Not to throw a wrench into your plans but check out Raise3D. Their N2 is a solid printer and should be in the same price range. We have been printing with their N2 Plus for a year now and have had an N2 as well for a few months.
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i got the Rep2 upgraded to 2x, the only thing to check is the heated bedplate that have some imperfections and x Axis cable that is very stressed, but lastest are build better.
Mine prints well with PLA and ABS too… even without raft!
Looks like folks are using this forum to solicit. Is this allowed?
I’m sure I could spend all day casting for customers if it becomes a competitive marketing venue. I presume this is not in the spirit of its use.
Only wondering:)
I know. It’s pretty tacky. It’s the reason I never ask questions here. You have 10 sales people jumping on you.
Don’t buy makerbot.
Prusia I3 Mk2? (I don’t have it)
Printrbot play treated me good.
But yeah, don’t go makerbot. I took mine apart to salvage parts, and was only disappointed in the build quality.
I Concur makerwiz.
Note that there is a new desktop to prepare prints on the new Replicator+ series; Makerbot Print. For the moment it is early in its versions; so the ability to create any substantial custom profiles is pretty limited to the typical defaults. But that will be coming as updates and will eventually be a great slicer in my opinion. It still does a good job as far as the defaults are concerned
The new desktop was created because, and again I’m no tech geek, the original slicer had reached the limit of its potential; as it was described in simple terms for me.
One really cool development is this new desktop will work with native files - Solid Works and stuff. Import and print. Great for folks like me.
As far as quality - I have no experience with Lulzbot - my Rep+ prints have been coming out with the quality I’ve come to expect. But that stuff is relative.
It’s hard even for me to find forums where you have at least a fair expectation of objective feedback.
Cheers
Makerbot has their new Tough PLA product. It’s got some characteristics similar to ABS. It does however require a separate version of the Smart Extruder+.
I’ve never used it but I’m hearing reports that it is meeting expectations.
Only in Gray at the moment:(
What was your experience with your Makerbot? Did you work the Rep 5; using the latest updates and the upgraded versions of the extruder (before the Smart Ex’s)?
Thanks,
a top level comparison:
https://www.productchart.com/3d\_printers/10766\_vs\_6799
I have a makerbot 5th gen and it sucks on larger builds. On top of that Makerbot owes me a filament that they refused to send me, even after proving purchase and emails, many many emails. I have three smart extruder heads (they seem fragile for this generation, might have improved since). Just a heads up, no heated bed will make a world of difference. I would suggest a Rostock (my new baby) and it’s day and night difference.
https://www.productchart.com/3d\_printers/9270\_vs\_6336
I haven’t heard much about Raise3d.
If I may interject as well, Zortrax offers a great little workhorse printer that provides great looking prints in the M200 for under $2k USD.
Thanks,
Tom
Hi Bradley, I’ll echo what Makerwiz said, which is exactly right - the Replicator+ will allow for an easy user experience and high reliability, with quick setup to printing. The Lulzbot allows for more tweaking and fine tuning, but will likely require tweaking and troubleshooting from print to print. The best choice for you would depend on your intended use and desired experience, etc. Best, -Matt
Do NOT get a makerbot, its overpriced for what it does. It can ONLY print pla. It has no heated bed, so PLA will possibly have warped corners also. The Lulzbot has a heated bed with PEI that can print PLA easily. It can also print a variety of other materials such as ABS, nylon, PETG, T-glase, all of which need a heated bed. You can also swap the extruder to print flexible materials.
Also with the Lulzbot everything is open source. SO if a part fails you can easily source it using their provided documentation. Makerbot you are stuck buying from them and hoping it is still supported. Lulzbot also builds all their printers here in the USA and not China.
And on software - just grab a license of Simplify3D. In my opinion, this makes printing on any machine a breeze and is worth the investment.
replicator 5. Before the smart extruder +. But many many issues. The extruder is not mounted to the XY axis well. The bed probe system is just a bad idea. The bed leveling system is bad (I am talking the screw knobs). The Z axis is janky. And that swappable extruder… I don’t even speak of that thing. No heated bed. No way to add a heated bed. No way to modify anything I had a gripe with.
We put a lot of work and love into the design, documentation, and user experience of LulzBot 3D printers. Most new users are able to progress from a sealed box to their first 3D printed rocktopus in about an hour. Need help? Our highly-praised technical support team is available 24/7, through email or over the phone.
How reliable are LulzBot 3D printers? Our LulzBot 3D printer cluster runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to manufacture our 3D printed parts. With millions of hours and over 1.5 million production-grade parts, LulzBot 3D printers are engineered to be dependable. LulzBot is the only 3D printer company recognized with both the “Respects Your Freedom” award by the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Hardware certification by the Open Source Hardware Association.
In addition to the included one year warranty and support period we also include Cura LulzBot Edition with built-in slicing profiles for over 30 different filament options, with more to come. Reach out to our sales department by sending an email to Sales@LulzBot.com if you have more questions, or visit LulzBot.com/store/printers 2 to learn more!
Here’s my opinion as an owner of 11 different 3D Printers (2 RoStock’s, 5 CTC’s, 1 MakerBot+'s, 3 Prusa i3’s).
#1 - In my personal opinion, MakerBot is vastly overpriced for what they deliver. We’ve experienced non-stop jamming on the Smart Extruder+ and it costs a fortune ($100+) for replacements, compared to $9 for a new heating block and nozzle on any other machine. If the nozzle is clogged you cannot disassemble the extruder. Also there is a limited ability to upgrade the new MakerBot series compared to previous models. The original MakerBot was (and still is) a great machine, but I don’t personally care for the new series of printers or the direction of the company.
#2 - Lulzbot and others are good machines. I don’t have much experience or have a preference on these but I’ve always heard good things - as long as you’re ready to do a little learning.
#3 - Personally, I still love buying CTC Bizer’s (clones of the original MakerBot) for $350.00 on eBay. The machines run great, and if you’re willing to invest the time into printing a few upgraded parts and doing some small mods, you’ll have a machine that rivals the print quality of Ultimakers along with Dual Extruders, a Heated Bed, etc. I use these as my workhorses.
#4 - The Prusa i3 MK2’s are awesome - we bought one and love it. High print quality and it is the most popular 3D Printer it the world.
I also have a ctc, but The QIDI tech I bought is an all metal version of the ctc already enclosed and upgraded (if you will), all metal gears, heated build ect… around six hundred after shipping. Also I have heard great things about the Prusa I3, but I do not own one… My little QIDI is a reliable little work horse :), and after running a ptfe tube through the drive block I print everything but pc on this machine.
Hi
If it helps we’ve been working on 3d hubs for some time and we would swear by the Taz 5/6 models, they are a great workhorse printer which achive everything you need for most 3d print applications and more.
With Taz you can tweak it, dual extruders, flexi extruders, flexi and solid extruder (dual head) and now also the MOARstruder head (basically big, fast jobs = 24 hours prints at reasonably resolution in 5 hours!).
We have over a few years of pretty much constant printing had to do little/no maintenance on the printers, and they have a better material library and bigger build bed than I’ve managed to find anywhere else for the same all round capability of the machine.
The Taz will run 4-5 day prints on it’s own with no worries and will do really good quality prints and more importantly it’ll do all this out of the box and consistantly.
If you want any more info happy to help out.
Regards
Mi.
Makerbot has put out some shoddy products in the last couple of years. The Lulzbot Taz 6 uses a 0.5 mm nozzle I believe. You loose some fine detail in printing with that nozzle but you can change it. I would recommend the Makergear M2. I have 2 of them and they have been relatively bulletproof. The quality of the print is amazing. The printer uses a 0.35 mm nozzle. I would opt for the stainless steel nozzles as they are far easier to keep clean and keep from clogging. On one of my printers I am using a 0.5 mm nozzle. Other than having to increase the printer temperature it prints fine with this nozzle. The support from Makergear has been first rate. I receive a response to questions or issues promptly.