Any 3D printers out there?

[skylane]

I'm thinking about buying a 3D printer to do projects with my son and build whatever wacky and helpful stuff that comes to mind. I don't have any experience with 3D printing and wanted to ask some basic questions.

 

1. What are some good 3D printers that you have used or have heard of? Budget is $1,500

2. What software is needed? Both for creating the 3D image and for the build process (I'm assuming the printer comes with all software needed for the build and might come with a basic 3D imaging bundle). 

3. Should I pickup a CAD card? I can afford to get either an AMD W8100 or Nvidia Quadro K5200. 

4. Is there a big difference between $600 printers and $1,500 printers? 

 

Thanks !!

[ERSCreeper]

There are some good printers for a low budget such as the Maker Bot series

[Cococandybar]

There are some good printers for a low budget such as the Maker Bot series

 

Although Makerbot is good they made a few bad decisions recently and their printers haven't been up to par. Starting out they're good but for their price it really isn't worth it. a good printer to start out with is the prinrbot simple for only $600 assembled it's perfect to start out with and is very reliable. http://printrbot.com/shop/assembled-simple-metal/

 

I have a lulzbot mini which is very reliable and closer to the 1,500 mark. Also very good for plug and play. 

Edited June 20, 2015 by Cococandybar

[skylane]

There are some good printers for a low budget such as the Maker Bot series

Thanks, I see they make a bunch. I'll look into reviews.

 

Although Makerbot is good they made a few bad decisions recently and their printers haven't been up to par. Starting out they're good but for their price it really isn't worth it. a good printer to start out with is the prinrbot simple for only $600 assembled it's perfect to start out with and is very reliable. http://printrbot.com/shop/assembled-simple-metal/

 

I have a lulzbot mini which is very reliable and closer to the 1,500 mark. Also very good for plug and play. 

Yea I see the Lulzbot Mini sells for around $1350 on Amazon now. What's the main difference between it and say the $600 prinrbot? They both seem to be restricted to a 6X6X6 build volume. 

[Nagby]

i can only answer to 2 and 3

 

2. i don't think 3D printers come with a CAD software of any sort, but you can get sketchup for free here : http://www.sketchup.com/fr/products/sketchup-make

pretty adapted to what you plan to do : random little things

 

3. there is really no point in a CAD GPU for your use, if sketchup run fine, you're fine

[ManWithBeard1990]

I just got my first print out of my Velleman K8200.

Reasonably quick too.

[MrDirkADirk]

123design seems to be a good piece of software, for making a model.

A lot of 3d printers come with their own slicer so you can use almost any 3d modeling software (free or paid) to make a model then throw it into the slicer and print. 

 

 

I bought a $300 printer as my first one and have just been playing around with it but for $1500 you can get a really good machine I've heard ultimaker is a good printer and has nice slicer software.

[skylane]

Thanks for the replies. I wish more stores carried them so I could take a look in person. Realized that it would be best, for safety, for the printer to have an enclosure - my son is 4. Good to know I wouldn't necessarily need a workstation GPU - although I might end up getting rid of my GTX 980's and get a workstation card because I'm really not gaming - strange but I tired it and it's oddly not fun for me. Lol

[ManWithBeard1990]

Thanks for the replies. I wish more stores carried them so I could take a look in person. Realized that it would be best, for safety, for the printer to have an enclosure - my son is 4. Good to know I wouldn't necessarily need a workstation GPU - although I might end up getting rid of my GTX 980's and get a workstation card because I'm really not gaming - strange but I tired it and it's oddly not fun for me. Lol

Just keep the 980. Only get the workstation card if you need a feature on it that your 980 doesn't have. Workstation cards are much more expensive for the same performance.

[Nagby]

or even sell it and use your intel iGP, if you won't do games or cuda optimized renders ^^

[shortythe2nd]

I would not recommend Makerbot. I have a Makerbot 2x nothing but problems with it since I got it. I had it service twice and still a problem with it.