3D printers have really hit their stride, with dozens of models to choose from. Monoprice, well known for its cables and other components, has a growing number of printers including the reasonably priced Voxel 3D.
The Voxel isn’t Monoprice’s only offering—they have a growing stable of models, many under $500, and both FFF (fused filament fabrication) and SLA (stereolithography) resin printers. The Voxel, however, is kind of like Goldilocks, not too expensive, but not too cheap either. The $399 price positions it right above entry-level printers from both Monoprice, and XYZprinting, whose da Vinci printers are direct price-range competitors with the Voxel.
3D Printing Types and Terms
Before we dive into the review, a little bit of background information is in order. 3D printers are not all alike. There are two major technologies at play in the under $3,000 market. The more expensive models for the most part are SLA resin printers. These use a liquid resin material that solidifies when exposed to Ultraviolet (UV) light. The other technology in use is Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), also sometimes called Filament Deposition Manufacturing, or FDM. With FFF, a thin plastic filament is melted and extruded onto a build plate layer by layer, building up the printed object. If you are familiar with a glue gun, think of an FFF printer as a glue gun type device that is moved in three dimensions.
With the Voxel, the hot end, or place where the filament is actually extruded from, moves up and down and side to side, while the build plate also moves forward and backward. This double set of movements reduces the distance the extrusion head has to travel when building the object and reduces the amount of time it takes to build the object. Keep in mind, though, that FFF printing is very slow, and it can take hours to produce even a small object.
About the Voxel
The Voxel—actually a rebadged FlashForge Adventurer 3—is well designed and enclosed in all directions with a clear front door that swings open to allow access to the build platform. There are transparent panels on the left side and top of the printer so build progress can be monitored from a variety of angles. This serves to keep fingers away from the hot moving parts within the printer when it is in use, a nice safety feature if the printer is to be used by younger builders.
The right side of the printer has a removable panel which covers the filament spool and feeder. The Voxel uses standard 1.75mm filament on a 7-inch spool, but can’t accommodate standard 1-gram spools since the width of the Voxel spools is narrower than standard, with a maximum capacity of 700 grams.
The printer has a heated print bed, a must if you want to print using ABS filament, which is somewhat sturdier than PLA. PLA filament is printed at a lower extruder temperature, is slightly more flexible than ABS, and is biodegradable, where ABS is not. PLA also does not require a heated bed. The Voxel measures 15.7 x 15 x 15.9 inches, so it should fit pretty much anywhere. It does not special ventilation, though some people find the smell generated when printing ABS plastic to be objectionable.
Monoprice can supply these narrow filament spools in both PLA and ABS plastic, and they are not unreasonably priced. Monoprice .5-gram spools of PLA and ABS run between $13 and $15 depending on material and color. 1-gram spools (which won’t fit internally on the Voxel) run about $18. If you don’t mind leaving off the door on the right side of the printer which covers the filament spool and feeder, you can 3D print an external spool holder that will let you use standard filament spools available from many vendors. The Voxel comes with a spool of filament, so you might want to put this project on your to-do list once you’ve printed a few objects and become familiar with the process.
What’s in the Box?
The review printer arrived well packaged and in good condition. Included in box are the printer with the extruder already installed, a spool of filament, the power cord, User’s Manual, several tools for adjusting the print bed if it becomes necessary (which it didn’t in my testing), an unclogging tool in case the extruder becomes clogged with melted plastic, and a package of grease. The User’s Manual also lists a USB drive, which was not included in my box, nor is it listed on the Vendor’s web site as being included.
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Source : Monoprice Voxel 3D Printer: An Affordable Entry to Serious 3D Printing
