3D printers

So I have had a little experience with 3D printers but it was a monster of a machine with really close accuracy and such. What are the 3D printers like on the lower end of the market (like the Makerbot Replicator)? What are the limitations (other then size)?

Saw some in action last weekend at the Orlando Maker Faire.....pretty slick. There were three booths selling makerbot-sized things. One of them was working on a similar unit with clear acrylic sides.....he said that the makerbots with wooden sides need have all their screws tightened between each use, and that their experimentation with glued acrylic sides was an attempt to get away from this issue:

Not sure how much was truth and how much was marketing.

What companies are making these things? Anybody doing the software end other than Dassault Systemes?

I've used some mid-level models (~$50k) and I've owned a lower end model (BFB 3000). Limitations: Size, Accuracuy, Strength of Materials, Maintenance, Frustration etc. I don't own it anymore. I'd lease a mojo or a uPrint before touching another low end machine.

There is plenty of open source software for them.

1988RedT2 wrote: What companies are making these things? Anybody doing the software end other than Dassault Systemes?

No idea about companies or their control software. Booths/table with 3-D printers included MOSI, FamiLab and the Titusville Hackerspace (Who gave my sister one of the 3-D christmas ornaments they were printing.

I have a Makerbot. We built it from a kit for $1200. You can see it HERE.

As I understand it, Makerbot no longer offers kits (even thought their products look sort of homemade). Apparently too many folks were having trouble building them, so they decided to only sell ready to go machines. Their new model prints in two colours and costs about $2000.
I've had people point out that the Makerbot isn't very good because it doesn't have the resolution of a $30,000 machine (such as those 3D printers built by Dimension).
So it you need very high quality prints, I guess you'd need to spend big bucks. But I've been quite happy with the Makerbot. By the way, we're a community college and we've done some 3D prints for a local US Army R&D lab. They were happy with the results of our Makerbot.

We are actually looking at one of the upscale Dimension 3D printers right now (if we are able to get some special funding).........but one thing I'm real interested in is the new Solidoodle 3D printer.
Cost is $499 ready to go. The company is run by an ex-Makerbot person.

http://www.solidoodle.com/

I'm curious how the solidoodle performs as well. I would like to see one up close.

Them problem I had with the hobby-level stuff is:

A) The general level of manufacturing of a lot of the components was pretty poor. The "bed" in the BFB 3000 is made of acrylic. It was not flat. The surface easily varied by +/- 0.005, which is a lot when your printing in .010 thick extrusions. I'd bet if you build a makerbot/reprap/rapman/etc. yourself and machined your own components you might end up with a much better machine.

B) The chamber isn't heated. Without a heated chamber you don't get great bonding between the layers. It also makes your prints very succeptible to changes in room temperature. FWIW, every Stratasys machine, even the $10K Mojo, has a heated build chamber. I thought about converting my BFB to a heated chamber, but with the acrylic build bed and outer case, it couldn't handle much heat.

The hobby level stuff is certainly capable of making some really good prints. I just didn't have the time or energy to fool with mine anymore. I probably spent a good 80 hours messing with it and had a total of ZERO good prints. The mid-level Dimension, 3D Systems, Objet, Zprinter, etc. machines are truly plug and print. A lot of these systems are coming down in price, to the point where a hobby level machine is no longer 1/100th the price of the commercial unit... you can lease a Mojo for <$200 a month, and a uPrint for <$300.

By the way, we have a Z-Corp 3D printer (older version of their current 150 model). I would not buy a "powder" printer. To me, the ABS build is much better.....even the cheapie Makerbot. Also, our Z-Corp machine has been a bit fussy and we've been very unhappy with the non-existent "service" we've gotten from Z-Corp.

aeronca65t wrote: By the way, we have a Z-Corp 3D printer (older version of their current 150 model). I would not buy a "powder" printer. To me, the ABS build is much better.....even the cheapie Makerbot. Also, our Z-Corp machine has been a bit fussy and we've been very unhappy with the non-existent "service" we've gotten from Z-Corp.

I'm not a fan of them either. Haven't used one in ~8 years. They have their place, it just doesn't meet my needs. I need parts I can use, or at least test with. The resolution of them is crazy compared to the FDM stuff though.

aeronca65t wrote: We are actually looking at one of the upscale Dimension 3D printers right now (if we are able to get some special funding).........but one thing I'm real interested in is the new Solidoodle 3D printer. Cost is $499 ready to go. The company is run by an ex-Makerbot person. http://www.solidoodle.com/

I would love to see how one of those performs...

Here you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6z6kyISTR4