this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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Cheap IDEX 3D printer questions (lemy.lol)
submitted 9 months ago by Krauerking@lemy.lol to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
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So, I have always wanted to do multi filament printing. The thought of doing multicolor or washable supports has been such a cool idea and I tried to make that a reality all the way back when I bought my Geeetech A10M... And oh boy did I hate it. (Don't do single extruder multi filament kids, it ain't worth the headache.)

So, with only my trusty prusa mk2 at my side I'm thinking of finally getting an IDEX machine and trying again right this time. Then I looked at the price of the Prusa XL and died a little.

So, this is where I am gonna ask for some help.
I saw that Flashgorge is selling their Creator Pro 2 for only $400 and with a cheap upgrade for a magnetic plate seems like it would be an awesome deal even if it's a bit small of a build size.

Or I could go 3rd party and get the JGMaker Artist D Pro IDEX 3D Printer (which I have never heard of) for the same price but with a heck of a lot more build space.

Or I could swallow my pride and a shit ton of credit card payments and do just the 2 head semi-built prusa XL for 3x the cost.

So essentially has anyone tried the Flashforge Creator Pro 2 and thinks it would be worth it for basically half off?
Have 3rd party Chinese brands gotten more trustworthy and actually able to print decent at these insanely low prices?
Or is it still one of those you pay for what you get and if you want good multi filament printing you have to pay for it?

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[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I think you are getting what you want confused here and may be blinded to your best option with your bad experience. IDEX machines are primarily used for printing 2 parts at the same time. The Prusa XL is a multi-tool tool changer machine that only prints with one head at a time which is a different type of printer.

If you want cheap and reliable multi-colour printing you are best off going with a Bambu Labs machine. An A1 and AMS-Lite is pretty reasonable and despite being single nozzles the machines are pretty reliable (I have an P1S + AMS and it works great for multi-colour prints).

Good machines have gotten cheaper, but random cheap printer are still very hit or miss. For a consumer printer I wouldn't look much further than Bambu or Prusa these days depending on what you want. Cheaper printers are too risky, and more expensive printers don't really gain you anything.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 1 points 9 months ago

No, I definitely want multihead and an IDEX system is the basis for these multi tool or multi head printers since there isn't enough of them to really have a simple name for and are generally way out of my price range I wasn't including them really. The point is that printing with TPU and PETG or soluble PVA and PLA is best done with separate hot ends.

I know that IDEX is thought of as printing 2 of the same but seriously it's way more useful for good clean multi filament printing even if it's just color difference since the purge waste is basically not existent.

And you are missing the point if you think that the cheap and reliable is Bambu. That's nearly the same price after both pieces for the Prusa XL and still relies on a single hotend.

Flashforge is not a no-name printer. It's a pretty respected company the Creator Pro 2 is just a several year old system that people complained about back when it was $800+ and seems more reasonable at $400 since it's completely enclosed and multihead. It's just somewhat proprietary as well.

I would absolutely look outside of just Bambu and potentially Prusa just cause of their cost but it doesn't negate the other brands existence and history in the space.