makersmuse

The build volume's of the monoprice ones will leave you wanting more pretty quick. I don't strongly like the Ender 3 but it's definitely a good deal and the community has many upgrades available for it. Other similar machines to consider would be the Tronxy XY-2 and XVico Pioneer - I've tested em all, all have strengths and weaknesses. Don't bother with the ender 3 pro though - it's basically identical with just a better PSU and slight frame changes, still a kit and not at all 'pro'.

oh hey its my review lol. I HATE the extruder design, it lets down an otherwise decent mechanical approach to a low end 3D Printer. I'm currently testing the Ender 3 'pro' vs Ender 3 and functionally they're identical. If you get better couplers and closer tolerance PTFE you can substantially boost your printing quality. But bowden style is still not my favourite at all... personally I love the cetus from tiertime for a really decent entry level PLA only 3D printer.

Extrusion multiplier is set to 0.5, why? It should be 0.95 or 1. Could be just that one setting in S3D tbh.

EDIT: Read back through thread and saw you mentioned the multiplier, but not sure if you calibrated esteps before or after tweaking with it. By default it should be pretty close to the money at 0.95 if esteps are correct, nozzle dia is correct and filament dia is correct. If not there is a possibility that molten plastic is 'pooling' behind the nozzle so you get almost no extrusion control. I had this on a bowden extruder on the ender 3 but the A8 is direct drive, so small chance it's a gap between the extruder throat and nozzle. Good luck! A8 is very much DIY.

Are you trying to print with flex filaments? The stock mk10 extruders can't handle it - you need to 3D Print a new part that covers that gap to stop it kinking and even then it's a real challenge - print at 10mm/s for any chance. The flexion is an expensive but reliable flexible filament extruder upgrade for these printers if you want to do it a 'lot'.

Lulzbot machines are 100% open source so you can start with their files and go from there if you really wanted to. http://download.lulzbot.com/TAZ/5.0/production_parts/

You'd need to check to see if the control board allows for a second extruder motor. I 'think' it does but can't quite remember.

Few things to try:

Clean the print surface so it's free from any oils or dirt.

Check the extruder gear make sure it's not full of chewed up filament and gunk.

Relevel print bed and make sure that it's not too close or too far (though looks OK from the photo).

Try a filament you know works good (i've had dud rolls / moisture damage).

Finally, might be a semi clog or the PTFE is damaged in the hot end. Unlikely but possible with that time frame. Good luck!

There is no way of making a workable machine for that budget in 2018... sorry. The lowest I would consider is the Tronxy X1 kit at about ~$150 once you buy a spool of filament to use on it.

You'll be fine - the only concern is not the weight on the Z but the force required to alternate directions of the heavy print bed - it might lose steps if you try print too fast. Oh, and you'll probably have to run them pretty hot and with only minor microstepping to get as much usable torque as possible.

On 8/10/2018 at 9:58 PM, KrYpToCiD said:

First, if you are the Maker Muse from YT, nice to meet you =)) I've been watching your videos for quite some time. If you are not, nice to meet you. again =)) 

I am indeed lol, I like to hang out a bit here. Yeah the other 2 are above your price point but the prusa mk3 kit is a good fit. If you're interested to learn how printers work you can make one, but you won't be reliably 3D Printing for quite a while.

In my experience open source rarely means easy or kid friendly. You'll often spend a lot more time tinkering than actually printing. Prusa, Lulzbot Taz6 or gMax 1.5 would be my only realistic considerations but they punch above your price point. Gmax can print huge things though.

Yep agreed Ender 3 is as low as I'd go. Anything else you'll spend the same again just making it work / not burn your house down.

The price difference between that old scanner and artec stuff is... massive. What is your budget? The Shining 3D Einscan SP or SE will do really good detail for a much more affordable price but it's still not exactly cheap. I've reviewed them here 

3D Printer's are far from plug and play machines, you'd have to spend days learning how to get it to reliably print. I'd use shapeways or a bureau like treatstock.com if you've got a .stl file ready to print.

Ender 3 is the best in that list by far and you won't be fighting to assemble every nut and screw (and wire mains voltages, YUK), but it's not without its problems. Mine had QC issues but they've since resolved it.

I like the Cetus from tiertime if you're just after something to print prototypes for your arduino work without worrying about 'how a 3D Printer works'. At $400 it'll do you for all projects that size. Otherwise maybe look at the Wanhao i3 plus / monoprice maker select plus which prints more materials and a bit bigger but you'll have to learn more about 3D Printer slicing.

It's been a while since I assembled mine but the Extruder motor has a 6 pin (only 4 used) plug which plugs into 'E Motor' on the control board. Feel free to post some photos so I can troubleshoot.

Cetus is basically RTR for $300, monoprice mini and if you really really want to cheap out get the Ender 2 from gearbest. My pic would be cetus though love the wifi capability you just drop in .stl files from thingiverse into the slicer and hit print.

Cheap brushless outrunner motors make cheap thrusters that can handle getting a bit wet, the hobbyking 'donkey' ones are good as they havea bushing. Spray them down with laquer before use to seal any bare copper and if you dunk them in fresh water after every run they'll last. Honestly, 1 week is not long enough to make this into a real project. The parts you'll need will take longer to arrive

On 1/30/2018 at 7:06 PM, LIQUIDFOX00200 said:

Why?? The are good printers under $300, like obsidian 3d ($150) I like this one very much.

The obsidian is an as yet undelivered kickstarter... You can't go out and just buy it. M3D is a toy and ultimaker is well, like thousands of dollars yeah

Don't touch anything under $300 unless you're happy to tinker and spend more money on parts and upgrades to get it working, the market isn't there yet.

electric car door locks actuators are super cheap powerful methods of getting actuation like that, but you don't state the size required.

Be prepared for at least a few solid weekends work before you get any useable prints out of the A8's and similar kits, but it can be done. They need a lot of love to get great prints and stay reliable.

Also worth noting that almost all XYZ printers are DRM cartridge locked like ink jet printers... pretty much the only manufacturer to do it.

For what it's worth the gMax's are assembled in Brooklyn NYC so you can expect pretty good customer service, I visited them last I was in the States. As a heads up though on any printer that large in that price bracket you'll not be printing in ABS, only PLA and prints can easily take days to complete.

Be warned, Sketchup has a habit of creating unusable, damaged mesh files. Grab meshmixer to open it up and inspect before sending it off to ensure it's exported correctly (fully watertight, no gaps and no 'intersecting shells/bodies'. Also, .stl files don't preserve units so ensure you export in MM or you'll be getting back tiny, tiny parts.