Lower End Professional 3D Printer purchasing Help

[sakryd]

Hello,

I apologize if this was asked before or in the wrong place but I did a search and could not find what I was looking for. My current target is a 3D printer that can print high quality parts and does not cost crazy amount due to properitary materials, like the Stratsys and 3D systems printers. The purchase is mainly to print engineering parts, currently we have access to a makerbot replicator 2x, and a couple of UP3D printers, on top of some very high end Stratsys. The UP3D printer prints too small, and the replicator 2x has been giving us huge problems, and the material cost for the Stratsys is too much, hence we are looking for something between.

Currently I am considering the Leapfrog Xeed, as it satisfy our need for a big platform (350x270x220mm) and has dual extruders for support material. I also saw the ID3 Ideator 12, however that seems to have a lot of bad reviews in terms of support. There is also the Isis One, which is much lower in price, however I have found zero use cases for it, and the Makerbot Replicator Z18, but it only has 1 extruder which is a big con. So it would be greatly appreciated if someone can provide information or opinion regarding any of these printers or even other similar printers that can fit the bill (large size, dual extruders, can print ABS and support material, the more materials the better but not deciding factor). We are located in North America.

Much Thanks.

[richardphat]

http://3dprint.com/19205/gcreate-gmax-1-5/

Have a look.

[real3dguy]

I love the Leapfrog XEED, I have one and it is pretty much the cat's meow... let me know if you have any questions.

[Mjolinor]

If you buy a second hand Stratasys 768 the material has no need to cost you any more than any 3d printer as the eeprom encryption has been cracked so you can load your own cartridges. You can pick them up for under $1000 and they are quite easy to mend being Linux and having a mechanism that is straight out of the open source, standard XY gantry with moving table Z, all stepper driven. Optical end stops, thermocouples for temperature and toothed belt or Bowden cable driven. All electronic parts are standard PC stuff that you can buy apart from the driver board which never seems to give problems anyway.

The only disadvantages are that they are big and they use a lot of electricity but if you want a printer that is not for messing with and you just need it to print when you click the print button then Stratasys is the one to get.

By default Stratasys do cripple it in order to sell newer ones but once you get in there you can make it use any material you want and can do any layer height you want, I haven't gone below 0.1 but at that it is stunning though takes a long time to print.

[sakryd]

Thanks for all the replies.

@richardphat - Thanks for the link to another 3D printer, however it seems it's still a personal 3D printer that seems to lack technical support and there are no specifications on the precision of the nozzle. It seems like a great printer that I might consider buying for myself, but most likely not what we are looking for.

real3dguy - I sure have a lot of questions. In the forums there were comments regarding the wobbling, is that only with the creatr series and the Xeed does not show any of these issues. And as well, have you needed support, i.e replacing parts or getting support for malfunctioning, were they responsive and quick. For the filaments, must you use their products or can you get from third party suppliers as the shipping would not be nice to get filaments from Europe to America. Also, what speed have you gotten out of the machine with factors such as layer thickness and single/dual extrusion? And lastly, have you had any issue with the power, they told me I need a 230V power source and it will not work with a 110V.

Mjolinor - That sounds nice, except for part replacements and support, as we are an institution, they do not want the hassle that comes with unsupported 3D printers, not to say that current 3D printers have no problems, they just want the parts to be readily replaceable without having to find 3rd party parts. Seems like another awesome printer for personal use though.

[richardphat]

Typical open source can go down to 25microns layers. And YX can range from 10 to 50microns.
So does proprietary printers which lock this ability to certain extent.

But then talking about FDM technology, precision is an irrevelent information or misleading one. It's the most overrated information which is complete garbage and made people waste money. I usually don't bother with support, unless it's some serious design issue. I usually repair by myself.

If you buy a second hand Stratasys 768 the material has no need to cost you any more than any 3d printer as the eeprom encryption has been cracked so you can load your own cartridges. You can pick them up for under $1000 and they are quite easy to mend being Linux and having a mechanism that is straight out of the open source, standard XY gantry with moving table Z, all stepper driven. Optical end stops, thermocouples for temperature and toothed belt or Bowden cable driven. All electronic parts are standard PC stuff that you can buy apart from the driver board which never seems to give problems anyway.

The only disadvantages are that they are big and they use a lot of electricity but if you want a printer that is not for messing with and you just need it to print when you click the print button then Stratasys is the one to get.

By default Stratasys do cripple it in order to sell newer ones but once you get in there you can make it use any material you want and can do any layer height you want, I haven't gone below 0.1 but at that it is stunning though takes a long time to print.

Last I checked (2weeks ago), the OS itself recognized cartridge that have been used. You have to open the machine in order to do that, and as soon as you screwed up something. The machine is gone and warranty is as good as having none.
Can you confirm if it's something else?

[Mjolinor]

It is not new, I have been doing ti all year, you can reprogramme the cartridge, no need to do anything at the machine now, it did start off that way but there is now a standalone Python script that will rewrite the cartridge EE allowing you to change material types and quantities.

Changing print temperatures and layer heights is also possible without doing anything at the machine, that is done on the PC software.

[richardphat]

Oh crap, so you're thicite...
Do forget my PM on youtube in that case. You just reply to my question.

Glad to see one of the user managed to solve his issue on the 1200 ES. We don't use the 1200 that much due to expansive cartridge .You can remove the link now, I got that thread hooked up for few days ago.

[Mjolinor]

Oh crap, so you're thicite...

No, he and I are not one.

[Mjolinor]

How awake am I. It's the Chinese food and wine.

He is my son, I don't have a you tube account.