Looks pretty nice. What would be the advantage of this over, say, the Makergear M2?miglo wrote:Take a look at the MendelMax 3 at http://www.makerstoolworks.com/
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Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
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patrickmakers
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:50 am
- Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Contact: Website
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
I work for Makers Tool Works and this conversation caught my eye. Please let me know if you have any questions that I can get answered for you. Have a great day.- Patrick
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
Well I don't have the M2 so I can't really do a direct comparison. I do have the MendelMax 2, which I like a lot, and by all accounts the MM3 is a big improvement over that.
Support as been great with the community through their chat forums. There always seems to be someone knowledgeable on to help you out. The MM2 is a really solid and great printer.
The MM3 is also cheaper than the M2.
Support as been great with the community through their chat forums. There always seems to be someone knowledgeable on to help you out. The MM2 is a really solid and great printer.
The MM3 is also cheaper than the M2.
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
The super early bird on the 200XL is VERY tempting. Can you tell me a bit more about your experience so far with the RL200?
How reliable has it been?
What is their support and customer service like?
Have you tried any 50 micron prints?
What are noise levels like?
Any kind of in-depth reviews or info seem to impossible to find yet.
-m
How reliable has it been?
What is their support and customer service like?
Have you tried any 50 micron prints?
What are noise levels like?
Any kind of in-depth reviews or info seem to impossible to find yet.
-m
Joao wrote:I own one of these 'Rapide Lite 200' and I am very happy with it (the smaller version, with 'only' 200mm build height, everything else is the same).
To get more info: http://igg.me/at/rapide-lite-200XL/x/9111896
They have available dual extruder as an add-on.
And if you are fast you can get this printer delivered in May for only $999.
When I bought mine I waited more than 6 months for the campaign to end and everything worked really well, delivered on time. So I guess this will also be shipped as announced.
If you are interested in the not so tallest version, here is the link, but the cost now is the same $999: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rapi ... /x/9111896
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
Rapide3D was already selling other 3D printer models before they came up with this very sturdy aluminium based one that was launched at Indiegogo early 2014, to be delivered during christmas time. And it did. I got the printer on the 22nd Dec 2014 like they promised.
That first version of the Rapide Lite 200 had some details that required reviewing and they did change them on later models and specially with this new 200XL.
A new ARM 32 bit board (before was Arduino based), stronger aluminium heated bed, different rods and bearings with much higher moving precision, the colour LCD display, some cabling and other minor details.
I would be very happy to upgrade mine with this new 200XL, knowing that these things are the result of many initial owners' feedback.
If you don't need such a tall printer, maybe the 200 model might also include the upgrades? You might ask their support.
Thats another area that Rapide3D is improving, the customer support.
In spite of being an Australian company, they moved to China to develop the printer closely to the manufacture facility.
And that caused them unexpected problems because China blocks almost all internet social websites and communications. They couldn't/can't use any public forums, Facebook, Skype, or whatever they tried, they only have access to email. They are working this out but the owners community is already big enough to have a crowd sourced support with some active members and forums.
I did only one print with 0.05 resolution and it did work very well. But the results that I get with 0.1 are already so good that don't need to go down that much.
Regarding noise levels I did some changes to mine, replacing the power supply internal fan (most of the 3D printers use the same type of power supply, so I guess its the same noisy fan).
The vibration caused by the original rods and bearings are now fixed, so I guess that the only sound left are the fans and the motors, just like the other printers.
Some owners are enclosing their printer in bespoke cases, because of the noise but mainly to print easier ABS, keeping the warm inside.
My take of this printer is in fact its design, the strong aluminium built, and very affordable price for all the 3D printer parts, pre-assembled and well thought to be a very good printer.
There might be better printers, but at the same price level this is a winner. Even if I tried to build my own printer, probably all the parts bought separately would be more expensive than this.
I would buy it again.
Example of a print with 0.1mm layer (PLA, no supports, 65mm/s speed, S3D slicer):
That first version of the Rapide Lite 200 had some details that required reviewing and they did change them on later models and specially with this new 200XL.
A new ARM 32 bit board (before was Arduino based), stronger aluminium heated bed, different rods and bearings with much higher moving precision, the colour LCD display, some cabling and other minor details.
I would be very happy to upgrade mine with this new 200XL, knowing that these things are the result of many initial owners' feedback.
If you don't need such a tall printer, maybe the 200 model might also include the upgrades? You might ask their support.
Thats another area that Rapide3D is improving, the customer support.
In spite of being an Australian company, they moved to China to develop the printer closely to the manufacture facility.
And that caused them unexpected problems because China blocks almost all internet social websites and communications. They couldn't/can't use any public forums, Facebook, Skype, or whatever they tried, they only have access to email. They are working this out but the owners community is already big enough to have a crowd sourced support with some active members and forums.
I did only one print with 0.05 resolution and it did work very well. But the results that I get with 0.1 are already so good that don't need to go down that much.
Regarding noise levels I did some changes to mine, replacing the power supply internal fan (most of the 3D printers use the same type of power supply, so I guess its the same noisy fan).
The vibration caused by the original rods and bearings are now fixed, so I guess that the only sound left are the fans and the motors, just like the other printers.
Some owners are enclosing their printer in bespoke cases, because of the noise but mainly to print easier ABS, keeping the warm inside.
My take of this printer is in fact its design, the strong aluminium built, and very affordable price for all the 3D printer parts, pre-assembled and well thought to be a very good printer.
There might be better printers, but at the same price level this is a winner. Even if I tried to build my own printer, probably all the parts bought separately would be more expensive than this.
I would buy it again.
Example of a print with 0.1mm layer (PLA, no supports, 65mm/s speed, S3D slicer):
mitchfx wrote:The super early bird on the 200XL is VERY tempting. Can you tell me a bit more about your experience so far with the RL200?
How reliable has it been?
What is their support and customer service like?
Have you tried any 50 micron prints?
What are noise levels like?
Any kind of in-depth reviews or info seem to impossible to find yet.
-m
Joao wrote:I own one of these 'Rapide Lite 200' and I am very happy with it (the smaller version, with 'only' 200mm build height, everything else is the same).
To get more info: http://igg.me/at/rapide-lite-200XL/x/9111896
They have available dual extruder as an add-on.
And if you are fast you can get this printer delivered in May for only $999.
When I bought mine I waited more than 6 months for the campaign to end and everything worked really well, delivered on time. So I guess this will also be shipped as announced.
If you are interested in the not so tallest version, here is the link, but the cost now is the same $999: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rapi ... /x/9111896
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
I'm not sure this is true. M2 (kit) is $1475. MM3 is actually more at $1495. The ASSEMBLED M2 is indeed more at $1775 but from what I can tell the MM3 doesn't have a pre-assembled option so that's not really a fair comparison. I wish they did though.miglo wrote: The MM3 is also cheaper than the M2.
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
My apologies, I was looking up the product on Amazon and saw that price.mitchfx wrote:I'm not sure this is true. M2 (kit) is $1475. MM3 is actually more at $1495. The ASSEMBLED M2 is indeed more at $1775 but from what I can tell the MM3 doesn't have a pre-assembled option so that's not really a fair comparison. I wish they did though.miglo wrote: The MM3 is also cheaper than the M2.
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MichaelHerron
- Posts: 112
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2015 2:36 pm
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
The build volume is not very big, but if you have a MicroCenter store nearby, you can usually pick up an opened-box Powerspec 3D-X Pro for an exceptional price! I got mine for $480 bucks. They retail for 1100 and frequently can be found for 700ish.
It is a Flashforge Creator X (or Pro--both models are avail)/Makerbot Replicator 1 clone, but it has the upgraded processor.
It is a Flashforge Creator X (or Pro--both models are avail)/Makerbot Replicator 1 clone, but it has the upgraded processor.
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
The problem with the flashforge is the build HEIGHT is too low for me @ just under 6 inches. This not much more than what I have now (5.5") with my Dremel/Flashforge Dreamer.MichaelHerron wrote:The build volume is not very big, but if you have a MicroCenter store nearby, you can usually pick up an opened-box Powerspec 3D-X Pro for an exceptional price! I got mine for $480 bucks. They retail for 1100 and frequently can be found for 700ish.
It is a Flashforge Creator X (or Pro--both models are avail)/Makerbot Replicator 1 clone, but it has the upgraded processor.
When you say "The build volume is not very big"...which other printer are you referring to? The MendelMax or the RapidLite 200XL?
Re: Best FFF Under $2500?
So I posted some examples of the prints I'm currently getting from the Dremel on the Rapide 3d facebook page and all the replies I got were users asking how I got such good quality! One guy even said he didn't think the Rapide would produce the same level of detail. Of course a lot of this could be due to many of the users there just not knowing how to calibrate their printers or having quality models to start with.
I also printed a test of one of my STLs on a friend's M2 at 100 micron and I have to say the initial results were not quite as clean as what I'm getting on the Dremel. Rick from Makergear has offered to do a test print for me which should be running soon, so I'm curious what he can pull off using his knowledge of his own brainchild.
I contacted Maker's Toolworks as well and they offered to do a test print on the Mendel 3. However, Mike there said that printing 100 microns was not likely to give much better results than 200 micron on the Mendel Max and would be just wasting time. He claimed he would put his 200 micron prints up against my 100 micron ones any day so I emailed him a STL along with example photos of my prints. I'm really curious to see how his test stacks up!
At this point the Ultimaker 2 is sounding better and better...
I also printed a test of one of my STLs on a friend's M2 at 100 micron and I have to say the initial results were not quite as clean as what I'm getting on the Dremel. Rick from Makergear has offered to do a test print for me which should be running soon, so I'm curious what he can pull off using his knowledge of his own brainchild.
I contacted Maker's Toolworks as well and they offered to do a test print on the Mendel 3. However, Mike there said that printing 100 microns was not likely to give much better results than 200 micron on the Mendel Max and would be just wasting time. He claimed he would put his 200 micron prints up against my 100 micron ones any day so I emailed him a STL along with example photos of my prints. I'm really curious to see how his test stacks up!
At this point the Ultimaker 2 is sounding better and better...
