3D Printing Industry reviews the Raise3D Pro3 3D printer.
Based in Irvine, California, and founded in 2013, Raise3D is an FFF 3D printer manufacturer well-known for its established portfolio of professional-grade machines.
The company’s Pro3 3D printer range comprises the smaller Pro3 (300 x 300 x 300mm) and the larger-format Pro3 Plus (300 x 300 x 605mm). Successors to the widely-successful Pro2 series, the Pro3 printers are characterized by their generous build volumes, dual extrusion setups, and high-performance filament printing capabilities.
Aimed at prosumers, engineering and design professionals, and commercial enterprises, the Pro3 systems are suitable for everything from functional prototyping to end-use multi-material small batch production. The Pro3 starts at $5,249 while the Pro3 Plus starts at $7,249.
For this review, we’ll be working with the base Pro3 model.
Progressing the Raise3D bloodline
Like all of Raise3D’s systems, the Pro3 comes complete with everything you need to set up and begin 3D printing. Inside the box, you’ll find two spools of PLA filament, heat-resistant gloves, a few tools for machine maintenance, a USB stick, a leveling card for printer calibration, and even some brand stickers to add a bit of visual flair.
The Pro3 is a fully-enclosed cartesian axis device with a straightforward yet robust all-metal frame. This type of coordinate configuration is generally more precise and firm than a delta or CoreXY system, though it might be slightly slower. Surrounding the workspace is a see-through plexiglass casing that contains a door on the front and a detachable lid on the top. This double entrance design proves to be convenient for printer upkeep as reaching some internal components can be challenging through the front door only.
The device house a build volume of 300 x 300 x 300mm, which offers users plenty of space to work on bigger projects. The Pro3 features a magnetic and flexible build plate along with a silicone print surface that facilitates quick and easy part removal. Additionally, the build bed can heat up to 120°C, which is essential in preventing shrinkage-induced warping and delamination while employing higher-temperature engineering filaments.
The Pro3 stands out due to its dual extruder assembly. Raise3D has constructed the device’s extruders to be modular, thus simplifying maintenance procedures. The machine incorporates a unique quick-swap hotend system which makes changing components effortless. This feature is highly valuable for users who interchange between non-abrasive and abrasive materials regularly since distinct nozzle types are needed for each material.
Thanks to its direct-drive setup and a maximum hotend temperature of 300°C, the Pro3 is capable of printing a broad range of thermoplastic filaments. These include ABS, PC, TPU, TPE, PETG, ASA, PP, PVA, Nylon, glass fiber composites, carbon fiber composites, and even metal fill filaments. The printhead is equipped with a standard levelling sensor in addition to two high-performance 4010 fans.
Our initial observations of the printer’s construction were highly positive. The bed is supported by two large lead screws, and the mobility of each axis is enabled by linear rods, giving the Pro3 a robust feel.
The Pro3 includes accessories and a dual extrusion printhead. The photographs are provided by the 3D Printing Industry.
Inclusion of all features
When it comes to technology, the Pro3 is fitted with a 7” full-color touchscreen allowing for automatic bed calibration, filament loading, and build management. The user interface was very tidy and user-friendly, so we commend this feature.
The system is also equipped with Raise3D’s proprietary EVE Smart Assistant system, which comes preloaded with a number of common printing problems identified by the company. When these issues arise, EVE can guide users in diagnosing and resolving them. The Smart Assistant can also be set to send reminders about regular scheduled maintenance operations, ensuring the Pro3 is in tip-top shape.
Additional features include a filament runout sensor, power loss recovery, a built-in HD camera for build monitoring, Wi-Fi connectivity, and an H13 HEPA filter (active carbon) for safe indoor use. There’s even an internal humidity-controlled filament storage chamber for keeping the printing materials dry at all times. In short, the Pro3 has just about all the bells and whistles you might expect from a 3D printer in this price range.
The Pro3’s 3D print bed. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
Raise3D’s ideaMaker slicer
Like most 3D printer manufacturers today, Raise3D also has its own slicing software for use with the Pro3. The ideaMaker slicer operates very similarly to most FFF slicers on the market with basic translation, rotation, and rescaling functionality – all wrapped in a dark grey color scheme that’s easy on the eyes.
It’s worth noting that ideaMaker’s UI is jam-packed with a plethora of model manipulation functions that are great for advanced users but may be a little intimidating for newcomers without much experience in 3D printing.
Still, there’s a set of Recommended settings that streamline the workflow for beginners who are still finding their footing. In this basic mode, users can choose the materials they’ll be using, modify key parameters such as resolution, and create and edit support structures. More experienced users out there may find it handy to dive into the Advanced settings, where there are more niche features such as dimensional compensation, gradual infill, and 3D model editing.
All in all, ideaMaker is a highly refined slicer and offers the kind of quality you’d expect from a company like Raise3D. We found it to be among the easiest-to-use programs in its class, with a distinct lack of bugs and great technical performance.
ideaMaker slicer UI. Image by 3D Printing Industry.
Benchmarking the Pro3 3D printer: 71/100
In our detailed benchmarking examination, we put the Raise3D Pro3 3D printer to the test. Our unique benchmarking model, printed in PLA, combines several smaller print tests into one inclusive part. Every individual section receives a weighted score influenced by factors like dimensional precision, surface quality, and structural integrity. The overall 3D Printing Industry score for the Pro3 was 71/100. Generally, a professional-grade 3D printer with a score above 60 is considered to be a high performer, thus making the Pro3 a dependably high performing and reliable 3D printer for professional usage.
3DPI benchmarking test. Photos courtesy of 3D Printing Industry.
Distinct overhang, bridging, and retraction print tests. Photo credit belongs to 3D Printing Industry.
The benchmarking model, overall, was definitely commendable. The overhang section of the test, which is designed to identify the angles at which the printer can print unsupported, showed that the Pro3 could go up to 60° without any issues. This score is quite a respectable result for PLA.
Similarly, the bridging test is intended to determine a system’s horizontal printing capabilities. The Pro3 managed to reach the 30mm bridge length successfully, which is again a solid result.
Lastly, we examine the retraction test, giving us an subjective method to assess the 3D printer’s extruder capabilities. The system truly shined in this area as it went above and beyond to fabricate the entire spike array with barely any artifacting and practically no stringing, producing an exceptionally clean test.
Circular trajectory test
We went ahead and 3D printed a circular trajectory test to observe how the Pro3 would handle circular structures. By analyzing the standard distribution of the diameters of the three concentric circles, we can conclude that the printer provides suitable repeatability when the average dimensional inaccuracy is below 0.1mm and the standard deviation is below 0.05mm. Our measuring instruments are accurate up to ±0.015mm.
This is the first time the Pro3 really stumbled. The system delivered an average offset of 0.2329mm for the X-axis and 0.2462mm for the Y-axis, resulting in an average of 0.240mm for all axes. While this imprecision is a little high compared to other printers in the price range, the average standard deviation came in at just 0.033mm, which is a great result.
It’s worth noting here that the larger the circle diameter, the less accurate the prints become. For example, Circle 1’s X-axis (20mm) was off by an average of 0.1003mm, while Circle 3’s X-axis (100mm) was off by a considerable 0.3283mm. To remedy this, we’d suggest providing the user with a parameter to adjust the step/mm to fine-tune the accuracy of the Pro3. Thankfully the Pro3 is very precise when it comes to 3D prints, so this issue can be easily addressed by the user if necessary with XY corrections. Given that the Pro3 is intended to print large parts, we do not think that this XY discrepancy will have any practical impacts.
Circular trajectory test. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
Circular trajectory test results. Image by 3D Printing Industry.
Below you’ll find the bell curves for the best and worst circles in the test – Circle one for the X-axis and Circle three for the X-axis. In the best case, 99.6% of the 20mm circles manufactured by this 3D printer will be between 19.77mm and 20.03mm. In the worst case, 99.6% of the 100mm circles fabricated by this 3D printer will be between 99.61mm and 99.73mm.
Bell curves – Circle one for the X-axis and Circle three for the X-axis. Images are provided by 3D Printing Industry.
Capability test
Originating from the US automotive industry, the capability test is a mechanism used for statistical process control. It defines the capability of a production process as its aptitude to achieve the requisite manufacturing performance concerning accuracy and precision.
To gauge ability, we replicate the identical model a whopping 150 times. This activity mimics mass production of a component. We pick a set of 16 samples randomly from this array and quantify each item thrice on the same surface. Then, we find the average and standard deviation of these triple measurements, allowing us to ascertain the process capability index, rendered as Cp, the lowest process capability index, interpreted as Cpk, and the machine capability index, signified as Cpm. To guide you, the aimed dimension is 20mm with the upper and lower allowances (Upper Spec Limit and Lower Spec Limit) being ±0.20mm.
In this particular instance, we note a Cp of 7.56, an excellent tally, implying that with the current process in use, it’s probable that we wouldn’t have any non-compliant components.
This indicates a highly efficient process output with uniform values that are within specification boundaries when compared to its innate variability. As such, this number serves as an indication that the process has high precision and the Pro3 is reliable for use within a manufacturing context.
We therefore consider the Pro3 as being well-crafted for dependable mass production of identical components. However, it’s worth noting that based on our precision and accuracy tests, the printer should be inspected first as it might be necessary to apply a geometric correction in XY to achieve truly perfect components.
Capability test results. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.Capability test results. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
An engineering material powerhouse
One of the Pro3’s main selling points is its extensive set of filament capabilities, so we put these to the test. We start off nice and easy with a set of PLA prints: a hand screw clamp and a 3D printed subwoofer.
PLA 3D print tests. Photos by 3D Printing Industry.</p
The clamp was fabricated from two different PLA filaments and assembled from ground up. All of its parts are of top-notch quality and the fully assembled piece functions flawlessly. It was a grand success.
Similarly, we 3D printed the subwoofer in various pieces using assorted PLA colors. This took us a total of 140 hours of print time. The initial print trial for this actually did not go so well due to a voltage issue on the motor driver. We reprinted the model and did not encounter any problems afterwards. The Pro3’s filament sensor came very handy during the extended print duration. It immediately paused the print process whenever filament spools ran out, and resumed only when we loaded a new one. It was indeed a tremendous achievement.
Our next print test was a 3D printed planetary gear system using PLA.
PLA planetary gear 3D print test. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
Dynamic prints such as the one shown here allow us to determine the precision of the 3D printer’s tolerances, particularly when evaluating the ease of assembly and overall system fluidity. The Pro3 performed remarkably well with this print, facilitating effortless assembly and yielding a mechanism that could be rotated with minimal resistance.
We later 3D printed a set of ABS parts which included a Logitech C920 webcam cover and a glue gun stand. ABS, a low-cost polymer renowned for its strength and durability, is particularly suited to heat and impact resistance.
Proceeding to the 3D print tests of ABS, we found both the webcam cover and the glue gun stand to exhibit smooth outcomes. Boasting superior surface quality, the webcam cover doesn’t necessitate any post-processing. To add to it, the glue gun stand is a perfect match for its intended use, showing no warping or visible layer lines and no stringing on any of the delicate feature details. Each of the printed parts are robust, functional, and durable.
Finally, we 3D printed an engineering component – a helical bevel gear – using polycarbonate (PC). This high-strength thermoplastic offers a blend of high heat deflection and impact resistance, qualifying it for high-performance applications in demanding environments.
Raise3D Pro3 PC print test. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
PC 3D print test. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
Again, the Pro3 held its own admirably when it came to 3D printing PC. The bevel gear is completely defect-free with great surface quality to boot. The only post-processing we had to do was limited to support removal and it left no visible marks.
Finally, we 3D printed a sealing gasket using flexible TPU filament. The part is designed to be placed between a speaker and its corresponding cabinet.
Raise3D Pro3 TPU print test. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
TPU 3D print test. Photo by 3D Printing Industry.
In order to successfully print with flexible filaments, a direct-drive extruder, like the one fitted in the Pro3’s printhead, is a must. Our first try at producing this part saw the TPU get caught in the gears of the extruders. This led us to dismantle the printhead, clean it, and repeat the build. Luckily, the second attempt was successful and the system strongly delivered a fit for purpose, flawless TPU print.
Our final thoughts
The Pro3 3D printer from Raise3D’s standout characteristic is its reliable performance, which is supported by a sturdy set of hardware components like the dual extrusion printhead and the magnetic print bed. Compared to its older model, the Pro2, Raise3D has enhanced the rods and lead screws of this machine, adding a premium touch to it.
In the same manner, the ideaMaker slicer, irrespective of the user’s experience, is user-friendly and fine-tuned. Among the proprietary slicers we have tested at 3D Printing Industry, it is undoubtedly one of the best, showcasing Raise3D’s commendable capacity in the market.
When it comes to print quality, the Pro3 delivers on its promises. The system is capable of processing a wide variety of complex filaments such as PC, ABS, and TPU with grace, all with excellent surface finishes and fine feature details. The only thing we were mildly disappointed with was the repeatability on the Pro3, especially with larger parts where discrepancies seemed to increase with size, however this issue can be addressed by the user by correcting the X and Y axes if necessary.
Ultimately, with its plethora of quality-of-life features, including the filament runout sensor, power loss recovery, and built-in HD camera, the Pro3 is a strong choice for professional users seeking a dual extrusion 3D printer from a reputable company.
Technical specifications of the Raise3D Pro3