Hey guys, I’ve seen essentially two kinds of 3D printer systems, the ones where the printer head moves up and down, and the ones where the printer head is held at a constant height, and the tray moves up and down instead. If I only want to use PLA (because it’s more environmental-friendly), which type should I choose?
A moving buildplate other then Z direction is basically a design flaw in a 3D printer. Sure, it works. But as your prints get taller, the top of the object will start wobbling. picture a tall tower only fixed at its base and moving that back and forth. the top will start to move just a bit later, and stop also a bit later.
I’m a bigger fan of a Z-bed (nozzle does not move up and down), as these are typically lighter and can print faster. But they can be harder to get right, which is why the Y-bed came along with the Mendel designs, it’s easier to achieve but the heavy bed limits Y acceleration and requires more power to shift about. But my workhorse machine is still a prusa i2 with a Y-bed. So both are OK, really.
The reason I asked is that I’ve read ABS is better suited than PLA for upward drawing, which seems to me is kind of what printers where the head moves up and down do. So I thought a Z-bed (where drawing is downwards) would be better for PLA.
Mmmm, no.
The toolpaths are essentially the same, I don’t think one printer is more suited to ABS or PLA than the other.