3D Systems Cube 3 3d Printer questions

[steveM121]

I'm seeing that lots of retailers are dumping their stock of Cube 3 printers and 3D Systems have also dumped their Home/Hobby line of 3d printers. I would never have consider this printer at their launch price but now that you can get one (new) for on average $200 are they still not worth it? I'm looking for a 3D printer for our Elementry's Library tech department https://19216801.onl/ https://routerlogin.uno/. But I don't want to hand them a total POS that is going to cause more headaches then it's worth. I've read Tons of not so favorable posts but are people griping because they paid full price? I know I would be pretty ticked off if I had paid full price for this printer after reading some of the problems owners have had.I've read that their is a work around for using 3rd party filament but that was only for a certain firmware and still a bit of a hassle. I would love to see someone that has a work around that you remove the problematic filament cartridges altogether and mount a standard roll on its side.Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.Thank!!

[fred_dot_u]

Run away, run away! Our local library purchased a Cube 3 version 3 for nearly retail price and it worked so well for a too-short period of time. So well that I purchased one for US$500 and it also worked well for me for a too-short period of time. Supplies will eventually vanish and the filament is completely proprietary and astonishingly expensive. When the manufacturer provided supplies, the filament was US$150 per kilo! Compare that to Matter Hackers filament (good stuff) as low as US$20 per kilogram. The "bowden tube" portion of the printer had a tendency to get punctured by the filament breaking within, during a print, completely removing the filament cartridge from service.

I didn't pay full price but I would not pay ten dollars for this printer, unless I needed parts.

I've done the firmware change, but the full modification is necessary, which involves a serious mechanical hack on the nozzles as well as the filament drive assembly, which I have not done. This is what you've referenced in the last sentence of your post. It exists, but it's out of my reach at the moment. I'd be willing to pay someone who is willing to create an off-the-shelf mod kit, just to get my Cube 3 operational for the small stuff.

If you want to recommend a printer that will give you minimal problems for the library, you can consider just what I did for our local library. They opened a public makerspace and our group used to meet there (pre-COVID) and we were asked to recommend a replacement. We offered to build a Prusa kit and they purchased it. It was some time ago, a version MK2s but was a good project for our group and the library staff of one. The printer has been nearly idiot proof, which is something, considering that it's in a public space, but they did limit access to those willing to learn enough to not-break things. Supervision was a big factor in the success.

The newer version of the Prusa is at least one magnitude easier to assemble, or you can suggest a pre-built version for a bit more money. If the library goes for it, they (and you) are not likely to be disappointed.