New to 3D Printing, Looking for a Printer

I've been interested in 3D Printing for awhile and I've been looking online and there a lot of different options to choose from and i was wondering if you guys could recommend a good printer for me and a reputable place to purchase from. I'm looking to spend around $700-1000 for a complete printer, it doesn't need to be assembled. I'm just looking to start as a hobby at first but i would like something that prints with really good quality and detail. What would you recommend and where to purchase from? Also I'm in the USA and would like to purchase from a company that ships from the USA.

I recommend Nophead's Mendel90. He ships from the UK but it's no problem. The kit and instructions are awesome and he gives excellent support on this RepRap forum. You will have fun building the machine and it prints deadly once you learn how to use it.

Sent you a PM...

I'll second the reccomendation for Mendel90. Nophead was printing and selling plastic parts 24x7 before most of us even heard of reprap. He has a lot of experience and it shows in his design. Other popular kits include Prusa I3, and ReprapPro mendel. All three of these guys are early adopters and gave a lot to the community. Adrian Bowyer is of course the legend that started it all. He is the one that started ReprapPro. Joseph Prusa gave us the Prusa mendel variants that simplified the original Mendel design by orders of magnitude. I've also heard good things about the MendelMax over at http://www.makerstoolworks.com/, and Makergear. There are too many others to list but these are some that have been around the block and have good reputations that I know of.

What about the Prusa i3 10" V Slot from Makerfarm.com? Any word on ordering from makerfarm, they a good company?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2014 05:20PM by mbauman89.

I haven't personally had much interaction with makerfarm but if I recall, they've been around a while and I think they are reputable. You could try a quick forum search and see what others are saying. Their V-slot prusa I3 looks nice to me.

Bryan

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2014 05:33PM by bryanandaimee.

What would you guys choose?
1- Prusa i3 V Slot 10" from MakerFarm.com
2- Mini Kossel Full DIY Kit from MakerGeeks.com
3- Prusa i3 Full DIY Kit from MakerGeeks.com
4- MendelMax 1.5 Printer Kit from MakerGeeks.com and the Get Started 3D Printing Kit from MakerGeeks.com

Also does number 4 include everything i would need to build a complete printer?
And id appreciate any other opinions.

Out of those I would go for 1. first for the extra build size at little extra cost. The mini kossel is a good machine for speed but the build area is smaller than the other machines.
I would add a recommendation, as others have done, for Nophead's Mendel90.

#1 I don't like wood in my printers, it warps and can reverberate noise.
#4 is only plastics, nothing else. Expect it to cost more than the Kossel by the time you're done.

#2 Small. Not a bad priced for a mini Kossel. If it fits what you want, it's not bad. Solid kit, with few moving parts to wear out.
#3 Probably the best all around. It won't warp, not expensive, and is a complete kit. Solid kit, but will suffer wear and tear as time goes on, as all cartesians do.

You may want to look at the Ultibots V-slot Kossel as well. It can be easily modded for a slightly taller build area. Just swap the extruder, and use a std. Kossel Mini effector, all of which can be made with that machine.

Have a look at the MendelMax 1.5 sold by Ultibots.com. The pricing is good and you get a lot more for your money. They are in Florida and usually have units in stock. I have one and they are excellent units. His support is second to none, and will either answer your emails or call you.

Milt

You might also consider an Ormerod 2 kit. The electronics has way more processing power than the other printers mentioned, enough to support a web interface which is much better than serial control via Pronterface etc. It's also not difficult to convert to 2 colour printing.

---

Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Ok ive made up my mind... well kinda lol
Its between the MakerGeeks Mini Kossel or the MakerGeeks Prusa i3 8in. I really like the Mini Kossel the only thing im kinda worried about is the build size... does anyone offer a bigger version? Which do you think would have better print quality and best consistency/reliability? Is there any good upgrades i could do to either off the start to make either of them better? Thanks guys for all the help!

Or what about a FlashForge Creator Dual Extrusion for $780?

Quote
mbauman89
Ok ive made up my mind... well kinda lol
Its between the MakerGeeks Mini Kossel or the MakerGeeks Prusa i3 8in. I really like the Mini Kossel the only thing im kinda worried about is the build size... does anyone offer a bigger version? Which do you think would have better print quality and best consistency/reliability? Is there any good upgrades i could do to either off the start to make either of them better? Thanks guys for all the help!

SeeMeCNC makes a 300mm delta. I don't like the wood, but it's a capable machine.


And since you asked for alternatives, how big do you want?
We, (Griffin), make a MUCH bigger (and smaller) delta, we go up to an 18in print bed (you could even cram a 20in bed on it). We just completed a (successful) Kickstarter and are still setting up our web store. Unfortunately, it will be a few weeks before you can get one in your hands, but if you are near St. Louis you can come see them (all three will be at Arch Reactor on Friday). As for upgrading it, the only thing it really lacks is a heated bed, which we are working on for the two smaller sizes. Everything else is there, or just personal preference (like all metal hot end or magnetic diagonals).

I am also new to 3D printing. Having done lots of research, I am going to get the MakerFarm i3v 10" version end of this week. You get a very complete kit including fancy things like spool holder, display for standalone printing and the V slot mechanism for the sliding parts.

Besides that, the company's support seems to be great to me - asking even simple questions without being a customer (yet) you get detailled and fast replies.

I've had bad luck with MakeGeeks. Very late shipments, missing parts, wrong parts, incompatible parts. 3 months since I ordered the mini kossel now without a working printer.

This thread is somewhat older, but I wanted to follow up since I have been working on a makergeeks mini kossel build and am pretty frustrated with the quality and workability of the included options. I know of at least one other user who had issues getting the kit to work. Did those folks who ordered these have any better luck?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2014 02:55PM by Bogofoo.