Cube or?

[jram]

Hi All,
Hoping to get some input regarding cartesian style machines. I own a Rostock Max v2 but we're looking at getting a few cartesian style machines for the place I teach. The group is leaning towards the Cube at this point, we're meeting with the 3d systems guy tomorrow. I know that the proprietary filament is a negative for this machine. Any recommendations for an out of the box machine that is reliable and can use any type of filament and prints more than just ABS?

[gestalt73]

Yeah, I'd advise staying away from the 3DSystems consumer level stuff. I heard the original Cube was ok, I know the Cubex was a nightmare, and I'd expect the new Cubex Trio to also be a nightmare.

Same goes for the makerbot stuff. They now list their hotend as a consumable, with a average life of 600 hours, iirc.

I'd start with any of the higher rated ones listed in the guide below, then check out the forums and support network for ones you're looking seriously at.
https://www.3dhubs.com/best-3d-printer-guide

[Nylocke]

Ultimaker 2 or Original+ have heated beds and work well with ABS, PLA of all types, and any other 3mm filament you can find that melts in their temp range. Lulzbot has quite the selection on 3mm HIPS in several colors.

TAZ 4 from Lulzbot is pretty nice as well. They also have the Lulzbot Mini now. Both are quite good, both run on 3mm.

Off the top of my head these are the best Cartesian 3D printers that come preassembled. All 4 are open source and have excellent communities. They do not have any sort of proprietary crap that comes along with owning them, and if you want to improve them at any point it is easy to, and likely it has already been done so you're not left to figure it out on your own.

[jram]

Thanks for the information. I looked at the Lulzbot and actually wouldn't mind getting one for myself (the kit version). Looks like the group is leaning towards a multi jet,the saleswoman brought some sample prints and they looked to be of high quality.

[heathenx]

There are a lot of great printers out there. I'm really fond of the MakerGear M2.

http://www.makergear.com/products/m-series-3d-printers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jram]

There are a lot of great printers out there. I'm really fond of the MakerGear M2.

http://www.makergear.com/products/m-series-3d-printers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks Heathenx, that maker gear does look like a nice machine! Reasonably priced as well.

[heathenx]

I've also been watching what CraftUnique is doing. I believe they have a Ultimaker clone at a very reasonable price. These guys are out of Hungary. I'm sure there are some YouTube links showing off the printer.

http://www.craftunique.com/category/craftbot-3d-printer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Polygonhell]

If your buying a cartesian style machine, a lot of the quality is determined first by the quality of the Z Axis. Z-Wobble is easy to diagnose and hard to pin down and fix. In general moving beds seem to be better designed and have less issues than moving heads. Belt Driven Z axis seem to also have less issues (because they don't couple the axis to an invariably not straight screw), but also lower resolution.

Having built prototype XY stages for pretty much every logical X/Y axis arrangement including EtchaSkecth types (Ultimaker etc), Core XY, HBot, Head X/Table Y, X/Y with moving steppers etc. IMO the best XY design for 3D Printing is the Ultimaker style, followed by the moving stepper decoupled X/Y. The latter is actually simpler, but the Ultimaker design results in a surprising amount of rigidity.

[626Pilot]

I would stay away from 3D Systems for one reason: They are patent trolls. Because they invented (or more likely bought) the rights to some IP in the '90s or whatever, they can go and make life hard for open source 3D printer designers, which is exactly what they did to the makers of the Form 1. Now, if you want a Form 1, you have to pay more, so that 3DS' board can continue pillaging the 3D printing economy for decades at a time. I will never buy anything from them unless I absolutely have to.