How pick a suitable 3D printer

[curious aardvark]

350mm isn't that tall so as long as you don't print tall things really fast - the bed moving should not be an issue.

is it superior to the qidi tech x pro.
Tricky question.
Unquestionablt idex are bvetter than single carriage dual exrtrusion.
But other than that they are very different style printers.

The I3 design is a LOT faster than the cartesian sertup of the x-pro.

It's really horses for courses.
I don't really care if a print looks like it came from an injection moulder. If you want that and have a room with air extraction that has no other use - go for a resin printer. For your budget it will be a MUCH smaller print volume - but really smooth prints.

As fara s fdm quality goes - yes the tenlog should matcgh the x-pro. The movement mechanics are better on the tenlog. But you have to contrast with the x pro where the printbed just goes up and down - on the tenlog it moves front to back.

For the much larger print volume, totally silent operation (oh yeah the tenlod makes almost no noise) at least equal print quality and full independant extruders. and much faster prints - go for the tenlog.

For a ready built enclosed print volume with much smaller build area and serious noise (the x-pro is a replicator pro clone - I'm currently sitting next to something very similiar - and it is noisy !) dual extruders that re more trouble than they are worth. But equally good print quality. Get the x-pro.

I can't help you with your spouse :-)
But I suspect the lack of noise from the tenlog - might help a bit :-)

[minneapolis-matt]

350mm isn't that tall so as long as you don't print tall things really fast - the bed moving should not be an issue.

is it superior to the qidi tech x pro.
Tricky question.
Unquestionablt idex are bvetter than single carriage dual exrtrusion.
But other than that they are very different style printers.

The I3 design is a LOT faster than the cartesian sertup of the x-pro.

It's really horses for courses.
I don't really care if a print looks like it came from an injection moulder. If you want that and have a room with air extraction that has no other use - go for a resin printer. For your budget it will be a MUCH smaller print volume - but really smooth prints.

As fara s fdm quality goes - yes the tenlog should matcgh the x-pro. The movement mechanics are better on the tenlog. But you have to contrast with the x pro where the printbed just goes up and down - on the tenlog it moves front to back.

For the much larger print volume, totally silent operation (oh yeah the tenlod makes almost no noise) at least equal print quality and full independant extruders. and much faster prints - go for the tenlog.

For a ready built enclosed print volume with much smaller build area and serious noise (the x-pro is a replicator pro clone - I'm currently sitting next to something very similiar - and it is noisy !) dual extruders that re more trouble than they are worth. But equally good print quality. Get the x-pro.

I can't help you with your spouse :-)
But I suspect the lack of noise from the tenlog - might help a bit :-)

Once again thank you!

This is very helpful!

Apart from spouse hostility to a trade-in in general, the only thing potentially holding me back from the Tenlog now is quality/customer service concerns. I want to be sure that if I pay for it I can at least get a year of functional service from the thing.

You have mentioned eliminating supports with .slt modifications. What is the most intuitive free CAD software you know of for .SLT editing? Do most of your modifications result in a need to glue together your final results along flat surfaces that were resting on the build plate?

Perhaps it is an artifact of the way my voxel does not 100% level with it's single point auto level, but I find that unless I print everything with a raft, prints turn into spaghetti away from the center. Gluing these raft contacting surfaces doesn't always look inconspicuous and in any event I've had my frustrations with lining up glue surfaces in general, not just with 3d printing, anyway and would still like to minimize reliance on slicing as a means of avoiding supports.

[curious aardvark]

haven't printed anything with a raft for about 8 years.
And that's on all my printers.

As long as your printbed is flat - and it sounds like your voxel bed is NOT flat. You should never need to use a raft.

The 'no supports' thing, does depend what you are printing.
I mostly - 90% possibly more. print stuff I've designed in openscad.
There are quite a few tricks you can use.

Printing in different orientations and angles works well.

Made a square card payment widget holder recently, that held the square device and my phone.
because both parts had overhangs I had to design it to print with the centre point at 45 degrees.

I don't do much artistic printing or any figure printing and pretty muich only design and make useful things.
For which, openscad, is probably the best software to use.

It takes a little bit of 'getting your head round how it works'. But once you've done that it's much quicker and easier to design things than with a wysiwig cad program.

As far as customer support goes - yeah I don't honestly think it's relevant with the majority of chinese suppliers. All 3d printers tend to use off the shelf parts - the tenlog just uses better quality parts than most.
Plus everyone has different levels of expectation from a supplier.
And different users will create/find different problems - many of which are often nothing to do with build quality but more with false expectations and lack of experience of the buyer.

So for me - the best way to currently pick a 3d printer is to go for how it's built and what it's built out of - NOT, necessarily, who built it.

[laoadam]

• Choose the Right Printing Technology.
• Find the Compatible Material.
• Determine the Size of the Object You Want to Print.
• Consider the Printing Speed.
• Think About Your Skill Level.
• Find a Suitable Location for the Printer.
• Wrap Up.

Thanks!
I'll think of it.

[laoadam]

I'm still trying to work out if mr SKP is a particularly astute Ai spam bot, or an actual person who talks in bulletpoints lol

$300 is an interesting area.
if you buy direct from the chinese market websites you can get a lot more machine than from amazon. But there is usually import tax - so it probably evens out in the long run.

Dollars - right so you're most likely in the states. Okay
This is a jice looking I3, good reviews and all the bits you should look for in an i3 design: https://www.amazon.com/FoKoos-Odin-5...626085&sr=8-14

Looks good.

Thanks!
I'll check it out.

[laoadam]

haven't printed anything with a raft for about 8 years.
And that's on all my printers.

As long as your printbed is flat - and it sounds like your voxel bed is NOT flat. You should never need to use a raft.

The 'no supports' thing, does depend what you are printing.
I mostly - 90% possibly more. print stuff I've designed in openscad.
There are quite a few tricks you can use.

Printing in different orientations and angles works well.

Made a square card payment widget holder recently, that held the square device and my phone.
because both parts had overhangs I had to design it to print with the centre point at 45 degrees.

I don't do much artistic printing or any figure printing and pretty muich only design and make useful things.
For which, openscad, is probably the best software to use.

It takes a little bit of 'getting your head round how it works'. But once you've done that it's much quicker and easier to design things than with a wysiwig cad program.

As far as customer support goes - yeah I don't honestly think it's relevant with the majority of chinese suppliers. All 3d printers tend to use off the shelf parts - the tenlog just uses better quality parts than most.
Plus everyone has different levels of expectation from a supplier.
And different users will create/find different problems - many of which are often nothing to do with build quality but more with false expectations and lack of experience of the buyer.

So for me - the best way to currently pick a 3d printer is to go for how it's built and what it's built out of - NOT, necessarily, who built it.

Thanks!
a special advice.