2014 was a revolutionary year for 3D printing. New printers and companies came forth and showed off their skills at building machines. During the year, MAKE: a magazine dedicated to do-it-yourself projects and things that were made by people, tested 26 3D printers to see the strengths and weaknesses of the machines. So the top 3 3D printers according to MAKE: are listed here.
The Ultimaker 2
 |
| Image Source: Dynamism.com |
The best printer in overall print quality was the Ultimaker 2. As well as scoring high in all of the print quality tests, it has a few features that made if one of the best Printers tested. A glass heat bed and support for multiple slicer programs makes it great. You have to really look in order to find something bad about the Ultimaker 2.
Lulzbot TAZ 4
The Lulzbot TAZ 4 comes a close second in overall print quality, but it is the open software and hardware that get people's attention. This printer is more open source than most of the other printers, allowing people to change the software, or upgrade the hardware by printing parts for itself. Lulzbot also offers an additional extruder for printing with flexible material or filament.
Lulzbot TAZ 4
 |
| Image Source: Sparkfun.com |
The Lulzbot TAZ 4 comes a close second in overall print quality, but it is the open software and hardware that get people's attention. This printer is more open source than most of the other printers, allowing people to change the software, or upgrade the hardware by printing parts for itself. Lulzbot also offers an additional extruder for printing with flexible material or filament.
Printrbot Simple Metal
 |
| Image Source: Printrbot.com |
The Printrbot simple metal coming in 3rd place intruiges people by it's low price ($599), and simple design. This printer is small and portable, with an optional handle ($39) to make it even easier to move around. Upgrade kits are available to allow the printer to print ABS plastic as well as PLA.
No comments:
Post a Comment