Day 3 of our community talks with the 3D Printer Guide finalists in the KIT/ DIY category focuses on the Rostock Max, Mendel 90, Kossel and Ultimaker Original+ models.
If you have any questions for the manufacturers, other owners or if there’s anything you want to share with us that we haven’t addressed in the guide, then leave a comment below.
Let’s Talk!
Hey @artexmg @Oscar_10 @Brandon_4 @Christopher_1 @Jim_12 @cester @Nakcam @Lukelektro @Umake @James_2 @Ikki @Patola @elmuchacho @CopabX any thoughts on this?
@gabriela3d - curious how the UMO printer had a con of “running cost” - you put filament in and get a model out so the only consumable is filament - same as all the other printers, except you don’t have to use a raft or brim, or skirt …
I guess we all tend to get to know our own printers best - but so far I have found the UMO fairly bullet proof - recently had a failure of the bowden at the feeder end - and just took the thing apart and swapped the wood pieces around - problem fixed!
It is a tinkerer’s machine, but I use it professionally and to print for others and it is a real worker!
James
IMHO If you require a machine to print accurate dimension, delta like the Kossel are the most challenging to calibrate. The smallest error in tower twisting, printed part or rod length and you will have trouble printing accurately sized object at different size. But if accuracy is a secondary requirement they actually print faster than my cartesian with a much better surface finish and this is great when you need them to print a most decors like objects. The Kossel is definitely worth considering when selecting a printer for the simple and good reason of the massive 23cm build height it offer for such a small footprint on your desk.
Well ‘bullet proof’ basically says it all Thanks for sharing this with us, James! I’m sure that many UMO owners agree withy you.
As the guide showed, Kossel is a favourite with many - functional and cost effective. Thanks for sharing, elmuchacho!
Of my 4 printers (expecting a 5th child soon) I’d have to rate the Kossel as my favorite because of print speed and because it looks so damn cool. There isn’t a huge time advantage on small parts < 1 hour because of acceleration (you can’t hit 100mph backing out of your driveway). However on large parts I’ve seen the advantage to be up to 2 hours faster than my Ultimaker Original. The additional speed also allows it to overcome the retraction problem that plagues many bowden type printers.
I agree with @elmuchacho that delta-style printers are very difficult to calibrate, but once calibrated the Kossel is fairly bulletproof if you didn’t cheap out on parts. I carried mine from NJ on a bus, subway, and 5 blocks of walking and didn’t have to change my settings afterwards.
From my personal experience, I’ve always had trouble with the Ultimaker bowden setup, but since I built my own that might be a moot point with the real kits. However, the cantilever bed is notoriously inconsistent and your initial z might change throughout the day as the bed heats up (if you used plastic parts that is). On a plus side, the enclosed frame makes it very easy to convert it to a heated chamber which makes it my only truly ABS capable printer.
From what I can see, the Mendel90 is similar to the Prusa i3 in terms of structure so I’ll comment on my i3 experiences. My i3 is the most accurate of the bunch but also the most delicate. To really get good prints with a printer built from threaded rods, I had to bolt the frame to a piece of plywood. Once I did that, I could calibrate it without having to worry about losing settings if I moved it from my dining room to my living room. Now it prints within 0.04mm accuracy.
So just a quick summary for each (feel free to comment if you disagree)
Kossel (0.2mm accuracy)
Pros:
- Print speed
- Can be modified to be a pick and place machine
- Durable frame
Cons:
- Cannot handle large prints (XY)
- Difficult to calibrate for beginners, but definitely possible
- Hard to convert to a heated chamber
Ulitmaker Original: (0.1mm accuracy)
Pros:
- Enclosed frame --> heated chamber --> ABS
- Laser cutter friendly build
Cons:
- Cantilever bed prone to warping/bouncing
- Bowden?
- For some reason, I cannot get quality fast prints so it set significantly slower than the Kossel
Prusa i3: (0.04mm accuracy)
Pros:
- Easy to calibrate all parts
- Dimensionally accurate parts
- Direct extruder --> superior retraction and easy filament changes
Cons:
- Threaded rod frame weak, requires modifications
I can’t really agree with @CopabX that the Mendel90 is equal to the Prusa I3 in terms of structure. The Mendel90 does not use rods for it’s frame only for the z-axis. Second improvement over the Prusa is the use of flat cables avoiding the chaotic look of Prusa style printers with all the swirling and loose cables.
I have no experience with Delta style printers altough I want to build a mini- kossel. The 2 advantages for the Delta style printers is height and faster print speeds altough I am not really convinced with this last one because in my opinion the print speed is not limited because of technical reasons but by print quality. Alltough my Mendel90 can print on 70 or 80 mm/s I will never do it because the print quality is less compared to 60 or 50mm/s.
Delta style printers have a static heatbed so they don’t swing the printed part back and forth, which is a great advantage. However they also vibrate a lot, if you can solve that problem you’'ll have assured quality. The effector is naturally faster than a common cartesian printer.
As for the prusa vs. mendel90 issue, I am not sure the flat frames will give the stifness it promises. My chromated rods are pretty sturdy and regular, thank you.
hello elmuchacho, i have setup by github the files from the guide .
you can download it there .: GitHub - MD3DD/Calibrationguide-Delta-and-others: An guide for calibrate the delta and other printers ,it is written in the Marlin ,for direkt working proces . 1
cheers md3dd
