PinrtrBot Metal Plus or Lulzbot Taz 5?

[dunginhawk]

Yeah, i saw that, and ive watched the video... thats really less than elegant... the z probe on the printrbot is really good from everything ive heard..
i guess its an option just not the best one )

[MiniMadRyan]

I have a similar probe on my MakerFarm, they are awesome. Frankly, I love watching that arm swing down and probe, it's just as accurate, but much cooler in my opinion.

If if you really want to save some money, check out the MakerFarm kits, they are amazing printers once assembled and tuned, and the community here is amazing

[dunginhawk]

You like ur prusa that much huh? I looked at them and have it some thought. I just don't want to buy a kit and regret it and have to buy something else again.

[MiniMadRyan]

I know kits aren't everyone's cup of tea, but if a person has time to kill and doesn't want to break the bank, it's a really good choice. I've modded mine, tweaked it and still play around with it, but it's been amazingly reliable, 100 hours of printing without any major issues.

That being said, like what you've said, if I want a printer I can just print with, the Taz i my choice

[dunginhawk]

Thats funny you say 100 hours of printing without issues... With as long as things take to print, i think 100 hours on a printer is like its break in period haha.
Ive only owned my FF Creator Pro for a month and i have at least 250 hours on it. Still going strong, of course.

Im not anti kit, ive built a kit, and its been a good printer. This is a harder decision than asking my wife to marry me haha.

[dunginhawk]

is there any reason i should be entertaining the solidoodle workbench as well? there isnt much info out there on it.

[MiniMadRyan]

I guess I consider the 100 hour mark for me to be the time frame in which I expect things to go horribly wrong haha! In all honesty, this printer is at the stage where I know I can turn it on, warm it up and print beautiful prints day in and day out with little tuning....more than I had from my first Printrbot Simple!

Regarding the Solidoodle, if you haven't already, check out the threads on the boards here, and the Soliforum.com forums. Frankly, I'm on the fence. Some users don't have any issues, others have had serious build and design issues. From what i've seen, I wouldn't consider the Workbench at all until supply chain and quality issues are corrected. Even then, the price point of the Workbench is on par with the Printrbot Plus Dual Extruder

[dunginhawk]

Yeah... strangly enough im leaning right now at doing the prusa 12 kit... people seem to like it. its cost efficient. the biggest thing is. i need QUALITY prints... Im hoping i can equal the quality of my Flashforge Creator pro, which produced this amazing fly reel (not my design, thanks michael)

What hot end does the makerfarm prusas use now? i heard the magmas are garbage.




If i can equal that print quality on the prusa 12. Ill buy it today... this was .1 layer height, printed SLOW... Ryan, would you expect i can match that? after dialing it in?
EDIT : the crosshatch look is from the infill.. its a translucent gold PLA, so its a solid layer, but doesnt look like it

[MiniMadRyan]

Dang, that is a nice print. I haven't printed much at 0.1 heights, I usually print 0.3, which means my prints aren't as smooth as that. I've been printing other printers lately, so I've needed all my parts to be dimensionally correct and clean. You can see some of my prints here: http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...s-Build-Thread

Keep in mind, with the kit, your quality will depend on your ability to tweak the printer. Getting your belts tight when building it, making sure wheels don't wobble, that everything's tight, setting and tweaking the e-steps, nothing complicated or hard to do, but all that reflects in the quality of prints you produce. The MakerFarm kit taught me almost everything about designing and building printers. The nature of the kit means that I no longer worry about breaking something or needing to wait for parts to arrive, should I want to upgrade, or fix something, I can easily print it out. People are easily adding auto bed levelling, dual extruders, wireless printing, LED lighting, and countless other upgrades!

Regarding the hot end, I selected the Hexagon on my kit. I haven't read much on the Magma, but I'm extremely pleased withe the Hexagon. It's printed everything I've thrown at it with ease, I haven't had any jambs or issues with it, and I'd consider it right up there with E3D v6 in terms of performance.

[dunginhawk]

thanks for the response man.. really appreciate it... I think for the cost / risk, it makes the most sense. I mean really... $700 is a drop in the bucket, so if it doesnt work. i sell it for $600 and move on.. 100$ down the drain. no biggie.
I gotta give it a go