3D Printers

After printing a few more parts, and being a bit frustrated at the latency, I've decided I probably could get some value out of a 3D printer.

I don't want to have to fiddle around too much with the build, so I've decided I want auto levelling, or a levelling sensor. I also want a heated bed, and a high temperature hot end so I can experiment with different materials.

I decided to weigh one of my parts, and found it was about 30 grams. At £16 a kg, that's about 50p worth of PLA, so I guess a 1Kg spool would go a long way. It cost me £6 to get the part printed.

Possible contenders:

Ooznest Prusa i3 kit £399
Prusa i3 Mk2 kit £629
Orballo Prusa i3 Steel £368

The Orballo has a few negative reviews, which they claim to have addressed. They also seem to attract complaints for slow shipping. It doesn't have auto levelling. On the positive side: they have an option for no-maintenance bearings which is appealing. The steal frame is well regarded. If you choose DRV8825 drivers, the claimed layer thickness is 0.05mm.

The Ooznest is a bit more vanilla, but does have overwhelmingly positive reviews. The instructions look better and get better reviews than the Orballo.

The Mk2 kit probably is the best: 0.05mm layer thickness matches the Orballo and is  half that of the Ooznest. It adds auto levelling, lists lots of supported materials, and has a new even heat bed. It can also calibrate itself, and then correct for skewed assembly during printing! That's a bit of a killer feature. Shortly there will be a 4 material print head kit available for it. It also has the biggest build area.

Here's a bit of a summary:

PrinterPriceWork areaDimensionsResolutionAuto levellingTempOther
Ooznest Prusa i3 kit£399.00200 x 200 x 1750.05none295
Prusa i3 Mk2 kit£629.00250 x 210 x 200420 x 420 x 3800.1autoSkew calibration
Orballo Prusa i3 Steel£368.00200 x 200 x 2000.05none300

Tables aren't easy in Blogger.

Anyway, I've delayed posting this for so long that my Prusa i3 Mk2 is going to arrive on Monday. Hopefully I've chosen well.


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