3D Printers for Primary Use

[Joanne]

Right, I've got an Ultimaker 2 on loan for a month and I love it. However, I wouldn't buy one.

 

I am looking at other brands and trying to come to a decision which one I would like to buy. Budget is around the £600 mark. I would like it to self calibrate the print bed (one of the down sides of the Ultimaker) and preferably have a heated bed too. I would like it to be able to use any brand of filament, although this can be overlooked for the right printer.

 

So far I have looked at:

 

XYZ Printing da Vinci 1.0S All In One 3D Printer with Built in 3D Scanner - Ebuyer

- downside with this one is that you have to buy the XYZ filament.

 

VELLEMAN KIT - K8400 - 3D Printer Kit | CPC UK

- downside with this one is no heated bed and you have to build it yourself. (Although I would probably enjoy doing that).

 

I've ruled out the Ultimaker because of the price and the bed setting is manual... it seems to be printing fine, but when things get to a certain height they get a bit flaky!

[BrightH]

A Flashforge Dreamer is a pretty good choice, IMakr had an educational discount on them, which reduced it to about £500, It's not on their website at the moment but the page is still up here: https://www.imakr.com/en/education/196-flashforge-for-education.html

 

. It's a pre-assembled unit

 

. It doesn't have auto tramming/levelling, but It keeps its bed leveling very well over multiple prints, as long as you aren't too rough removing them.

 

. It can print any filament up to 240c

 

. It has a heated bed up to 110c

 

. It's pretty easy to maintain and repair

 

There's quite a few other good kits too if you're interested in building one instead.

[peterp]

We tend to use UP Plus 2 printers. Have 4 now.

Really easy to set up and use.

No complex decision about speeds and slicing, just point it at an STL file and choose resolution and fill density and it does the rest.

Semi Automated bed levelling, just plug in a dongle and attach it to the nozzle, and select bed levelling, and it makes all the measurements automatically, remove dongle and print.

 

On the UP site they are currently £780, but you can find suppliers cheaper than that. I think we pay about £650 ish.

Compare UP 3D printers

[Joanne]

I've got one of these on order - Robox has become the leading 3D printer in schools | Robox®

 

£789. Bit more than I wanted to originally spend, but it takes any filament, which is a bonus. Can't wait!!

[Dos_Box]

Those were the guys we had speak at the conf a few years back. A very good demo IIRC.

[mikeprice]

Just wondering - how much does it cost to print an object - like maybe something 3 inches high??

 

and would teher be any point in getting a cheap one like this

XYZprinting da Vinci Mini Wireless 3D Printer - Ebuyer

 

TIA

 

Mike

[Joanne]

So the software I have tells me how much it costs...

 

 

I had a look at the Da Vinci Mini... check this review out and then look at the user review... https://www.cnet.com/uk/products/xyzprinting-da-vinci-jr-3d-printer/review/

 

One of my issues with the Ultimaker was the print bed and having issues with it. I can't imagine the amount of problems you would get with the print bed on the da vinci!! He had to use GLUE!!

[Joanne]

PS - you can get the ROBOX printer cheaper than I paid here - Makerspace_Sept16

[pcstru]

Just wondering - how much does it cost to print an object - like maybe something 3 inches high??

It depends. It can be very little if you are just printing a shell much more if it is solid. Filament is around £30 per Kg so just try and estimate how much a bit of plastic that size would weigh given how string you need it.

 

and would teher be any point in getting a cheap one like this

XYZprinting da Vinci Mini Wireless 3D Printer - Ebuyer

Depends again. IMO cheap 3d FDM printers are unlikely to be maintenance free in the medium or long term, so it depends how confident you are getting your hands dirty doing a teardown. Self build machines are perhaps a better bet and something like the Prusa i3 Mk2 Kit is well supported with build instructions and if you have done the build, you will have no problem when it comes to maintenance. Doing the build can also be helpful in just recognising what is going wrong.

[Joanne]

Only problem with self build machines @pcstru is that they would be wholly unsuitable to take into a classroom, so you would have to keep it in a secure area and show the children in small groups. At least with an enclosed one, you can leave it printing in classrooms knowing that the kids won't hurt themselves with it.

[pcstru]

Only problem with self build machines @pcstru is that they would be wholly unsuitable to take into a classroom, so you would have to keep it in a secure area and show the children in small groups. At least with an enclosed one, you can leave it printing in classrooms knowing that the kids won't hurt themselves with it.

Yes, you would need to make an enclosure. I'd not be particularly comfortable leaving any FDM machine alone printing in a classroom of kids because they are a bit of a fire risk. I think there should be also be some concern around ventilation too (the enclosure should be vented to the outside) as the plastics when heated are known to produce noxious gas and particulates (ABS is worse than PLA but PLA is not free from the problem).

[Joanne]

Good god, I've been sat with 2 printers going at it (PLA) for the last week in my little office!!

[Dos_Box]

I'll post this up in the Black Friday thread in a mo.

Ebuyer are doing this for £164.99: XYZprinting da Vinci Mini Wireless 3D Printer - Ebuyer

[paulellam]

An old thread but looking into the idea of 3d printing in a primary school, any advice would be great!

[Joanne]

I've still got my Roblox one and love it. Affordable and enclosed.

[paulellam]

Thanks Joanne, is it expensive to run etc?

[Joanne]

No, the reels come in at just over £30 from CPC and they last for a long time for multiple small prints. The software for printing is awesome too, it tells you exactly how much filament you have remaining and how much the print will use at differing print settings and how much it costs.