Recommended Direct Feed Printer

[the_bosso]

Hey guys,

I've been lurking for a little while, and finally decided to register and start posting. I've been interested/researching for about the last year, and am looking for some advice on a direct feed printer.

Here's what I'm looking for.

1. I'm looking for a kit printer, or open source that I can put together myself. I'm mechanically inclined, still have a lot to learn about the electronics side, but I'm sure I'll be fine once I get to that point.
2. Must, must, must be a direct feed extruder. The reason I want a direct feed, is that I want to be able to print with flexible filament, and don't want to deal with headaches of a trying to push a noodle through a feed tube on a bowden style extruder.
3. A heated bed would be nice, but is something that can be upgraded later. Immediately, I will need to use PLA, and flexible and ABS will come later.
4. Build volume should include at least a 7" cube (minimum 6.5-7" tall). I need this at least in the height, because I plan to prototype parts for my business I'm starting. Ideally, I'll need a 12 wide, x 12 long x 7 tall. But, I'm willing to scale down on the width and length, and break up the parts into pieces. I'm OK breaking up the width into pieces, but don't want to break up the height into pieces for strength reasons.
5. A dual extruder would be nice, but not required.
6. Open source software bits are perfectly fine.
7. If something without a moving bed is available (x and y), that would be preferred, but not required. Something just makes me squeamish about a tall print jerking back and forth.
8. Ideally, I would like to have an assembled working printer for around $500-$600 range.....if something is lower than that it would be great.

OK, so now that I've put all that out there, I'll go a little further into detail about myself and my needs. This printer will be my first(ish) printer, but will end up being my secondary at some point. I originally backed the Cobblebot (yea yea.....I know), and once I finally get that printer (someday), it will meet all of my size needs, and will have the extra goodies I want and need. The only thing it won't have, will be direct drive extruders. So, that is why I want this one to have it, so I can have a dedicated printer for flexible, while my other printer will be my main workhorse for PLA and ABS.

I am getting into 3D printing.....because why not?!?! Seriously though, because it's awesome. And I need it to prototype parts for a business I plan on starting. For trust and cost reasons, I would much rather have my own 3D printer to prototype, than to farm it out to somebody. So since the Cobblebot is taking so long to arrive, I need to build something so I can get my business on track until that one comes in.

Again, open source stuff is perfectly fine. I'm mechanically inclined so I'm not worried about the hardware side.....just need to push myself to research more on the software side. I am perfectly fine with sourcing parts myself, so it doesn't need to be something that I go to one place, click buy, and have a full kit with all parts shipped. I am fine with buying a couple parts here, buying some there.....that kind of thing. I would like to build something with rails instead of wood or acrylic.....but I know cost will come into play.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

[curious aardvark]

Direct drive is no guarentee that flexible filaments will work.
polymakr polyflex is the most compatible.

As far as printer recommendations go - there have been dozens of such threads recently. Just mooch round the forum and you'll find just about every option going.
Most self builds are either deltas or iprusa i3 variants.
Were I you I'd look at the delta side of things.

OR a printrbot. The simple kit (6x6x6 print volume) runs at $539.
Hmm probably not large enough volume.
So basically between an iprusa and delta.
Lots and lots of threads :-)

[the_bosso]

Thanks for the feedback. I've been eyeing the i3, so it will most likely end up being something like that. I've browsed around........but wasn't sure if I could catch somebody with firsthand experience with multiple printers that could weigh in on the subject.

I also understand that you can still have issues with flexible and direct feed......I know I'll need a support tube from the extruder to the hotend. But it's still better than a bowden setup.

[curious aardvark]

Well best bet is to have agood look aroud the reprap section. There are any number of iprusa kits and some get better review than others.

Then of course there's the wanhao ready built one for $375 :-) All metal frame. Don't think you can get a better spec with a kit either.
Looks good - no idea how well they actually print.
http://wanhaousa.com/products/duplicator-i3-steel-frame

[the_bosso]

funny you mention the Wanhao......that's the one I was looking at hahaha