Right printer for me?

[doctorgonzo]

Is the Rostock the right printer for me?

I'm a product designer, have good soldering skills and can build anything that'll sit still long enough. I have a full set of mechanic's tools. I also work at a machine shop occasionally and read G-code with no problems.

My fear is the software/firmware/eeprom crap and tuning...I want to get up and running ASAP, but I'm not nor ever will be a software guy. I mean, my Mac triple-boots OSX, Windows, and Linux but I don't like fiddling with code or numbers in general. I'm fluid in Rhino, ProE and Solidworks. I just draw and build stuff (mostly toys and aerospace prototypes).

Just looking for some opinions before I drop ~$1400 on a machine and supplies...I'm about to do it.

Waffling, it seems like a long and dusty trail at this point, and I don't want to go down this road if it doesn't yield a quality print. I've used Dimension and Stratysys printers, and they were great.

Any opinions will be appreciated. The look and feel of the machine makes me want one very, very badly.

Thanks,

-Doc

[lordbinky]

The rostock max is my first printer, and I love it except for some of the trial and error *cough* I mean calibration of things just take time to get right (which I am chronically short of) and some you will never completely be rid of regardless of your printer choice such as for filaments.

The worst issue unique to the delta printers like the rostock I had is that I spent much longer calibrating the printer_radius setting than I see reported by others, it was also the most frustrating calibration because it required re-uploading the firmware instead of simply adjusting a value live in the eeprom making it take considerably longer (relative to two mouse clicks, typing a number, then hitting enter) than other calibrations. Now that I've done it successfully once, I'm sure it'd take less time since I have more confidence in what I'm doing too.

My biggest problem right now is every time I get a good print, I try to make an adjustment or modification to the rostock make it better (just-because-I-can syndrome sprinkled with perfectionist drive) which leads to more calibration and adjustments... if I left it the hell alone and just printed with it after getting a good enough setup I'm sure I would still be getting pretty good quality from that initial calibration. Definitely look into the top recommended upgrades like the arms if you want to speed up your way to good prints.

Heads up though, playing with slicing programs may be frustrating for you too but that's also another thing that isn't unique to the rostock. Such simple changes to a few numbers in slicers make such drastic changes, and then I have trouble not wanting to fine tune it even more once I realize which ones make those differences.

[JohnStack]

The Lord has it right.

The bigger question might be "How much do you want to know about printing?" vs. what's the ROI behind drawing something and sending it out to a print house.

Where do you value your time? In design or printing? Right now, slicer software is not intelligent enough to accommodate the dynamics of any object; therefore, all printers being equal, you get into tuning your print.

For you, you might be better off on the design side. Hard to say. Is being a maker in your blood - start to finish or are you more concerned with shipping designs rapidly?

The Rostock has rapidly matured because the community has made it mature. Same can be said about the other printers; however, most participants here would say it has been worth it.

[lordbinky]

I only have the rostock printer so far (I hear they are like tribbles), i'm curious to hear from others if for the specific troubles of the rostock are worth the cost (time+money+effort) for the benefits such as the large printing area.

[kbob]

You've been reading the forum long enough. You know that there are pitfalls -- even for those who get everything working relatively painlessly (me, for example), there's a long path of iteratively calibrating, testing, and tweaking. And modifying, if you want to go there.

I have gotten some lovely prints in ABS. Just a few. But I still can't print a calibration pyramid that doesn't look like a kelp forest.

The MAX is my first printer, but I have used a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic and a PrintrBot (LC, I think) at the local maker space. The MAX blows those away for print quality, but maybe it's because nobody gives those machines the love they need.

So it really boils down to, are you here to learn about 3D printers (MAX is excellent) or to get stuff printed (Shapeways is excellent (-: ).

[Batteau62]

IMO buying a 3d printer is like buying a car, or any other high $ machine. You can buy the econo model, and get what you pay for, or you can buy the high end model, if you have the disposable income. The trick is to look at what your going to do with it and temper all the choices to price vs. need. Notice I did not say want, we all want the Bugatti Veyron but getting from point A to point B can be accomplished in so many different ways. What do you need it for? Answer that question and your list will be shorter.

I personally chose the Max for its build volume, speed, and aesthetics. I also did not think the "$1400" price tag would be the end...too many expendables, mods and upgrades in the future.

If, on the other hand, my disposable income were higher(not!) I would be laser sintering metal objects like NASA: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130725- ... parts.html
Talk about awesome!
Good Luck, whatever you choose.

[doctorgonzo]

Thanks guys.

I'm thinking about it like this:

Is this a hobby toy, or will this open new doors with my newfound capabilities? Is this a good addition to my shop?

Of course I will use it to print parts to make it better, and I have several projects that would benefit.

The Xnaron arms seem pretty awesome. It seems that an upgraded extruder and/or hotend setup is also important.

It just feels like getting to "the holy grail" of 3DP awesomeness takes, um a lot of awesome patience. ness. ness. ness.

Right now it's between the RMax and the Solidoodle2, or 3. The Doodle looks like a microwave that survived a nuclear blast by hitting a cnc machine, while the Max has a much more appealing profile. The Doodle costs half that of the Max.

Delta is cool.

It's not a matter of if, but when I pull the trigger...there will be a printer in my shop soon.

Yep.

-Doc

[lordbinky]

The doodle would be fine until you needed to print a 9inch part

[kbob]

You've been reading the forum long enough. You know that there are pitfalls -- even for those who get everything working relatively painlessly (me, for example), there's a long path of iteratively calibrating, testing, and tweaking. And modifying, if you want to go there.

I have gotten some lovely prints in ABS. Just a few. But I still can't print a calibration pyramid that doesn't look like a kelp forest.

The MAX is my first printer, but I have used a "Stratabot" Thing-O-Matic and a PrintrBot (LC, I think) at the local maker space. The MAX blows those away for print quality, but maybe it's because nobody gives those machines the love they need.

So it really boils down to, are you here to learn about 3D printers (MAX is excellent) or to get stuff printed (Shapeways is excellent (-: ).

Warning. Risk of thread hijack.

In my post above, I wrote M***rBot Thing-O-Matic. When I clicked the Edit button just now, I could still see the word, M***rBot. But in the published post, that word has been changed to "S*****bot" in quotes. In this post, I also see "S*****bot" in quotes.

What the heck?

[doctorgonzo]

It's gotta be the NSA. Those bastards.

[geneb]

Makerbot. <- sez "Ma**rb*t"

g.

[geneb]

Well f*ck me. Bad John! No donut!

g.