyping will still need some post processing. So yeah, probably comparable.

The ultimaker will beat just about anything else out there in a print off - and keeps doing so.

But is it worth the extra dosh ?
probably not. They'll both make the the same parts. And the difference won't be worth noting.

[DBFIU]

Thanks aardvark.

So do you feel that a wanhao 5S will do what I am want? I am on a budget and the cost difference between the ultimaker 2 and the wanhao is substantial.

[DBFIU]

I'm really starting to hit some roadblocks. Every printer I look at has some feature that is not included, or too small a build space, or reliability problems etc..

After exhausting research, I came to the conclusions:

Wanhao 5S, great looking printer, I would call this one a winner except one problem, no heated bed! And no accomodations for a heated bed! The power supply couldnt even handle a heated bed so forget modding it, and I dont want to go through that hassle. PLA only for 1800 bucks? Seriously?

The Mankati XT, at first a great looking machine with a promising future. I look into it more and people are complaining left and right about quality and service. Definately not good for me, I need a reliable support team with this printer.

Ultimaker 2, considered by some as the best printer on the market today. Problem is it only accepts 3mm filament? Seriously!!? That filament costs twice as much as 1.75mm by weight! So now what else?

Can't someone just make a printer that has a generous build volume, uses 1.75mm filament, has a heated bed, good reliability and support, dual extruders and doesnt cost 30,000 dollars? Thats all I'm asking for.

[3DPBuser]

Flashforge?

[jimc]

makergear m2

[curious aardvark]

3mm filament is actually cheaper than 1.75 from most places. change where you shop :-)

Can't someone just make a printer that has a generous build volume, uses 1.75mm filament, has a heated bed, good reliability and support, dual extruders and doesn't cost 30,000 dollars? Thats all I'm asking for.

And yeah a £450 flashforge fits that bill perfectly :-)
I haven't found anything I can't print yet.