Buying first 3d printer - Ultimaker or Flash Forge Creator Pro

[markpot]

Hi 3D print enthusiasts,

I have plans to buy my first 3d printer. The 3dworld is not completely new for me, I have the skills to model 3d models and animate them in C4D, Maya. But the part to bring the models and designs to real life is completely new for me. I Inform myself the last few weeks about 3d printing and read a lot reviews and info about 3d printers. There are 3 printers that are on my list, The Ultimaker 2, Ultimaker Original Plus, And the Flashforge Creator Pro. Maybe the Ultimaker 2 Go but I don’t like the small build volume but it’s accuracy is supurb.

I’m going to use the printer to print out my custom designs, products and figurines. The figurines will be printed in high resolution. So the printer has to be accurate, no big ripples.
In the time that I don’t use the printer I will use it as a hub to print out orders for other people.

I’m aware that 3d printers need sometimes technical tinkering to get it work properly, so that is not a big problem for me as long as it doesn’t give me the headaches and frustration that there is no solution. One of my points to make my decision for these printers are that there is a big community behind the printer to help me out if there are some problems.

The Budget: € 1000 – 2000 but if I can save around € 1000 than I have a bigger smile so I can buy some extra filament and other toy’s for the 3D printer. The Ultimaker 2 is around 2500 but I find some second hand UM2 on the internet for under the € 2000

Fillament: I going only print out some PLA or Colorfab XT filament and some experimental filament like wood, copper etc but no ABS because of the toxic fumes.

There are some questions that I have to make my decision between the Ultimaker or Flashforge Creator Pro:

1 - I live in the Netherlands so for the support the Ultimaker would be the perfect printer. But I don’t know about the Flashforge Creator Pro. There are some store’s here that sell the printer but what about the maintenance and the spare parts here in Europe. Is it easy to get spare parts for the Flashforge without spending 50+ dollars on delivery costs, from China or the US.

2 - The thing that I don’t like by 3d prints is that you can see the ripple layers, especially if I want something smooth like faces or spheres.
So what about the resolution. I read that the sweet spot for a good high resolution prints on the Ultimaker is around 0.06 mm for almost a smooth surface. The Flashforge has a maximum of 0.1 mm. Is the difference noticeable between 0.06 mm and 0.1 mm? Can some people show me some pictures of high resolution prints that are print out on those printers?

3 - Is there a difference in quality of the prints by the Ultimaker Original Plus and Ultimaker 2 and how easy is it to achieve 0,06 mm prints on an Ultimaker Original Plus without tweaking a lot in the hardware site like tightening the belts and calibrating the X&Y axis. etc?

That’s it for now,

Thanks,

Mark

[Xeno]

Ultimaker is a great option, and is open source, and using Cura as a slicer is the best. and if you really want to learn how a printer works, buy the original plus as kit, the UM2 does look great on a desk, but the original is still a great high resolution printer. and 0.1mm is great for detailed prints, but with 0.06mm will help for a more smoother surface when you print slight curves or sphere shapes, the more slightly the slope, the more you will see the resolution.

[markpot]

Thanks for the answer Xeno, if the quality difference is minimal between the U2 en UMO+ than I go for the UMO+.
I don’t mind building the kit, it’s a good learning curve to see how the printer works.

So I’m still have to decide between the Ultimaker Original + and the Flashforge Creater Pro. The price difference between those two printers is around € 300,- I like the price (€1900) and the dual extrusion of the Flashforge Creator Pro. But my decision depends on how good the support is for the Flashforge Creator Pro in Europe.

[BrumbyBloke]

I personally have a flash Forge creator pro and I’ve had the layer height down to 0.05 with some trial and error dunno about the UM2 but i know that with the flash Forge you have to cut print speeds way down to get it that low. I’ve found that the flash Forge is great for experimental filaments too particularly if you want to print something like nylon. Personally I’d reccomend the flash Forge as I’ve been using it for almost a year now with great results. Also the difference between 0.05 and 0.1 isn’t that great I’d recommend running moreshells and sanding a print if you want a really smooth print. Also with the fumes of ABS i wouldn’t be overly concerned unless you intend to have it in a small room where you are constantly, although i rigged a HEPA filter + activated carbon filter to mine

[gautam2000]

I have had my flash forge for two weeks now, and it is definitely worth it.

[Philippe_Delann]

Just got an UM2+ and she is really perfect, as the other would do also i guess.

The advantage of the other one is the dual extruder, the one of the UM2+ is a greater precision and swappable nozzle (which is essential for special printing like carbon fiber, wood or other where you need reinforced stainless steel nozzle or bigger one’s).

[Jeremy_Orange]

I don’t think you can go wrong with either. I have a farm of FlashForge Creator Pro’s and love them, never used an ultramaker. For flashforge parts, their is a guy out of china and of course QIDI on ebay who’s parts I use almost exclusively to keep my farm in tip top shape. If you get a flash forge, you want to make sure it has or add active cooling.