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I teach a high school design class. We currently have one Robo3D R1 printer. I am interested in purchasing 5 more printers for my classroom. My budget is about $1000 per printer.

Some background… We have 35 students in the class. We normally are in groups of 6 working on industrial design projects. Students have access to Autodesk 2016 software and Aspire 8.

I would like to be able to print ninja flex, and water soluble support. I would like to try other things like nylon etc…

After doing some research, I have come to the conclusion that the Flashforge Creator Pro is what I should purchase. I know I will need to do some upgrades to print flexible filaments…

Thoughts?

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These are a must have for flex filaments FlashForge Creator/Pro/X/Dreamer Extruder plastic. Works with Flex Filament. Also works with the Monoprice 3d printer and MicroCenter's PowerSpec. Now compatible with CTC with new version. by jfkansas - Thingiverse. Coated nozzles from p3-d.com or micro-swiss.com help flex filaments also. Micro Swiss all metal hot end isn’t recommended for flex filaments, but their PTFE lined nozzles work fine. Consider MicroCenter’s PowerSpec Pro line of printers. They are made by FlashForge but carry a much better price. There are some upgrades that are needed, but they still don’t add up to the cost of a Creator Pro.

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I am printing with Ninjaflex right now on a standard Flashforge Creator Pro. You do need to dial in the settings but it’s up and running over here… About nylon I don’t know.

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I am a dealer in Canada for FF and the schools here love the Creator Pro. Jason is right on the necessity to change out the feeder block to avoid jamming; it’s really not all that difficult to do. We have done a special blend Polycarbonate with our Creator Pro’s and it has worked very nicely as the hot end can reach 280°C. You would be hard pressed to find a plastic that it cannot handle. I think you would have to work with FFUSA to get a special deal on Creator Pro’s specifically, but definitely get in touch with them. We have a couple of Creator Pro’s that are over 2000 continuous run-time hours, so there is no question that they are a good printer. Here is the contact I have for FFUSA. Johnny Lam, (855) 243.9838.

Cheers,

Chris

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Unfortunately there aren’t too many great dual extrusion printers out there. Right now the /SeeMeCNC Orion is on sale for $1050 which is a great price for it. Since they’re built right near Elkhart it’d be a breeze to have them serviced should anything come up.