Are Printrbots reliable enough for middle school? I work at MIT and am writing a summer course for middle school kids involving design and modelling for 3D printing. The course is not in-house - it will offered at many sites, and I will train the teachers in advance.
I thought the Printrbot Play might be a good choice as it was highly recommended for education in Make magazine. We would have several in each classroom so students could experiment themselves. The one I purchased a few weeks ago has not worked past printing a small test block and support from the company is poor. The assembly instructions were missing many key steps https://printrbot.dozuki.com/Guide/Unboxing+Your+Printrbot+Play/218
. I still hear great things about the Printrbot Simple Metal and think that either that or the Printrbot Pro might be a good choice. We are considering using small printers for learning/observing during the class and a larger printer to run batches of parts overnight.
Any experience with these printers? Are they reliable? Is there sufficient support. Thanks!
I have #Printrbot Simple Metal and it has very interesting possibilities/value ratio (even more with upgrades, but these are more for enthusiasts).
PS: Another useful 3D printers guide you can find here: Best 3D Printer Guide 2023 | Hubs.
I would recommend the Lulzbot mini if you want something that just works. I agree that while the printrbots are capable printers, they’re more suited for makers and tinkerers. With the printrbots you’ll end up learning more about fixing/repairing.
@Evan_Nguyen considering most kids these days, is it bad to teach them how to fix/repair their own stuff?
Certainly I think the Printrbots are worth using. The biggest thing that pretty much every 3D Printing company is lacking at the moment is a curriculum that teachers can use/follow. What are your current ideas for 3D printer usage with middle schoolers? Are you planning on teaching them 3D modeling? The toolset for 3D printers are much like a warehouse CNC. You start with a model, and you have to generate the toolpath, and you have to treat the machine just like a piece of shop equipment.
@Evan_Nguyen I’m with you on this one. I’d do the Lulzbot Mini as you need something that works in the first place so you can get to the teaching bit. Once they get it, they can always get a hold of something that they can ‘fix’ when not on the clock in class.
If budget allows, have only 1 that needs tinkering and the majority of the buy will be towards the mini. Then you get the best of both worlds, teaching time and after class 3d printer club or something that explores more.
I don’t own a printrbot, but I do see many people saying they’re happy with theirs. What sorts of issues are you seeing that are keeping it from successfully printing? What steps do you feel are missing from the linked guide? After looking at it, I don’t notice anything really missing, but maybe my experience with 3D printers is helping me fill the gaps you’re seeing.
@Greg_O certainly not bad to teach kids about the science/mechanics behind 3d printers. If this was a robotics/makers type class then I’d say sure go for something that is semi reliable. That way you can learn as you go. However, if the class’ focus is more on designing/modeling, then the instructors and the kids aren’t going to be interested in how the printers work, only that they do work. They just want to see the results of their designs.
My first printer was a printrbot. My 2 boys were super excited when I first got it. But after a few weeks they lost interest because I was spending most of my time fixing the printer. When I did do prints, I was printing parts to upgrade/fix the printers. There wasn’t anything in it for them to enjoy. I think people often recommend the printrbots without thinking about the intended audience. I think printrbot itself gets it wrong by thinking that everyone who buys their 3D printers like to tinker, diagnose and repair. That audience will continue to love and support printrbot. However, the growing population of consumers who just want things that work will be disappointed.
@ThantiK there was a recent newcomer at CES 2016 and I think they actually have a basic curriculum on their website. I’d have to dig around for it, but that is an awesome thing for the printer companies to write-up but the curriculum usually need various state and district approvals so there will never be a magic bullet unless they team up with a major publisher to sell it to the schools… so I make it fun and try to teach it to my kids outside of school. It will influence (hopefully) their choices and eventually result in technically minded kids and future engineers.
As the founder/CEO of Printrbot, I can say that kids are my first love for a mass audience. While I believe our bots are extremely reliable, I understand things happen and a single experience can inform a user’s opinion of the whole company or brand. Details on the failures may better inform us all of the shortcomings you had and how that reflects on us as a company.
This year, we are doing significant upgrades to all models that address the ease of use of all machines. Wifi, touch screen, cloud services, ease of build/manufacturing, shared parts across the whole line if printers (universal extruder package w easy/quick mount)… We want the mechanics to be straight forward and easy for anyone to fix, but that has to be coupled w better firmware and software too.
Customer support is also extremely important and I’m surprised to hear you had a bad experience. We have very good policies and staff and some say we are best but a single bad experience posted on social media from an outlier does have an impact on that reputation. Please read our policy, as it promises no risk to you when buying. I’m proud of our policies. It’s a no questions asked, no restock fee, free shipping approach.
For the price, even our current line up is impossible to beat on value. Lulzbot is in a different price point altogether. When the new models drop, feature comparisons will put us in a category all by ourselves.
Education is part of our culture. We offer one simple to any school in the US at cost. No one does that. We paid for teachers to get us started on a printer-agnostic curriculum (lesson plans) and they are open sourced w no requirement to use our printers. If you buy 10, anyone can get 10% off on the purchase. All our models are completely open source… This list is unmatched by any company.
I hate that your experience left you w a bad taste in your mouth, but I hope you hear our commitment to our customers and heart for education. Maybe you can give us another shot and help us learn from our mistakes.
In any case, we’d love to learn from your experience. How can we improve our guides? What broke? How can we help you fix it, regardless? How can we do a better job w CS?
The priceless thing here is not a company or a printer, it’s you, the teacher, who is commuted to teaching kids. Whatever you decide, those kids will benefit from any choice- I think your commitment and thoughtful approach will see it through. Best of luck!
Brook
Thank you for the response! Please check your tech support inquiries - (24724). I am being asked to send back the board when I am requesting a return/upgrade to a different model. I also offered to share the detailed notes we took on assembly, based on the comments from your forum. I did not receive a response to that offer. We have put a lot of work into a $400 printer, and I am looking to specify a model for a larger order.
Regarding curriculum,
I am developing one based on TinkerCad. It involves design, collaboration, tinkering, play. We are not planning to simply download objects and see them print. Whereas alot of students do want the “magic” of 3D printing, I am planning to have them iterate on designs, learn the capabilities of the technology, and see how best to use it.
After using the simple and the play, the simple is by far the better choice. The mechanics of the simple are better, it’s more rigid, easier to troubleshoot, easier to upgrade, comes with a better hotend, and has that carying handle.
The extra cash is worth it.
Quick note, I believe our 13s is our best hotend. That will be the only hotend we put on our bots very soon
Diane, understood. In open to whatever helps you the most. Not because you represent future sales, I just want the customer to be happy.
I’m talking with our lead customer support guy and he is pouring over our policies to correct the mistakes we made w you. And we agree that we did indeed make mistakes. More on that after we implement a better approach.
The simple may indeed be a better choice, but I’ll defer to you on that conclusion.
I love that you are training the kids end to end. I don’t equate ease of use with lack of learning, not that you do, either. But providing a bot that works great out of the box without a deep understanding… That can also work with all available software and took chains is the best of both worlds in my mind. That is our goal.
We will be in touch with options for you to be sure you are treated right.
Brook
I use Simple Metals in my classes. They just work; even after a ride on my bicycle. 
Awesome! On your bicycle?! Now a battery connector and you can print and ride 
it’s been done.
Brook