This will be my third year attending and i highly reccomend it…im shopping for another machine and hoping to see something interesting…i need something more suited to high detail , like for jewlery… the zortrax is great but not suitable for the high detail i need…looks like its going to be something like the form 1 only hopefully with even better resolution …l
I use a Titan1 from Kudo3d (www.kudo3d.com). You should research this printer if your looking at sla type printers and want to consider sla/dlp. Also the the B9 Creator is a great printer but I like the professional aspect and really open nature of the Titan1. However I expect mid 2015 a lot of great and probably easier to use options will abound.
I can share if anyone is interested when to use a printer like the Titan1 vs Zortrax or fdm. Also want to point out a big difference between form+1 or sla based printing. If you want to print in a clear resin, this doesn't work well with the Titan1 or other dlp (Projector based) model as the UV light shines up and will overcure already printed layers. SLA is slower e.g. the Form+1 which cures resin at one specific point, but can make transparent prints out of clear resin really well. Can also be done on dlp based printers but is really tricky.
For high resolution smaller prints and for investment casting e.g. jewlery minatures, the sla/dlp printers work well.
Thanks and yes i saw the titan 1 and it looks interesting as well as the b9 …can u tell me a little bit about how they compare in terms of print quality when compared to the form 1?..based on what i can tell, the b9 is better than the form 1 but not quite as easy to use and perhaps more failed prints…also its a horrendously ugly lookingdesign…is funny how important design is…the b9 is very ugly and its actually so ugly in design and logo thats its causing me to look for another option. …lol…the form 1 imo is the nicest looking machine of the bunch but it seems to be lagging a bit in resolution (although still leaps and bounds ahead of the best fdm…but it also comes with a large community and what appears to be very reliable machine…they released an improved form 1 called the form 1 plus and my question is how does the upgraded form 1 compare to others in its class? …im hoping to compare them all at the show thursday and pick one…i think with my zortrax now able to print with wood , carbon fiber, stone and other specialty materials…my milling machine able to work with metal and a new 3d printer like the form 1 for super high detail, ill have the best of everything and there will be little i cant make!!!
The reason I have my Zortrax is the print quality (when I get it running again) thus far is great! I like that I can print organic and monolithic pieces in abs and close to solid if needed. I'm a digital artist so I'm interested in printing 3D designs and some mechanical but more 3D and Architecture. So dimensionality is not as important beyond making parts that I can put together. This is why I invested in M200 over other fdm options. I"m really liking the M200 a lot and realize I have a bit of time investment for it as well!
The print quality off my Titan1 is fantastic and I've never gone below 50µm in layer height and 100µm in surface or XY and the results are great (with a lot of planning and trial and error) but it will go down to 37µm then if you want to go super high res, you can modify the projector and print at 25µm, others have on the forums and yes it's pretty much the highest res you need to go at a semi profesional or profesional level. . It's able to be customized too so it will be able to outperform resolution wise, speed, it's self today.
B9Creator is a great machine but it's a tiny bit more locked down than the Titan1, doesn't have the same build volume, maybe better support generating software and a better projector but the components beyond that on the Titan1 are better IMO and upgradeable. You'll have to see for yourself. I'm extremely happy with the Titan1 and the users forum is very good with industry profesionals involved. However note!! There is a lot of learning on a Titan1 or B9Creator perhaps over the Form+1; though form+1 has a fair amount too since it's based on similar tech. The form or +1 is setup to be kinda print and go printer where as the Titan1 expects a lot out of the designer to get settings and adjustments and mixtures in hardware, software correct (more industrial i suppose). It can be frustrating at first but then very rewarding. I love having both the M200 and Titan1 as they compliment each other. Another big gotcha with Titan1 or any of the SLA printers is that don't expect to print anything solid!! Another huge win for the M200. Everything wants to be hollowed for printing purposes, if you try to print solid anything with hour glass type shapes, your bound to have a print fail. Thats all I can say about that as it's a huge topic that takes a while to explain and I feel odd talking about the Titan1 on a Zortrax forum but just tryinig to share my experiences thus far and would have liked to know some of this before I invested, but still very happy I did. No one perfect tool for all jobs but I'm happy with my M200 (though I"m teething on it right now) and my Titan1 is IMO above the competition in much the same way the Zortrax is above it's competition IMO. I won't post about the Titan1 anymore, see for yourself. Best of luck!