As my earlier posts says, I’ve originally considered purchasing a Craftbot Plus, considering its price is within the amount of money I’m willing to spend on a 3d printer.
I did, however, just come across a dude selling his used Ultimaker 2 for 1500 dollars (Which is an insane steal). A new one ships for around 2900 dollars, which is far beyond the amount of cash I will ever manage to get for a 3d printer.
Would you guys still consider it worth to get the original Ultimaker 2, considering the new “+” version has come out? Wouldn’t it be possible to just add some of the new features of the + model, to the original Ultimaker 2, using 3d-printing?
i run an ultimaker 2 and have had it ~2 years i believe and its a workhorse! honestly nice as the + upgrades are… my um2 works just fine. yes i have debated upgrading but ive kept it mostly stock minus the olsson block + 3d printed fan shroud and getting one of those cupped mk7 or 8 (cant remember!) feed wheels for filament. honestly if you can get one… itll treat ya well! the figure is 1/48 scale and all parts done on um2
You can upgrade the essential parts, heater, block with exchangeable nozzles and I think also feeder at 3dsolex.
The only thing they dont have is the fan shroud. ( not very important!).
In my honest opinion, despite how great a brand Ultimaker is, settle for price vs build volume and filament accessibility.
UM is all 2.85mm (3mm) and not many specialty filaments are 3mm (apart from pricy colorfabb).
source: I’ve had a UMO for over 2 years and i’ve modded it so much.
At that price though, i’d recommend it if nothing is wrong.
You are good to go with a UM 2. You can add whatever you want. Open source makes for easy fixes. I have NO idea what the person is saying as far as not many specialty filaments in 3mm (2.85 is what you want.) I have yet to find one specialty filament that isn’t produced in 3mm.
I love my UMO’s and UM2’s more than my Airwolf3dHD’s, Lulzbots, Modded 3m Robos…
The Ultimaker 2 is definitely a workhorse but I would want to know the runtime hours ahead of time, just to see how much wear and tear is on it. In normal operating conditions I say anything under 500-700 hours would be a steal for 1500. And as others have pointed out, The upgrade nozzle is quite affordable, especially when you consider your investment.
Oh, and get them to print a random small item of your choice if you’re serious about your purchase, that will confirm if everything is working.
I would deffo get the ulty 2 then get the upgrade kit when you can afford it, as this massivley improves things including blocked and interchangeable nozzles, . try ebay and gumtree for a 2nd hand ulty 2 also.
At least here in Europe, I’m yet to find a specialty filament that isn’t available in 2.85mm (“3mm”). - Then again, I only buy high-quality filament as it is better for the printer and saves money with basically 0 failed prints, so it may be that some brands I don’t even consider may only make 1.75mm filament.
