3d Printer Recommendations

KooLaid

KooLaid

Hippocritapotamus
I haven't 3D printed in 10+ years in college and at the time the makerbot was king. A lot has changed since that time and even back then the quality was still excellent in my opinion. Can anyone make any recommendations for current "entry" level 3d printers? I see you can supposedly get quite the printer for even under $200 which is crazy but I'm willing to spend more to buy used higher end one.

Any recommendations? It'll mostly be used for random knick knacks, brackets, mounts, etc. Nothing with extreme requirements.

Something also capable of printing easily off of like thingverse on a usb stick(or even android app) and usb cord, "larger" heated bed, multi filaments (pla, abs, etc) and if possible dual nozzles. Keep in mind that in my head I consider a 2009 makerbot to "awesome".
 
wazzuFreddo

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
HappyHighwayman said:
Must be an amazing device for hobbyists if you know what you're doing
Click to expand...

I see people doing all sorts of cool things with it for Amateur Radio, from making stands for their transceivers to making brackets for building your own antennas.

I want to get one some day. :p
 
KooLaid

KooLaid

Hippocritapotamus
It's crazy cheap now too. I mean under $200 is ridiculous!

https://www.3dnatives.com/en/low-cost-3d-printer290320174/#!

Then there are the Ender, Creality, XYZ, etc for a little more. I'm just kinda not sure which way to go. I just know I don't want to spend $2000 for a makerbot replicator 2 to print a dirt bike fender mount lol. But I do want to expose my teenage daughter to what I was into as a teen working in electronics, drafting and engineering to hopefully influence her to learn a trade.. Right now she is just expecting to be the next female justin Beber with a 1.3 GPA and no real work or effort in school and that's it.
 
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auntiebling

auntiebling

megalomaniacal troglodyte
Staff member
if you want to make something that will last more than the time it takes to remove the support material, get something that will print ABS. you don't have to start with ABS, but having the option later is nice.

ABS can be dunked in solvent afterward to greatly increase the strength between the kabillions of barely adhered extrusions that make up the part. Think about spaghetti fresh from the boiling water and drenched in butter vs that same spaghetti after it's sat overnight in a container in the fridge.

ABS is also hiding all around you, motorcycle fairings, sewer pipe.. so whatever you print you can glue to all kinds of things with common solvents or ABS pipe cement if that's your jam.

which solvent? read the side of an ABS cement container at your favorite hardware store. mild to wild: i like acetone because it smells like victory.
 
KooLaid

KooLaid

Hippocritapotamus
R3DS!X said:
The creality printers are your best bang for buck. the prusa printers are more money but very well put together.

How big you you want to print?
The ender 3 pro is stupid cheap right now
https://www.creality3dofficial.com/products/creality-ender-3-pro-3d-printer
Click to expand...

Yeah, that Ender is ridiculously cheap. Those 3 brands I see mentioned often, so it seems they're not that bad.

Is like 12" x 12" x 12" realistic? I'm seeing numbers similar to those posted 300mm x 300mm x 400mm and such. I doubt I'll ever make anything that large though.

auntiebling said:
if you want to make something that will last more than the time it takes to remove the support material, get something that will print ABS. you don't have to start with ABS, but having the option later is nice.

ABS can be dunked in solvent afterward to greatly increase the strength between the kabillions of barely adhered extrusions that make up the part. Think about spaghetti fresh from the boiling water and drenched in butter vs that same spaghetti after it's sat overnight in a container in the fridge.

ABS is also hiding all around you, motorcycle fairings, sewer pipe.. so whatever you print you can glue to all kinds of things with common solvents or ABS pipe cement if that's your jam.

which solvent? read the side of an ABS cement container at your favorite hardware store. mild to wild: i like acetone because it smells like victory.
Click to expand...

ABS is a good idea. A really good idea.
 
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D

dagle

Well-known member
i have a Creality CR-10S Pro that was like 500$ a year or two ago. plenty of build space and it'll print whatever you want out of the box. everything's modular too so you can upgrade things to tune as you need. get you a stainless steel nozzle and you can print ABS, PETG, kevlar mix, wood mix, etc. I would recommend getting the updated/upgraded version of that if you can spend the 5-600$
 
oobus

oobus

Dirt Monger
We have a Maker Farm for our business, and we're using nylon. Takes a bit of time to get it set up but the results are very impressive. No more sending files out for prototypes, we build them ourselves.

Keep in mind that you are not going to print something large in a short amount of time: some of our prints take 14 hours from start to finish, and if something screws up half way in: start all over....
 
SFSV650

SFSV650

The Slowest Sprotbike™
I got the Flashforge Adventurer Lite; ender $400. Very happy with it.

You're kinda locked into using their filament because of their half-size rolls, but that isn't expensive.
 
R3DS!X

R3DS!X

Whatever that means
Creality makes the ender series pof printers, they also make the cr series.

ABS is not what you wanna print now a days. There are much better alternative materials out. PLA works really well for most things as long as you don't need it to be heat resistant. Super easy to print with and pretty darn strong, cheap and not moisture sensitive.
Nylon, Petg and ASA are alternatives that can handle heat better, but can be more difficult tom print with and can absorb moisture from the air and will then need to be dried out.

300x 300x400 is what the cr10 series will get you. nearly 12x12x16
 
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T

TylerW

Agitator
R3DS!X said:
Creality makes the ender series pof printers, they also make the cr series.

ABS is not what you wanna print now a days. There are much better alternative materials out. PLA works really well for most things as long as you don't need it to be heat resistant. Super easy to print with and pretty darn strong, cheap and not moisture sensitive.
Nylon, Petg and ASA are alternatives that can handle heat better, but can be more difficult tom print with and can absorb moisture from the air and will then need to be dried out.

300x 300x400 is what the cr10 series will get you. nearly 12x12x16
Click to expand...

Pretty much all of this.

Unless you need vapor smoothing, don't worry about ABS. It doesn't hold dimensional accuracy, it stinks to print, it's a huge PITA.

If you want to print in flexible materials, consider a direct drive printer instead of a bowden system. AFAIK all of the Creality printers are bowden based, but the Prusa Mk3 is direct drive.

If you don't need direct drive or a huge build envelope, but want some of that prusa build quality, u you can compromise with the Prusa Mini.
 
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R3DS!X

R3DS!X

Whatever that means
TylerW said:
Pretty much all of this.

Unless you need vapor smoothing, don't worry about ABS. It doesn't hold dimensional accuracy, it stinks to print, it's a huge PITA.

If you want to print in flexible materials, consider a direct drive printer instead of a bowden system. AFAIK all of the Creality printers are bowden based, but the Prusa Mk3 is direct drive.

If you don't need direct drive or a huge build envelope, but want some of that prusa build quality, u you can compromise with the Prusa Mini.
Click to expand...

You can always get a direct drive upgrade later on if you want to start off with bowden style and see how it goes.
The creality printers are like the SV650 of 3d printers. lots of parts and mods available.
 
S

Sharxfan

Well-known member
I got a Prusa Mk3 and have been totally happy with it. Easy to setup and get printing right away. If you decide to move to dual nozzles they have a kit for that also.
 
lgyee4

lgyee4

Well-known member
I got an Ender 3 v2 Great machine for the money.
Creality 3 series 3 starts at $200
If you already are familiar with the 3d printing slicer softwares, you'll be off to great start with an Ender 3
 
wilit

wilit

Well-known member
I've got a Monoprice Ultimate. Love it. I've done some upgrades to it like a Bondtech extruder and Micro Swiss all metal hot end. It's a great printer for the money. There's also an enclosure kit available so you can do some more heat sensitive filaments.
 
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