Maker Bot Printers

[msantos]

merry christmas to all.

looking for advice regarding a 3D printer from Maker Bot. any comments will be welcomed.

thanks

[myxpykalix]

have you tried going to: http://www.instructables.com/contest/makerbot/ from there you should be able to find a link to other users or forum where you might get some specific advice you seek.
or try this:
http://www.instructables.com/tag/type-question/

[mikeacg]

All I know is that I want the frosting extruder! Cool machine!! Not quite up to the quality I would want yet but I will probably own one as they improve. Let me know if you buy it!

Mike

[dana_swift]

There is a MakerBot at FabLabTulsa, I have not personally used the machine, however I have seen impressive results considering the price.

Yet it is not "ready for prime time". Dimensions do not come out right. If the machine is supposed to create a 1 inch cube with a half inch hole in it, the geometry will be off significantly. Not a lot, to look at it you would think.. wow.. perfect. Typically the hole will be out of round or suffer other flaws. Likewise the outside of the cube would only be "kinda close".

In the same room with the MakerBot is an Objet 3D printer which works fabulously. It makes dimensional parts with amazing accuracy. I have had about a dozen things printed, and parts designed to interlock do. The price per part is quite high though.

If you design two "interlocking parts" on the MakerBot they will probably not interlock. Or even come very close.

What is fascinating is to see how well it works at its price. My hat is off to its designers. Its reminds me of a homemade CNC machine made from MDF. Its amazing how well it works, and it makes me appreciate how solid the ShopBot is. They are fabulous for hobbyists, but production needs better.

Also I can see how the machine will probably get upgraded in the coming years to a machine that is a respectable 3D extruder. That depends on "open source" efforts, meaning work for free. The people who are really good at it have good jobs creating 3D printers and sell their work.

If you want to make something "to show" the machine is perfect. If you want to make something "to use", I would look for a better machine.

Just my observations!

Hope that helps-

D