im in the market for another 3d printer and i was wondering if i could get a clear answer from the company is regards to a second extruder and the option to vary temperature.
i have used the zortrax printer and i feel its a good printer, i feel the software is lacking some obvious key features but i have to say for what it can do, it prints nicely,
i would love to buy a zortrax as i love to support startups but i have been burned in the past whenever i purchased anything from a company that was not established.
i feel that without the ability to vary temperature , we are forced to some extent to use propriatary filament and if you guys go out of business we are kinda screwed.
i feel that since you guys are lacking some very important features and considering how this industry is advancing by leaps and bounds , i feel that unless you guys get on your bike and offer some upgrades that at least allow the performance of your printer, to at the very least compete with printers like ultimaker, i believe it will only be a matter of time before you are out of business and if this happened it would be a shame as like i said, i would love to see you guys succeed.
i understand you guys have alluded to , in the past, the availabiliy of a duel extruder in the future and/or the ability to vary temperature but you refuse to offer any more information other than "its possible"
at this point you are either working on these options or youre not...i feel enough time has passed that , at this point you guys should be able to give a straight "YES OR NO" answer and if the answer is yes, at least a rough timeline as to when this can be expected.
on the topic of the ability to vary temperature, i understand you have concerns about possibly damaging the machine by using filaments that are not approved by zortrax and by blocking this option you are ensuring that the machine will be as "problem free" as possible, but when you made that decision is think what you failed to realize was that the overwhelming majority of 3d printer users are "tinkerers" by nature...we are not typical "plug and print" type of people but rather people who like to experiment and push the limits of our creations. using this printer is its current form is like doing open heart surgery with a butter knife especially with the vast amount of advancements in the 3d printer market in just the past few months.
i cant stress it enought, this printer is great, when it does what its good at doing, it does it well, but with the current options, what you can make with this machine is extremely limited and just annoying ..
can you print without a raft yet? last time i used a zortrax you couldnt and this was a huge disadvantage to just about every other machine out there,...you cant vary temperature so specialized filament is not possible and if you guys just refuse altogether to allow us to lower the temperature, at the very least you should have released a wood filament as well as other special filaments.
soluble support material is a must for just about anything other than the most simple , boring shapes...i can imagine most zortrax users will get bored with their machine in a matter of weeks without the ability to make truly impressive pieces and to be honest, if you are a designer and want to create cool stuff, its a better bet to just create your stl files are have shapeways make it for you...its faster and cheaper and the materials and quality is just vastly superior.
of course there is a reason to use your own machine , like i said, sending files to shapeways is not for everyone, especially with creative people like us who like to be involved in the entire process but without these upgrades , this printer just doesnt cut it .
i hope you guys dont see this post as an attack on your company, its nothing of the sort....i said it and ill say it again, i love your company and i want nothing more than to see you succeed and thats the reason for this post, i just dont understand the logic in your goal to sell a "user friendly" 3d printer....while in theory this sounds good, i like enyone else wants the least amount of problems with my printer so i can spend more time on the creation of the files, but if by doing so you make this machine so basic and without any features , so much so that it makes it impossible to create anything interesting, then what is the point???
user friendly is great but where exactly is the market for this? just about anyone who would consider buying a 3d printer is a creator, as creators we push the limits, we experiment, we fiddle and we tinker.... currently you allow none of this and it clearly shows in whats possible with this machine...cheap, unimpressive plastic trinkets are a novelty and something that cause almost all zortrax users to get bored...
anyway, please dont see this as an attack..you have the framework in place for a great machine ...i understand that a second extruder may effect the quality that i already stated was good with your machine...but i dont see a reason for not allowing us to experiment with temperature at the very least.
either way i think we deserve, after all this time and after promises, something more than "its possible"
can you at least give a more detailed answer? its either not happening at all, or it is right:?...have you guys begun developing a second extruder? have you made a company decision to absolutely NOT allow us to vary the temperature?? im sure im not the only person here wondering exactly what we have to look forward to .
thanks for listening to my rant..lol