What’s up everyone, Tom here, and after
releasing the original Prusa i3 MK2 review
earlier this week, i’ve gotten a few questions
about the “Tom approves” badge it received.
Do other 3D printers or 3D printer components
and accessories deserve that badge as well?
Well, that’s what we’re going to have
a look at today.
So that badge isn’t something i just want
to carelessly hand out left and right - it
should be a seal of approval only the best
products i test deserve. And “best” shouldn’t
be a fixed formula in my opinion, you know,
score 8/10 for print quality, 6/10 for features,
7/10 for customer support, which means that’s
universally better than that that other machine
that scored 10/10 and then only 2 and 3 - well,
no, because everyone has different needs and
expectations, and saying one is always better
than the other would be somewhat pointless.
Instead, these are products that stand out
for performance, robustness, price, features,
or in general simply deliver an exceptional
user experience overall.
And, of course, i can only look at things
i’ve actually tested, so looking back, these
are my top picks worthy of the “Tom approves”
badge:
Starting with the cheapest 3D printer i can
fully recommend: The Printrbot Play. While
it’s not going to blow you away with insane
print speeds and WiFi connectivity and all
that, it’s a great design that is not only
mechanically robust, but also designed to
be hassle-free and does a great job of keeping
fingers safe from potentially painful incidents.
It’s got a shrouded toolhead that keeps
the hotend cool and out of reach and also
includes a bed sensor, making manual bed adjustments
a thing of the past. The lack of a heated
bed is forgivable for its small print volume
of only 100x100x130mm, and as kit, it offers
a streamlined, fast and educational build
experience, but is also available as a fully
assembled machine for the same price. Even
for being released in mid 2015, it still performs
well compared to today’s offerings and is
a reliable pick for starters or schools. Printrbot
Inc is based in the USA, in northern California
and deserves the “Tom approves” badge
for the Printrbot Play.
Next up, AlephObjects from Colorado, USA,
with their Lulzbot line of printers - i’ve
reviewed both their Lulzbot Mini and the TAZ
6, and both are high-end machines, probably
for a different audience than the Printrbot
Play. Both are well-designed, with the Mini
having a 150mm square build platform and a
280mm square on the TAZ 6. Not only do these
printers work reliably without any calibration
needed thanks to their electrical bed probing
setup, but they also produce very competitive
print results. Everything Lulzbot does is
based around free/libre and open source software
and hardware and they are the company with
by far the most information, design files
and documentation published about their machines
and also contribute to community-driven projects
that provide value to 3D printer users. The
TAZ 6 at $2,500 and the Mini at $1,250 are
definitely in the end-end range, but if you
want a no-worries plug-and-play experience,
maybe for a more professional environment,
as well as good flexibility in the materials
your 3D printer will be able to process thanks
to the superb preconfigured Cura slicer and
the heated bed, then the Lulzbot series is
an excellent choice for you and earns the
“Tom approves” badge.
And for the last 3D printer on this list,
the one that started the approval process,
the Original Prusa i3 MK2. If you haven’t
seen the review yet, you can watch that here,
and basically, the MK2 is a machine from the
man himself Jo Prusa, that packs many useful
innovations and has a print quality that can
compete with machines many ranks above it.
The printer’s mechanical design makes the
MK2 less than ideal for rougher environments
like schools or frequent travellers, but with
its smart autocalibration routines and the
excellent software suite that’s well configured
for the MK2, it is hard to beat as a workhorse
for a 3D printer newbie or experienced maker,
and probably even for an engineering or design
studio. Based in Prague in the Czech Republic,
PrusaResearch’s $699 kit and the $899 fully
assembled and supported machine both use the
same quality components and are worthy of
the “Tom approves” badge.
So what about components, then? Well, there
are a few that stand out from the crowd on
their own.
First off, the genuine E3D v6.1 hotend. The
v6 has always been my hotend of choice, but
the new revision takes care of the largest
point of critique, which was thermistor mounting.
It’s now using a cartridge-style thermistor,
which means no more fiddling with glass fiber
sleeving and it gives you the option to easily
drop in other temperature sensors for an even
wider temperature range. Combine that with
the consistent performance of the all-metal
v6 and the vast ecosystem of addons and upgrades,
such as the Volcano heater or simply a tougher
or finer nozzle, and you can see why this
British hotend deserves the “Tom approves”
seal.
And when it comes to boards and electronics,
there are two more products that stand out,
starting with the Smoothieboard, a high-performance
take on control boards that uses a faster-than-usual
32-bit processor and a robust selection of
power components. Its specialty however is
its firmware, and while it is very different
to what you might be used to from the popular
Marlin Firmware, it is extremely flexible
when it comes to configuring it the way you
want and driving different types of machines,
be it cartesian, delta or Scara 3D printers
or even CNC routers or lasercutters. As a
bonus, the Ethernet port gives you a laziness
advantage right out of the box, as you can
use Smoothie’s built in web interface to
remotely control your machine, so if you’re
looking for a premium control board, the Smoothieboard
developed in France earns a solid recommendation
and the “Tom approves” badge.
And last, but not least, with one of the core
components of any 3D printer, its stepper
motor drivers, there’s one all-German solution
that stands out, and that’s the Trinamic
TMC2100, as used on the SilentStepStick by
Watterott electronics. These stepper drivers
not only produce more torque at the same current
levels than any of the other drivers used
in today's designs, they also do so very quietly
and smoothly when used correctly. Not only
do they use a very smart control scheme for
the current they send through the motor windings,
but they also interpolate the microsteps that
make up the increments your motors rotate.
I know it’s only a tiny cog in the machine,
but with the sort of quality our 3D printers
are producing today, looking into details
like these does start making sense, and when
it comes to stepper motor drivers, the Trinamic
series is my favorite pick and gets the “Tom
approves” badge.
So these are my top picks from the products
i’ve already reviewed, and for future ones,
you’ll be able to tell the best from the
rest when they get that gold-framed badge.
And that’s it for today, thanks for watching
and i’ll see you in the next one or in every
weekend’s livestream. Make sure you’re
subscribed to not miss it!
