Hands On With Our Hands-On 3D Printing Reviews

By on September 23rd, 2020 in blog, printer

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Hands On With Our Hands On 3D Printer Stories
3D printed hand, of course [Source: Fabbaloo]

Did you know we’ve published dozens of product reviews? Here’s a list of all 80+ of them, at least up to today.

We began performing product reviews way back in 2010 when we got a close look at the PP3DP Up! desktop 3D printer — a basic 3D printer, but at the time of the leading options. From that machine the entire line of Tiertime 3D printers grew. And so did our list of reviews.

3D Printers

The Prusa MINI 3D printer in action [Source: Fabbaloo]

The PP3DP Up! was the first review we ever published, way back in 2010. This device is no longer available, and has long been superceded by other machines.

Hands On With The PP3DP Up! 3D Printer

The venerable BFB 3000 was the device that eventually morphed into the 3D Systems Cube, after the company acquired BFB.

Hands On With The BFB 3000: Unboxing And Setup

Hands On With The BFB 3000: Operation

Hands On With The BFB 3000: Software

The MakiBOX was an early and primitive desktop 3D printer that unfortunately failed after a crowdfunding campaign.

Hands On With The MakiBOX

The Ultimaker 2 Extended was Ultimaker’s first venture into larger-volume 3D printers. It’s still a great device today.

Hands On With The Ultimaker 2 Extended: Unboxing And Setup

Hands On With The Ultimaker 2 Extended: Software

Hands On With The Ultimaker 2 Extended: Operations

Hands On With The Ultimaker 2 Extended: Materials And Conclusion

Sindoh’s first desktop 3D printer changed the landscape as they brought forward easy-to-use control panels for the first time, based on their extensive experience building photocopier machines.

Hands On With The 3Dwox 3D Printer Part 1: The First Real 3DP For Consumers?

Hands On With The 3Dwox 3D Printer Part 2: The First Real 3DP For Consumers?

Hands On With The 3Dwox 3D Printer Part 3: The First Real 3DP For Consumers?

The Replicator+ was MakerBot’s last open-air desktop 3D printer. While it includes a lot of heritage design from previous generations, it also included a new Smart Extruder.

Hands On With The Replicator+: Part One, Setup

Hands On With The Replicator+: Part Two, Software

Hands On With The Replicator+: Part Three, Operations

The Form 2 was Formlabs’ breakout machine. It was the first to appear after their initial relatively rudimentary device, and included a vast array of improvements to every aspect of the machine. Still a great performer.

Hands On With The Form 2 Desktop 3D Printer, Part 1

Hands On With The Form 2 Desktop 3D Printer, Part 2

The Prusa i3 line of desktop 3D printers is perhaps the most well-known in the world today; this was their MK2 machine.

Hands On With The Original Prusa I3 Desktop 3D Printer

XYZprinting’s Da Vinci Jr. 2.0 Mix was an unusual machine that attempted to 3D print objects in multiple colors.

Hands On With The Da Vinci Jr. 2.0 Mix, Part 1

Hands On With The Da Vinci Jr. 2.0 Mix, Part 2

The Creality CR-10 was perhaps the breakout device for the now-large Asian 3D printer manufacturer. This is the “S” version.

Hands On With The Creality CR-10S, Part 1

Hands On With The Creality CR-10S, Part 2

Sindoh followed up their initial success with the 3DWOX 1, a vastly capable device that allowed the use of any filament material.

Hands On With The Sindoh 3DWOX 1, Part 1

Hands On With The Sindoh 3DWOX 1, Part 2

An unusual partnership between BIQU and MyMiniFactory allowed direct 3D printing of 3D models from the online repository.

Hands On With The BIQU Thunder And The MyMiniFactory App Part 1

Hands On With The BIQU Thunder And The MyMiniFactory App Part 2

Hands On With The BIQU Thunder And The MyMiniFactory App Part 3

KODAK’s first proper desktop 3D printer, the KODAK Portrait, is able to 3D print a wide variety of materials using its dual extruder configuration.

Hands On With The Kodak Portrait 3D Printer: Unboxing And Setup

Hands On With The Kodak Portrait 3D Printer: Basic Operations

Hands On With The Kodak Portrait 3D Printer: Advanced Operations

Hands On With The Kodak Portrait 3D Printer: Final Thoughts

The ANET ET4 is a low-cost 3D printer that was one of the first to use “silent” stepper drivers.

Hands On With The ANET ET4 3D Printer: Part 1

Hands On With The ANET ET4 3D Printer: Part 2

Hands On With The ANET ET4 3D Printer: Part 3

The ANET N4 is a low-cost resin 3D printer capable of 3D printing in relatively high resolution.

Hands On With The ANET N4 LCD 3D Printer, Part 1

Hands On With The ANET N4 LCD 3D Printer, Part 2

The Prusa MINI 3D printer is a re-engineered lower-cost version of the Prusa system that indeed provides excellent print quality.

Hands On With The Prusa MINI 3D Printer, Part 1

Hands On With The Prusa MINI 3D Printer, Part 2

Hands On With The Prusa MINI 3D Printer, Part 3

The Form 3 is Formlabs’ current flagship 3D printer, and it certainly deserves that role.

Hands On With The Formlabs Form 3, Part 1

Hands On With The Formlabs Form 3, Part 2

3D Hardware & Accessories

The SpaceMouse from 3DConnexion, a 3D mouse [Source: Fabbaloo]

The Finishing Touch was a special device from Stratasys to smooth ABS 3D prints using vapor.

Hands On With The FinishingTouch Smoothing Station

The GeoMagic Touch is a haptic controller for 3D design.

Hands On With The Geomagic Touch

The Spectrom color system was an early attempt at automatically changing filaments on a single extruder 3D printer.

Hands On With Spectrom’s Color System

The XTC-3D system is an epoxy mix that can, when applied like paint, smooth the surfaces of layered 3D prints.

Hands On With The XTC-3D Smoothing System

3DConnexion’s SpaceMouse Pro is one of their 3D mouse units. Highly recommended for 3D design tools.

Hands On With 3Dconnexion’s SpaceMouse Pro Wireless

Sindoh released a special cartridge that allows the use of any filament.

Hands On With 3Dwox’s Replaceable Filament Cartridge

Retouch3D was a special set of heated tools that could be employed to repair or smooth 3D prints.

Hands On With The Retouch3D

The Prusa MMU2S is an accessory that converts the single material device into one that handles up to five filaments at once.

Hands On With The Prusa MMU2S, Part 1

Hands On With The Prusa MMU2S, Part 2

Hands On With The Prusa MMU2S, Part 3

3D Software

View of Simplify3D [Source: Fabbaloo]

Cheetah3D is an inexpensive 3D design tool.

Hands On With Cheetah3D

ReconstructMe is an open source tool for capturing 3D scans.

Hands On With ReconstructMe

Simplify3D is a popular third party 3D print slicing utility.

Hands On With Simplify3D

One of the first attempts at web-based 3D modeling was Honeycomb.

Hands On With The Honeycomb 3D Modeler

Smoothie 3D was a tool for converting 2D images into 3D models.

Hands On With Smoothie-3D

Morphie is an iPad-based simple 3D modeling tool.

Hands On With The Morphi App

Autodesk’s Sculpt+ is a powerful 3D sculpting tool.

Hands On With Autodesk’s Sculpt+

Thingiverse++ is a Google Chrome add-on that makes Thingiverse a lot more usable.

Hands On With Thingiverse++

Teton Simulation has introduced Smart Slice for Cura.

Teton Simulation’s Smart Slice Tool Works!

3D Scanners

Using the Calibry handheld 3D scanner [Source: Fabbaloo]

Skanect is software that can be used with inexpensive 3D cameras, like the Kinect, to develop full 3D models.

Hands On With Skanect

Trnio is an inexpensive mobile app that can capture 3D scans using photogrammetry.

Hands On With Trnio, The Smartphone 3D Scanner

The ES360 is a desktop turntable-based 3D scanning system.

Hands On With Afinia’s ES360 Desktop 3D Scanner

Capture is an inexpensive pay-per-scan mobile 3D scanning app that uses the phone’s depth camera.

Hands On With Capture: 3D Scan Anything

The Calibry 3D scanner is a powerful handheld device that can operate in multiple modes and is available at low cost.

Hands On With The Calibry 3D Scanner, Part 1

Hands On With The Calibry 3D Scanner, Part 2

Hands On With The Calibry 3D Scanner, Part 3

Hands On With The Calibry 3D Scanner, Part 4

3D Print Materials

A 3D print made from algae material [Source: Fabbaloo]

HIPS” is a popular 3D print material.

Hands On With: High Impact Polystyrene

colorFabb’s original 3D printer material.

Hands On With ColorFabb’s PLA Filament

colorFabb’s partnership with a chemical company resulted in the first 3D print-dedicated material, Amphora.

Hands On With Amphora 3D Printer Filament

Verbatim unleashed a few of their many unusual materials to the 3D print world.

Hands On With Verbatim’s 3D Printer Filaments

Feelcolor is a provider of useful 3D printer filaments.

Hands On With Feelcolor’s Fascinating 3D Printer Filaments

Before you try Algae filaments, read this.

Hands On With 3D-Fuel’s Strong PLA And Algae Filaments. What?

Fiberlogy produces a terrific flexible filament.

Hands On With Fiberlogy’s New FiberFlex 40D 3D Printer Filament

We tested several filaments from Fiberlogy, including HD, Flex, Mineral and Wood.

Hands On With Four Fiberlogy Filaments

MakerBot produced a special “Tough” PLA material to use on their machines that could not 3D print ABS.

Hands On With MakerBot’s Tough PLA System

PLAS3D produces some amazing 3D printer filaments.

Hands On With PLAS3D Filament

We tested a “silk” filament from Fiberlogy.

Hands On With Two Fiberlogy Filaments

We tested Fiberlogy’s recycled PLA and their PETG offerings.

Hands On With Two More Fiberlogy Filaments

3D Services

3D printed metal pendant designed in Uformit [Source: Fabbaloo]

Authentise provides a secure streaming option for 3D printing.

Hands On With Authentise’s Streaming Prints

3DPrinterOS provides a cloud-based streaming 3D printing service.

Hands On With 3DPrinterOS

Uformit offers a generative design service for unusual 3D prints.

Hands On With Uformit’s Personalized 3D Print Service

MakePrintable is an online service to quickly repair damaged 3D models.

Hands On With MakePrintable

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!

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