I am not one to shy away from a little work and am in the market for my first printer. I noticed the kits are so much cheaper than the manufactured sort. Does it make sense to try to build my own to save a few hundred bucks?
I am not even sure what I want. Something zippy, dual extruders would be nice, filament options, etc. I am mostly gonna print things I need in the garage, work bench stuff and new lawn mower wheels, and cases for electronics, maybe some robot parts too? Rc cars for the kid.
I bought an already built printer (metal simple Printrbot) and the one thing I like about it is that I was spending my efforts doing what I wanted which is 3D printing right away.Instant gratification.Then I modified my printer to print larger and replaced the board, hot end Doing that help me really understand how it worked.
Its very easy to do if you are mechanically inclined. If you are not, I would recommend a pre-built to cut your teeth on until you are confident with building your own. I, myself, went this route and am currently working on a design for a super accurate, high resolution FDM printer with a work space of about 100mm2 for a desktop printer. Feel free to hit me up if you have more questions.
I’m still a huge fan of my Ultimaker Original Plus at home.
But it’s certainly not the cheapest option out there. But I love the quality of the printer I’m getting and the low-maintenance it has now.
And, we’re still providing software upgrades/support for this machine.
(Disclaimer: I’m working for Ultimaker for 4 years now. Got my Ultimaker Original before I started to work there. So, I AM biased)
Build your printer, you learn and have fun in the process. Was first printer i sugest a easy to build kit like a prusa, the forger 2020 is a good one. Ultimaker is a very good one but not easy to build, but all depends on your skills.
Can somebody point me to a good guide for how build your own? Like even a recommended parts list would be helpful. Also, people often tell me that I need a 3d printer to build a 3d printer. What equipment should I have access to? What skills should I be good with? I know how to solder, I can develop software and automate things. But I never used a cnc machine.
When you build your own printer what software needs to communicate with the printer? How do you control which stepper(s) are for which axis?
@Mark_Rehorst this is amazing, I would absolutely love to build something like that. Seems very intimidating too. I don’t think I have the fabrication means (skills / equipment) to make something like that but if I can purchase some aluminum rails, a heated bed, and a few quality steppers, I think I can fumble my way through it.
I am not against buying high end parts, I just don’t think I will be able to machine a frame, arms, etc.
I’m glad to know the maker spirit is alive and well! Great to see someone considering building their own!
That said: you might consider a cheap bare bones kit to save all the searching for parts. We (Printrbot) sell them but you could also buy a cheap one from Amazon or eBay and get a
Jump start.
I have a very large “junk” pile from projects, r&d, returns… I should get a volunteer to come out and just assemble it all into kits to give away for free. Not kidding, I could make a hundred hacked repraps w this stuff. If I knew it was all going to kids, I’d do it. It also takes a really talented eye and patient hand to see the value… So that means time. That’s a precious commodity. I struggle all the time w the thought of throwing it away. But I’d rather up-cycle this stuff.