Printer to replace Z18

[curious aardvark]

yes he does need the build volume - read the initial post.

the bigbox looks good. In that sort of price range $4-6000 there are quite a few.

One option you might want to consider is go upscale and get a 3dp1000 - huge build volume, larger diameter nozzles and super fast low res printing. AND, you can rent one !
Well lease anyway :-)
Plus whatever you make at the moment you'd be able to have several items printing at once.
http://3dpunlimited.com/?gclid=CjwKE...MIKhoCd17w_wcB

My other thought was big delta. http://griffin-3d.myshopify.com/coll...griffin-pro-xl
so cheap you could buy 3 for the same cost as one z18. 18x18 inch build volume (18inch diameter so only one value)

Or one of the dutch Builder machines: http://3dprinter4u.nl/product-category/3d-printers/
The big build machine has build volume: 220x210x664mm appros 10x10x26 inches

They'd all be faster and more reliable than 5th gen makerbots :-)
They are all cheaper as well - well except the 3dp.

[pa9k]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! A lot of good looking printers here. I've bookmarked all of these and will be researching them over the next couple days.

And yes Estela we really do need the 12x12x18 build size. After all it is #1 on my list of requirements. We print exhausts, intake boxes, radiator/intercooler end tanks, intake pipes, and lots of other very large stuff. The z18's 12x12x18 is a lot better than the 5x8x8 ish we had on our old printer but something bigger than the z18 would be great.

[Magicolor]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! A lot of good looking printers here. I've bookmarked all of these and will be researching them over the next couple days.

And yes Estela we really do need the 12x12x18 build size. After all it is #1 on my list of requirements. We print exhausts, intake boxes, radiator/intercooler end tanks, intake pipes, and lots of other very large stuff. The z18's 12x12x18 is a lot better than the 5x8x8 ish we had on our old printer but something bigger than the z18 would be great.

I can see that you really want a large build volume 3D printer,
consider Mankati Fullscale XT Plus,
260*260*300 mm, dual E3D V6 hot end,
high performance and reasonable price.

[curious aardvark]

ultimaker is not that big a print volume.

Most printers can be enclosed with perspex sheets and magnets pretty easily. So unless it's an open frame like the 3dp - having an existing enclosure isn't really an issue.

have you tried printing with nylon ?
It's a real bastard.

[pa9k]

The Mankati Fullscale XT Plus seams like a really nice printer with some killer specs. Heck we could even buy like two or three of them for what we paid for the z18. Anyway, it looks to me like it uses a bowden style extruder. So would that have issues printing flexible filament like ninja-flex? If so how hard is it to convert it to a direct drive extruder?

[Magicolor]

Mankati Fullscale XT Plus is OK for NinjaFlex, but do not print with a high speed over 70 mm/s, or else, the thick melt filament will make the flexible filament curve in the filament tube,
this kind of problem also happens in some direct style extruder system, the flexible filament curves at the area under the feeder gear.

And I don't think NinjaFlex is the best choice of flexible filament, I found PolyMaker's PolyFlex is a better option for bowden style extruder, because its higher tenacity.

[Estela]

@Magicolor

The speed is so slow! speed over 70 mm/s Do you mean the speed is for flexible filament?
What is the normal speed?

[Magicolor]

Yes, I mean for NinjaFlex filament printing, a over 70 mm/s speed is too fast.

For normal printing, the highest printing speed I have tried is 200 mm/s.

In the slice software I can set it up to 300 mm/s, but I don't think at that speed the printer will give good results...

[LambdaFF]

Yes, I mean for NinjaFlex filament printing, a over 70 mm/s speed is too fast.

For normal printing, the highest printing speed I have tried is 200 mm/s.

In the slice software I can set it up to 300 mm/s, but I don't think at that speed the printer will give good results...

At these kind of speeds I wonder about the quality of the end result...

[Estela]

Comparing the price and performance from Mankati Fullscale XT and Ultimaker 2, I find the Mankati is much comapetitve.
Can Ultimaker 2 print any flexible filament?