looking for a good 3d printer

[Boyan Silyavski]

For the money i would buy the Steel Prusa. Its cheaper than the Original Prusa and build with quality elements/ the electronics/ . It has unsupported rails, whats typical for cheaper printers, but is not like some funny rollers, rolling on aluminum profile. I dont know of something really better, from an educated point of view. Yeah, many will say this and that, but from CNC point of view, i see that as the best cheap printer around

[EddyCurrent]

Boyan,
As you might expect, I spent days weighing up one printer against the other in the required price range. Thought about building one but didn't really want to, I looked at the links to sellers in Spain that you posted in another thread and was just about ready to order the black steel Prusa when I came across the Creality CR-10.
Now in cnc terms there are what we might describe as undesirable elements, single Z drive, rollers for bearings, etc. but in reality on a 3D Printer I'm finding it's not a problem provided repeatability is there.
Also with the steel prusa it was interesting to see the price rise as options were added on, so after many hours of reading and watching videos, my choice was the CR-10, it's size being another positive for me.

[Ger21]

These are supposed to be very good for the money.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/QIDI-TECHNO...rds=3d+printer

I didn't think I'd have any use for a 3D printer, but may buy one of these.

[Boyan Silyavski]

In 3d printers there are so many things that may look mediocre but if they are tested and working it just works. At the same time so many things could look engineered properly but with a hidden fault . So the decision is always difficult. I have the Original Prusa MK2. I laughed at it when i opened the box and started to respect it when i fixed some little obvious faults. It just works, and works and works and will work. I rarely stop it at all. Anyway, i am sure there are many options nowadays. But i say it again, crappy electronics is what i hate most.

[cropwell]

These are supposed to be very good for the money.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/QIDI-TECHNO...rds=3d+printer

I didn't think I'd have any use for a 3D printer, but may buy one of these.

Yes Gerry, put it side by side with the Wanhao 4DS - you will see the differences are just cosmetic, but if the price is better.............

My friends (correction - friend) said to me 'What are you going to use that for' when I bought the printer. Two days later he asked me to design and print a bespoke cup to hold coins in his Jag.

You get to the point with some things where the question is 'Shall I buy an item - or print it?'.

Some things you just can't buy https://www.dropbox.com/s/yv6cbor60s...8_Pro.mp4?dl=0

Cheers,

Rob

[Ger21]

Nice.
Never seen a 3D printed Lithophane before.

[Ross77]

Thanks for all the responses, lots of options to look at. leaning toward the QIDI for a complete machine but also looking at E3d for extruders as they seem really good.

If i was to build, is there a wish list of extruders, heat plates and controllers? not to fussed on looks as long as it will be fast and and produce quality parts. Ta

[JaviPK7]

I'd recommend a prusa www.prusa3d.com
I have the previous to the last model and works like a charm. With the new one they have won best printer of the year and looks like a really good printer on a budget

And very good customer service/ support

Cheers

[Doddy]

Happy QIDI owner here, having given away my home-built RepRapPro. Pretty rugged (by comparison) and the print far better. Dual extruder as standard, but as another has said - hardly ever use it and it's just another nozzle to snag on the work piece. But, worked out of the box with just a minor bed alignment. Did have one drive cable fail, but it came with a spare (!)

[Chaz]

Andrew Mawson has one, https://www.cetus3d.com/. Fairly well priced, imported machine but uses hiwin rails for the structure. Ive seen the prints it does, really impressive.