I'm looking into getting my first printer, trying to make my way through the mass of info out there
Boilermaker- can I ask what specifically made you go for the ft-5? From what I can tell, it's the biggest print area sub $500 while still having a heated bed and be able to handle multiple materials.
I'm almost sold on it, the only thing I'm contemplating is something that can print dual materials. I would use this for aesthetics as well as using support material for more complicated prints. Have you found decent info on upgrading the ft-5 with dual extruders? It seems like any printers I find with that capability are twice the price and not a diy kit.
From what I understand you can also pause prints and switch out materials?
Any more info on what you were looking for and any close seconds would be helpful
Cheers
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What you listed were pretty much the reasons the reasons I had selected the FT-5. Inexpensive to get into printing a large volume, easy to improve the quality with upgrades... maker713 has a great kit offered, but it's still on back order.
lilscorpion and I are both still on the wait list. I was planning to upgrade the controller to the Duet Wifi with expansion to be able to run two multi-filament extruders.
Now it's been almost 6 months and I have decided to go a different path, but I'll explain why since it has nothing to do with my opinion of the FT-5.
I have a large electrical enclosure that I am going to sound deaden so that I can run prints in the basement 24/7 if I need to. Eventually the printers will live out in my garage once it's fully finished and heated. The FT-5 won't fit in my enclosure. It's about an inch too deep. Then I discovered the Rail Core II project thanks to
plc268. It's basically everything I wanted in a foot print that will fit within my enclosure. I'm waiting on the BOM for the 300x300x600 unit to be finished and published. The RC II has all the upgrades right off the bat. And when Prusa releases their interchangeable print head, the RC group plans to integrate that into the RC II as well.
If I was starting out right now, with no experience in 3D printing and no experience with CNC controls, I would probably look at a handful of printers depending on budget. They would be the Monoprice Mini, the FT-5, or the Prusa i3 MK3. Prusa will be releasing a new printer with the interchangeable print heads too. Out of those 3, the FT-5 is probably the most difficult to get going with only because it's the largest and most complicated printer. Not impossible, it will just take more time and attention to build and get running. The Prusa is the most expensive, but definitely the easiest to dial in and they have a great support group.
My long term plans (3-5 years out) are to have two or three printers. The Rail Core II 300x300x600, a more standard 200mm3 size like a Prusa, and a very large print volume printer with a volcano hot end to print large objects with less resolution that will be covered with composite cloths for motorcycle, boat, and other vehicle parts. The standard small format printer will be tuned to print small parts at high resolution (0.05mm - 0.10mm layer height).
I'll probably buy a few other printers in that time too, but mostly used ones that need some work to get printing correctly so I can donate them to schools for the tax donations. I've found that once people know you have a 3D printer, then they tell you about guys that have one they aren't using and want to get rid of... mostly because they bought cheap ones and get frustrated. They're easy enough to fix if you know how to troubleshoot and have a printer to make new parts. My GeeeTech i3 is a prime example. I have leads on two more smaller printers, but the owners haven't decided if they want to sell them or how much they want for them yet.
