Saskatoon TechWorks Forum

I figured it was about time we do one of these. I know a lot of people in the group are eager to get into 3D printing, so here is your chance to make it happen. Reply to this thread with the amount of money you are willing to pledge towards buying a 3D printer for Saskatoon TechWorks. The organization can possibly throw in some money too once we get close. I'll keep the top post updated with our running total. We can also use this thread to debate which printer we want. Our target is probably around $2500, but again - TechWorks might be able to chip in once we get close.

Possibilities so far:
Solidoodle 3

• 
• http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?r ... duct_id=79
• Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
• $799
• Fully Assembled
• Print envelope: 203x203x203 (8365cm^3)
• Min layer height: 0.1mm
• Nozzle diameter: 0.35mm
• Good user community
• Requires PC

MendelMax 2 Beta

• 
• http://store.makerstoolworks.com/printe ... -beta-kit/
• Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
• $1395
• DIY Kit
• Print envelope: 245x315x225 (17364cm^3)
• Min layer height: ?
• Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm
• Requires PC

Cubify Cube 3D

• 
• http://cubify.com/cube/store.aspx
• Plastic Jet Printing (PJP) - not sure exactly how this differs from FDM
• $1399
• Fully assembled
• Print envelope: 140x140x140 (2744cm^3)
• Min layer height: 0.2mm
• Nozzle diameter: ?
• Wireless or USB printing

LulzBot AO-101

• 
• http://www.lulzbot.com/?q=products/ao-101-3d-printer
• Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
• $1725
• Fully Assembled
• Print envelope: 200x190x100 (3800cm^3)
• Min layer height: 0.075mm
• Nozzle diameter: 0.15mm - 0.75mm
• Requires PC

Ultimaker

• 
• https://shop.ultimaker.com/en/ultimaker ... t-new.html
• Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
• $1875
• DIY Kit
• Print envelope: 210x210x205 (9041cm^3)
• Min layer height: 0.25mm
• Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm
• Requires PC

Makerbot Replicator 2

• 
• http://makerbot.com/replicator2
• Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
• $2199
• Fully assembled
• Print envelope: 285x153x155 (6759cm^3)
• Min layer height: 0.1mm
• Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm
• SD or USB printing
• Biggest user community

Makerbot Replicator 2X

• 
• http://store.makerbot.com/replicator2x.html
• Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)
• $2799
• Fully assembled
• Print envelope: 246x152x155 (5796cm^3)
• Min layer height: 0.1mm
• Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm
• SD or USB printing
• Biggest user community
• Dual extrusion

B9 Creator

• 
• http://shop.b9creator.com/?pn=B9Creator+-+KIT&p=621&c=1
• DLP liquid resin based
• $2495 (+ cost of projector)
• DIY Kit
• Print envelope: 77x102x203 (1594cm^3)
• Min layer height: 0.05mm
• Requires PC (or something else to drive the projector)
• Expensive material ($84/kg vs ~$50/kg for FDM)

I'll kick off the pledges with $100.

Pledges so far: $922

Kaldonis - $100
RevEng - $50
FingerTech - $50
Spectrum Raffle - $522
icars - $100
epoch19 - $100

I'll pledge $50.

Been reading a bit about other 3d printers, the Solidoodle 3 sounds quite promising for the price: http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?r ... duct_id=79. It boasts a bigger overall print area than the Replicator 2, layer height of 100 microns and detail size of about 300 microns.

So maybe there isn't as much interest in a 3d printer as I thought? :sadface:

i'd be more interested in pledging towards a group reprap build

DigitalOSH wrote:i'd be more interested in pledging towards a group reprap build

I just can't see that happening... We were talking about this in the channel the other day and I think we arrived at around $500/unit as the cost for this. We might be able to get enough pledges to build a single reprap as a group though.

I agree that the experience of a group build would be great, but I would still want a good quality printer even if we did one. For example, the minimum feature size on a reprap mendel is 2mm and even the cheapest one I linked above (the Solidoodle, $800) boasts .11mm resolution (i.e. about 20x better than the mendel).

Sometimes I forget to check the forum for weeks.
I'll pledge $50 towards a good 3D printer.

Our raffle at Spectrum brought in another $522, bringing our total up to $722. I think we're getting to the point where we should start discussing which printer we want.

OTB working is top on my list.

thesaxmachine wrote:OTB working is top on my list.

Seconded. I'd prefer one that we don't have to assemble ourselves as that's just opportunity for us to screw it up. I do understand that adjustments will likely be necessary on any machine we buy though, pre-assembled or not.