Ok so maybe there is no stringing between deposits.

Man, I am sooo close to just jumping in and pledging/buying an Eventorbot off kickstarter, but trying to control the urge, and wait for a couple reviews, and that Make article in november.

I found one other interesting one thats quite similar with a solid metal frame design. The PandaBot. Runs about $800 shipped (and I believe fully assembled). And it does have an interesting feature...

Automatic print head self calibration.

Having never used a 3d printer, I don't know, is this a truly awesome feature, or nothing major. Is the calibration procedure with normal 3d printers normally a time consuming pain, or no big deal?

Calibration is not too bad on most. Usually the plate is adjustable and you go to each corner and adjust so you have a specific clearance between head tip and plate. (.1 or .2mm).

Mark

Well the pandabot (the one that self calibrates), just released a couple new sample pictures. Don't quite know what to think about these. I mean, I don't like to knock work in progress and innovation, but these samples of the "faceless man" just seem pretty bad, especially to be showing as samples, and the yoda head didn't even print fully.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-printer/posts

Another good one:
http://mendelmax.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/techsho...7629484425149/

I have to agree the hoodie one is crap but the other two seem alright

Post by the creator regarding the hoody guy....

Creator Panda Robotics 6 days ago

Sorry for the confusion regarding the person in the hoodie.
This was an earlier test print we did. There are definitely a few
problem points related to draft angle and stringing but overall it's a
fairly good print. In particular, surface finish on the torso is a
good indicator of the type of surface finish you could expect around
0.2mm slices. We're happy to share in-progress images of work as we
go, and it's really worth bearing in mind that hoodie was printed on
our first prototype, which doesn't always perform 100%. We're well
along on our up-grade path and will be posting more images soon

(double post sorry)
41 hour to go on the eventorbot kickstarter campaign and he has reachesd funding of $115K
not bad considering he was only after $25k

Well, I went ahead and took the plunge, and pledged for a full Eventorbot kit.

Its not like me to throw this much money towards a product that I haven't even seen a review of, but I'm just too eager to wait. Plus the inventor really seems like a great and trustworthy guy, who is going out of his way to make this product as good as it can be. Also its open source, and upgradable so I'm sure that if any problems do arise, they will be solveable.

What 3D software are you using for the printer?

For the printer or to make the STL files?

I use Creo Elements (ProE)

Still deciding but we may get a Makerbot.

Mark

Whats the external finish like on some of these cheaper printers? Would there be much need to sand and/or buff it for painting or plating?

I think the guy I know has a makerbot, the first thing he made was a manifold for the fume extractor he attached to the makerbot.
From what he says, you need to accurately measure the plastic you buy as the feed and heating rates are dependent on the diameter.

I have completed and am running a Prusa Air 2 http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_Air_2
I have achieved my goal of keeping under $1000 (so far).
All was looking good then the Wade extruder I had built failed me..
So I have invested in a MBE EXTRUDER V9 http://www.qu-bd.com/

The accuracy of the Prusa Air is really good but I want to do better. So my plan is to use the existing parts and build a better one. I'm looking at the Lulzbot TK-0, http://devel.lulzbot.com/TK-0/ my plan is to get the Prusa Air to print the parts and source the t-rail locally.

As for the finish, you have to sand PLA, but if you print it ABS then dip the part in acetone for 30sec (results may vary and you should do a test part first) the result is amazing. Check out this guys results http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17404

Cheers,
Matt

this is the future..
http://m.smh.com.au/technology/techn...026-289ki.html