Which would you pick?

Hello everyone. I was wondering which printer you think I should get. They're both i3's, but they look quite different. One is assembled and one isn't. I have assembled a printrbot before, so I'm familiar with the concepts. Here they are and thank you for any answers: [www.ebay.com] and [www.ebay.com]

I'd stay away from anything built out of threaded rods.

One is an i3 design, the other an i2 design

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SteveRoy
One is an i3 design, the other an i2 design

Oh wow. Which one is an i2? Each one says it's an i3...

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the_digital_dentist
I'd stay away from anything built out of threaded rods.

Do both of them have threaded rods? If so, why are you against it? Thanks for the feedback.

The one from 2012hictech is a i3
The one from globalfreeshipping is an i2

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madmike8
The one from 2012hictech is a i3
The one from globalfreeshipping is an i2

Oh wow. I'm assuming the i3 is a lot better?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2015 09:51PM by fatesalign.

What about this: [www.3dprintersonlinestore.com] They even have an auto bed leveling for $40. Thanks for any feedback. Never heard of this retailer though.

I3 is current design and has twice the Z height comprared to the I2

I3 also easyer to setup, less parts

I would ignore mr "I hate threaded rods".. its just his opinion.. They work fine as main machine structure.

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Dust
I3 is current design and has twice the Z height comprared to the I2

I3 also easyer to setup, less parts

I would ignore mr "I hate threaded rods".. its just his opinion.. They work fine as main machine structure.

I appreciate it!

The threaded rod arrangement of the i2 requires a lot more adjustment to accurately set up.

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Ralph.Hilton
The threaded rod arrangement of the i2 requires a lot more adjustment to accurately set up.

I'm looking at an i3 right now, so that's good. Thank you.

I have bought two sunhockey i3's this year from them. www.3dprintersonlinestore.com. the support is good. the new acrylics are better. but still acrylic.took two weeks to arrive.but for 350 free shipping i cant complain.

I would encourage you to take a look at the E1x, it's my own design that is based mostly off of the i3 except it uses extrusion which is very cheap in the US. It's easier to assemble and calibrate than the single plate i3 in my experience and it's compatible with the i3 bed, has the standard X axis smooth rod spacing and also can use all the smooth rod off the i3 (if you are converting and stick to extrusion lengths in the BOM). There are a few people in IRC printing parts and building them, two people that I know have made a few parts for others are crunch and LoH.

Wiki page can be found here - http://www.reprap.org/wiki/E1x

If you decide to make one, please stick to the Github sources as I haven't had time to update any of the repositories.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2015 04:23PM by tjb1.

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tnert2003
I have bought two sunhockey i3's this year from them. www.3dprintersonlinestore.com. the support is good. the new acrylics are better. but still acrylic.took two weeks to arrive.but for 350 free shipping i cant complain.

Acrylic is never a good choice for a printer, it does not last.

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Please add your printer design to [reprap.org]

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tjb1

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tnert2003
I have bought two sunhockey i3's this year from them. www.3dprintersonlinestore.com. the support is good. the new acrylics are better. but still acrylic.took two weeks to arrive.but for 350 free shipping i cant complain.

Acrylic is never a good choice for a printer, it does not last.

Acrylic is just plastic right? I would think it would work.

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fatesalign

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the_digital_dentist
I'd stay away from anything built out of threaded rods.

Do both of them have threaded rods? If so, why are you against it? Thanks for the feedback.

If you have used nothing but computers that run Windows as the OS all your life, you think that constant security updates, frequent rebooting, frequent re-installation of the OS, frequent virus scans, and frequent crashing of the machine are all normal computer stuff.
3D printers are similar. If you're used to printers that have to be releveled and zeroed before each print and require constant tweaking and adjusting to keep them printing, you think that's normal for 3D printing. The market has been racing to the cheapest possible price point, compromising print quality and reliability with each downward step in price. What's the solution they came up with for frequent releveling and zeroing of the bed? Autotramming. Why? because adding a $5 sensor is cheaper than building a machine that doesn't require frequent adjustment. Why drive the Z axis screws with two motors? because it is cheaper than using one motor with a belt and pulleys/bearings. What do you suppose comes from doing everything the cheapest possible way? How often is the cheapest solution to a problem the best solution?

I've seen a lot of different hobby grade printers at the makerspace and used several of them and have found them to require constant maintenance, adjustment, and repairs to keep them running. I also know many kits made with threaded rod frames and laser cut plywood frames are available and many people have made them and print with them, and many people are satisfied with the quality they get from them and don't seem to mind all the adjusting and tweaking to get them to produce a half decent print (just like a lot of people don't mind Windows). You have to decide what level of print quality and the effort required to achieve that quality is acceptable to you.

Pretend you were going to build a printer from scratch. What would you do- copy a $300 machine or look at how professional/industrial machines are made and use as much of that as you could? Why do those industrial machines cost more? What does it take to optimize print quality/reliability? You're going to invest a lot of time and some money in a printer one way or the other. If you choose the path of quality you'll be spending the time and money up front to make a machine that works better. If you go cheap you'll be spending the time and money later to maintain, repair, and tune up the machine and getting it to print with the quality you get from cheap machines.

That's why I don't like machines with frames made of threaded rods...

I can understand that, but I guess the real question is why you have frequent rebooting, installation of os and crashes with Windows?

Can't say I agree completely with the dentist... We have a Stratasys at work that gets regular visits from a technician to keep it running good. I built a Funbot a month ago to set on my desk at work, other than leveling the bed the first time and changing spools I haven't done anything to it. Well I do touch up the glue on the bed every once in a while. My Ordbot ran pretty solid after I got the hotend sorted out. I just tore it down for a paint and some upgrades to make it nicer. Dual hotend / heatbed. It didn't need it though... Now the Smartrap I first built needed to be leveled / adjusted every time I moved it, but it was an early version of the design that didn't have a base. I had also extended it's build area past what it was designed for. Still printed great, but you did have to work with it if you moved it.

Now that said... Buying a cheap "kit" will pretty much ensure you get cheap parts. If you want to build a i3 then you might want to source the components yourself so that you know what your getting. If not, at least try to find someone that will stand behind what they sell. I think your doing good to ask questions before you purchase.

One more thing... Perspective...

I have a $500 home stereo, my friend has a $4k home stereo. Other than looking way cooler than mine and being way louder than mine, I can't really tell the difference sound wise. He says he can... I don't disbelieve him... I just don't have as good as ears as he does...

I don't need .04 layer height quality for what I use my printer for. I print most of my prints at .3 anyways... Other folks do... and sometimes they assume that everyone else does too... As sometimes I assume they don't... Even though a Porsche would be nice, my little Bug gets me back and forth to work just fine. It's your perspective...

My threaded-rod Mendel doesn't seem fiddly to me, and I don't have autolevel on it. My expectation is some OCD with initial setup goes a long way in avoiding the ongoing fiddliness. It makes sense that if it starts square it would stay square but if it starts with preload it would creep with heat/cool cycles and humidity variations.

ETA: And, of course, quality parts go a long way too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2015 12:02AM by IMBoring25.