Hey Logan,
I recently purchased a simple metal printrbot and I love it. There are so many possible upgrades and it really gives a special 3D printing experience. It’s sort of the whole “3D printing experience package”. At least that’s what I think.
Happy printing!
Hey Logan,
I have two Printrbot Simple Metals. I bought the first one as a kit and loved it so much that I bought a second one and upgraded them both with heated beds. I can’t speak on the Simple Maker’s Kit, but the Simple Metal Kit is really outstanding.
I have had the 1401 for over a year now and love it. There is a small group of around 20+ people in my community and all have the 1401 or 1405. I have no problems with mine at all. The only adjustments I had/have had to make was turning down the potentiometer for the extruder motor so it wouldn’t overheat & plug up the nozzle, and adjusting the bed leveling or tightening a screw here and there . The calibration on mine was spot on after it was put together. I haven’t made any adjustments to it since. I wish it had a larger x/y print area but I have seen some good modifications within our group to upgrade that. The guys that manage our group also have a couple of MakerBots and they prefer the Printrbots over them for reliability and print quality.
Wow, thanks for the info! At my school I use the Makerbot Rep 2 way more than the Ultimaker 2 because it’s more reliable, so if the Printrbot is even better, that will rock!
I just jumped on a deal and now there is a Printrbot Simple Maker’s (1405) Kit on its way to me. I have a REP1 and plan on printing as much as I can for it. Good tips here so far… Anyone install a E3D hot end in theirs? I would like to keep my hot ends similar to the MK7/8 on my MB so some parts can be compatible.
Thanks Marc,
In addition; the heated bed upgrade makes the printer so much better as well. For 99$ or even less if you build your own heated bed upgrade the prints are even better. I recently upgraded my machine after 9 months and it adds much more stability especially when you are experimenting with special filaments. My prints are on par with much more expensive machines such as the Ultimaker 2 and the Replicator 2 machines for a fraction of the price.
If you are just starting out with 3D printing and want to do it without too much hickups, the PrintrBot is the way to go. Do you want to tinker a bit and learn much more ? Go buy the wooden maker kit and upgrade over the course of time. If you’d start with a solid base (pun intended), go for the metal kit for a fraction more of the price.
In relation to upgrades: check the PrintrBot talk forum and the topics between the simple metal and the maker kit. Depending of the type of user you are you decided pretty quickly which one is the best fit for you. There are plenty of users that have made both for the metal or maker Printrbot simple upgrades for both the x & y and z print dimensions. Even laser cutting addons and dual extrusion mounts
To keep it concise:
You can’t go wrong with either of them. PrintrBot has proven themselves over the years and its a great way to get into printing. Looking at all these reply’s its all fine, whatever choice you make in the end.
Good luck and have fun,
Ken
Got a metal kit (1403). It was great fun to put together, with the added benefit of a very good understanding of the machine. I had a great experience with ordering parts from printrbot, too. They have very good walk-throughs and tutorials both in video and static format. It has a large and active community.
The quality from the metal is astounding. The printer is also pretty upgradeable- new hot-ends, heated beds, etc.
IMO- I highly recommend Printrbot to get into printing.
I have the 1405 and i am extremely impressed with the quality for the price. If the 1405 is made correctly it can be pretty sturdy however the extra money is worth it for the metal. I have upgraded mine to a heated bed and added a much needed filament guide and a led holder. These are of my own design and can be found at my thingiverse page along with my other creations at Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects 3 The assembly is very easy and only takes around 6 or so hours. However calibration takes much longer. The z probe needs to be calibrated along with the extrusion multiplier. And you will also need to modify your printers firmware and change the autoleveling mode to grid. After i had made all of these changes i have prints that rival my schools Dimension BST printer by Stratasys or the ultimakers. although as with any 3d printer calibration is an ongoing thing. I am planning on making more mods in the future and sharing them and i would definently reccomend the printrbot simple model 1405.
good video messaging, display sharing, and also conferencing. slack for mac make use of the search feature to arrange through ,nice.
