Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by dhirota »

Jonathan

I checked to see if Raise3D was on the exhibitor list at CES2016, they are not. That may not mean anything, since they maybe embedded in another booth. I am interested in seeing if they can handle nylon + a high strength fiber and was planning to stop by and check it out for you. They have a 25% discount if ordered before Jan 15, which is interesting.
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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by max72 »

Jonathan,
It looks like idea printer hasn't the heated bed.
This would exclude abs prints.
This is too limiting, abs and a short dip in acetone gives you a very strong material, it has drawbacks, but renouncing to this option should be seriously considered.
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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by 3DForensics »

Jonathan, I did some searching and I would have gone with the Ultimaker2 because of feedback from actual users and seeing actual parts that came off of it. They have an extended version that has a larger build profile but I can tell you that you'll be waiting a couple of days in some cases.

I decided to purchase the FlashForge Creator Pro after going to a local 3D print shop and speaking with the owner. He gave me some good advice and thus far this has been a very dependable unit. The instructions weren't the best getting it setup, but luckily there are some good tutorials on YouTube. It doesn't have an extremely large build platform but it was enough to build a fixture that wraps around the Focus. One of the biggest things I did not realize was the ease of use of good software. Simplify 3D is rock solid and when I print with it, I always get good prints. It's easy to use and it automatically generates the raft and support parts for the STL model.

Cost was about $1300 USD and it has a heated bed with dual extrudes so if you want to print with soluble materials or dual colours (I tried and it works well), then this is possible.

I know that there are going to be other technologies coming out in the near future and this stuff only has a life span of a few months before it's outdated. However, I feel like I went far too long before jumping on board and wish I had one sooner. The learning and opportunities it has opened up for me has been incredible! You don't realize that there is a whole other way of thinking when you have a 3D printer. Both from an actual design and manufacture standpoint.

Whatever decision you make, I think you'll find it a great experience and you'll be looking for things to print (the kid across the street already has 2 sets of T-Rex skulls) :)

Cheers,

Eugene


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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by 3DForensics »

This was a scanned human skull with the David Laser Scanner SLS-1 and I then meshed it in CloudCompare using Poisson meshing. Imported into Simplify 3D and scaled smaller to print on the FlashForge Creator Pro.

Image

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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by dhirota »

I am here at CES 2016 on day 3. It seems like I am the the only person that read the bag check rules. I got a vinyl clear back pack, so I do not need a bag check going through the entry with the thousands of shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Hard to believe that 175K people can fit into a technology show, with so many exhibits to see 10% in 3 days.

There are many "new" 3D printers, most of the good ones are metal 3D printers that are too costly for most of us. Too many filament 3D printers to check out, and not specific to my interest.

Of interest is the MCOR Arke, which is a color 3D printer similar to our MCOR IRIS for US$9K, smaller desktop and faster.

Another big day to check out the solid state scanner on the Mercedes Benz at Tech East. VR and AV in Tech East. Also the nylon+kevlar 3D printer at Tech West.
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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by jcoco3 »

Thanks for being our inside man Dennis :) Please let me know if you see any filament printers that are printing carbon fiber filament.

I have been studying up on new printers and new materials, and now I am quite exhausted. Too many printers to talk about. So far my conclusions are that any printer will work for my needs, but it would be better if I can find one that will not wear out from printing carbon fiber reinforced plastics. Most filament produces will say you just need a steel tip, but they don't mention that other parts in the line can wear out line the feed tube and the material feeder.

The Raise3D N1 is looking like my best bet even-though it doesn't state that it is carbon fiber friendly. The Atom 2.0 is also neat, and could possibly print faster, but I don't want to assemble a kit. http://www.atom3dp.com/en/atom2/#top

Wish I could afford the Mark One:https://markforged.com/ Very novel approach to carbon fiber printing :geek:

If anyone is interested in the carbon fiber filaments here are a couple to read up on:
http://colorfabb.com/xt-cf20
http://www.3dxtech.com/carbon-fiber-filament/
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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by dhirota »

I just returned from CES 2016, which was the "wild west" of technology. I will focus on the 3D printing here, but maybe include some photos and videos of the Lidar, AR, VR, and UAV items next week when I get organized. Too much to see and only 9 hours to see it each day. Focus of specific ideas and vendors is the only way to make it worth while, since the numbers of people does not make standing in line an optimal search for information.

As I said earlier, too many every thing filament, someone needs to sort it out to save the masses time. I do not have the time, so I am focusing on the technologies that are going to make me some money. For me the Markforged was the best filament 3D printer there for my purposes. You can make parts that are worth potential money as opposed to Starwars characters, which can be worth money, but you will not learn how to build reinforced plastics in 3D with 90% of the filament printers at CES2016. Too many folks from Shenzen, China, who will probably not be in business at this time next year.

The other 3D printer of interest at CES 2016, is an "improved" model of the 3D color printer that we have, the MCOR Iris, called the Arke. It is desktop, 5X faster, smaller build plate (9.5X8X6 inches), for US$9K vs US$50K for the Iris. I still believe that the Iris has value, especially when you have one-on-one time with the CTO and co-founder and additional time with the head applications guy, that you can reduce the part build by at least 50-75% and cut your color imaging cost by 50%.
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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by 3DForensics »

I think you make a good point about separating the use. If your goal is to make money, then you need to invest in a high-end printer. A guy I know owns a large 3D scanning and printing company here in Toronto and there is no way he would have made it with low end printers. He's done well, but has had to invest the money in printers that are $50k+. Granted, he started a few years ago, but even today, he doesn't own anything that is low end.

For me, I see the 3D printer as a tool, not a business. It helps to make parts for testing and I have already built practical stuff that I use.

I've never been to CES but you sure make me want to go Dennis!

Eugene
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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by dhirota »

Eugene

I want to clarify what I said above. My goal is not only to make money; but not to be in a commodity market place; as well as learn and train staff for future economies. As we all know as service providers, understanding the workflow is one of the important things about our business. I have a large collection of color 3D printer models, but of the many (about 50), very few are in STL file format because STL for our workflow will not maintain good color if any at all. If you check many of the file formats on Thingiverse, many of those are STL since they are for and from filament based printers that do not have a color component.

I do not know how long this type of show/exhibit will continue into the future, but if you plan to attend CES 2017, be sure to have a reservation at the Palazzo or Venetian hotels early since LV strip hotels were sold out or charging US$500 to US$800 a night. CES 2016 was like Photokina (the photography show in Cologne, Germany, happening on even years with 160K people). If was good to get an overview, but you need to do homework on who will show up and will it be worthwhile. Just like Photokina, 3 or 4 times is enough. I will probably go again in 2017 since the exhibition fee is US$100, but they do screen you, so one may not make it.

I believe that many companies are trying to accomplish what this thread is asking about a decent home 3D printer. The tangle of different filament types at CES2016, just leads to more confusion in this space. I have no data on the number of booths at CES 2016 showing their filaments and/or 3D printers, but my wild guess would be between 50 and 100.

Jonathan: I think I saw

http://www.atom3dp.com/en/atom2/#top

near the Markforged booth, and their wood filament part was great, but what would I do with a wooden owl or a wooden elephant. If the 3D printer is for ABS or other plastic parts or for education at home, you need to pick one with the confidence that they will still be around. The good examples are the two big vendors, that seem to be leaving the consumer market (3DSystems and Stratasys).

Some of the schools here are taking the risk management position of buying several/many commodity 3D printers, and if they do not work, they will use them for spare parts.

I should have taken more photos of the 3D printer booths. I will send the few that I have from the office tomorrow.
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Re: Suggestion for A Decent Home 3D Printer

Post by dhirota »

0.SLS_SIGN.jpg
For those of you that have not visited Las Vegas, it is an interesting place with lots of lights and large scale everything. Driving back to the hotel, a sign as a smart phone was interesting.

Slightly off topic, but across the aisle from 3D printing booths was the Swarovski Crystal booth, displaying crystal activity watches similar to the Apple watches, but with significantly more sparkle and similar apps. I was able to purchase the last white crystal one in all of Las Vegas's 4 stores for my wife since I left HNL on the eve of our anniversary. CES advertising does help.
1. SWAROVSKI_WATCH.jpg
Sample of MCOR 3D color prints of buildings. I forgot to ask if these were printed with the IRIS or ARKE
2.MCOR.jpg
Markforged booth with the desktop printer and several samples assembled with other parts. The interesting fact about the MCOR and the Mark One is the ability to remove and replace the build plate with another part build or to embed other parts before continuing with a replacement precision of 10 microns (Mark One).
3.MARKFORGED.jpg
Shoe sole samples with different amounts of Kevlar and carbon fiber embedded to add strength and stiffness.
4.MF_SHOE_SOLE.jpg
Although this thread is about home 3D printing, here is a photo of the DJI booth on my way to the VR and AR section of Tech East. Notice the number of people and the people standing in line.
5.DJI.jpg
This is the Ford Truck which served as a booth for 360 Life. I did not have the time to wait line.
6.360LIFE.jpg
I do not have the time now to discuss some of the other booths that I visited, like the solid state lidar with the Mercedes Benz with a range of 450 feet for US$6.5K, other VR and AR in Tech East since they are off topic.

Maybe later on another thread if people are interested.
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