Buying a 3D printer

[Onoff]

The Anycubic i3 Mega S is I've read one of the better clones of the Prusa 3. (Not sure if that's true or not).

We have one and it was pretty much printing straight of the box after minor assembly & levelling the bed. Not dual filament though.

 

[MaartenNL]

Hi I was just wondering what you would need to get started with a 3D printer.
What would be the best 3D printer for a reasonable price ( under 300 if possible ) and what else would I have to invest in to get it up and working,
Thanks

they have updated this buyers guide as of this spring

https://all3dp.com/1/best-3d-printer-reviews-top-3d-printers-home-3-d-printer-3d/

in the table of contents you can click on your budget

 

[8ob]

Look for Lars live 1 on YouTube he does some great tutorials for Fusion 360 I 've been through most of them & kept dipping back to refresh my addled brain.

Being a bit of technophobe I struggle with CAD, I have managed a few drawings thanks to lars, was messing about on the dual screen in the office the other day, with that set up I could start/stop lars tutorial without minimising and get straight onto what I was doing. Works a treat so I am getting dual screen for indoors so I can play fusion360 a bit more.

Bob

 

[ronan]

What annoyed me about fusion is i was used to the set up they had, and they go and change it all around, buttons moved, all that sort of thing.

 

[Parm]

I quite fancy a 3D printer, but I’m massively put off by the amount of tinkering around involved, options, bits, change this by half nats to effect that. Then there’s a computer involved, I don’t get on with them

 

[ronan]

I quite fancy a 3D printer, but I’m massively put off by the amount of tinkering around involved, options, bits, change this by half nats to effect that. Then there’s a computer involved, I don’t get on with them

The work of the devil i tells ya.

 

[Parm]

The work of the devil i tells ya.

I believe you, he even gave me his T shirt

 

[8ob]

I quite fancy a 3D printer, but I’m massively put off by the amount of tinkering around involved, options, bits, change this by half nats to effect that. Then there’s a computer involved, I don’t get on with them

Same here but thinking about an alternative for mold making for a while and it sort of makes sense, pressed the trigger for a Creality cr10s 5. Let the fun begin

Bob

 

[ukracer]

I quite fancy a 3D printer, but I’m massively put off by the amount of tinkering around involved, options, bits, change this by half nats to effect that. Then there’s a computer involved, I don’t get on with them

To Be Fair outside of the designing there is very little computer involved.
Cura is free and you can use presets for each type of plastic/model.
You can (allegedly! , I don't have one yet. I use babystepping) use BL Touch to almost remove the messing with your nads.

Buying a Prusa means they should print well right out of the box. But are a lot more money.

That said just look at screwdrivers Ender 3....it's churning out prints like a veteran.

 

[Parm]

To Be Fair outside of the designing there is very little computer involved.
Cura is free and you can use presets for each type of plastic/model.
You can (allegedly! , I don't have one yet. I use babystepping) use BL Touch to almost remove the messing with your nads.

Buying a Prusa means they should print well right out of the box. But are a lot more money.

That said just look at screwdrivers Ender 3....it's churning out prints like a veteran.

My neighbor has an Ender 3, it’s that and the impressive results that @Screwdriver has achieved that’s perked my interest again. However Im not overly keen on tinkering around with things straight out of the box.

I’m going through a phase of getting rid of everything that requires tinkering around to make it work. Plus reading the thread there’s an awful lot of computery design stuff being discussed, all of which I know nothing about

 

[DAPPH]

My neighbor has an Ender 3, it’s that and the impressive results that @Screwdriver has achieved that’s perked my interest again. However Im not overly keen on tinkering around with things straight out of the box.

I’m going through a phase of getting rid of everything that requires tinkering around to make it work. Plus reading the thread there’s an awful lot of computer design stuff being discussed, all of which I know nothing about

Neither did any of us know about computer design , it a fairly new technology as such , but with the Fusion tutorials on line it's reasonably easy to get started .( says me who has a sieve for a memory most days ) . Those guys & gals who use it regularly fi=or work have moved over into a space age 2029 scene . You can follow them too & be ready for when you thrown the towel in chasing paperwork & errant business owners as your only a young man with many years ahead of you .

 

[Screwdriver]

My neighbor has an Ender 3, it’s that and the impressive results that @Screwdriver has achieved that’s perked my interest again. However Im not overly keen on tinkering around with things straight out of the box.

I’m going through a phase of getting rid of everything that requires tinkering around to make it work. Plus reading the thread there’s an awful lot of computery design stuff being discussed, all of which I know nothing about

Perhaps unsurprisingly (!) I have the opposite view. As above, I genuinely would like to learn the deep tech and create models in unfathomable softwares.

But this is a consumer grade product and this entry level version is ridiculously cheap when you see what it can do. As such it basically has to be incredibly simple to use and it really is. Almost too easy because while I would like to invent something, someone has inevitably already thought of it, it's already upon Thingiverse. Not only that but it is open source, everybody is chipping in and most models are several iterations of copies of copies which really work.

If you're in half a mind to get one, I thoroughly recommend it. Getting it to work is a bit of a mechanical puzzle (Ikea meets CNC) but so long as everything is screwed in place, level and plumb, it should work. Making a model is more like cooking than anything. I just swapped reels for black PETG and my first print was a disaster (more later). It was obviously undercooked, so I turned up the nozzle temp and the next print came out as perfect as a Lego brick.

Here's the other thing, if you really need a specific thing and you have one of these printers, someone can email it to you! That is a whole new level of amazing. I remember being impressed when those boffins at NASA emailed a spanner up to the space station and that really wasn't so long ago....

 

[Hood]

Can you print in a flexible material?
I have been looking around for caps for my water cooled torches and just can't seem to find anything. I will probably just end up making something from delrin or something similar but it would have to be a tight fit to stop leaking and would be a pain to push on and pull off.
Anyway these are the things I am meaning.

 

[garethp]

Can you print in a flexible material?
I have been looking around for caps for my water cooled torches and just can't seem to find anything. I will probably just end up making something from delrin or something similar but it would have to be a tight fit to stop leaking and would be a pain to push on and pull off.
Anyway these are the things I am meaning.

View attachment 245580

Yes and I think the flexible filaments are available in different hardnesses as well. Its another thing on my list to try when I've finished rebuilding my printer.

 

[Screwdriver]

Disaster!

I didn't like the way the plastic runs down to the head so it just needs this little arm (thingiverse). Same plastic PETG, same settings, different colour and supplier. It didn't work. Look at it. Like a hessian sack, crispy and crumbly I thought it had either burned or not been melted enough. In the sunlight, looked like it simply hadn't fused so I went from 240C to 250C for the next bit.

What a difference. Just turning up the temp a few degrees and it has fused into a solid lump, exactly as hard as a Lego. Yes I turned down the bed temperature to stop it welding to the sheet but these are minor, dare I say obvious changes to the process.

Incidentally I didn't throw the "bad" arm away. Experimented with post production (blowtorch). Fail. Then dribbled superglue onto it (it soaked it up like a biscuit dipped in tea) and it went hard as a rock. I will redo it but that arm is 100 minutes, it sort of works and I have other fish to fry.

<edit> PS that lego brick has a relatively huge "bridge" where the first layer underneath the dovetails prints on thin air (it's upside down in the pic). I am surprised it could stretch that far and not collapse.

 

[Parm]

Perhaps unsurprisingly (!) I have the opposite view. As above, I genuinely would like to learn the deep tech and create models in unfathomable softwares.

But this is a consumer grade product and this entry level version is ridiculously cheap when you see what it can do. As such it basically has to be incredibly simple to use and it really is. Almost too easy because while I would like to invent something, someone has inevitably already thought of it, it's already upon Thingiverse. Not only that but it is open source, everybody is chipping in and most models are several iterations of copies of copies which really work.

If you're in half a mind to get one, I thoroughly recommend it. Getting it to work is a bit of a mechanical puzzle (Ikea meets CNC) but so long as everything is screwed in place, level and plumb, it should work. Making a model is more like cooking than anything. I just swapped reels for black PETG and my first print was a disaster (more later). It was obviously undercooked, so I turned up the nozzle temp and the next print came out as perfect as a Lego brick.

Here's the other thing, if you really need a specific thing and you have one of these printers, someone can email it to you! That is a whole new level of amazing. I remember being impressed when those boffins at NASA emailed a spanner up to the space station and that really wasn't so long ago....

you have a significant head start on me by understanding computer things far better than me.

I don’t need a printer but would like one. As you say it’s not very expensive, I’ve wasted more money on a night out on the town. I could easily assemble and set it up but I’m still put off by all the tech stuff I don’t understand

which specific one have you got?

I won’t ever go into it the same level of detail as you but I am interested in taking a step into the 21sr century

 

[8ob]

you have a significant head start on me by understanding computer things far better than me.

I don’t need a printer but would like one.

I dont want a printer but need one

Bob

 

[Bladevane]

I and a friend went halves on a kit from Factory3D after a recommendation on this forum. We’re now going halves on a Prusa Mini, so impressed we’re we with the original. Computing?? No. Following a menu with options - if you want. We’re now well on our way to owning our own print allotment. Great fun, steep learning and fantastic results.

 

[daedalusminos]

Can you print in a flexible material?

Yes no problem, how large is that item?

 

[Hood]

Yes no problem, how large is that item?

About 60mm OAL.