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If your near Langley I’ll show you the diffrence between a hobbie printer and a professional grade printer my home is my studio your always welcome. Motion machines inc.
Hi,
When I first started I didn’t know much either. I ended up getting a Duplicator 4x. It has good print quality (100 microns) and can print up to 150mm/s. It is very plug and play but has to be used with makerware. I would recommend downloading it and trying it (it’s free). I have only had one problem when the heating element went after about 1000 hours. It was about £15 to fix and was pretty easy, even for a novice. Finally you can get it for about £550 on wanhao uk website. It’s a good value for money replicator dual clone. http://www.wanhaouk.com/collections/frontpage/products/wanhao-duplicator-4x-clear-case.
Also at my school we have a Ultimaker 2 it seems very easy to use and is very ‘plug and play’ with low, standard and high settings as standard. However you can also change to advanced settings and have full control. That uses Cura, also free, so try that as well. Also this one is open source.
As for filament you are printing in your bedroom like me so use pla as it does not smell. ABS stinks and makes me feel drowsy. Also try some of the colorfabb special filaments, it’s great!
Hi again !
Regarding my point of visiting a hub, may i ask you for where you are living ?
You could take a look at my hub nearly everytime. I’m living in NRW, Germany.
-Marius
Hi Jaewon,
There are a lot of different options, and ultimately it will come down to what you expect from your printer and how much you value your time vs. how much money you wish to invest in the printer.
If cost is less important than your time, you want something that will be reliable, and you don’t want to tinker with it at all, then the cube (3rd gen or pro) would probably be your best bet. You will be limited to the materials that 3D systems sells though, as the cartridges are proprietary, however, one advantage of this is that the print nozzle is actually part of the filament spool, so if it clogs, you will lose the remainder of the spool, but fixing the problem is as simple as replacing the spool. The cube 3rd gen is reasonably priced, can use two materials at the same time, is stand alone so you don’t need to have it hooked to a computer all the time (it even has an android/iphone app), and is designed to be as easy to use as possible (which may limit you when you become more familiar with the process, but will make starting easier).
If cost is not an issue, and you have lots of time to tinker, aren’t in a rush to use it out of the box, and want as much versatility as possible, then I would recommend the spiderbot with the dual extruder option. The spiderbot is a delta printer, which uses magnetic ball joints for zero backlash, so it is able to acheive very high accuracy and precision, and the new dual extruder design which rotates the inactive nozzle out of the way ensures that it won’t contaminate or disturb your print (a very common problem with other dual nozzle printers). With all options, to allow for dual extrusion and autonomous printing, heated build environment, etc it is ~$2700US before shipping (more if you want it pre-assembled). I actually recommend you assemble it yourself, as you will then have a better understanding of how the machine works, and how to fix problems that occur.
If you are on a budget, there are a couple of options based on how much you want to tinker, and where you are located. Solidoodle makes some nice budget printers, which work out of the box. The SD 4 and workbench series are also relatively easy to modify, so once you get more familiar with the printer, you have the option to install your own upgrades such as an E3D hotend (highly recommended). Another option is the XYZPrinting DaVinci, which is a surprisingly good platform, for a budget price (~$6-700). Unfortunately it comes set up to only accept their proprietary filament cartridges, but there are tutorials online for how to modify the firmware to accept generic filament. In the process, you also replace the stock firmware with newer, more capable open source firmware. This is not a simple process unfortunately, so if you aren’t willing to void your warranty, and get your hands dirty, I would not recommend the DaVinci on its own merits.
As for filament, this will depend on your choice of printer. I use a Solidoodle 2, which I have had for two years now and made many modifications to, and it is capable of working with most 1.75mm filaments on the market. Depending on where you live, the best source for filaments will vary (mostly due to price of shipping). In Canada I have had good experiences with filaments.ca and revolution printers.
Let me know if you have any more questions,
Kimball
Hey Jaewon,
If you’re interested in the Ultimaker 2 and it’s in your budget then I really don’t think you could do much better for a start in 3D printing. There are cheaper printers that give results that are at least as good but, TBH, the whole package is really attractive with Ultimaker and it’s a great, reliable printer. Don’t worry about software to run your printer. Curt will do it all for you. Of course, you’ll need a design workflow of some kind and there’s a whole world of different packages, depending on your competency, what you’re intending to design and whether you want to buy it or go open-source. I started with Google ( now Trimble ) Sketchup a long time ago and, while it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that some packages, it’s a good place to start. Not a bad idea to have a look at Tinkered either but, as I say, there are loads of packages out there. Most current ( PC and Mac ) computers will run the software you’ll need, unless you’re intending to do 3D scanning too, in which case, something that’d be good for gaming will be better. I run a MacBook Pro and have no difficulty with anything but the biggest of scan files.
I’d say it’s pretty safe to print in your bedroom. Many people do. If you’re really concerned about fumes it’s probably best to stick with printing in PLA, as opposed to ABS.
Cheers,
AndyL
Hi Marius,
Thank you for your invitation, but I live in Vancouver, Canada. haha.
Actually I tripped Germany in 2004 and really wish to visit again.
Again, thank you so much for your concern.
Jaewon
Canada to Germany night be a little long an wet for a roadtrip. 
Thank you for your invitation. I’m in fleetwood Surrey. I’ll visit your place soon. ^^
If you are interested in meeting some active 3D printer owners, and see some printers in action, there will be a 3D printer demo on March 14th at the Langley Public Library from 2-4pm.
20399 Douglas Crescent
Langley, BC V3A 4B3
Phone (604) 514-2850
This is organized through the 3D604 google group, which is another excellent resource for 3D printing in the Vancouver area.