Looking for 3D printer for the office - budget under £10,000 - $15,000

gooner442 · 2015-09-14T13:24:47.000Z

Hey all,

I’m working at a landscape architects and we’re looking to buy a 3D printer, we’ll be looking to print schemes and possibly various single elements such as bespoke benches/features etc

I’m a 3D visualiser here but really not sure what to look for in a printer, there is such a wide range and presumably the quality differs massively.

We’ve a budget of £10,000 ($15,000), looking for as large build volume as possible, of course I understand that that must be balanced so it doesn’t compromise too much on quality, the Gigabot below has a build volume of 60x60x60 and the Makerbot Z18 has 30.5x30.5x45.7

We have been looking at the 2 below but completely open to opinion and if anyone’s been using a printer in-house that you’re happy with and fits what we’re looking for please let me know.

GIGABOT - http://www.re3d.org/gigabot/
Makerbot Replicator Z18 - http://www.printme3d.com/3dprinters/makerbot/makerbot-z18.html

Thanks,

Martin

MB3D · 2015-09-14T17:16:54.000Z

Creatr XL by leapfrog TAZ 5 by lulzbot Stacker by Stacker 3d Those are alternatives that you might consider.

KuL3D · 2015-09-14T17:37:28.000Z

I would definitely advise against getting any 5th gen Makerbot printers… Their quality is seriously lacking, and lots of people can’t even get a single successful print out of them due to the terrible design of the “Smart Extruder.”

If you want a printer with a similar footprint at a way better price, maybe you could go with the 12" Makerfarm Prusa i3v. It IS a kit, but the quality of the construction is great, and it blows a lot of other desktop printers out of the water in terms of print capabilities. And, with your budget, you could buy 10!

Here’s a link to it: makerfarm.com

Sgonzalez · 2015-09-14T17:44:04.000Z

I have some MakerBot replicator 1 and 2s for sale

Nikki · 2015-09-14T20:21:33.000Z

Hey Martin @gooner442, if you haven’t checked out our 2015 3D Hubs Printer Guide I’d recommend having a click through that too. @Paul_71 can keep you posted on updates to this.

gooner442 · 2015-09-15T10:55:11.000Z

Thanks all for your help, Nikkie, the Big Builder Dual Feed and the Type A Machine Series look interesting on your guide, I think it’s very important that we have a large build area. Thanks for the advice KuL3d, I’ve also seen a few things about the Z18 which is making me question whether it would be a bad choice. The 12" Makerfarm Prusa i3v looks great!.. do you know if it’s been well reviewed?, it could be an idea just to buy one and if it does a good job we could get a couple more!.. MB3d, I’m checking out those printers as well, the Stacker looks interesting, I’ll try and find some reviews.

gooner442 · 2015-09-15T11:59:33.000Z

I would really like to propose 2/3 printers to my boss, the first would be the 12" Makerfarm Prusa i3v, though my boss may prefer to have a printer that’s ready to go so I need alternatives, possibly one in the 3k range and then if there are any worth going for up to 10k. Is it worth going to 10k?, I don’t see huge differences in this range, would it only make a real difference if we were going to industry printers of around 20k?, I’m still checking out the recommendations, please let me know if there are any more I should look at.

iCloud · 2015-09-15T14:30:34.000Z

I would also highly recommend staying clear of makerbots new line there own printers the stratasys line is much better but their cheapest printer is the max for your budget I would have to recommend ctc machines as I own one but they can only build 220x170x150 but they are only $500 for dual extrusion and heated bed is not bad at all if you want something small and many and the quality is up to par of some sub $5000 desktop printers if you know what your doing if you have a look on my hub all my items are printed on a ctc and I have well over 1000 hours on my machine and something like 2000m of filament on each extruder

KuL3D · 2015-09-15T14:41:43.000Z

It’s a great printer! It’s my work horse at home (which I use constantly), and it’s so great we’re getting one at work as well. Here are some reviews for the more common 8" Makerfarm Prusa (exact same design, just a smaller frame): Daftar BO Togel Terpercaya | Bandar Togel Deposit 10000 Terbaik 2022

Also, it may be a kit, but it’s by far the fastest I’ve had to build (not a headache like some deltas). It only took me 4 hours to go from start to finish!

Another nice thing is that it’s super customizable. You can check out my Thingiverse page for a couple upgrades that come in handy: Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects

I’d also be happy to help you through any issues you may have during assembly… And Colin at Makerfarm is amazing with customer service.

Joseph_Romano · 2015-09-15T15:06:23.000Z

I’d also look at Maker Tool Works. Unless you have a spare 30+ hours for building, I’d suggest getting the assembled ones. They have a few different options, and I prefer the V-Rail over Linear-bearings. I completely agree with the others when they say stay clear from Makerbot. Our 2X has had nothing but problems. I think the maintenance is longer than the print times… and we only have 500 print hours on her (we bought it last year). Microcenter’s Powerspec Pro has outperformed it, and is 1/3 of the price. Though, it is starting to act up from time to time. I think that one has more print hours (we bought it in January).

I’ve also owned a Solidoodle, and they’ve clearly gone downhill. Sold that sucker a couple months after I bought it.

I like the MW MendelMax 3 because it is V-Rail, Durable (for a printer), has E3D V6 hotends, very detailed, and a large build volume. It was $1,500. Just my 2 cents.

KuL3D · 2015-09-15T15:18:52.000Z

Sounds like you’ve only had experience with poorly designed kits… I normally wouldn’t recommend a kit printer for a beginner, but Makerfarm’s printers only take 4-8 hours. It’s just the most economical way to get that much build volume that I’ve seen anywhere.

Maker Tool Works also isn’t a bad choice.

Joseph_Romano · 2015-09-15T17:22:55.000Z

The MM3 Is actually designed to take that long, sadly. Too many T-nuts and bolts for the extrusions IMHO. But, good luck making that printer shake while printing!

Their new sub-$1000 assembly looks promising. I believe that one is 8x9x8".

gooner442 · 2015-09-16T08:10:47.000Z

Can anybody else tell me anything more about any of these printers? - I’ve looked into them but always better to hear a users experience

iCloud · 2015-09-16T08:13:48.000Z

If you can cover postage send me a small file on my hub and I’ll send you a sample print for free

gooner442 · 2015-09-16T08:18:09.000Z

thank you for the offer, on which of those printers could you do a sample?.. and where are you based?

iCloud · 2015-09-16T08:24:04.000Z

CTC 3D and based in the uk

gooner442 · 2015-09-16T08:26:33.000Z

Sorry, which printer is that?, I haven’t seen that printer mentioned yet in this discussion

iCloud · 2015-09-16T08:30:30.000Z

I mentioned it further down, if you take a look on my hub there are some photos of the machine

gooner442 · 2015-09-16T08:41:36.000Z

Oh I’m sorry I missed that, I think the ctc would be too small for our needs, I think build volume is pretty important which makes the Creatr XL very interesting, as well as the Makerfarm Prusa i3v for it’s cost and the build volume is decent

iCloud · 2015-09-16T08:52:11.000Z

http://3dpunlimited.com/printer-options-specifications/ I would take a look at these guys then they make 1m by 1m I believe the size is with dual extrusion capabilities and heated bed