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January 18, 2013, 05:59:14 AM |
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It depends on whether you want quality or save money. The repraps are cheap at about half the cost, but their resolution and quality is kinda crap compared to the commercial units.
Perishable costs?
There's not much maintenance in these. As long as you stick with the materials designed for them, they'll work for quite a while. Otherwise you may damage the nozzle, and some materials with metallic ingredients may even dissolve it over time
Again, depends on what you need them for. The main difference between cheap and expensive units is resolution, not production time. Meaning cheaper units will have small ridges all down the sides (the sides of the printed flat pancakes will stand out), while higher resolution expensive ones will be more smooth. If you are planning to sell printed items, customers may prefer better quality smoother prints. You can also sand the lower quality ones, or have the customers do it, but that will cost more time/money.
Makerbot 2 is currently the highest quality home 3D printer available. Really high resolution, and the final prints come out pretty smooth. The final products will look good enough that you won't need to sand them, or even really notice the grain. It's also the most expensive one out there, though.
In summary, I would go with commercial, and steer clear of Makerbots for now. They'll cost you more in lost business from the low quality.
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