He know how crew

[G+_Mark Lutze]

He know how crew. With all the talk about 3D printers recently I wanted to share my recent experience. I had been looking off and on for one that would not break the bank. The Da Vinci Jr looked interesting and I liked the price, but it seems that the reality of 3D printing is not really ready for prime time and to make it work you will need to do a lot of tinkering and I was not sure how much tinkering you can do on a closed source platform. Then there are all the RepRap machines, very DIY but since I know nothing about this space I really did not want to have to source all the parts my self, sure there were some kits, but the price points were all above what XYX or Hobby King was selling the products for. 

But then I found a kit from Folger Tech (http://folgertech.com/collections/3d-printer-full-kits/products/folger-tech-reprap-2020-prusa-i3-full-aluminum-3d-printer-kit) I really liked the price at $269, and the fact that it is an all aluminum frame, since I had read that the acrilic frames can warp in time. I will say that the skill level is a bit high on this, it is not just a few parts that need to be attached. It is a box of parts to be assembled, then firmware to be flashed, and host software to be installed and configured. But I will say that the kit is well thought out, and all the parts were included as well as a few extras. It took about 2 days to assemble, and then another couple to sort out some control issues (turned out that I had a bad RAMPS board, but Folger was very easy to work with and they have sent a replacement). But in the process I really know how and why the thing works. So all and all I am quite happy with it. 

http://folgertech.com/collections/3d-printer-full-kits/products/folger-tech-reprap-2020-prusa-i3-full-aluminum-3d-printer-kit