Thanks for the advice, any recommendations for the most active community online? The Google Group linked at the Makerbot site seems pretty sparse, as does the Makerbot section at CNCZone.
Re:Two-color Makerbot released
by gravitronic on Monday January 09, 2012 @04:27PM
(#3444332)
http://wiki.makerbot.com/forum:start
Also look up if there's any hackerspaces in your area and join their mailing list/forum. I met a number of makerbot, reprap, and CNC owners this way in my city.
Think Haus in Hamilton, ON, maybe? (OP appears to be from Ontario, judging by previous comments.)
Yeah I'm from Toronto, I've visited a local hacker space here (hacklab.to) several times. I saw several different 3d printers there over the course of a few visits. They inspired me to go ahead and take the plunge for myself.
Re:Two-color Makerbot released
by gravitronic on Monday January 09, 2012 @05:13PM
(#3444554)
Interesting.. I'm in Ottawa and there's a good community here:
If not, then an original makerbot would be a good first unit. From what I can tell, great community support which will help you figure out what you need.
As a person who has built their own CNC from a kit, I can tell you that these things are not like "printers for things" as much as they are a really complex tool that you will need to learn how to calibrate and use just like any other hobby.
I've had my CNC for 6+ months and only now am I getting to the point of getting usable (detailed) results from it. Mind you I'm milling PCB's which have a relatively low margin of error, but still.
Machining is it's own hobby (or trade, or profession) and takes time to learn.