Home 3d color printer

A Few Final Thoughts…

So there you have it – a fairly comprehensive guide to multi-color 3D printing, the best (affordable) multicolor 3D printers out there, one crazy-expensive one, and an alternative option altogether!

When it comes to choosing your best color 3D printer, there are plenty of factors to keep in mind.

When making your decision, you should always consider what specific projects you have in mind and tailor your choice to fit. After all, if you’re looking to upgrade towards multicolor 3D printing, you probably have a couple of exciting ideas in the bag already.

Some of these 3D printers excel at color combining.

For color control, the Da Vinci provides an entirely different system from anything else on the list (besides the XRize) but does so at a higher price point and with a few concerning bugs.

Some color 3D printers come packed with excellent side features, like the Lotmaax Shark.

And others have an ingenious design that comes with other exciting applications, like the dual-nozzle design of the TenLog.

Anyway, your preferences will determine your best color 3D printer, so I’ll hand over the baton to you to make your choice.

You’ll be churning out those colorful 3D prints before you know it.

Our pick

LOTMAXX Shark

Great 3D printer for beginners

This printer cranked out quality prints right out of the box in our test. Comes with excellent, all-metal nozzle and extruder and many more features makes this the best value.

Check Price from Amazon

So this was kind of an underdog story for me. When I first started looking for the best color 3D printer, the Lotmaxx wasn’t even on my radar.

Yet the more I learned about this 3D printer, the more I was impressed – both by its original design and by its execution. Not to mention that it’s a Kickstarter success and really demonstrates the best aspects of grassroots ingenuity coming out of the color 3D printing field.

Not only is the Lotmaxx an excellent base 3D printer capable of color 3D printing, but it also comes with some innovative features that I haven’t seen in a single other color 3D printer.

The laser engraving upgrade opens up new doors in creative design. The auto bed-leveling works pretty well, and the handheld removable touch-screen is something I haven’t seen in any other 3D printers, no matter what price point.

And to speak on the price… all of this costs less than $500.

Typically, when I review 3D printers by newly-launched companies or Kickstarter campaigns, I’m overwhelmed by a sea of mechanical, software and assembly issues. I had none of these with the Lotmaxx.

In fact, the only persistent issue I had with this color 3D printer came from the build plate adhesion.

In some cases, my recent prints would require a lot of elbow grease and some light chiseling to remove the prints from the plate. This is one of the most straightforward issues to remedy, though, so it’s not even something worth criticizing.

So there you have it!

Whether you choose the Shark or some other color 3D printer on the list (XRize, anyone?), multicolor 3D printing opens up many new avenues for you and your creations.

In a field where companies and creators are innovating every day, I can’t wait to see what new color 3D printer awaits us! Until then, thanks for reading, and happy printing!

Desktop 3D printers for the home

Anet Anycubic Creality3D CreatBot Dremel Elegoo Felix Flash Forge FLSUN Flying Bear Formlabs IBRIDGER imprinta MakerBot Peopoly Phrozen PICASO 3D QIDI Raise3D Tiertime Ultimaker Uniz Voxelab wanhao XYZPrinting ZENIT Zortrax

Availability

In stock

Manufacturer

Phrozen Raise3D Creality wanhao Flash Forge

PICASO 3D Anycubic Formlabs Tiertime Flyingbear QIDI Uniz CreatBot Dremel DigiLab Felix Zortrax XYZprinting Ultimaker imprinta Elegoo MakerBot Anet FLSUN IBRIDGER Peopoly snapmaker Voltera Voxelab ZENIT

Delivery

Assembled printer Assembly kit

Application

Architecture For large objects For beginners The medicine Education

Orthopedics Production prototyping Reverse engineering Advertising, exhibitions Sculpture Dentistry Hobby jewelry

Print technology

DLP/LCD/SLA FDM/FFF LFS

Thread diameter

1. 75 mm 2.85 mm 3.00 mm

Material type

ABS PLA PETG Photopolymers Flex

Nylon (Nylon) ASA Carbon HIPS PC PEEK PP TPU other Metal (Ultrafuse 316L, Ultrafuse 17-4PH)

Number of extruders (print heads)

Heating table

Yes Not

Wi-Fi or other wireless network

Yes Not

Country of origin

China Russia USA Taiwan Hong Kong

Netherlands Poland

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Manufacturer	Anycubic
On order/Transit	Goods on the way
Construction area size	197 x 122 x 245 mm (5. 9 l)
Chamber volume	5.9 l
Country of origin	China

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3D printing is one of the most promising areas of technological development in the 21st century. Having gone a long way from bulky and heavy boxes to compact desktop devices, 3D printers have ceased to be something inaccessible to a wide range of users. The era of mass additive manufacturing has already arrived, and every home can now house a real desktop factory.

You can buy a 3D printer capable of printing small models and prototyping of medium complexity today at the price of an entry-level laptop. The price of PLA or ABS plastic, which acts as a consumable, also no longer seems exorbitant. In a word, if you have long dreamed of getting to know the world of 3D printing and joining the ranks of makers, the right moment has come!

To save you time and make it easier to select equipment, we have collected in one section all desktop 3D printers optimized for home and office use. These are the real "workhorses" with the perfect balance of functionality, quality and price. Even a beginner can understand the settings, mount and calibrate a 3D printer, and as he gains experience, he will be able to print more and more complex three-dimensional models.

How to choose a home 3D printer?

Until recently, 3D printing machines were rare and cost fabulous money - not everyone could afford a modern miracle device. Now a desktop 3D printer can be easily ordered both in our country and in foreign online stores: both ready-made options and prefabricated constructors are sold. A large selection of models, as usual, brings certain difficulties: how to choose a device for your own purposes, not overpay for unnecessary functions and buy a really reliable device. To get competent advice, we turned to experts - our partners who are engaged in the production or sale of 3D equipment. They were asked to speculate on the topic: "What to look for when choosing a home 3D printer?". And here's what came out of it.

Alexander Kornveits, General Director of Tsvetnoy Mir

1. To choose a 3D printer that is right for you, you first need to decide what you will print. This will determine which model of 3D printer is best for you for these purposes.

It is important to understand that a desktop 3D printer is not a mass production machine. It is a tool for creating models, prototyping, designing or printing small batches of small parts. A 3D printer is a great hobby that can even make you an income.

2. If you already know what you will be printing, you need to determine which plastic is best suited for printing the models you need.

Today, all plastics can be conditionally divided into 2 groups: ABS and PLA.

For ABS printing, a fully enclosed build chamber and a heated bed are essential, such as in the FlashForge Dreamer or UP BOX+ 3D printer. In these printers, you have the opportunity not only to set the temperature of the platform, but also to maintain a high temperature in the entire working chamber, up to 90℃ . Under such conditions, the risk of delamination of the model during the printing process is reduced and the quality of the finished model will be higher.

A heated pad is optional for PLA printing. But at the same time, good airflow of the model during printing is very important. Printing with PLA is in many cases much easier for a beginner. An example of such printers is the MakerBot Replicator + or the budget Chinese Wanhao Duplicator i3 models.

Also, when choosing plastic for your tasks, you need to pay attention to the post-processing of models. Different materials have different properties not only during printing, but also in finished products, for example, ABS plastic can be easily sanded or polished in an acetone bath, and PLA is well suited for priming and subsequent painting. If you want to print with different types of materials, then you need a versatile 3D printer that can handle any task. Such models also exist, such as Raise3D N1 Dual or FlashForge Creator Pro. These printers come with a completely closed chamber, which is very important for printing with ABS plastic, but with a few easy movements you can transform it into a completely open state, great for PLA plastic.

3. Selection of construction area.

The larger the working chamber, the higher the price, so it's worth deciding whether you need a large chamber or a medium or small chamber for your needs. You also need to understand that printing large models will take a very long time, in some cases up to two days. It may be better to print the model in parts and glue it together from the medium-sized printed parts.

4. To print multiple colors or print solvent supports, you will need a printer with two extruders. Having a second extruder can help with printing some models, but it's important to understand that printing with two extruders is a more complex process and you can run into a lot of difficulties in the process. When choosing a printer, try to focus on the tasks that are right in front of you. If experiments are your path, do not hesitate to choose a printer model with two extruders. This gives many additional possibilities for creating complex models.

Renat Gainutdinov, CEO of Irvin (Magnum)

I would suggest paying attention to the following things:

1. First of all, reliability in general, high-quality metal construction.

2. Easily accessible and easily disassembled extruder, as often have to be serviced.

3. The availability of high-quality technical support for users, because beginners often have questions about printing and equipment operation.

Everything I've written above applies very well to Magnum 3D products. Also, our printer can be purchased and connected to attachments for laser engraving and an attachment for printing with plastic materials (dough, chocolate paste, potatoes, etc.), which is important and simply interesting for home use.

Yulia Efimova, marketer at Fabbers

Of course, there are several criteria by which you can choose a 3D printer for your home:

1. First of all, you should decide for what purpose you decided to buy this equipment at home, because the printing technology and, accordingly, the type of material you will use (as well as the building volume, print resolution, the number of extruders and etc. ). As a rule, FDM machines are used for the home, as they are most suitable for "home" work, such as: making missing (broken) decor elements, parts, hobbies, design, etc.

2. Then you need to decide on the type of printer: open or closed.

• Open is the easiest. And for simple tasks, it may well be enough, but a number of other nuances should be taken into account: in particular, you need to provide a well-ventilated, but draft-free room or use a material that does not emit harmful substances when melted, such as PLA.
• If you are going to use ABS or other more professional materials all the time, then you should consider a model with a closed chamber and an exhaust air filtration system. Plus, the output quality is better in a closed chamber, as a uniform temperature is maintained all the time. Do not forget about safety: the closed chamber of the 3D printer will limit access to the heating elements, which is important if there are children in the house.

3. Pay attention to the convenience of using a 3D printer, the presence of auto-calibration of the printing platform, the screen, intuitive software, the ability to work without a PC (from flash memory or via wi-fi), etc. Although having all these "bells and whistles" increases the cost of the machine, they can make the user's job much easier.

4. An important point is the choice of the manufacturer (trademark). A good manufacturer is almost always the guarantor of the best value for money. For our customers at home, we recommend machines of such brands as Felix printers, Lulzbot, Makerbot, Cybermicro, Cubicon. Unlike inexpensive models, they use high-quality parts in their machines, so by purchasing such a printer, you will save your money, time and nerves.

Maxim Kondratov, General Director of MyShop3D

.

In order to make a choice, you should ask yourself a few questions. This will help you avoid disappointment and get the most out of your decision to purchase 3D equipment.

1. The first question you should ask yourself before buying is “What will I 3D print?”. If the answer to this question is “something for the house” or “various life hacks”, then in principle any working unit for your money will do.

If you need a device for work, hobby or study, and you have high hopes for it, then first you need to find out what shapes and dimensions the printed models will have. This will help you weed out some of the printers on the market with a print area that is not suitable for your needs. Agree, it will be a shame if a 3D printer purchased to create flower vases has an insufficient height of the print area for these vases. The result is money thrown to the wind, a dusty 3D printer and disappointment in additive technologies.

2. The next important question you should ask yourself is “What types of consumables should my 3D printer support?”

Any FDM printer prints with PLA plastic, but not everyone is able to work with ABS, and even fewer printers support printing, for example, FLEX or rubber-like materials. Of course, if you are a level 80 design engineer, then with a special desire this will not be a problem for you and you can make even a printer box print with flexible plastic! But if you do not have such skills, and PLA and ABS do not fully satisfy your needs, then you will have to pay attention to printers whose design does not contradict the ability to use the material you need for your tasks. If you are unable to determine this yourself, please consult your dealer or the manufacturer directly.

3. The next question to ask yourself is "Do you have small children or even a place for a printer that a child will never get to?"

If there is a child, but there is no such place, then you will have to think about the safety of your child and give priority to 3D printers with a closed and protected case. Because the principle of operation of FDM printers is based on the melting of plastic under the influence of high temperatures, your child may harm his health when in contact with some elements of the device. And a child, especially when his safety and health is at stake, should be a fundamental factor when choosing a home 3D printer. By the way, safety is not the only advantage of a closed case. Paired with a heated table, it will reward you with the ability to print with ABS plastic, minimizing the chance of marriage.

4. After you've answered the above questions, it's time to decide on the 3D printer manufacturer and budget.

Conventionally, all 3D printers can be divided into three groups:

- Russia

The advantage of Russian manufacturers is that you live on the same territory and speak the same language. Those. you will not have language barriers when contacting technical support, service repairs or maintenance will be less troublesome. And forget about the biased attitude towards domestic products - Russian 3D printer manufacturers have good potential and experience in this area. The leaders of the Russian market, in our opinion, are such manufacturers as Picaso, 3DQuality, IMPRINTA and Magnum.

- China

The main advantages of Chinese 3D technology are simplicity, availability, price and versatility. Parts from one Chinese 3D printer almost always fit another Chinese 3D printer. This technique is easily modified, spare parts for them can be ordered not only in China, but also in any store with accessories for 3D printing. These 3D printers are disassembled and assembled using a set of hexagons and screwdrivers without special instrumentation skills, and the price is the lowest on the 3D market. The main disadvantage is the quality of assembly and raw materials for components, which is inferior in all respects to global competitors. Therefore, if you have already decided to opt for a Chinese manufacturer, then choose from the world leaders in this industry, such as WANHAO LLC or Up (Tiertime). Otherwise, you run the risk of getting only a device that looks like a 3D printer, which will not be able to fully cope with even the simplest task. As the saying goes, a miser pays twice.

- West

Most Western 3D printers boast excellent build quality and components. The latter are usually made from high quality materials. Due to this, this group of manufacturers has a high class of reliability and shelf life. But these advantages are the cause of such disadvantages as the high cost and inaccessibility of spare parts. And due to the low level of service and the lack of specialists, a small breakdown can easily turn into a big problem that will not only hit your wallet, but also take a lot of time and nerves. The generally recognized leaders are Ultimaker, 3DSystems, Makerboot and Raise3D.

Irina Solomnikova, Commercial Director of IMPRINTA

knowledge to assemble and configure equipment? Do you have enough free time to complete the build, or is it just a box of parts?

2. Print quality. Even if the printer is taken for the home, poor print quality can completely discourage you and your family from working on the printer. The printing process is certainly exciting, but the result is also very important in order to put the resulting product in the most visible place, and not send it to the trash can like an unnecessary piece of plastic.

3. Equipment quality and certificates. When purchasing equipment for home, you need to remember about safety. It is worth paying attention to the quality of the wires, moving parts, heating elements. It is also necessary to keep in mind the availability of certificates or declarations for equipment - this confirms the reliability of both the equipment and the manufacturer.

4. The use of a 3D printer is not limited to the manufacture of toys, and even when choosing a 3D printer for home, you need to consider its capabilities, such as printing with various materials, the ability to change the nozzle (this affects both print speed and quality, and printing materials with various additives - wood, metal, etc.).

Representative of 3D-Store

1. Software quality. Now almost all home FDM printers come with software based on a few free products (Cura, RepetierHost, etc.), so you should be very careful about how much attention the hardware manufacturer has paid to optimizing standard software products for their hardware. ". In the worst case, the tasks of such optimization can fall on the shoulders of the consumer, who will have to manually set and select all the parameters of the printer. Good manufacturers supply software that is ideally configured to work with a specific printer immediately after its installation, it is enough to load models, select material and press just one button to start.

2. Advanced hardware. If from the point of view of the reliability of drives, mechanisms and electronics it is now difficult to single out someone in the middle and upper price segment of home 3D printers (the quality of the components here is sufficient for everyone not to worry about the performance of your printer for many years), then in terms of the wealth of technologies, making life easier for the user, there is a clear separation. The functions of automatic checking of the starting gap and tilt of the table in 2017 became, as they say, a “must have”. Some of the more advanced low-cost models have begun to be released with an automatic build platform leveling feature. In addition, as an additional useful option - control of the supply of material through the extruder. It can save a lot of plastic and nerves, especially if you plan to leave the printer to work on its own without human supervision during long printing.

But the last two functions have not yet received mass distribution, and in those models where they have already appeared, this has had a rather negative impact on the cost of the printer. For now, it would be reasonable to limit ourselves to really important functionality at a moderate price (as an example, Zortrax M200, which has everything you need for comfortable work, and you don’t have to overpay for “luxury” innovations).

3. Building platform. The success of each print depends very much on how your material "makes friends" with the build platform. Different platform materials have their own characteristics of working with them: glass provides a smooth bottom surface, but often requires the use of glue or a special film, while a perforated metal platform, although it allows printing models on a plastic substrate, requires some preparation of the platform before printing plastics with low shrinkage (like PLA) disappear completely. And when such a platform is covered with a solution of ABS plastic and due to uniform heating, it becomes almost inseparable at the time of printing, even with the most unfriendly filament grades.

Andrey Zakharov, manager of Top 3D Shop

1. Decide on the technology. FDM is more affordable, but less accurate, SLA produces excellent print quality, but both the printers themselves and the material are more expensive. Although, now there is Wanhao D7 - this is a stereolithographic printer for a very reasonable price.

2. Take into account when choosing the print area, available materials. All this is reflected in the price.

3. Important warranty and availability of service, spare parts. The choice of the country of origin also depends on their availability and conditions. Although, when contacting an authorized dealer, this problem is largely removed.

4. Purpose of buying a 3D printer: For some, it is important to buy the cheapest printer, sort it out yourself as a hobby. Others want it to print out of the box. These are different approaches, different models and prices. For some, the ability of the printer to print with two materials at the same time is important, models with two extruders are suitable here.

5. When buying a printer for the home, many people also care about the external dimensions of the printer, ease of assembly and installation, and for some, the appearance. These qualities also differ in different models.

Evgenia Kurochkina, Development Director of ZENIT 3D

First of all, ask yourself the question: “Why do you need a 3D printer?”, And if you clearly know the answer to it, determine the psychological price threshold and feel free to start choosing devices.

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