3D Printing Most important part of a 3D FFF printer?

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Bravo52

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After reading through a lot of the threads on here discussing the different (latest?) printers and their qualities (vs if they are quality). It got me thinking about what the single most important part of a FFF printer is. I won't apologize for being a Prusa Fanboy as I think they are the "best" all around package for small FFF printers as well as the best overall value when considering the years of effortless printing I've had with mine.

However, if you were going to build a new printer, what one thing would you build it around? Would it be the frame? Extruder? Hot End? Print bed? Software (to include main control board)? Filaments? I realize printers are more of a "system" as the combination of several things make prints better as they work together, but what part do you start with?

For me, I think it's the motherboard (controller and power supply). The main board and software is the one thing that interfaces all of the parts and pieces into a working unit. I'd probably start with a MKS Robin Nano running Marlin if I couldn't use a Einsy RAMBo.

It would be interesting to hear what everyone would base their fantasy build on and why.
 
I'll preface this by saying that I am almost done building this "fantasy" printer with my roommate.

We chose to base on the ability to print large objects and chose a 400mm^2 build area as the basis for the printer. Along with this we are using a Duet3D board to control it all through a web interface. Honestly picking just one thing to base a printer around still leaves a lot of open room so we also chose to limit ourselves to 0.5m aluminum extrusion lengths as much as possible. This caused some weird design issues so we ends up having 3 pieces that are longer than 0.5m. The reason was we wanted to order a 10 pack of 1m extrusions and fit all the parts out of that pack, and we kinda did, we also used some extrusion that we already had for the frame for the bed. This frame could be reworked in the future as it is definitely overbuilt at a whopping 15lbs for the whole bed structure that moves.
 
I won't apologize for being a Prusa Fanboy as I think they are the "best" all around package for small FFF printers as well as the best overall value when considering the years of effortless printing I've had with mine.

That statement can offensive to you.

I think the controller is the key part followed by the extruder and hotend.
 
For me the most important are the moving parts and frame rigidity. If the motion is not smooth, accurate and with zero backlash or hysteresis you can't get high quality parts. I would build around the frame, rails, motion bearings and elevator. I would also design so the bed height is easily adjustable.
 
That statement can offensive to you.

I think the controller is the key part followed by the extruder and hotend.
Not offensive to me 😆 I just have friends that will answer for me when we are in a group discussion about printers...

I started off looking at hotends because the ability to be consistent with heating and extrusion is important for great prints, I found out there are several that fit that bill. The E3D V6 seems like the "standard" for the hot side. Although, there are others like the Micro Swill that are equally as good. Even others that are intriguing but I don't know much about them.



The Duet looks interesting probably for the web control but I'm not sure how much I'd use that function. Smoothboard 5X also seems like a good controller as well. Not sure which I'd pick.

Moving parts tho.... now Jderimig has me thinking about stepper motors... 🤔
 
Seems like there are two key things: The HOT END and all the positioning HW.
You gotta melt the material "correctly" and the squirt it in the proper place.
Get those right....along with a level base with good base adhesion....and the slicer does the rest of the heavy lifting.
 
The Duet looks interesting probably for the web control but I'm not sure how much I'd use that function.
Currently the web interface is the only control. Its hosted on its own IP and isn't publicly available, only on our network. It is very handy to just send the print straight from the slicer to the printer without any usb drives or sd cards to worry about.
 
Running a sneaker net or not is WAY down on the list of what I care about in a 3D printer.
When the average print takes HOURS, 1 minute to write a SD card and walk across the room isn't even in consideration.
QUALITY, Print Volume, cost, speed and reliability are 1000X more important.
 
Why the controller.....seems the most generic part.
Runs GCode, period.

The entire process of printing requires a quality controller. The Prusa would not be what it is without a Rambo controller. It is old and reliable.
 
Not offensive to me 😆 I just have friends that will answer for me when we are in a group discussion about printers...

I started off looking at hotends because the ability to be consistent with heating and extrusion is important for great prints, I found out there are several that fit that bill. The E3D V6 seems like the "standard" for the hot side. Although, there are others like the Micro Swill that are equally as good. Even others that are intriguing but I don't know much about them.




The Duet looks interesting probably for the web control but I'm not sure how much I'd use that function. Smoothboard 5X also seems like a good controller as well. Not sure which I'd pick.

Moving parts tho.... now Jderimig has me thinking about stepper motors... 🤔

Do know Prusa is working on the replacement for the Rambo?
 
Running a sneaker net or not is WAY down on the list of what I care about in a 3D printer.
When the average print takes HOURS, 1 minute to write a SD card and walk across the room isn't even in consideration.
QUALITY, Print Volume, cost, speed and reliability are 1000X more important.
Our printer prints at ~40 mm^3/s and I have done quite a few prints that are sub 20mins where I can slice it, upload it, and then walk over after a little bit and pick up a finished print. We also installed a 1.2kW AC switched bed heater so that it heats up very quickly along with the 120W peak hotend heater. Speed was the big key for this printer and it does it. 300mm/s at 0.25mm layer heights with a 0.5mm nozzle. Hoping to push it to even higher volumetric rates with bigger nozzles like a 0.8mm nozzle. Maybe we can break over 50 mm^3/s.
 
The entire process of printing requires a quality controller. The Prusa would not be what it is without a Rambo controller. It is old and reliable.
What qualities? Beyond reliability and being quiet? Is there more jitter? Less slew-rate? What?
 
What qualities? Beyond reliability and being quiet? Is there more jitter? Less slew-rate? What?

I am nit testing that, but the things print about as quiet as I have seen a printers print and they have the highest print quality for a hobby printer. In my option, as someone who has used or owned over a dozen different printer brands, they are more reliable and the performance is unmatched. Some of the companies are catching up (see BambuLabs), but combined with their support network, it is unmatched.
 
Do know Prusa is working on the replacement for the Rambo?
I have not heard if they plan on replacing the board with a 64 bit version. I know they've been focusing on keeping the firmware up to date and the latest 3.11 had a lot of LCD fixes in it. In one of the previous (3.09??) releases, they added a motherboard serial number quirie so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with possible upgrades though I'm not sure why a serial number would matter for upgrades.
 
I always get a kick out of products that people love based on the "quality" of their support.
If it's a real quality product IMHO, it doesn't need support.
What's support doing? Covering problems? Covering the lack of a real manual? Selling parts that break or were skimped on?
That the IKEA-like instructions aren't cutting it? What?

I judge the need to call support makes the product a failure.....sorry, my view.

I liken it to trying to selling an extended warranty ... are you telling me I'll need that????
 
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I have not heard if they plan on replacing the board with a 64 bit version.
Why? 300mm bed width at 0.01mm/step = 30k steps which can be expressed with a 16-bit integer.
What do you gain going to 64-bit?
The current controllers are sitting waiting for the printer....I don't need faster....I don't need more bits.....
Seems if anything they are overspending on parts that don't matter.
 
I always get a kick out of products that people love based on the "quality" of their support.
If it's a real quality product IMHO, it doesn't need support.
What's support doing? Covering problems? Covering the lack of a real manual? Selling parts that break or were skimped on?
That the IKEA-like instructions aren't cutting it? What?

I judge the need to call support makes the product a failure.....sorry, my view.

I liken it to trying to selling an extended warranty ... are you telling me I'll need that????

"Support" isn't always about the quality of the product. In the case of Prusa (or other manufacturers) it's also about the quality of support the community gives as well. For example, if I want to do something unintended with my printer, there is someone out there that's tried it and can provided support for my efforts. Happens a lot. Another example. I wanted to add a dashcam to my car without all the dangly bits in the form of wires running down to the 12V power supply. I decided to take power from the rearview mirror but didn't have a wiring diagram. After probing all the wires for a switched power source on the mirror, I was able to make a power tap for the camera. About the time I finished, I found out there is a whole community online that shows exactly how to do that...with pictures....

Then there was this one time, I had a question about how to add a baffle to a rocket...I found this place with "quality support" that helped me turn a basic ol Estes rocket into one with a baffle... I bet your house is full of "failed" products... 😆
 
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