The more I research 3D printers the more confused I get.I'd like to get something that will hold about .002 tolerances for fitting prototypes together that need to be assembled and also have a decent finish. Every manufacturer says their product has high accuracy and great finishes but I'd like to hear from real users of these products and the problems and praises they have. I see a wide range of material costs and wonder about the cost to operate and maintain these machines after they are in use. From what I've read it looks like SLA produces a better finish and more accurate parts than FDM. What do the actual users of these technologies have to say?
Are you asking about plastic or metal 3D printers?
If plastic, Resin (SLA) seems to be the way to go for surface finish, filament (FDM) is what I use (Low cost and easy to work with) the surface finish can be quite good once your settings are dialed in, one of my cheap hobby printers can consistently do .05mm Z steps and he top and bottoms of the prints are smooth as glass in PLA, I have made parts with (coarse) threads that work perfectly, pieces that slide seem to work fine as well, perfect for prototyping within reason, you're not going to have much luck with parts smaller than say 10mm unless you have a big budget. My $600CAD printer will do small parts decently at very slow speeds, but require some attention afterwards (sanding down edges, sometimes there are little strings).
With 3D printers, you get what you pay for... sometimes... My highschool had a 3D printer that was $14,000 that claimed accuracy to 0.01mm and had no settings to change, and my hobby printer out performed it after being set up and dialed in...
If you are willing to take the time, a hobby printer can be just as (or more) effective than an expensive one.
FDM Pros:
- Cheap material (I pay $25 per KILO of filament)
- Easy to use out of the box (With limited accuracy)
- Easy to clean (no resin all over the place)
- Adjustments are very simple
- Software is usually good (I use "Cura")
- Some models with multiple heads can print different colours or in different materials at the same time (Meaning you can make a brittle PLA part with a flexible Nylon part or coating)
- HUGE community support groups
Cons:
- Frustrating if you don't have the patience for fiddling with it.
- Supports sometimes leave a messy underside (some printers compensate by using a separate support material that washes away)
- There will always be Z level ridges (The plastic bulges out slightly and makes rounded levels from each pass, usually not an issue, especially if you do some post work. but hey don't look the nicest)
- Too many printers to pick from (Many, Many knock offs, including mine, some are great, some are not)
I hope this helps!
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!!