Yes.... Another what printer to buy discussion....

[dunginhawk]

Good afternoon folks.. I know this gets beaten to death, and there are a million threads on it, but I am trying to make sure i dont rule out any possible printers.
I have a FF Creator Pro that i love for high quality stuff (im about finished with my quad copter print)
I also have a Makerfarm Prusa I3v 12 that I use for bigger stuff. This printer is working as intended. Its a workhorse and doing well.

I have a large print job coming in the next couple of weeks and am going to be in the market for my third (actually 4th, i sold my rostock max v2) printer.
I need it to have a large print area at least 10x10x10 (or very close)

I am looking at a lot of different options.
Price is somewhat of a factor. I have up to $3000 or so to spend.

I am looking at these following printers.

Lulzbot taz 5
Creatorbot 3d
Wanhao Duplicator 5s
Rigidbot Big (although its not available right now)
Makerfarm Prusa I3V 12 (just getting a 2nd one, but thats not exciting)

Is there some I am missing? There are new entrants every single day.
I am less inclined to buy the creatorbot or wanhao dup 5s because I dont like bowden extruders. I want a direct drive for flexible filaments etc. But its price and large volume is nice.

I also want quality. The Flashforge creator pro is VERY VERY high quality at .1mm. I want something that can be close. THe prusa i3v is nice, but its not the FFCP.

Id love to get a discussion going to weigh the options out there guys.
thank you much

[dunginhawk]

Any discussion on this at all?
I am buying something in the next day or so, and really wan to invest in the right one.
thanks

[dunginhawk]

im willing to spend up to 3500$ for the right one.. which kind of makes me explore the TYPE A a little bit.

[MiniMadRyan]

Mind me asking why you sold the Rostock? I've designed a large format printrbot style, a coreXY machine and now a large delta printer, so curious as to what your experience was with that one. I'm still torn between direct drive and Bowden fed...

I love the Type A's size and design. I remember reading that the original slicing profile didn't quite do amazing with overhangs and smaller details,though I'm sure that's been fixed by now!

Personally I would go with a Lulzbot...I really haven't heard much wrong with them, and they now use a modified hexagon hot end. Plus with all the design files, bill of materials, hell even the supplier lists being open source means you hack it however you please!

Have you considered a Printrbot Plus?

[dunginhawk]

Ryan.... I sold the rostock because quite honestly it was hard to maintain it and the quality was less than I wanted. THe biggest reason however is that the circular bed cuts off TONS of buildable area. So even though it appears to be a big build area, length and width it wasnt. and you dont want to print within an inch of the edge in most cases (especially mine, i had 3 layer fans on) which could impact the clips on the edges.

I havent researched the Type A hardly at all.. Its just hard to think that its worth 3k + when the Makerfarm prusa i3v has the same build size,for 1/4 of that or less.

Ive always been very partial to the lulzbot too, however, it doesnt have a very large build area. THe customer that im working on now requires some pretty large parts that are even hard to fit on my 12x12x12 prusa.

I looked at the printrbot plus, but its 5k and i cant justify that.
EDIT; sorry thats the non listed printrbot... THe plus i just dont think its build area is enough...BUt if im going to look at a lulzbot, i am looking at the plus too. Im not sure why im so enamored with the taz 5.. just want it haha
Also , the plus's heated bed is only 80 degrees.. I use gecktotek metal plates to print on, and the new ABS one im testing works amazingly well at 110


EDIT : The build volume of the creatorbot + enclosure etc is really intriguing. However the bowden extruders suck (It was an act of god to print flexible filament on the rostock)

[MiniMadRyan]

Hmm that's good to know about the Rostock...have always wanted a delta machine, but I keep jumping from one design to another every other day lol

I agree with you regarding the Lulzbot....there's just something about it that draws me in lol

Have you looked at the AirWolf Axiom? Heard decent things about their printers as well

[dunginhawk]

No, i hadnt looked at it... sh*t now i have though... i was about to spend 2200$ and now you are enticing me to spend twice that... ahole haha.
That axiom looks awesome. I dont see a layer fan on it though, which would concern me for bronze, copper, PLA, etc. I cant imagine not needing a layer fan.
I with the Y size was a bit bigger, 8.5" on any plane is not good


EDIT: ok, im kind of off the axiom now. size is a factor, but mostly its they have a ton of models all with plus's and minus's. I just think the Taz 5 gives me more options, like adding a dualy struder etc, which comes off and on easily.

[MiniMadRyan]

Trust me, I'm not trying to make you spend more! I'm the guy who thinks that a Prusa i3v is big money! :P

Check out the gCreate 1.5 and 1.5 XT. They seem to be a good price, and an incredibly simple design too....that might fit your needs!

[dunginhawk]

i like the look of that a lot... no heatedbed, but thats coming... Im printing this customers parts in PLA anyway, so no matter.
I htink it looks awesome.

edit - i really like this gcreate... massive volume... looks good... hmmm

$3200 for dual extruders... 6 weeks lead time kills it for me though. thats a freakin eternity ;0

[MiniMadRyan]

Yah, me too, i print a lot of PLA as well, heck even a 12x12 heating element would probably be perfectly fine for most ABS jobs. I couldn't imagine printing ABS on such a huge scale.

Not to take away a sale, but I see that the files have been released for it, so one could presumably print the parts and reuse a lot of the electronics and linear components from one of your existing printers to build a gMax too..