It will always be the Dutchy (as my profile pic might suggest):
I designed this printer back in 2017 (!!!) especially for educational use. Back then I gave workshops on schools and some of them had printers but all of them sucked. Ultimakers, Prusa’s, Printrbots, etc. All printers that could work well for hobbyists but didn’t for schools. Clogs, bed leveling, unnecessary features, weak frame, obstructing frame, etc. We also had experience with Felix printers, one of the few brands using linear rails. But they used a 40x40 aluminium frame that was easily bent out of alignment when handled or dropped (yes, that happens in schools).
So we designed the Dutchy. As simple as possible but every part had to be strong, reliable and durable. In other words: high quality. This made it not a cheap hobby printer but a durable machine and most of them are still working to this day.
We used oversized linear rails that could function as the frame as well. The housing was milled from a single aluminium box section. The printer was built in alignment and the bed was levelled and flattened during production. The solid design meant that you would never need to level it anyway so it was always flat and true. Not like most modern printers that compensate for warped beds (and call it leveling). You can even lift the printer by the bed while printing and it will just continue like nothing happens, moving the printer around instead of the bed.
(gif was larger than 4mb, so just click the link. It is the battery operated version (6h of print time) printing a lattice hypercube)
It was also important that the printer was as open as possible, hence the cantilever design. Josef Prusa once walked by our booth and called cantilever designs stupid, it could never work and our printer was a flimsy toy. Only to bring out a (this time really) flimy cantilever printer a couple years later. At makerfairs we strung up the printers dangling from the ceiling while printing to show they were as stiff as we said. I know of two printers that have dropped off the table (including mine) and both were still in alignment and worked.
This is the printer, featured in the latest Wintergatan video (link):
He has been pumping out prototypes for a couple of years now. It wasn’t hist first 3D printer but it was the first printer he didn’t rage quit with. It was the first printer he could use as a tool and wasn’t a project. That just worked. Sound familiar?
Right now of course the printer is too expensive to produce in the Netherlands at small scale at a competitive price so I have pulled the plug on the project and the last ones will be sold at a steep discount. My Bambu isn’t more reliable and doesn’t produce higher quality prints but it is a tad quicker, has better connectivity and has an AMS at a lower price.
So farewell to Dutchy but it will always be my favorite printer! 