B9 Bonanza!

[Bexley]

I have ordered a 3D printer. The B9 Creator, to be specific. There's a four week lead time currently, so with any luck, I'll be printing by the end of March.

[Chuck Doan]

I'll be interested in your results!

[finescalerr]

What kind of resolution do you expect? By that I mean in comparison with service bureaus you and our other 3-D printing guys have used: For example, would HO scale parts need much cleanup? That sort of thing.

And PLEASE keep us up to date as you experiment with the printer!

Russ

[Bexley]

It goes as low as 30 microns X-Y, and 5 microns Z. In theory. The X-Y is pretty accurate, as it's based on the projector resolution/pixel size. (It will also do 50 and 75 micron X-Y, by repositioning the projector. So you trade resolution for larger print area, as the image gets larger when the projector is further away, projecting larger pixels.) The machine is capable of 5 micron increments in the Z axis, but people are getting the best results between 30 and 40 microns Z. Things like light transmission through the resin and overburn can affect the actual resolution, and require a bit of fiddling with settings.

We had the 1.1 version of the B9 at work, and the actual difference between the B9 prints and our pro machine were probably on average about 5-10 percent. With enough fiddling, we could achieve prints that, when primed, took a good hard study to determine which machine did which. My hope is that the new 1.2 version will improve on that. The biggest difference is the 1.2 uses an HD projector instead of a standard definition.

I can assure you, this will likely be the first place I begin posting my results.

[Bexley]

Interestingly, the biggest market for the B9 is jewellers.

[Bexley]

But there are some modellers.





This one is N scale:









1/300 scale

[Bexley]

Price just came down about $1000, too. $4800 for an assembled printer, $3700 for a DIY assembly kit. Strangely, their authorized distributor (which is where I ordered mine) is selling the kit for $3500.

[Bill Gill]

This is very interesting (I'd say "riveting", but might have to stay in the corner). Still beyond my budget and skills, but definitely something to keep an eye on.

[eTraxx]

This machine was one of those tested in Make: Annual Guide to 3d printing. The blurb at the top of the page says .. "Tinkerer's machine capable of the finest resolution of printers tested".

[finescalerr]

Thanks for the additional info. This looks promising. -- Russ

[Bexley]

This machine was one of those tested in Make: Annual Guide to 3d printing. The blurb at the top of the page says .. "Tinkerer's machine capable of the finest resolution of printers tested".

Yeah, the resolution was always the deal breaker for home machines, given how small the items are modelers would need. Plus, getting to run one at work and see real-world results before buying was nice.

[Hauk]

The samples made on the B9 looks awesome. So awesome that I wonder why anyone would buy a more than ten times more expensive solidscape printer.

A little googling led to this forum thread, and it seems that the folks at MaxMini really knows a thing or two about both the B9 and the solidscape printers:

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?182002-MaxMini-eu-s-sketchbook-meddling-with-toy-soldiers

[Bexley]

I love how many times the guy mentions having to exaggerate details. Preach on, brother.

[Bexley]

It shipped!

I won't have time for it until after next weekend, but it's on its way.

[lab-dad]

When can we start placing orders?
-for you to make stuff for us! 

JK - Mj