10 replies to this topic

[ovie]

Howdy y'all, My game group is thinking about buying a 3d printer for making minis (D&D and CBT). I know a lot of people here have printers and sure as heck know more about what makes a good on than me. So i am asking for suggestions on printers that will be able to produce good minis but doesn't cost so much that I have to sell organs on the black market.

[Ialdabaoth]

$4,000 for a Formlabs Form 2 + accessories. You will NOT regret it. It's worth the money and the wait.

[LordLosh]

he said something he doesn't have to sell organs to afford. Not sure you in same ball park as majority of people if you think 4K is cheap?
I recently just bought a Flash forge Creator pro. Had the best reviews and overall best scores combined and compared to pretty much every website i found. I'm pretty happy with it. They are like $850 on amazon and i think they have older models that are just as good but cheaper. Customer support has been awesome and they respond very fast. Only thing i don't like about it is the build bed is not removable but for $40 you can get a glass bed that you can easily take out.
One thing to also consider is a good slicer program. You can download a lot of the mechs and files online but with out good software to tell the printer how to print it you will be upset and unhappy. Simply 3d is the best hands down but comes at a price $150. well worth it if you plan on doing a lot of prints. Maybe you have someone in the group that is good with blender? if so then that is a free software you can use to design and print files.
Also it is a lot of work. most people just think you push a button and magic you get awesome 3d prints. Yeah not so much takes time & practice. Hope this helps

[ovie]

Ialdabaoth, on 31 August 2016 - 03:42 PM, said:

$4,000 for a Formlabs Form 2 + accessories. You will NOT regret it. It's worth the money and the wait.

you wouldn't happen to be able to hook me up with a good black market organ dealer?

[Perseus Pax]

I bought a Printrbot Plus.

That said, think about what you really want and what size you will be dealing with. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is kind of the best quality output.

If you are making everything at least 3-6 inches, you can do a lot with a Printrbot. You can't have overhangs though. That is where the pattern of one layer has a larger footprint than the one below. Most things can't be printed as a single piece. Most prints will take hours to get an acceptable quality.

If you can afford an SLS printer, I think you will be happier. You can get those for $3000+.

You can pick up a 10" Printrbot with 0.05 mm resolution for about $1200. It's not bad, but it will take extra work.

Realize that with 3d printers you have two resolutions. One is the thickness of each layer, and the other is the thickness side to side of the deposited material. In both cases, the smaller the number, the better.

GL;HF

*edit*
You can get Printrbot (and other ) kits for less. If you do, you should expect somewhere between 30-40 extra hours for building the unit and calibrating before you can really start getting prints.

Edited by Perseus Pax, 31 August 2016 - 06:08 PM.

[Ialdabaoth]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 31 August 2016 - 04:52 PM, said:

Dude.... 4k for that model is 500 dollars more than what it retails at.

? Barebones, yes. I did say "and all the accessories". Which are worth it.

Quote

Plus there are tons of other 3D printers. My dad has an absolutely amazing one (does a great job) that he bought for 250 dollars as a kit.

Thermoplastic or UV resin?

[Luscious Dan]

That's a bit presumptuous. Adults can afford mortgages and car payments, vacations, motorcycles, etc. so why not a $3,500 3D printer? That's no different than someone who has a few grand worth of power tools or golf clubs in the garage that rarely see use. You don't have to pay for everything up front in cash, that's what credit cards are for

Anyway, the Form2 spec sheet looks impressive. Its 25 micron setting is about where I would want to be for most small scale applications, much worse than that and you end up spending an eternity on prep time, filing and sanding the models after printing. Even at 25, you'll still get some fine surface texture.

[Valcrow]

I have a bunch of Ultimakers and a form2, and I've made mechs with them (the 6" articulating atlas). Form2 is certainly the way to go for anything tabletop size. you simply won't get the detail on ANY FDM printer at that scale without much suffering. It 'can' kinda be done with a very small nozzle but it's really not worth it and the results will be nowhere near the quality that Form 2 is capable at that scale.

If you're looking at 3"-6" models, FDM printers become much more attractive due to the price of materials.

If you're thinking D&D scale, and you actually want details you have to go with either SLA or DLP printers. Printer statistics have no bearing here. Even the best FDM's at 25 microns will not come close to an SLA & 25 microns or even 50.

Here is a tiny form2 hourglass.
http://www.redicubri...56-1024x576.jpg

[Luscious Dan]

Yep if you're looking at anything like 28mm figures, or CBT scale vehicles since they're of similar size to 28mm figures, then filament printers will probably just be a disappointment.

I mentioned the other day that if I don't manage to buy a house next year, it'll be super difficult to resist the urge to buy something like a Form 2 with my savings. That's around the minimum quality that I'm willing to work with personally. That, or maybe take some proper courses on 3D modeling software. I do need both the printer and the modeling skills in the end.