Makerfarm Prusa 10" i3v Available!

[Drone]

I've narrowed my choice of printer to the 10" i3v due to generous build area, the abundant amount of help available on forums, youtube, the manufacturer, etc., reviews by people that use this printer, and of course the attractive price. Being my first printer all of these things are very important to me being able to achieve good printing results. I was looking at a couple of others in the same price ball park, but for reasons like not getting responses to questions and lack of an active userbase for help I have ruled them out and feel MakerFarm would probably improve my chances for a successful printing experience. So I am ready to pull the trigger on this one.

The intended use for this printer is for prototyping small parts before manufacture and parts will be in the 6"x6"x4" or smaller range, but like this printer for the ability to go a bit bigger if needed.

I need a little advice before I order though. I'm not sure which nozzle to get with the kit. I think the hexagon might be best since I will be able to print materials other than ABS and PLA, but I don't know if the 1.75mm or 3mm would be best. What difference would I see between the two in actually printing and what advantages would each provide? It seems 3mm material is a bit cheaper to buy than the 1.75mm. Is there a reason for this?

Also, are there upgrades or additions I should order initially to make this a better printer or is the stock kit fine as it is? Should I get the additional items for auto leveling and install this during the build, or do that mod down the road after gaining some experience with the stock build? And of course, what should I be considering that I haven't thought of before purchasing?

I've got the cash set aside for the purchase and I'm chomping at the bit to get it ordered and on the way, but I would rather get some advice before placing my order to reduce any possible frustration from folks that have been down this road already. I've been lurking here and other sites for a couple of months now trying to understand the market a bit and what the benefits and frustrations of 3d printing might be, and since none of what I've seen has been enough to scare me away, I guess I'm ready to jump.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

[gmay3]

I need a little advice before I order though. I'm not sure which nozzle to get with the kit. I think the hexagon might be best since I will be able to print materials other than ABS and PLA, but I don't know if the 1.75mm or 3mm would be best. What difference would I see between the two in actually printing and what advantages would each provide? It seems 3mm material is a bit cheaper to buy than the 1.75mm. Is there a reason for this?

Hey Drone! Before I placed my order, I had the same dilemma. I was planning to go with the Jhead and then upgrading to a fancier hotend later, but I went with the 1.75 hexagon because I felt like it was worth the extra $20 to upgrade it a bit and make it more future proof. I really glad I did, and would recommend the hexagon after running it for 4 months or so. It's handled abs and pla very well and based on that, I would think that it will also be able to handle more exotic materials with no problem.

I went looking for concrete reasons to go with 1.75 or 3mm filament and it seemed like there wasn't many concrete arguments for settling on either. It is totally your preference. I went for 1.75mm and in order to make a decision I thought about the the following (very topical, and insignificant) physical differences:

1. There is less print head motion resistance than having to move a thicker 3mm strand of filament back and forth.
2. There is less friction/resistance inside the inner wall of the hotend tube because the the surface area of the filament in the hotend tube is half of what the resistance of the 3mm filament.
3. I would think that there is less ooze with 1.75mm filament because you would need a shorter amount of retraction to stop the flow and there is less force from the extruder motor needed compared to 3mm. 3mm getting extruded out of a 0.4mm nozzle vs 1.75mm getting extruded out of a 0.4mm nozzle.
4. It seems like the general 3d printing industry trend is going slightly towards 1.75mm.
5. It doesn't hold its curve from the spool as rigidly so it may be easier to pull into the extruder.

Also, are there upgrades or additions I should order initially to make this a better printer or is the stock kit fine as it is? Should I get the additional items for auto leveling and install this during the build, or do that mod down the road after gaining some experience with the stock build? And of course, what should I be considering that I haven't thought of before purchasing?

I was impressed with my stock printer right from the first print. I don't think there are any mods that you NEED to do to get great prints. However, there are always things to improve so you can customize your printer to your needs. Check out the Show your Mods thread for some great ones. Speaking personally, I don't see a need for auto leveling right now and you can definitely add it on later if you want. I have found that I need to level the bed maybe every 20 prints but before I bought my printer I had thought it would be needed after every print.

The only mod I would DEFINITELY recommend is to buy two 5mm x 5mm aluminum rod couplers and install those instead of the shitty plastic tubing used to fix the threaded rods to the z motors. Throw those in the trash instantly, lol! I don't understand why aluminum rod couplers aren't included in the first place but Colin sells these on his site and I would definitely add them to your order. I bent my threaded rods installing them and it killed my hands trying to get them in.

If you have any more questions please feel free to ask!