Advice on HiRes printer choices

[curious aardvark]

yeah It's the pro 2 - my mistake :-)

The thing with 3d printing is two fold:
1) How you actually orient the print on the build plate. This determines which direction the print is strongest in.
2) how well designed it is. If I'm designing something from scratch I design so i do not need supports. The only time I've used supports in the last 8 years, was when reverse engineering broken household widgets.

It's all about overhangs, underhangs, layer height and how far you can build out each layer.

The speed and temperature and materials used also have a significant impact.

You'll see a lot of people printing pla at 18-190c. They also winge on about layer bonding not being great or pla being brittle.

Print it at 200-210c and neither of those things is correct

I designed some 20x20 'aluminium extrusion' and printed it vertically. When snapped - and none of us could do it in our hands. It broke on a diagonal line - not long layer lines.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4334960/files

So 3d printing is as much as art as it is a science.

So the chemical and physical properties of the extruded plastic is the science part.
The print speed, cooling, design and quirks of your individual printer is where the experience and art come into it.

Basically you are building something from the ground up - in tiny layers.

Now if you have a part that starts printing in mid air - or just sticks out at a right angle - you can print supports.
The advantage of the pro 2 is that it has two independant extruders.
So you can load one with pla or whatever and the other with soluble support material.

So you design something, almost as though it were being injection moulded.
Then remove when done and throw into a sink of warm water and dissolve all the bits that aren't part of the original model.

If you just want to go down the single extruder route - then I would argue that the twotrees sapphire pro 2 at around £300 is not only the most solidly built printer around, but also one of the veru best - at any price point.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TWO-TREES...4AAOSwVktgBb0Z
Or nearer £500 off amazon.

There are a couple of mods that are easy and quick to do.
And you'll have a solid machine that will print faster and with more precision than anything else I've seen or currently know of.
And it's pretty much silent in operation :-)

If you're anywhere in the uk midlands, I'm near burton on trent - you're welcome to pop round and see one in operation. I've also got various others that cover the entire gamut of fdm printer types and styles.
And a laser cutter, if you need any wood or acrylic cut :-)

I'm personally naturaly immune to corona viruses and have been vaccinated. So I can't catch it from you or give it to you.

It does help to actually see a printer or 2 in operation and handle a bunch of 3d printed widgets.

Seing some of the models I have that incorporate print in place hinges and moving parts would probably give you some ideas on designing your thing.
3d printers will do most things injection moulding does, but it can also do somethings injectuion cant.
Mechanisms inside sealed casings - for example.

The first tool that was printed in space was a working ratchet spanner - printed in one go.
I made one for my space mad mate.
Neat bit of design.

Anyway the offer's open :-)