I am seriously wanting to purchase the MakerGear M2

[lem]

Hum. I wouldn't play the lottery then, you've used up all your luck

[jsc]

By the way, nicksc, those are some fantastic models in your gallery. Did you hand model those?

[Vprints]

For me, it boiled down to a few key things I wanted:

1) Heated bed
2) Sturdy frame that doesn't need frequent adjusting (reprap), won't warp (plywood), etc.
3) Good, solid reputation
4) Good customer support
5) Good user community/support
6) Ability to print a wide variety of materials
7) In a nutshell, I knew I wanted to spend my time printing things, instead of constantly tinkering with the machine to get it to work. [I don't mind tinkering a bit, just don't want that to be the bulk of what I'm doing. I'd rather be designing / using printed things.] Tinkering is still an occasional necessity, though, particularly when combined with #6 -- that's just the nature of the current technology.

I've been using the M2 for a month now, and am thoroughly impressed. This thing rocks.

If your list is similar, you won't be disappointed with the M2. I have a friend who got a different/cheaper printer about the same time as me. Let's just say it's a good thing he loves to tinker...

[nicksc]

jsc yes I did, thank you

[nicksc]

By listening to everyone's advice I came to this conclusion, I need both printers. The M2 and Zortrax will complement each other. I will be able to do almost anything I need having both of them. I don't know how I'm going to swing it, but it's what has to be.

[jsc]

I wish I could resolve all my own tough decisions so easily. "Just get both!" I will try that in the future.

Any chance of getting an STL of some of your work? We could make some "test prints" for you

[rsilvers]

It doesn't bother me that Zortrax requires their materials as they are not overpriced and there is an advantage to fixing that variable so that everyone you talk to uses the same ones. In fact, it sort of drives me nuts that I need to test every brand of PLA and ABS to decide on what to use.

I do think they are wrong about PLA being a bad material. I have spent hundreds of hours on ABS vs PLA and I find PLA better 90% of the time and would mostly only consider using ABS if I was making a part that would be in the hot sun, etc.

While they don't have PETG, they do have another Polyester.

My M2 experience has been very good, and it is my 4th 3D printer.

Zortrax only works by SD card, which I think would bug me.

Enclosed spaces are needed for good ABS results on larger parts, but are a pain most of the time for access. I built an enclosure but I take the printer out of it for non-ABS.

I looked at your work and I don't see why you would want to print in ABS (better for outdoor use or in the sun but worse most of the time). Those look like PLA parts.

My friends are all using the M2 with Simplify 3D. I have a lot of Slic3r experience also. There are a few things I like better about Slic3r (how it organizes machine vs filament settings), but I am glad that I bought Simplify and recommend it for the manual support options.

[nicksc]

rsilvers, I do alot of product development, so printing in ABS is very important. Prosthetics is something else i'm looking to make too.

[rsilvers]

Me too. Why is ABS important for product development? If you want to show someone what a product will look like, PLA works. If you want to test fit, ABS is not even a good choice as it is not as dimensionally accurate as PLA.

The time to want ABS is when you need more flexibility without breaking or a higher temp ability. You can use PETG for those times.

Trying to user the same material as the final product is not always the most practical option. The extreme example of that is that we would all love to be printing in metal and yet usually don't.

[SouthSideofdaSky]

rsilvers, I do alot of product development, so printing in ABS is very important

If it's strength or "look and feel" you're worried about, I agree with rsilvers. PLA is relatively unknown to those who aren't 3D printing enthusiasts. But it is in fact equivalent to ABS for most situations, and also in my opinion easier to work with.

My company purchased an M2 about eight months ago for printing plastic parts for machines (end caps, prototypes of pieces with unusual contours or dimensions, other items that aren't structural but still functional). At first we used ABS because we thought it had far superior strength. However a little research revealed that this is not necessarily the case. There is a lot of variation and not a lot of clarity among different online sources regarding the strength of 3D printed materials. But here is one page I found that is pretty nice:

http://www.botfeeder.ca/abs-vs-pla/

Of course, they do say on the page that they recommend starting with ABS. But again, PLA has been way more friendly for me. In any case, you will probably want to try both at some point in time.

Also, remember that the strength of a 3D printed part depends on the "print direction." 3D printed parts will almost always break along a print line.

I will also add that I don't think the M2 is necessarily difficult to work with. There is a bit of a learning curve. But there are tons of resources available online to help you. Almost every time our printer has a problem, a little digging here or elsewhere online helps me figure it out.

Good luck!