Which 3D printer is easy and best for DIY for beginners.

I am planning on building a 3D printer own my own for the first time. I will be making all the joints, holders for rods etc. which 3D printer will be most easy to fabricate and also the best. Currently I think prusa i3 is easiest to build. which do you recommend and why ?

If you are new to 3d printing I would suggest buying an already built one unless you want to code calibrations and calculate belt lengths/spindle movements. I was new to it and got a lot of help from this forum but if I had not I would have spent 6 months trying to get it to work. I bought mine 2 weeks ago and I am now going into week 3 of getting it calibrated. Each time it gets closer then further away because modifying one thing changes another etc etc.

I bought this one and do not recommend it as its a rip off version of a Prusa I3.

[www.amazon.com]

That's almost identical to mine, except it was around $100 less expensive and I am very please with it [LINK]

If you get a plexiglass frame, do not force the fit of any of the nuts... you will crack the plexiglass!

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-David

Find me online at:
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Check out my FolgerTech Prusa i3 (plexi) at MindRealm.net

Many kits come with 3D printed parts, which would be difficult to produce if this is your first printer. Some of those kits come with really crappy 3d printed parts, too. mine was rather awful, such that most of what I've done with it so far is make imrpoved parts to make the printer better.

That said, you should be able to do an i3 with basic carpentry skills, particularly a box frame one (Which I'm considering doing, because the acrylic frame doesn't like to keep the Z axis as square as I'd like.)

I'm not sure if all of the i3 builds out there use the same overall dimensions, I made some careful measurements of mine, so that I could design better parts for it, while keeping the overall sizes the same. I'm fairly confident that I could have built an i3 with the measurements that I now have, but I'm still glad that I started with a kit.

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OO DURKE OO
If you are new to 3d printing I would suggest buying an already built one unless you want to code calibrations and calculate belt lengths/spindle movements. I was new to it and got a lot of help from this forum but if I had not I would have spent 6 months trying to get it to work. I bought mine 2 weeks ago and I am now going into week 3 of getting it calibrated. Each time it gets closer then further away because modifying one thing changes another etc etc.

I bought this one and do not recommend it as its a rip off version of a Prusa I3.

[www.amazon.com]

What calibrations are we talking about can you be more specific because as far as I can think design of rod holders etc don't set off any calibrations. Thank you for helping

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MindRealm
That's almost identical to mine, except it was around $100 less expensive and I am very please with it [LINK]

If you get a plexiglass frame, do not force the fit of any of the nuts... you will crack the plexiglass!

Thanks your is really cool and cheap as well thankx for motivating

Quote
OO DURKE OO
If you are new to 3d printing I would suggest buying an already built one unless you want to code calibrations and calculate belt lengths/spindle movements. I was new to it and got a lot of help from this forum but if I had not I would have spent 6 months trying to get it to work. I bought mine 2 weeks ago and I am now going into week 3 of getting it calibrated. Each time it gets closer then further away because modifying one thing changes another etc etc.

I bought this one and do not recommend it as its a rip off version of a Prusa I3.

[www.amazon.com]

One more thing in my country 3D printer kits are very costly. Even more costly than the one you bought. So I want to build my own, have no choice. Anything you would suggest/ any tips

Please don't buy the Folger's kit. Anything is cheap on it, except the arduino board ! Buy a better kit :
- aluminium or wood frame (Folger is 5mm acrylic, not stiff enough, the bed plate bends under heat)
- rework plastic parts (Folgers is v1.0 parts, Y motor support sucks, Y bearings bushing break easily; Endstops mounts on rods (turns, no adjustment)...)
- geared extruder (Folgers have a direct drive extruder with symbolic heatsink, no tensioning system, too small motor)
- 48mm motors (Folger's 33mm motors are too small, and does not allow reasonable speed for printing)
- 6mm rods (pitch is a multiple of 100µ that reduces artefacts on the Z axis)

My advice : buy a good kit, even if it's a bit more expensive. It worth the money. Look at the forums, there's a lot of people knowing problems with the Folger's kit (or cheap chinese ones called "Aurora" or so, which are cheap acrylic kits). The worst part of it is the extruder and hotend. Both rubbish. I bought a Folger kit and changed a lot of components and parts to make it works properly. I payed more than a good kit. Don't do the same mistake.

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Collective intelligence emerges when a group of people work together effectively. Prusa i3 Folger (A lot of the parts are wrong, boring !)

Oh sure..now you post this!! 5weeks after I bought mine from them lol.

I'm going to mount my whole rig to a sheet of melamine...to make it more rigid. The Z axis tends to bend forward alittle. Securing all four corners makes it really sturdy. Haven't begun printing yet as I just had an issue resolved last night on this forum. Going to continue finishing setup tonight

Sorry to be late I wish you will encounter less problemns than I did.

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Collective intelligence emerges when a group of people work together effectively. Prusa i3 Folger (A lot of the parts are wrong, boring !)

Get an Ordbot Hadron Kit

[www.automationtechnologiesinc.com]

[www.reprapdiscount.com]
get your own controller

[www.automationtechnologiesinc.com]
or get all the gear

Few plastic parts, maker slide
Easily tweeked and upgraded

Good forum

[www.buildlog.net]

I got the Prusa i3 Rework kit, from Replikeo, for my entry into 3D printing. It's one of the best prices I've seen, and since it's the Rework version, it improves upon some of the Prusa i3 shortcomings. The quality has been perfect for me, and I've had no issues with any parts. Also great customer service, as they replaced one part for me instantly and free of charge. I've made plenty of upgrade, however, from other people's improvement on thingiverse.

The only thing you're missing out on with a build like this, is sourcing all of the parts on your own from various vendors. I wouldn't say you learn much doing that, so why put yourself through the extra effort? I've learned enough to now nearly be able to design and build a printer of my own.

have trouble down load or up load project to print Grrrrrrr

I have built both Ormerod from the RepRapPro kit and Mini Kossel from the Think3DPrint3D kit. Both are good. The Mini Kossel was easier to build and set up, costs less, and needs less adjustment and maintenance. But it has a smaller build volume, and it didn't have a web interface until I upgraded it to Duet electronics. I compare these kits at [miscsolutions.wordpress.com].

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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].

All in all....the problems i had with my Folgertech I3....weren't that big. I am new so it took a bit to figure out. Now that i've learned a lot...i'll use mine for a few months then look into building my own larger printer.