I've got three:
- Formlabs form2. This is the serious business printer, for ultra high quality resin masters to mold from
- Velleman k8200 aka 3drag. This is the workhorse
- Folgertech i3 2020. Work in progress.
The two FDM printers are both kits. I'm going to be comparing the builds and results over the next free days.
First up some thoughts on the price of the kits.
The velleman was sort of an impulse buy. The kit was 399 with 2 rolls of filament. The form2 is very very expensive to run, and I figured this would be a good complement. Plus, I like building stuff.
Well... 399 wasn't really true.
Early on I found lots of comments about how the extruder wasn't awesome. Velleman had an upgrade ($129) that was much much better. I went from a 3mm to a 1.75mm and thus the free filament wasn't useful. I also needed a z axis upgrade ($69).
The k8200 needs a computer to drive it, unless you get the standalone controller ($29).
The heated bed is sloooooooooooow. 20 - 30 minutes to get to 55C, and no way will it get to 100c. $40 shipped for a reprap power expander, $30 for a bigger power supply, and the bed was hot.
The beds on these are notoriously not level. $25 for a piece of glass for it.
Finally it was all working well. I've been quite happy with it, and have had it running nearly around the clock for a few weeks. Total cost around $700 and a lot of time invested. I had to solder ever cable, and needed to print a bunch of parts to finish it. Total build around 2 weeks of nights.
In the end not a bad value. A comparable machine (8x8x8 build area) pre built is way more.
Next is the i3 from Folgertech. The kit is much cheaper. $280 shipped, including all of the same parts other than the glass. The wires are all pre soldered, chips are on, etc... I just started the build so more on this one later.
