Thank you for your reply.
I am looking at those right now. Seems that it is twice as expressive and the prusa (for a first printer I didn’t want to break the bank) but could consider it if the community agrees with you:)
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http://orballoprinting.com/en/frame/8-prusa-i3-steel-frame-p3steel.html 2 I recommend the p3steel toolson edition. Just search for toolson on thingiverse. I wouldn’t start with a 300 mm bed as it’s a non standard prusa size. I’ve been converting all of my prusas to p3steel toolson as they work great and fast.
Yes, you would build the p3steel and then print the toolson upgrades. You can also get a cheap $200-$300 prusa kit and then upgrade it to a steel frame later.
Thanks!
Cheap prusa would be cheap and quick. You would be up and running and printing. Then you upgrade to a steel frame later on. I have a cheap hictop, a steel frame a Rambo and toolson modifications on one. Two frames are en route and will have cheap ramps boards. I might throw the rumba on one. Each started as a different version of a cheap prusa with various upgrades. I might order a few more steel kits except I’m running out of space. With the fusion f400 and possibly a markforged coming in I would need to double my floor space.
If you’re not used to work with electronics and soldering one or two things, an Ultimaker Original + kit would be perfect. However, if you have a tight budget, I’d totally go for a Prusa i3 Steel (single frame if you will be moving it from one place to another). What I will never recommend you is to get a cheap prusa kit. Buy only quality parts (good nozzle, motors and electronics) and you will save money and time.
Thanks, I am an electronics engineer so shouldn’t be a problem. Do you have any recommendation on a good P3steel kit?
There are lots of kits, you may find a good one on an online shop in your country. It’s not a Prusa i3 Steel, but Josef Prusa’s (the father of the Prusa i3) company just released the Prusa i3 MK2, which looks really interesting.
http://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/59-original-prusa-i3-mk2-kit.html
Hi Pierre,
Nice to hear you want to joint the 3d community.
Any of the Prusa i3 variant are a good choice to start, the P3Steel is maybe one of the best i3 around, take a look at the toolson edition in Thingiverse as said before.
The increase of the printing size on the i3 will cause a small decrease of the quality, but nothing to worry about IMHO. In any case, if you want to have the most accurate printer, go for the short version. The Y axis is probably theweakest point of the i3 and, increase the lenght will not help. You can also increase the smooth rods and linears bearings diametre on a later stage, designing and printing your own adaptors, which will give you a more solid structure. Btw, I got the long version, but I could not compare with the short so I can not tell you if there is a decrease of quality.
Anyway, as you will see, all the printer designs are compromissing quality on behaf of price in some way or another, however, you can get very decent prints with the i3. Don’t expect to be plug and play, I start getting decent printings after 1 month of having the printer operative (I am Electronics Engineer also), and still improving…
I thing the best advise I can get to you is to avoid any chinesse stuff regarding the mechanics (linear movement), avoid chinese LM8UU and stainless steel rods. Look for a known brand like Misumi or SKF for the linear bearings and use Hard Steel Chromed smooth rods with thight tolerance, try to source locally.
As you said most of the stores selling the P3Steel frame are from Spain, I live near Barcelona, so I buyed locally the frame, sorry I cannot help you here.
If you are really looking for big printing volume and good quality you can buy the Ultimaker 2+ extended or the BCN3D Sigma, ovbiously at a cost!!
You can also build your Ultimaker 2, look for Ultimaker 2 Tribute in Thingiverse, if you use a taller chasis you can get the volume of the extended also.
My last advise, use good quality filament like colorfabb, extrudr, our any other european or USA maker, advoid chinese stuff here also, the 3d printing is a sum of a lot things that can work well or not (including the filament quality) so as many things yu can leave out of the equation the more easy will be to locate the problems. When you have your printer working well, then you can explore other cheaper filaments if you want.
So move forward, look a lot, buy with some spares, start building and ENJOY!!!
+1 for Josef Prusa’s original i3. His team is great. Fantastic friendly support, which is so important with your first printer, a great quality kit, and he’s just brought out the Mk II with auto levelling, E3D V6 hot end and a bigger bed with special surface! Superb results and long term support with his upgrade promise. Can’t recommend highly enough. And open for modding when you want to.
http://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/59-original-prusa-i3-mk2-kit.html 1