Hey guys I’m new to 3d printing and have been researching as much as I can. I’m looking for an entry level printer and think I’ve narrowed it down to 2, but of course I’m open to suggestions too.
Locally there is a Monoprice Select for sale and the guy has said he’s added new Z-axis rods, upgraded Z-axis bracing, glass print bed, and fine bed adjustment knobs.
My other choice was(for just a little more cash) the CTC printers you can find on ebay. I’m having a hard time deciding though.
I want the most robust and variety printer as I’m sure i’ll be printing a bunch of random stuff to get the hang of it, but also want a large print area in case I need it - i’m a hobbyist, i’m always building or developing something.
That being said, can anyone push me off into one direction to help me make my decision?
What’s your budget? The Monoprice Select is basically just a re-branded Wanhao Duplicator i3, which itself has a pretty decent reputation as a beginner machine that gives decent prints straight out of the box. I think the MS would be a fairly safe bet as long it wasn’t abused or have a ton of hours on it.
I don’t know much about the CTC printers other than the ones I’ve seen would be really easy to make an enclosure to help prevent curling/warping of prints. I totally agree with your desire for a larger print area…You might not always NEED that space, but when you do, it’s there waiting for you.
Some of the guys I work with have bought printers from www.3dprintersonlinestore.com/ and have gotten really nice results after getting their machines tuned in. I don’t think any of them spent more than $375 and they have 230mmx230mmx200 build areas (I think). They print a lot of RC scaler stuff on theirs and the results have been very good. I think any machine will have a learning curve for both the machine itself AND proper ways to use the software to get the best results for that particular machine.
There’s another variant of the i3 design that’s pretty cheap here, and you can pick an acrylic, steel or aluminum frame and it ranges in price between $249-299.