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Hello people of 3dhubs.

I am currently looking into purchasing a 3d printer.

So far, my budget and research has led me into buying either the Craftbot Plus, or the Flashforge pro.

My friend and I have considered starting a small-scale company, involving the printing of parts for people. My friend has a hacked Da Vinci 1.0, but I would like something a little better, which is why i tilted towards the printers mentioned above.

I’d like to get your guys opinions on which printer i should choose.
The bigger build area of the Craftbot is a huge plus for me, and I don’t care that much about dual extrusion.
I will certainly be covering the front hole of the Craftbot if i get that, since i will probably only be printing with ABS. Being able to remove the printbed of the Craftbot is also a big advantage, since i imagine calibrating both printers will be a pain.

Any thought from people with said printers, or anyone with experience they are willing to share with me?

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Hi,

Go for a Craftbot :slight_smile:

I am Hungarian so supporting a hungarian comapany and even ordered one when their campaign was launched on Kickstarter(499 USD that time), I have given this printer to my Brother :smiley:

The experience is really good with this printer after some small problems in the beginning witch were fixed by the company its just print flawlessly, and in a really good quality.

Now please go for the Craftbot plus it has better power supply (with my early vesrion 80 C was max for the print bed so issues with ABS). Also they have put noise dampers on the motors so its very quiet in the plus version. You have to make a front door for it and buy a ikea clear plastic storage bin to cover the top for ABS printing. They have their own slicer application the Craftware with really high knowledge (almost as good as the Simplify 3D).

Also if you look into the 2016 printer guide its really recommended: https://www.3dhubs.com/best-3d-priNter-guide#budget

The only thing I don’t like is the prize now but compared to Ultimaker 2 it still cheap…

Just one recommendation for the Craftbot. Take look at Zortrax M200 printers printbed with that small holes in it. Its really prevents ABS wrapping so, just purchase one and put it on the table. (Hack: take apart an old microwave door its usually has that mesh in it, cut it out put it on the printbed :))

BR.,

Tamas

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I think personally that the craftbot is better because it is fully opem source. Unless you want to trade dual nozzled. I used Dremel which partnered with flashforge it is so bad. I do not recommend it. My friend has a Craftbot and it is great to him. I have a Robo 3D R1 Plus and a Monoproce MP Select Mini, they are pretty good. Some issues, but pretty good.

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Do not go for any Da Vinci, it has a lot if problems. I had one, now they can barely be hacked. They have a closed source printer, bad software, bad slicer, or a slow slicer. And my clogged in a day. Also had the dremel it is bad.

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I have both a craftbot and creator pro. The Craftbot is better in almost every way except dual extrusion.

I have only printed PLA on the craftbot thus far, and stick to ABS on the creator pro.

I would recommend against switching back and forth between filaments. There is a greater potential for jams.

Don’t get your hopes up for starting a business. There are many other people with more money, experience, and printers that are already doing this. Competition is high and margins are low.

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We managed to downgrade his printers formware, so that we could hack it. I will certainly not go buy one for myself though, since he has had a few problems with it. Having to hack your printer, and void your warranty just to make it work as intended, is very very stupid :stuck_out_tongue:

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Are there any particular reason why you haven’t printed with ABS on the craftbot? Now I know that it has a lot of cooling fans, thereby making it superb at printing PLA, but I’ll primarily be printing with ABS, once i get my hands on one. I imagine it has something to do with the Creator being somewhat closed, compared to the craftbot? I will probably attempt to make some kind of magnetic front cover on the craftbot.
Also, I have considered printing with PETG, since is has similar properties as PLA, but melts at around ABS temps.

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I have found that if you change filaments and don’t completely clear the nozzle that it creates problems and jams.

I like having a dedicated printer nozzle for each type of filament.

Craftbot does PLA.

Creator right does abs.

Creator left does exotics.

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Don’t know about craftbot but I love my 3 flashforge creator pros. I highly recommend them. There is a bit of a learning curve if you are not very familiar with 3D printers but they are extremely easy to work on and modify.

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PETG is great. I use it in my Creator Pro and the prints are fantastic. Stronger and more pliable than PLA.

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You really don’t have to limit your printer to one kind of filament. Just buy some cleaning filament and run it through the the extruded before changing. No clogging wil occur.

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If you are looking at printers for around $1000 or less, the Wanhao Duplicator 6 also deserves a look. It’s a Zortrax M200 clone that can be purchased for $799 (Less than half the price). It appears to have exceptional print quality, while the CraftBot plus print quality seems to be often described as just good.

I’ve looked closely at both machines, and while both look very good, I think I’m leaning in favor of the Duplicator 6.

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Hi there I am using Flash forge creator pro and have no problems yet. What if your customer wants to print in dual color like a logo in two colours ? Having dual extruder is a plus.

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