Does some one here has a original prusa and has also had a cheaper fake prusa? Is it really worth the money?
I am planning to buy the mk3 with my vacation money I get this month.
I do not want to tinker with it, I just need a reliable printer that can print also ABS or ASA.
Marijn,
I have been using a Prusa MK2 printer for several years now, and I just upgraded to a new MK3 printer. Both printers work great for what I do which is hobby type printing. I print mostly with PLA and PET, I have printed with ABS also but found it to warp badly and bubble up my print bed sheet with large prints. Far as reliably, I have no problems with the Prusa's. I upgraded to the MK3 mainly for the removable bed sheet setup which is a great feature to remove the print right a way. One advantage with the Prusa printer for me is the Slicer software that Prusa supplies with it (downloads), Slicer Prusa Edition and PrusaControl, both are set up for the printer and allows you to print basically right out of the box.
Again, I'm just a hobbyist, but I would recommend the Original Prusa 3D Printer for anyone exploring 3D printing.
We have 2 Prusa MK3s at work and love them. As Terry mentions the removable spring sheet build plate is nice as well as the auto mesh bed leveling and software. There service team is very responsive.
Is it worth it. We think so compared to other FDMs we used.
Like Terry I would suggest printing in PET. We have had very good success with this over ABS.
I personally would never spend the money on a prusa, the whole design is just kinda flawed. you want something that is Core XY based if done right you can achieve print speeds well in excess of 100 mm/sec. I built my personal one and usually only get 50-80 do to drivers overheating at speeds higher than that. The one I run at work has upgraded drivers and I ran in once at 160mm/sec (of course do to acc. times it often may not have been getting quite that fast.
The customer support has been great. The print quality rivals printers that cost 2K and up! You can either buy it pre-assembled or build it your self. I would highly recommend this printer for hobbyists and people new to printing also. Whats cool is Prusa already has profiles for every type of material. I don't know why Archer Thompson is complaining about the design? As an engineer, the structure is quite sturdy enough! It has 1/4'' aluminum plates and aluminum extrusions for the whole frame. AAAANNND IT'S SO BLOODY QUIET!! Just buy it! It's considered the best sub 1000$ printer for three years straight.
Well as an Engineer (if we are going to play that card) who owns a 3d printer repair company. I will say that I service those more than any other printer. Now to be fair they are pretty common so there are more out there. Yes they are sturdy but they are inhearently slow. The direct drive, bed on y axis (both heavy and takes up a larger footprint), and nessity for double leadscrews are all flaws in my opinion. Now if print speed isnt a big deal to you and you have ample workspace, ok they are fine. Or even if they were a $500-600 printer assembled they would be pretty good. Its just all around not going to be in my top three ever though, but im all about people buying them because they keep me in business.
I would suggest flash forge
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I8NM6JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0EvvBbAA0JW7J
Its the same price but way better in my personal opionion.
or if budget is a issue and you dont mind a bit or potential work get a $250 prusa clone and throw the upgraded drivers in for $10 on all four motors at that price the loss in speed is defintly easier to swollow. Almost all consumer printers use open source tech so there really isnt any reason to pay all that money for the orginal other than costumer service but $600 for custmer service is a lot.
Thanks Archer, for the info but what do you service so often on the MK3's or Prusa's ?
And I agree with you, the customer service, the well documented forums, the software and firmware updates are alot to offer for an open source product. I just find it's a gem to have all those perks when buying a product, not forgetting about the ''smart'' functions too (power failure recovery, crash detection, layer shift detection, pause an change filament during print, Z height correction etc...)!
The smart features are cool but its all opensource software and a lot of it is intergrated with those drivers(I forgot the name off the top of my head but TI makes them). Mostly I fix extrusion issues, incorrect steps per mm, loose belts, and then the x axis gets off alot if people play with it. Nothing major really. My big thing is I think that the price is too high for what you get since so much of its open source. Also there is no build chamber or a good way to add one, so if you want do any plastics that need that keep that in mind.
For your first printer go with a clone diy.... you learn how it works from the ground up. You have to tweak any printer (a lot to tweak :)) I print at very low speeds 30-40 mm per sec. and get almost perfect prints ...... yes it's nosy and most are, and slower, but all prints take alot of time..... put it in another room with a spycam on it!
3d print here... https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2772767
here is a clone
Then buy a better one with your forbidden knowledge;-)
Cheers
Just an update I have assembled the kit last weekend, and have it up and running. So far so good, really love the mass amount of documentation and community support that is available. There are print profiles for a lot of materials for a lot of programs, like slicer simplify3D. Also lots of documentation on octopi. Furter more the kit just worked after I assembled it. I only had some minor issues with the frame but that was just me trying to do it perfect. Print quality is super, only a bit slow.
Now I have printed some parts, and since I had 2 crappy previous printers, really think this is a very good deal for this printer. It didn't need any tweaking! Print quality is better than the 2k Makerbot at my office. I can print at layerheights that wasn't even possible with my Geeetech prusa clone. (picture taken outside for the light)
I have a CR-10S an original prusa mk3 and a mk2. In my experience, if you have the money mk3 certainly worth it, no doubt.
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