- Joined
- May 10, 2012
- Messages
- 995
I have a Creality CR-10 that should fit in your budget and has been a very good printer. As far as the options you list wanting to add, I will give you my take on them based on my experience and knowledge of my printer:
1. Dual Z drive, you won't need it
2. Dual extruders, this is a nice option for printing soluble support materials. I'm not pursuing this because I generally don't print things where cosmetics are a primary requirement, so if I need to clip off support material and it leaves some blems, that's not a big problem for me.
3. Non Bowden extruder, this would probably be good if you need to print a lot of flexible filament prints. I have printed flexible filament on my Bowden extruder CR-10, you just have to play with the print speed to get it to print.
4. 110V print bed heater, havn't needed it, plan to do some printing with nylon and I think the current one will meet my needs
5. Spindle, I haven't seen a 3D printer yet that looks strong enough to do any milling in anything heavier than foam, so unless your plan is to carve foam then this is probably a waste of time
6. Laser, there are people who do this, but I would not recommend it. A laser that can do anything on a CNC machine will be non eye safe and is a danger to yourself and others without the proper enclosures and interlocks.
What I do recommend for updates is a heated enclosure (I ordered my laser cut enclosure and added a heater and thermostat) and all metal hot end (for higher temperature materials) and a hardened nozzle (for carbon and glass filled materials). I paid 385 for my CR-10 and the options have cost about 300 since then. It has a large print area and does a good job. It is a no frills printer, so no auto bed leveling, dual extruders or any of the fancy stuff. Good luck and enjoy. I've used mine to do a lot of organizing fixtures in the shop and plan on making machine parts and electrical boxes with it as well. I've also dabbled in lost PLA casting, but the burnout was not complete and the casting failed. I am going to retry it with ABS and dissolve it out with acetone before burnout and pouring. They really are a great addition to a metalworking shop.
1. Dual Z drive, you won't need it
2. Dual extruders, this is a nice option for printing soluble support materials. I'm not pursuing this because I generally don't print things where cosmetics are a primary requirement, so if I need to clip off support material and it leaves some blems, that's not a big problem for me.
3. Non Bowden extruder, this would probably be good if you need to print a lot of flexible filament prints. I have printed flexible filament on my Bowden extruder CR-10, you just have to play with the print speed to get it to print.
4. 110V print bed heater, havn't needed it, plan to do some printing with nylon and I think the current one will meet my needs
5. Spindle, I haven't seen a 3D printer yet that looks strong enough to do any milling in anything heavier than foam, so unless your plan is to carve foam then this is probably a waste of time
6. Laser, there are people who do this, but I would not recommend it. A laser that can do anything on a CNC machine will be non eye safe and is a danger to yourself and others without the proper enclosures and interlocks.
What I do recommend for updates is a heated enclosure (I ordered my laser cut enclosure and added a heater and thermostat) and all metal hot end (for higher temperature materials) and a hardened nozzle (for carbon and glass filled materials). I paid 385 for my CR-10 and the options have cost about 300 since then. It has a large print area and does a good job. It is a no frills printer, so no auto bed leveling, dual extruders or any of the fancy stuff. Good luck and enjoy. I've used mine to do a lot of organizing fixtures in the shop and plan on making machine parts and electrical boxes with it as well. I've also dabbled in lost PLA casting, but the burnout was not complete and the casting failed. I am going to retry it with ABS and dissolve it out with acetone before burnout and pouring. They really are a great addition to a metalworking shop.
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