I have narrowed down my search for a 3D printer to just a few of which the TAZ 3 is one of the front runners. I have seen may opinions spread across the web on the TAZ 3 many good and some bad but it seems as though a certain amount of them are from people who have no practical experience with the printer. I am looking for actual users to help me decide. Can you please tell me what made you choose the TAZ 3 and your thoughts after purchase both good and bad. I am new to all of this so at this point I only know what I have read and realize opinions vary and that there are “fan boys” that back a product no matter if it is good or not. I haven’t found many reviews for the TAZ 3 but the view of the Company seems good. I have just seen multiple postings that there are several “better” printers for the money. Do you feel there is anything missing on the TAZ 3? I don’t have practical experience with 3D printers so I don’t know how essential one feature is over the next. I guess when it comes to facts you first have to figure out what is important here are some things that come to mind for me (in no particular order). How does the TAZ 3 do in these categories?
reliability - Does it break down, need excessive maintenance or repair?
customer support / company reputation - Have you been happy with the tech support you have received?
quality/precision of prints - I have seen much written about this but I haven’t determine what values are “state of the art” in the TAZ’s price range
consistency of prints - Once fine tuned are print repeatable without a lot of fuss?
speed of prints - is it slow, fast or in between?
ease of use - Do you have to be a master of all things 3D to have success using it?
features - Missing anything or is there something you wish it had?
community support - I think I know the answer to this one
upgradability - Does the design lend itself to addons, updates and enhancements?
amount and frequency of “tweaking” - how much time is required to keep printing things of high quality?
components - is any of its parts outdated?
Did I miss anything that is an important items to compare/consider when purchasing a 3D Printer? I am also considering a Makergear M2 so if anyone has experience with both I would like to know how they compare.
I technically own a Taz 3 now, so I guess I qualify to answer some of it.
The early Taz 1 and 2’s had an issue that caused the size Z nut springs to split in some cases. they have redesigned the part so that does not occur anymore, and seemed to be really good about getting replacement parts to the small handful of people who had issues with it. There was also an electrical update for one component that they sent a service part out free of charge to everyone who had an affected printer. Aside from those issues the main issues that we see in the forum here are related to bearings or allignment, which you will see with all printers.
I don’t think you will find a 3d printer company with better customer support or a better reputation.
Quality seems to be fairly high from what I have seen, it’s the same basic motion style and extruder style you will see with most cartesian style printers, and skill of the user does come into play, along with filliament quality, etc. I believe it to be on par with the mendelmax 2.0, the makerbot printers, or any other printer you care to name. I do also think there are some areas that still could be improved on all those printers, but that the community or the designers will also make those upgrades happen.
Yes.
It’s pretty fast from what I have seen, but again, it is a very large printer so it has a large area of potential travel. A smaller bed printer may be able to print certain things faster.
No more so than any other 3d printer on the market. There are certain things you need to know or learn to print successdully with any 3d printer. Most of them are pretty easy to pick up, but someone who doesn’t know what they are doing can have a difficult time. I will say that it seems to have one of the more complete “getting started” user manuals of any printer out there. but they really do walk you through all the steps needed to get started with pictures, etc. Most of the first print issues that people post in here are by people that haven’t looked at the manual.
Has pretty much all the bells and whistles, either included or available as designed options (including fans, dual extruders, etc.) about the only thing it’s missing is a lighting subsystem, and I plan to rectify that shortly.
All the people in this forum are jerks, especially that piercet guy he’s a real… hehe, just kidding. No, we’ve got one of the better 3d printing communities out there in here I think.
Yes, very much so. See the development forum for further details.
Not a whole lot, the main thing that can vary is the bed height adjustment can sometimes take some getting used to.
They are continually upgrading components. Also the user community helps out a bunch. The only part you could arguably consider to not be on the bleading edge would be the extruder hot end, simply due to the temperature limitations inherent with the PEEk isolator. They are reportedly working on a higher temperature hot end to address that issue, but not many people are trying to print with super high temperature flliament to begin with so I wouldn’t put that as a mark against them. Most of the compontnets, epsecially the bed, the LCD enclosure, the electrical enclosure are among the best out there in my oppinion anyways.
I’ve never heard of anyone having a bad issue with this company. Their staff posts in here regularily, including the owner of the company. Everything is completly open source. All the documentation, parts, development stuff, and pictures of their facilities are available in the various download folders referenced in the support area. They build them in the USA, etc. I suppose their shipping on some of their smaller items from the store might be a little high, but thats about the only downside I can think of.
In fairness I probably qualify as one of those fanboys, but I did a lot of research too before I aquired my first Lulzbot AO-100 and I have never regretted that purchase at all.
It’s our biggest build volume and the main reason we use them. Our Type A is close, but the TAZ 3 is the only machine we can build certain parts on. I had a customer buy one from me yesterday and his main requirement was: BUILD VOLUME. Our Makerbots are faster and the builds usually look better, but their build volume can’t handle half the stuff that comes through our store.
I had a suggested problem last week and before even knowing the answer, lulzbot help support asked if i would like replacement parts sent.
Its fussy for the first time user like me, but in the end is a great product and well worth its value. A local print shop here in my city sells a similar size print bedprinter for almost 3 grand with no heat bed. Get it - youll hate it but love it once you understand the mecahnics a bit more.
I did lots of research and ended up with a Taz 2. Im sad i missed the taz 3 by a month or so but the only difference is a 24v heatbed over a 12v.
