3 ms·
I have a Solidoodle 3 at home, and a Makerbot Replicator 2 at work. In terms of print quality, the Makerbot is significantly better than the Solidoodle. There
by tmuir 12y ago
I have a Solidoodle 3 at home, and a Makerbot Replicator 2 at work. In terms of print quality, the Makerbot is significantly better than the Solidoodle.
There are certainly things I like better about the Solidoodle, such as the ability to use a sheet of glass on the bed, which allows me to use ABS/Acetone slurry to make parts stick to the bed, the ability to tweak all of the CAM settings, the mechanism for feeding the filament into the hot end is easier to work on, I've never had a clog on the Solidoodle, and there are several power users who have shared improved designs for various parts of the machine.
But if I need to make a part that has to be within tight tolerances, or have a good surface finish, I prefer to print with the Makerbot.
Does anyone know of a sub $3000 open source FDM printer that can print as well as a Makerbot?
- chopmeister 12y agoThanks for reading the article! To answer your question, a 3 year old wooden ultimaker prints stuff compared to which printing on a makerbot looks like printing with a shovel. :) The question of why I suggest avoiding makerbot is complex and not just about open vs. closed source. I will elaborate that in a future article in detail, since it raised quite a lot of questions.
- bsilvereagle 12y agoHaving spent significant amounts of time with Replicator 2s and Ultimaker 1s & 2s, the Ultimakers have far superior print quality in my opinion. Small details typically come through better on the Ultimakers, and tolerances were held better in 95% of my tests.
- jesimon 12y agoSHAMELESS PLUG: I do sell the FlashForge printers, which can be found here: http://shop3duniverse.com/collections/flashforge-printers http://shop3duniverse.com/collections/flashforge-printers I'm posting this only because I think it's a legitimate answer to an important question... Is there an affordable printer that prints as well as (or better than) a MakerBot? I have been using the FlashForge Creator and Creator X to make 3D printed prosthetic devices, and I'm thrilled with the quality. All of the photos and videos I have on my blog at 3duniverse.org were printed on the Creator or Creator X printers. I'd say these printers print better than the MakerBots, which we've been testing side-by-side. The FlashForge printers range in price from $977 for the original Creator to $1349 for the latest Creator Pro. The printers come fully assembled and include two full spools of filament. But note that I only started selling them after falling in love with them through hundreds of hours of direct hands-on experience with them. I haven't yet found another printer on the market that has better price/performance value.
- spiritplumber 12y agoI have a S3 as well - try printing at 2/3rd speed. Also, replace the rubber belts with kevlar belts for precision.