If you don’t mind me asking, how did you destroy it? I’m kind of worried about leaving my running for overnight prints. I’m worried the kind of print failure where a giant glob accumulates and are easy to deal with on something like a Rep2 would completely destroy the Printrbot.
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My first printer and the only one I have right now is a Printrbot Simple Makers kit. I upgraded it to almost 8x8x8inches, with a heated build plate, doubled the accuracy, and a bunch of other improvements, but that cost me $700, and is still inferior to a rigidbot…
there’s flash forge clone’s on amazon for as low as $799 for dual extrusion and a variety to choose from. Another thing to think about is the cost of material and replacement parts. Being that there’s four of you on the machine something could go wrong where you’ll need to replace a part. Happy bot shopping!
I looked into the rigidbot a little. I think we wanted to work with a slightly more established printer. I get the feeling the rigidbot has a lot of potential, but also has a lot of kinks that need working out compared to the printrbot and doesn’t have the same level of support. Does this sound accurate?
Not in my opinion. The quality of prints from a Printrbot is exponentially worse than a Rigidbot, I’ve printed on my printrbot before upgrades, it was really poor quality. The Rigidbot has very few kinks that I’ve heard of. I talk on instagram with a maker who owns a rigidbot, and then got hired by them. His prints are exceptional, way better than I get on my printrbot, even after I doubled its precision. The Simple Metal isn’t a bad printer, but it’s just mediocre. I believe rigidbot is really a much better printer and Im a printrbot user through and through, and have no connection to either company lol. Rigidbot is a small company, but it also means they can give much more personal support. I’ve contacted printrbot a bunch of times, and they basically just refer you to forums and send you on your way
Hey Nicholas,
There’s nothing at all wrong with the Flashforge that a few tiny 3D printed mods won’t correct. It’s great, sturdy machine and very reliable. Mine prints all day long at 100uM and 200uM on glass. Invest in Simplify3D at the same time and you’ll have years of happy printing on a bomb-proof box. Support from local resellers and Amazon is exceptionally good too!
Cheers,
AndyL
Pot8oSH3D
Rigidbot looks very interesting and reading about makes me want it to be all that it says it is. However in this case I can’t find a lot of reviews for or first hand experiences with the Rigidbot, and the ones I have appear mixed. From the sample of experiences I could find online it seems like the people who enjoy the Rigidbot the most are the ones who almost immediately upgraded a wide range if components. It seems to me that it has a lot of potential for a real enthusiast (and a frugal one at that), but might not be ideal for us. I have talked to quite a few of my coworkers and no one has heard much about Rigidbot first hand, whereas many of them say the Printrbot Simple is one of the best value printers available. I may regret the decision, but it’s hard to spend the money on a Rigidbot considering it hasn’t yet established itself.
I have very little experience with firmware, but I assume that if you upgrade to twin extruders you need custom firmware? (and is it correct to assume that the e3d hot end does not require any firmware adjustments to work?)
Also, what, if I don’t sound stupid asking, is a drag chain?
My coworker has the UP Mini and mostly loves it (she mostly wishes she had more control over temperature). However, another of my coworkers bought the Printrbot Simple and they both agree that given the choice the Printrbot is a better option. With that said the Up Mini was high on my list originally.