Maker Select 3D Printer v2 $279 today only, good idea?

[scottfree1]

Looking for my first 3d printer and came across the Maker Select 3D Printer v2 for $279+tax/$6.99 shipping (coupon code CRAZY 20%) today only. Wasn't planning on buying today, but this seems like a good enough deal to change that. Looked at some reviews seems like a decent entry level unit, has some issues but they seem solvable. Like the 30 money back and 1 year warranty, pull the trigger?

[ssayer]

How about a better price than that? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018GZBC3Y ($272.99 shipped)

[scottfree1]

How about a better price than that? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018GZBC3Y ($272.99 shipped)

It was $349 yday, so amazon beat the price of the people selling it to them, pretty funny. I guess being the 800 pound gorilla of retail allows you to get away with pretty much anything..

[Ama-fessional Molder]

Well. I know what I'll be purchasing tonight.

Can't beat that price very easily, and I will eventually need that build volume. A few designs I have come up with in the past need an 8x8 bed.

One of which is a very compact desktop tower, which I will need to redesign yet again... slightly. But the idea is that itll be standard ATX gaming PC with a full size graphics card in a case that's smaller than most ITX cases.

[Ama-fessional Molder]

Ordered it and a kg of white pla for printing junk for the next few weeks.

[Milton]

I have this model, at $279 its a great buy. I am tempted to get another!

Stock firmware acceleration and jerk settings are maxed you will want to change those. the test print gcode files print very slow, and look pretty nice, and desire for faster prototyping will take some tweaking and upgrading, but the foundation is all there to do that as you wish.

Only manufacturing issue I have noticed with mine is the stock Y carriage is way too thin, but getting an upgrade Y carriage (you will likely have to drill out the pillow bed hole pattern yourself) is a $25 addition that still brings it in under most other acrylic kits that come unassembled.

Check the y belt alignment. Mine came with the belt misaligned badly but it was fixable by reinstalling it with a longer m5 bolt reversed to go through the L plate on the pulley end and reversing the toothed gear on the stepper motor axle. Simple fixes to bring the belt inline with the Y axis and centered to the Y carriage.

Z Braces will be the first thing you want to print, then it is a good solid i3 variant.

I have zero regrets at $350, even not waiting a month if I had known about the sale.

[desync0]

Printing my first test print on mine right now lol

It was pretty easy to get setup and printing, it's packed a little awkward in the box and I had to losen off the front lower cross brace to get the bed frame to slide in, otherwise I had it up and printing one of the sample prints from the SD card in maybe half an hour?

I think I got lucky that everything is square and got the bed leveled on the first try.

Milton is right though, the sample is printing really slowly, been going for a little over an hour now and the display says it's only at 53%, too lazy to pull out the DSLR to get better pics, but I'm impressed so far.

[desync0]

And 2 hours later it's done!

VERY impressed for a first print out the box without any tweaking.

[Milton]

That surface on the heatbed is a serious PITA to remove the adhesive to upgrade to a glass bed, but worth it. I think the adhesive emits gases and bubbles the surface after a few days printing. I suspect it is off gassing some sort of solvent base in the glue because it stinks when you remove the black plastic surface. Not a big deal, but it will take some elbow grease. I used rubbing alcohol to gum up the adhesive and break it down a bit, then let that dry and used duct tape squares to pull up the adhesive stuck to the heatbed aluminum plate (I tried Goo Off Citrus, had zero effect).

It works pretty well until it has enough heating and cooling cycles to warp it or bubble it, whatever is happening. Use it till its done then be patient getting it off so you don't bend the build plate.

A three point level system is easily achieved by removing the spring on one of the back corners. This balances the build plate on 2 corners diagonally, and you level with the 3rd. Its better than 4 point leveling which is if not done perfectly just flexing the whole plate and creating a roll across it.

Geometric plane is defined by 3 points, adding a 4th that is not EXACTLY matching the plane just creates a bowed surface. 4 corner leveling is a carry over from mill and lathe leveling, where the weight and frame design generally demand 4 or even more supports. For a light build plate 3 is perfect and perfectly appropriate.

Glad your happy with it so far

[Ama-fessional Molder]

Hey, I did the chair too!

Right now I am waiting for it to print a nameplate I made up real fast, so far it is going well, but hasn't reached the lettering yet. I didn't make any concession in the design for nozzle diameter or anything so I am expecting less than perfect results, I just wanted to make *something*.