Ultimaker 2 vs Stratys Mojo vs FlashForge Creator Pro

[Andrew Corpuz]

Hello,

I am working in a higher education setting, and was wondering if anyone could offer any insight into any of the machines.  Better if you have experience with all three.  Ideally, we would like to maximize reliability and support while minimizing costs; other aspects such as quality and speed are relevant but not as important.

Ultimaker 2

~$2500

Stratasys Mojo

~$6000

FlashForge Creator Pro

~$1400

Thank you. :)

[Joseph Chiu]

You need to define what you're planning to do with the machines in terms of the kind of prints you want.

And define "reliability" -- if you mean that any and all prints will succeed 100% of the time, the Mojo with its locked hot chamber is far more "reliable" - but if you're willing to understand and work with the design limitation of plastic that likes to warp, the FFCP and the UM2 (and other printers, really) are reasonably good performers as long as people don't much with the machines.  The problem, in a setting where there are many (potentially inexperienced/careless) hands operating the machines, the UM2 and the FFCP aren't nearly as "closed off", and are easy to muck up.

OTOH, for the budget, you can have several machines as "spares" for the price of the Mojo.  And the consumables cost will eat you up with the Mojo.

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[Andrew Corpuz]

Thank you for the response; it is very helpful.

We plan on making art projects with the 3d printer.  What I meant by reliable is a machine that doesn't malfunction or break down frequently.

So from what I can tell Mojo consumables cost (I assume you are talking about ABSplus) is high,but the output is solid, sturdy, and predictable.

FFCP and UM2 cost is lower (use PLA or ABS) but the output is less predictable and more flimsy.

[Joseph Chiu]

On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 4:02 PM, Andrew Corpuz <andrew...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you for the response; it is very helpful.

We plan on making art projects with the 3d printer.  What I meant by reliable is a machine that doesn't malfunction or break down frequently.

So from what I can tell Mojo consumables cost (I assume you are talking about ABSplus) is high,but the output is solid, sturdy, and predictable.

FFCP and UM2 cost is lower (use PLA or ABS) but the output is less predictable and more flimsy.

Hmm, I wouldn't put it quite that way.  I have had customers that have told me that the prints off the Makerbot Replicator 1 (not the current Gen5) was just about as good as the Stratasys Dimension's - the Rep1 being a machine which was later copied by FlashForge  and turned into the Creator Pro.

There's far more engineering for "hands off" printing repeatability with the Mojo, and because the printhead is replaced with each cartridge change, you do end up not having to worry about jammed nozzle as much as you would with the standard desktop machines.  If that idea sounds attractive, the 3DSystems's current Cube machines also have cartridges that comes with the head - I believe their prices are somewhere around 2-3x the price of standard filament, whereas with the Mojo, I believe it was closer to about 6x. (I haven't checked official prices lately, so this is going by memory).

In terms of machines breaking down, I've heard Mojo owners complain about their machines stop working, so it's not like they are bulletproof.  

The one area that the Mojo excels at is the dissolvable supports, making it easier/better for more intricate designs with lots of elaborate features within the part.  

One other thing about the Mojo to be aware of -- you're supposed to use a fresh build plate with each print, about $5 each time, iirc.  I've heard that some people were successful in recycling the build plate a few times, but it apparently does require some bit of work to do so.

[Dori Friedman]

For what it's worth I absolutely love my Ultimaker 2. I haven't had a problem with it. I love that it prints with lout a raft and the supports are really easy to remove. The quality of each print (I typically use the lowest quality or middle) is fantastic. Way better than other samples of the same design I've seen... Or at least comparable. Mine runs for 12 hours at a time and I've had a great experience.

Let me know if you have specific questions. Or want to see any samples...

We just got one at our school and we are very happy there as well.

The other printer I have that is a workhorse (use it all day very day with no issues at my school) is an Up Plus 2 (same thing as the Afinia). It's half the price of the Ultimaker 2. I do have to print on a raft for that one... But the quality and speed of the prints are amazing.

Anyway, I love 3D printing!

Let us know what you get!!!

Dori

iSent from my iPhone!

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