A 3D printer is a device that allows you to layer by layer produce various physical objects, taking as its basis its 3D model. Despite the fact that such devices have recently become widespread, in fact, the first such devices began to appear back in the 80s of the last century. Of course, this was far from the best 3D printer, however, it also had interesting inclinations. In the process of technology development , 3D printing has stepped far forward, as a result of which a huge number of new devices have appeared, each of which has a lot of its advantages and features.
Next, we will consider what the best 3D printer today can be and what are the features of each device.
SLS (manufacturer sPro)
Laser selective sintering technology. Small particles of material are sintered due to the action of a high-power laser. In this case, powders of plastic, various metals, glass, nylon or ceramic can be used as the material. This structure is extremely accurate and there is no need to use any supporting structures, but at the same time its implementation is quite expensive. Provides for the mandatory use of heat treatment of the product immediately after printing.
SLM (manufacturer sPro)
Laser selective melting technology. It is quite similar to the previous type of devices, however, extremely diverse powder metals can be used as a material here, and the lasers themselves are even more powerful. This is the best 3D printer compared to the previous one for the reason that it does not require heat treatment of the finished product.
EBM (manufacturer Arcam)
Technology of electron beam melting. Using a sufficiently powerful electron beam, in a vacuum, the product is deposited layer by layer of metal powder. Again, a better 3D printer compared to SLS for the reason that it does not require heat treatment after printing.
LOM (manufacturer Solido, MCor)
The technology of layer-by-layer bonding of specialized film materials, such as laminated paper or polymer film, in order to subsequently form a complete model with a laser beam.
SLA (manufacturer of FormLabs Form)
Another name for this technology is stereolithography. By curing the liquid photopolymer under the influence of ultraviolet radiation on the desired areas, the formation of the product is ensured. The technology is quite high precision, but at the same time necessitates the use of supporting technologies. Among other things, it is impossible not to say that in this case expensive photopolymers are used, and the finished products are not very accurate.
FDM (Manufacturers: MarketBot, CubeX)
Modeling is carried out exclusively by deposition technology. Using a dispensing head, drops of thermoplastic in a heated state are carefully squeezed onto the surface of the cooled platform. Due to the rather quick hardening and sticking together, layers of the formed object are formed with such drops, that is, here, printing is carried out in layers.
Reviews: We took this for 20,000 p. In principle, they took it for fun, so he copes with his duties to the full 100. You download drawings on the Internet, program, wait, get the result - everything is simple.
Which to choose?
Immediately it is worth noting the fact that household 3D printers are FDM, and only they are available to the average user. The point here is not even in the features of this technology, but in the fact that the device itself can be purchased at a price of 20,000 rubles, while the cost of other equipment starts from several million, and they themselves are supplied exclusively upon request.
That is why, if you need household 3D printers, you must understand how to choose the most optimal device among the options with FDM technology.
What is he for you for?
The main thing before buying this device is to decide on what, and for what, in general, in principle, you need this device. For example, if you just want to have fun, then in this case, a standard copy with a minimum cost is quite suitable for you. If you need to figure out which 3D printer is best for production or a particular business that is directly related to this printing, you should choose the most reliable model. One has only to imagine what can happen if the printer completely breaks down during the printing of the next order, and at the same time you cannot fix it in a short time.
Thus, if working on this device is a direct profit for you, then you should responsibly approach the choice of which of the 3D printers is better, better and more reliable, otherwise you should pay attention to the cheapest models so that although to understand how such equipment works.
Where are they made?
Be sure to choose a printer, you need to pay attention to the country of production. To date, the market is conditionally divided into three segments:
Each of the above segments is distinguished by its own peculiarities, therefore it is not possible to conduct a direct comparison of the best 3D printers of each type while reviewing.
Western models are imported into Russia and the CIS countries in small batches, while manufacturers have no official representatives in our countries. In particular, this ultimately results in problems such as the rather high cost of equipment, the lack of direct access to spare parts, as well as normal service and support. Thus, if even minor problems appear during the operation of your printer, there can be very serious problems in order to bring it back to working condition. But a review of the best home 3D printers showed that in fact such devices are quite reliable and do not break in the process of their work.
Again, the same situation is with Chinese printers, but in this case there is also an extremely low quality of this equipment. In particular, it is worth noting the quality of the main components and components, which is very much behind in comparison with the solutions proposed by Western companies.
Of course, it cannot be said that exclusively imported printers are relevant. It is likely that you can find the best 3D printers in the world among our manufacturers. To do this, you can use the following characteristics.
Speed and precision
Accuracy provides for the height of the layer during printing, that is, the lower the height, the greater the accuracy (currently the highest accuracy of printers is 50 microns), and the rotation speed is presented in cm 3 / hour.
These parameters interact with each other in the most direct way. If high accuracy is present, print speed is significantly reduced , and vice versa. For example, if a particular product is printed at the above accuracy of 50 microns, the build time will be approximately two times longer compared to how long it will take to manufacture this product with an accuracy of 125 microns. In the overwhelming majority of cases, manufacturers initially indicate which extreme accuracy and speed are provided for by their device.
You need to pay attention to the range of these characteristics so that you understand how diverse the models can be produced. For example, for printing a large layout you may need a fairly high speed, and at the same time a thick coating layer, while for printing gears you will already need to switch to a slow speed in order to increase accuracy. It is worth noting that for the home, the ideal option is printers with an accuracy of 150 microns, which are not very suitable for printing various industrial facilities or modern business.
Knots and materials
Choosing the best 3D printer for your conditions, you should definitely pay attention to the conformity of all kinds of nodes and materials. It often happens that manufacturers claim extremely high printing accuracy (for comparison, each pixel in the iPhone is more than 50 microns), while the printer’s body is actually assembled from standard plywood, which does not allow for a rigid structure and corresponding accuracy. It’s quite difficult to track these parameters via the Internet, except for certain photos, as well as reviews of the devices themselves. The best option is to contact the seller directly and ask him all the relevant questions.
Types of plastic
Be sure to figure out which plastic for a 3D printer is better to use in a particular case. The most common in our time can be called PLA and ABS. A certain part of printers can use both types of such plastic, while other devices provide only one of them. However, in fact, in addition to the above, other types of threads can also be used, which differ in a variety of physicochemical characteristics, such as glow in the dark, flexibility, solubility in water, increased strength and many others.
The ability to print with certain plastic is determined by the presence or absence of platform heating in the device, which provides for the operating temperature range of the extruder and which design of the camera for printing is used. If you are not initially sure that the printer you have chosen provides for the support of a certain type of plastic, you need to clarify the specified parameters as well as compare them with those recommended for each specific plastic.
It is likely that some of the options for plastics you may not need at all in the process, but you will never know this in advance. For this reason, if you prefer to experiment or do not reliably know which devices and what you will be printing from, you should choose a 3D printer in which the maximum possible number of supported plastic threads will be present. Even if such a versatile work of your device in the end you will not need for the main work, who knows where such a universal device can come in handy, because there are a variety of critical situations.