1

Hi everyone,

I am new to 3D printing, but I have more than 20 years of CAD-CAE experience including 5 years of CNC and metal cutting. I am trying to choose my first 3D printer. As an engineer, I don’t want to buy an entry model, so after some search, I reduced my list to three printers : Taz5, Ultimaker 2 and Makergear.

Taz5 is in first place due to its reliability, print volume and material choices. My biggest concern is “difficulty of use”. I really don’t know what is difficult and need some help on this. Do users mean first time set up ? Or cleaning after each use ? Connecting the filament ?

Ultimaker 2 is in second place, biggest advantage is quiet operation and ease of use. Biggest disadvantage is print volume when compared to Taz5. Also dual extruder would be good.

Makergear M2 is in third place. Biggest advantage is reliability, all 140 reviews on Amazon are 5 stars. There is no single 4 stars review. Biggest disadvantage is not using exotic materials, but I am not sure if this is true.

Can anyone help me to decide on one of these printers ?

Thanks in advance !

2

Taz 5, not sure whats difficult about it, I love it

3

Thanks DW. I don’t know what is difficult either, I am trying to understand why most reviewers say this.

4

Why do you want/need dual extrusion?

5

I need dual extrusion for layered composite structures, but it is not a must at this point.

6

well, if the only use for “layered” structures you can swap the filament during the print. Also dual extrusion is not that good developed yet to create high quality prints.

Anyway, as an user of the umo, umo+, um2 and um2extended it is fairly clear that i prefer ultimaker above other manufacturers. Their recent + update on their um2’s made their 3d printer pretty nice. The feeder is really the only problem on their um2. With this + update that problem no longer exists.

7

Thanks Rob. Is the reliability and print quality of extended same as regular version ? Can you print all kind of exotic materials like wood looking, flexible, metal infused etc ?

8

They are two identical machines. except for the height.

I’ve tried exotic materials like flexible and woodfill, both printed fine. A bigger nozzle is highly recommended but that won’t be a problem with the + upgrade on the um2. On that machine you can swap nozzles very easily.

Using flexible material can be tricky because the um uses a bowden setup. (The flexible tube running from the feeder to the printhead) but I haven’t encountered any problems yet.

9

I have a love-hate relationship with my Ultimaker 2… It prints fantastic when its printing… otherwise I have days of non-stop feed issues then suddenly it works fantastic again… mine is about 4 months old… has around 400 print hours on it… at least 150hrs worth were print failures. :confused: Honestly I am hating the Bowden system completely.

Have heard a lot of good thinks about the taz.

10

I imagine that you took a look at the 2015 Buyer’s Guide. Lots of good information there.

The M2 tops the list. It may not have the variety of materials that the TAZ advertises, but it does have higher quality prints.

I am a TAZ user and I am very happy with it. My first print, first try worked nearly perfectly. My learning curve was started before I got the printer and I’m still learning (two months later), but it was easy to set up and start using.

11

try to print a new feeder, the default one is known to have issues with that. Why do you think they updated the feeder on the um2+

1 Like
12

I currently run the Robers v2… still have same issue as stock… just less of it… heh

13

I just got my taz5 and it is awesome. I have had experience with a few other printers (Dimension, Robo R1, Replicator). I personally dont find any of them too difficult to get going. My only advice for the Taz5 is get a dial indicator and print out the clip on attachment from thingiverse to help level the bed.

1 Like
14

Thank you.

15

Thanks everyone for contributing. I decided to go with Taz 5. I will order in a couple weeks.

It is Prime on Amazon now.

16

Oh and dont forget some extra filament so you can get going on some prints right away

17

JS, how you still feeling about your Taz? I’m looking to pull the trigger on a machine within a week and am under the same dilemma. Debating between similar machines. I’ve heard from several owners in forums that the Taz is great to start but problematic later.

18

I’ve been running a TAZ 4 for a bit over a year, and I’ve upgraded to the v2 toolhead (same as on the TAZ 5). I haven’t replaced anything yet (other than the extruder upgrade), and I’ve done virtually no maintenance. I’ve got over 700 hours on this thing, and it’s going like gangbusters despite me toting it to the library and back occasionally.

I have my eye on a few upgrades that I can print myself, but I don’t have any real problems with it at this point.

What problems are people saying they have later on?

Also, if you’re serious about the TAZ, the TAZ 6 should be coming out soon, and it looks to be a wonderful machine. If you don’t need something immediately, it might be worth the wait.

19

I’ve read many users complain about leveling issues and that the machine needs constant calibration and monitoring. I was hoping to be able to trust prints would come out in the multi-hour range without having to worry about it. One commenter has said that the only machine in the desktop/consumer range they’ve found that does this consistently is the Zortrax M200. I was leaning toward getting that machine (and may still) but I really wanted the variety in materials offered by the TAZ or DeltaWasp. The Zortrax is only ABS and I have parts that need to be made with more bio-friendly filaments. I’ve considered going with a resin printer as I can spend upwards of $3,500 but then you have even more toxicity issues. There aren’t nearly the number of owners with the DeltaWASP to gauge if that’s the way to go. Do you have any experience with the Delta?

20

I don’t have experience with DeltaWASPS. Sorry.

I might be a bit of a Lulzbot fanboy, though. They’re under an hour from my house.

I routinely run multi-hour prints without problems. I haven’t really run anything longer than about 36 hours, though; I did run those 36-hour prints back to back for about 2 weeks without problems. I have recalibrated my extruder once since my initial calibration (I wanted to use a more accurate measuring device). I level the bed once after moving the printer, and set the z-stop when changing temperature profiles. Sometimes, after several prints (days to weeks), if I feel the bed may not be level (or I’ve removed and reinstalled it, or really whacked it around), I’ll level it again. Leveling takes about 5-10 minutes if you’re really picky about it (it’s good to be picky - those extra few minutes will save you hours of annoyance).

I just ran a couple of prints in PLA, one 20 hours and the other 28 hours, and didn’t have any heat creep issues or anything. The TAZ 5 (and the TAZ 6 when it comes out) has a Hexagon all-metal hot end with a fan on the heat break, which really took care of most of the heat creep issues people have had with PLA. I haven’t seen any symptoms of it since upgrading to that hot end. There are also plans online to print a heat break fan upgrade and put a fan on it with about 8 times the airflow, but I haven’t bothered yet as I don’t seem to need it.

I’m not sure why people have issues with the TAZ. It’s been a very reliable and fairly easy printer, and a workhorse. I run it with OctoPi, and routinely leave it unmonitored for hours and hours at a time (and into the night when I’m asleep). There’s a robust community of owners who share suggestions and upgrades (which are generally not needed), and Lulzbot itself published files for the printable parts, and upgrades.

I’ve printed on the TAZ with ABS, PLA, ColorFabb PHA, NinjaFlex, HIPS, ColorFabb XT-Copolyester, ColorFabb Bronzefill, ColorFabb Copperfill, ColorFabb Brassfill (tricky), ColorFabb nGen, ColorFabb Woodfill, ColorFabb Corkfill, and PET+. All have produced good results.

There’s definitely a learning curve to 3D printing, and the TAZ doesn’t really eliminate it. There are some printers that flatten it a little bit, but once you learn how to use your machine, many of them can be reliable. I also teach some intro-level 3D printing classes at the library here, using Lulzbot printers (TAZ and Mini).

I do have a Form 1+, also, and while it works fairly reliably (susceptible to dust, though), it’s quite messy, and you do have the potential resin toxicity. You can use the parts to make molds, though, and cast in safer materials. Which I haven’t done.

I’m curious to see which printer you’ll choose!