I am new to 3D printing but, we have installed two new printers in our university maker space. As an instructor for the maker space I am thinking I should maybe purchase a 3D printer of my own for home use as well as to train myself. We do have a Maker Gear printer so my question is for my own use is this the best one on the market or should I get another type? Should my printer have one extruder or two?
Thanks.
New 3D Printing
Re: New 3D Printing
One or 2 extruders .. I have an M2 I have had for 2 years. It is a single extruder machine and there have been a couple times I would have liked to have been able to use dissolvable supports (you need a dual for that). However, adding 2 extruders increases the learning curve and cost. If you have access to a machine at work with dual extruders, I see no reason to have one at home, you can use the one at work when the need arises.
If your goal is to learn the basics and you have access to high end machines at work then I would suggest the M2 or if you would like to keep the cost down, a Prusa Mini which appears to be a very nice machine that will be competing in sub $400 market. I may buy one just for the fun of it to see how it compares to my M2.
If the cost is not a issue I would say to go for the M2 it is a rock but by no way plug and play. I would venture a guess the Prusa mini is more plug and play than the M2 as it has auto mesh leveling. Also because Prusa provides the slicing software which they develop and will provide optimized profile for their machine. That means no slicer to buy or Open source slicer to figure out profiles for. Unlike the other entry level printers the Prusa mini will be competing with, it has customer support like with Makergear products.
Just my 2 cents worth as a very very happy Makergear owner.
If your goal is to learn the basics and you have access to high end machines at work then I would suggest the M2 or if you would like to keep the cost down, a Prusa Mini which appears to be a very nice machine that will be competing in sub $400 market. I may buy one just for the fun of it to see how it compares to my M2.
If the cost is not a issue I would say to go for the M2 it is a rock but by no way plug and play. I would venture a guess the Prusa mini is more plug and play than the M2 as it has auto mesh leveling. Also because Prusa provides the slicing software which they develop and will provide optimized profile for their machine. That means no slicer to buy or Open source slicer to figure out profiles for. Unlike the other entry level printers the Prusa mini will be competing with, it has customer support like with Makergear products.
Just my 2 cents worth as a very very happy Makergear owner.