Buying another Replicator 1... here's why....

[Elbot]

Okay, shopped around for a bit for a 2nd 3d printer and I was hoping I could find something better, but could not find anything better;

1. Leapfrog Creatr; great metal bot, no more plywood box. Great dual extruder. Great spring loaded ball bearing extruder, no more crummy delrin plunger. Also, slic3r now actually works with dual extruder since Sept 28! HOWEVER, documentation on their website is sparse. It says to install arduino driver. They use the arduino mega, BUT the arduino website has instructions for the uno, Duemilanove, Nano, or Diecimila, but NO mega?! User friendly instructions FAIL. Why didn't the Leapfrog website have their own step by step instructions posted instead of just posting a link to the arduino website and then abandoning you? Telephone tech support, but you have to dial long distance to the Netherlands. They ALL speak fluent English, though. so, I'm really impressed by that. If the reverse were true and someone in another country call an American business, I doubt that we'll be able to speak their language. I called and spoke with them. They're really helpful. If they improve their website documentation, then they would have a product that I'd buy and prefer over the makerbot replicator.

2. Japica Print2bot; great dual extruder, great spring loaded ball bearing extruder, no more crummy delrin plunger. Also, platform is held more securely so no sagging. No more plastic z platform that sags after heating. Inexpensive, too, just $1300 for a dual extruder with heated bed. However, the software install instructions might as well be from Mars. I am not a pro computer programmer nor am I an EE. Again, fail. Software and install instructions on github is not understandable by a non-pro programmer. I almost pulled the trigger and bought the Japica Print2bot. NO telephone tech support. Email only. For as technically a complicated piece of experimental technology, it would be pure madness for a layman to buy something this complex without telephone tech support.

3. Printrbot. Has a great installer package that installs as one file pronterface and slic3r, but no dual extrusion support. Has a single extruder kit for $700. It even has a large 8x8x8 in build envelope. Also, no telephone tech support.

4. Replicator 2; no dual extrusion support.

Winner, winner chicken dinner is....
5. Replicator 1; dual extrusion. Almost user friendly software. They've packaged all the software dependencies into one file except for Python. ReplicatorG has very detailed documentation for the Windows version and is easy to install. I tried Makerware and it is even easier to install and even more user friendly, BUT no support for dual extrusion. So, hurry and buy your Replicator 1 before they discontinue it and you'd have to shell out a lot more money for the Replicator 2X.

6. I backed the print2file software, the kickstarter project and I hope that it will be easy to install and use with just about any 3d printer, just like they claim. If so, then I can just concentrate on choosing the printer with the best hardware and not worry about software user friendliness and ease of  installation. However, their software is not ready yet so, for now, the ONLY 3d printer for me would be the Replicator 1. I have my complaints about the Replicator 1 BUT even with its faults, I love it and would not trade it for any other 3d printer. My 2nd 3d printer that I'm buying is another Replicator 1. I use their ticket system for tech support but occasionally when their technician cannot help me or is misunderstanding me on the ticketing system, then I'll call them by phone and they are super helpful.

I am a layman and if you're a computer super geek or an experienced reprapper, then you'd probably disagree. However, with the decrease in prices of 3d printers as a pre-assembled unit, not as a kit, it wont be long until most users of 3d printers are laypersons with little to no technical knowledge, just like me.....

[Bottleworks]

I would suggest you buy a used one on eBay.  They seem to be selling a quite a discount and I'm not talking about the Chinese copies.  It seems many are selling their R1 and (I assume) are buying an R2 or a different brand.

[Mark Cohen]

Most people do not use the dual extrusion feature. I confirmed it with several people at makerfaire. It is overhyped. Hard to level. It should have been done as one printhead not two bolted together. It is just a nice to have feature. If you have worked with the rep 1 you should be capable of working with any of these similiar arduino based kits even without much support.

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[Mark Cohen]

Also, I would not buy any machine for which I can not get spare parts
easily from their website. A year or two from now when they have the
next machine out you may find it difficult to keep your machines
operating if they do not sell replacement parts and they are on to the
next great thing. I have sold the majority of my old equipment for
just this reason. Makerbot has a bad track record for just this issue.
All these machines are similiar and based on the same technology.
There is not much difference. Choose metal over wood for stability.
Choose a heater cartridge based extruder rather than nichrome based.
Look for a large build platform and large z height. Pick one with
standard easy to get parts like the new rambo motherboard as it is
cheap and reduces clutter. You have a replicator 1, so you can even
make many of the parts yourself if you decide to build your own.
Right now I have a Replicator 1, 2 Custom TOMs and a Printed gen4
Cupcake. This is down from 3 TOMS and 5 Gen 4 Cupcakes.
As I just bought the Replicator 1 six weeks ago and now it is
outdated, I have to say that I will not consider buying another
Makerbot unless I see a clear upgrade path from the Replicator 1 to
the Replicator 2x. If I do not see cheap upgrade parts for the
extruder or a cheap new leveling platform in the store, I will not buy
another one from them.

[PropellerScience]

Good choice Elbot, now we don't have to shun you :-)
I agree with Mark, I don't use the second extruder. I just twisted the
nozzle up out of the way until it's needed as a backup.

[Doogiekr]

I agree with Mark on this one... My Rep1 was my first experience with 3d printers though, but I have learned enough that although I do like my Rep1 and plan on keeping it, I wont be buying from MBI agian. I have sorta lost faith in them, and the way they are heading makes me worried about repairs in the future. I live in South Korea and sourcing parts from MBI is already difficult and it is only likely to get worse with them going closed source. I also worry that they will keep up this patten of new bot, forget the old, just to make a quick buck from the current batch and then forget about them as they move on...

Just my opinion of course, but I will be building my next 3d printer using readily available parts, and as much as possible printed on my Rep1... I trust the community of open source more than I trust MBI at the moment, and I would have probably sold my Rep1 if I had to rely only MBI support... I can say that the community and these boards are why my printer is working as well as it is, not because MBI produced a great machine.

Dont get me wrong, MBI support is great, but if i had to deal with them for all of the little things i have needed to fix to get the bot tuned well it would have been horrid, especially with the time difference for me.

Either way, good luck on your next printer purchase, I hope I am wrong about MBI... But I am taking the safe road next time and building something i know i can get parts for.

[happyman]

I second that too, I only used dual printing in the first few weeks after got the bot, then interest died down and never bothered to find dual printing files to print again. I think it will become very useful when software allow to print 2 materials for support and print model separately.

 

If you are not in a hurry, you might want to check out Panda Robotic 3D printer which just get on kickstarter, it looks nice and has automatic calibration which seem very cool if it can work as intended. Best of all, it starts at US$800 + US$100 shipping to US, almost half the price of REP1 but with bigger build area 11"x11" envelop.

[Cymon]

For me dualheads is a must. It doubles my productivity or allows me to make some really cool things. In fact in a week (I hope) I'll be offering Guy Fawkes rings and pendants in my etsy store and I won't have to paint them to get the facial hair on there.

Plus, I'm kinda hoping one day to get PLA supports working and my Makerbot will be as good or better than a Mojo.

[Shawn]

In my experience, the parts that matter are the MightyBoard and the HBP.
Everything else is common enough that getting or fabricating parts are
fairly simple. But, the MightyBoard is NOT on the MBI store, and
neither is the HBP for the Replicator1. If I missed it, could someone
provide a link for me? But, given the troubles I've encountered, I'd
feel MUCH more comfortable with a spare or two of these hanging around,
and I can't get it. For this reason alone, I'll be looking for a
non-MBI solution for my next printer. Or perhaps they'll address this
issue.

Shawn

[Mark Cohen]

The mightyboard and hbp are not on the site. you might be able to get
the board from mbot3d.com. very expensive. Thats the other reason to
go with reprap electronics.

[Mark Cohen]

Please start a new thread about this. It will get buried in here.
State where you are, what you would like, color, density etc. Export to STL.

On Thu, Oct 4, 2012 at 1:55 PM, Jim VanLent <jimva...@aol.com> wrote:
> I don't own a Replicator yet, but am interested. I'd actually like to pay
> someone to make me a part for which I have a .stp file, and then evaluate
> the quality of said part. If I like it, I'll probably buy a machine.
>
> Anyone interested? Jim VanLent (248-755-4322)

>
>
> On Thursday, October 4, 2012 1:50:46 AM UTC-4, Elbot wrote:
>>

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[Dan Newman]

On 4 Oct 2012 , at 11:31 AM, Shawn wrote:

> In my experience, the parts that matter are the MightyBoard and the HBP. Everything else is common enough that getting or fabricating parts are fairly simple. But, the MightyBoard is NOT on the MBI store, and neither is the HBP for the Replicator1. If I missed it, could someone provide a link for me? But, given the troubles I've encountered, I'd feel MUCH more comfortable with a spare or two of these hanging around, and I can't get it. For this reason alone, I'll be looking for a non-MBI solution for my next printer. Or perhaps they'll address this issue.

The HBP isn't that difficult to have fabricated: Mark and I have both done that
for the ToM HBP. The MightyBoard and the new stepper drivers are a different
matter entirely. You could use Gen 4 electronics I suppose but that would be
a significant cost investment.

Dan

[Jim VanLent]

I don't own a Replicator yet.  I have a .STP file for a very simple part.  I'd like to pay someone to make the part for me o I can see what kind of quality I get before buying.  Anyone willing?

 

On Thursday, October 4, 2012 1:50:46 AM UTC-4, Elbot wrote:

[Zip Zap]

Like the one at Ultimachine.com?

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From: Mark Cohen <markc...@gmail.com>
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Sent: Thursday, October 4, 2012 11:40 AM
Subject: Re: [MakerBot] Buying another Replicator 1... here's why....

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[Mark Cohen]

Exactly

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[Elbot]

correction, the japica guy says he does have a phone number and if he cannot answer by email you may ask and he'll give you a phone number you may call.

[david b]

Just FYI i was wanting a original replicator with dual extruders but only had about a grand and was saving up when i came across the china made copy.

I went ahead and bought it because i was impatient and im glad i did it prints awesome straight out of the box I have had it about two weeks now and zero problems.  It is a flashforge creator I have videos on youtube of some prints my user name is david b if you want to check it out.  :)

[Dan Newman]

On 16 May 2013 , at 11:22 AM, david b wrote:

> Just FYI i was wanting a original replicator with dual extruders but only
> had about a grand and was saving up when i came across the china made copy.
> I went ahead and bought it because i was impatient and im glad i did it
> prints awesome straight out of the box I have had it about two weeks now
> and zero problems. It is a flashforge creator I have videos on youtube of
> some prints my user name is david b if you want to check it out. :)

Have you updated the firmware? There have been one or two postings in
other forums where folks have gotten a clone Replicator 1 and then found
that they could not download new firmware. (Likely the 8u2 USB chip
had the wrong firmware on it or had its fuse bits set wrong.)

Dan

[david b]

yes i updated it to the latest firmware and it works great.  the only problems i have had are the dual extrusion prints are a little stringy but clean up ok. I just finished the vampire lord bust off of the skyrim game downloaded from thingiverse it took 36 hours at 0.15 mm layer height and and 20mm second but looks fantastic.

[Dan Newman]

On 16 May 2013 , at 12:25 PM, david b wrote:

>
>
> <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5Jf2uyXkqc4/UZUyh4SOO9I/AAAAAAAAAA4/k-wOmvSAQ9Y/s1600/skyrim.JPG>
>
> <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XtiddqCpTd8/UZUydqKhkNI/AAAAAAAAAAw/SaCbJYBLIWU/s1600/skyrim2.JPG>

> yes i updated it to the latest firmware and it works great. the only
> problems i have had are the dual extrusion prints are a little stringy but
> clean up ok.

If you're using Sailfish, then disable "Extruder Hold" when doing dualstrusion.
Otherwise, you may need to tune your retraction settings. PLA is particularly
an issue this way for dualstrusion.

Dan

[david b]

Ok thank you i will try that :)

i havent used PLA I only have ABS and some nylon that i havent tried yet.

[TobyCWoods]

Awesome. Thank you for posting. I may do the same... I need another bot and do not want to buy from MBI again.

[david b]

yeah its nice i do not regret the decision :)

[66tbird]

 I'll be getting one also when if my rep1 dies early.

[david b]

So I have been talking to the sales department for flashforge for the last couple weeks and sending pictures of my prints and have got access to distributer prices.  I even have a pic of one of my prints on their site http://www.ff3dp.com/pages/qsm-unboxing#!activity/c7f7  its the minecraft figurine. :)  So if anyone here decides to buy one of these printers you can get one through me and will be shipped directly from the manufacturer.  Your price will be 1099 with free shipping that is 100 dollars cheaper than their website and ebay. Just trying to save anyone interested some money :)  

Thank you 

David 

 

[TobyCWoods]

How to contact u? Are you also a member of Makerbot Users? If you join there I can contact you from there.

[Stan Velijev]

Is there a reason for the 20mm/sec? What's the max usable speed? Does the quality deteriorate sharply with increased speeds?

[david b]

I updated my settings so you should be able to email me now 

[david b]

I just started slow on that print because it was such a big print and wanted it to look the best it could. Im not sure what the max usable speed is but i have been printing everything at 75mm second the last couple weeks and it looks great no loss in quality.  Im using the accelerated software so it is moving pretty fast when it prints.  I will try and post another utube video with the faster speeds.  my user name on utube is the same.  

thank you