3D Printers
 

I want to get into 3D printing to make some of my own RC parts and other things. My Budget is kind of low but I'm not too stern on it. I can flex some for Quality all the way up to 500 but I want a Hobbyist quality 3D printer but want a bang for my buck. Thanks...

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So you are not just cheap, but also lazy. :flipoff:

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Thats kinda like "Looking for rtr comp ready crawler, my budget is $300"

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Yah I looked at that first site but it doesn't answer my question of what is quality. I know i could do heavy research to come to a partial conclusion but i want to know what REAL people (not the guy on youtube who gets $5000 to review a chinese piece of crap) have, like, used and their opinions and recomendations on things.

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Like I said before I'm not going like full on, down to the nanometer, cutting edge, cnc machined aluminum, space age lasers and stuff(if they had that I would play the lotto more often:flipoff:). I have a small budget but i'm flexible. $500 is my cap for budget. But if the specs are good on a 300 dollar kit, I'll get it and stock up on some nice filament.

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Define the precession that you want out of it.. 0.5mm (0.019") accuracy, 0.6mm (0.023") 0.7mm (0.027") and so on...The printer head, linear positional accuracy, raw material, all affect precession.

I might be able to give you suggestions that will get you close to what you want. In the Tools section CHUD is building a 3d printer and you might want to check it out. Apart from that xsputnikx member over hear might be able to help you. He has a 3d printer and is quite knowledgeable about it.

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Or "I'm looking for a hooker that'll do everything, doesn't have any diseases and cost under $50 including the room and an 8 ball of coke."


:lmao:

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Hu, I should put mine up for sale...

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You have a hooker!? :shock:

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Save your penny's, you'll just be disappointed if you try and use a $300 3d printer

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Check this article on reviews for low end 3D printers. Unfortunately low end starts at about $2K for a printer that will actually make useable items.

MAKE’s 3D Printer Testing Results | MAKE

I have seen a Maker-Bot replicator 2 in action. Pretty cool to watch but you aren't going to be able to make Glock quality parts on one. It is pretty much a model maker.

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Pick up this issue:

Make: Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing 2014 | MAKE

You can probably find it at Radio Shack...that's where I bought mine.

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Don't forget to budget for cad software.

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There's actually a lot of capable stuff out there now for free.

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Do you have some suggestions? I like the controls of sketchup but it doesn't do small parts well and it can be a nightmare to get a good .stl. Tinkercad seems like a good idea but the controls seem kindof unusual.

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Man, if you are used to sketchup then a real CAD package is probably going to be a nightmare.

I have used lots of CAD programs and every time I open up sketchup I want to rip my hair out.

This is one company I have been looking at recently for model quality at a decent price. Starts at $500 with software for the "base" model. Do a little research on them first, there are certain options you would want. I don't know a lot about them, but I do know that you get what you pay for,
3D Printers




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A friend has the solid doodle V3 and hates it. It's been broke more than it has been functional. Tons of bad luck and several part redesigns before getting something to work. He hasn't been pleased. It was one I was considering until I heard his particular horror story.

I ended up going with the Robo 3D. With everything to get it rolling it cost me about $900. Honestly that is as cheap as I think you are going to get off. Even for hobbiest level, that's pretty bare bones.

https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...89598976_n.jpg

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Give PTC Creo Elements a try. It's limited to 60 unique parts per assembly, but other than that I believe it's fully functional:

PTC - Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Express 4.0

You can also check out FreeCAD. I tried it awhile ago, and it was obviously not ready, but it's been getting a lot of attention lately on some of the 3D printer forums:

http://www.freecadweb.org/

I was the same way when I first tried Sketchup, but there are a lot of good tutorials for it now. If you follow through with them, it's actually a fun program to use. I don't think I'd give up Solidworks for it, but for a free program it's worth a look.