Best 3d printers

[skywatch]

@homer said in Best 3d printers:

Thanks mate! So far I'm liking it, so I'm sorry to say that I won't be sending it to >you anytime soon haha

Awwwww.... :(

I would like to start making my own boxes for my Mysensors, but don't know >what program to use. I've never done this sort of thing before, so at the moment >I'm a little concerned about the learning curve, so if you or anyone knows of a >program that is simple to use for this purpose, please share what it is!

As I said, try tinkercad. It's a free online 3D design tool that will give you a good taste of 3D design and the features you may want/need in a full paid product.

You probably won't stop printing now for at least 6 months! ;)

[cyberchuckTX]

I bought a PowerSpec Wanhao Duplicator Prusa i3 Plus and am quite happy with it (see https://www.microcenter.com/product/486543/wanhao-duplicator-i3-plus-3d-printer ).

Several things to consider:

• There are a LOT of great 3D communities for 3D printers; check out "Wanhao" on Thingiverse to see parts you can print to upgrade your printer(s) ( http://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=wanhao&dwh=995d35d8e0e03d1 ).

• Check with your local makerspaces (Houston has 13 Makerspaces, I'd check with the major ones like TXRX Labs ( https://www.txrxlabs.org/ ) who not only can advise you on printers but may actually sell kits made by members.

[Crumpy10]

Ok, so I got my hands on an Ender3 printer. So far so good, very impressed for the price. But could someone tell me what causes this?

[Yveaux]

@crumpy10 bad adhesion to printer bed, mixed with inconsistent filament extrusion.

See this page for 3d printer troubleshooting : https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/

[alowhum]

Woule the Mirobot in theory be capable of working like a 3D printer?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mirobot/mirobot-6-axis-mini-industrial-robot-arm/faqs

[bjacobse]

@crumpy10
Looks like your skirt are fine (The round first prints) but inside your print you get to little PLA through your nozzle
is temperature correct?
is is a good source from PLA? or is it that came along the 3D printer, then swap and use new PLA
If you have Bowden extruder, is it extruding correctly? maybe the gear slips
And then maybe is your bed 100% calibrated?

I don't think your nozzle is clogged as the skirt looks ok

[bjacobse]

@alowhum
NO it can't be used as 3D printer, it's not accurate enough
QA from their homepage:
Would it be possible to place circuit components on circuit boards using this arm or does it not have enough precision?

Yes, the repeatability is 0.2mm, This is enough for PCB soldering.

My 3D printer, zonestar 802 have this accuracy:
XY-Axis Positioning Accuracy: 0.012mm

[alowhum]

@bjacobse thanks!

[bjacobse]

@crumpy10
Try FIRST to level your bed - PLA can't stick to air if you have too much distance between nozzlehead and bed.

[vseprosto90211]

I like Monoprice's Maker Select Plus, because it proves the fact that you don't need to spend a fortune to buy a good 3D printer. It has a large build area, a heated bed and can handle lots of different materials. Maybe you should also pay attention to this one.

[NeverDie]

@Crumpy10 said in Best 3d printers:

But could someone tell me what causes this?

Your print head is too high: you need more "squish" on the first layer. Evidence: the print lines need to meld into one another without gaps between them and be flatter than what your picture shows. Running a calibration should fix this, though you can also do an "on the fly" adjustment if you notice it starting badly, generally when printing the skirt.

I have a Prusa 3 modded to use an all copper heatpath so that it can print faster than the stock version. An Ender 3 seems perfectly good though, and for the same money you can own more than one and parallel print. :eye:

If I were to upgrade further I'd build an enclosure to make it quieter and run some kind of hepa carbon air filter on it to minimize emissions, regardless of what brand I owned. The last I checked (around a year or so ago) there weren't any good kits for that except for one that was priced sky high for schools or corporate use.

[alowhum]

@alowhum said in Best 3d printers:

https://www.cnx-software.com/2019/04/22/zonestar-z6-entry-level-portable-3d-printer/

I bought the Ender 3 (non-pro). It's my first 3D printer. So far it's great. I'm going to add an Mini E3 board to decrease the high-pitched noise from the stepper motors. I also bought a $9 3D Touch, a fake BLTouch, for auto bed levelling. Although it's not really needed? The bed has remained stable. Then I'll install that following this guide.

I've also used a Pi Zero W I had lying around to install Octoprint. No more hassle with SD cards. There's even a plugin called "Spaghetti Detective" that uses machine learning to watch webcam images of your print being made. If your print goes wrong, it automatically stops it.

[dzjr]

MySensors Friends,

I also plan to finally purchase a 3D printer.

What do you recommend for a beginner right now?

What do I want to make?
Enclosures for sensors.
small parts .
and who knows what else in the future.

So I am looking for a 3D printer that I can gain experience with as a beginner.
  not too small, maintenance friendly, but that does not mean that I do not want to carry out maintenance.

I don't really know yet what material I want to print with, what is the best and most versatile material to start with?

Thank you in advance for your advice and thinking along.

dzjr

[pptacek]

@dzjr it depends what do you need it for. This is my 2 cents on 3d printing at the moment.

If you need to print something small with high detail, get an SLA printer like Elegoo Mars. It is cheap, easy to understand and resolution is amazing. Prints out of the box, but it is messy and smelly.

Otherwise:

1. You are a complete noob, you have no clue how that stuff works, you just want to print. Get Prusa and print PLA. Basic printer, not great but reliable and great company support and great community.
2. You are a complete noob on a budget but willing to learn. Get Ender 3 and print PLA. It is basic, cheap, but gets a job done. Community support is great, but expect you will have to tinker with the printer.
3. You are a moderately experienced in tech and you need a workhorse. Get FlashForge Creator Pro or similar and print PLA, PETG or even ABS. Community support is great, that thing is an older design but it just works.
4. You are moderately experienced, with special (tinkering) demands. Here it gets very personal. There is a bunch of RepRap style printers with a moving bed (which I hate). There are some deltas (why??) and there is growing number of CoreXY printers of various sizes (Two Tree, Elf, Tronxy...). I would probably go that route. Stick with PLA and PETG.
5. Geek with time, resources, and curiosity. Build your own CoreXY printer. Voron, Railcore, etc. Print what you want.

I skipped 1) and 2) and went through 3) - 5). I personally own Elegoo, FlashForge CP, Elf, and CoreXY of my own design.

[alowhum]

@dzjr have a look here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/gdbu1o/purchase_advice_megathread_what_to_buy_who_to_buy/

I think the 'consensus' is that these are the beginner printers to go for currently:

Under $200
Ender 3. It's recommended as a cheap beginners machine. This does not have any automation features though, such as automatic bed levelling, detecting if your fillament runs out, etc. Although you can add those if you want. It's also quite noisy.

Above $200
For a more hassle free experience I believe the Prusa i3 Mk3S is the recommended one to go for. It's more expensive of course, but you get a lot of that automation.

It also depends on what material you want to print. Woodgrain filament cannot be used with the Ender's default extruder, for example, it will damage it. Something worth checking before purchase is it it can print flexible filament. That stuff is amazing! In general it seems ABS filament has become very unpopular.

Don't worry too much about things like touch screens. You'll likely want to get a Raspberry Pi and install Octoprint on it. That way you can send prints to your printer and monitor its progress without having to babysit it. You don't want to be sitting next to those fumes and the noise all the time.

Also don't worry about flexible removable magnetic printer beds. From what I can tell glass beds offer the best quality for things like PLA, which is what you'll most likely be printing in generally.

Whatever you do, go for a printer that has a large community of users. If you go on websites like Thingiverse you'll immediately notice which printers are popular. If you look at the most popular new 3D print designs you'll currently find a lot of Ender specific creations.

[akyle32]

Im using the Monoprice 3D Printer the price is below $200. I bought it a few months ago so Im not sure what its price today. 3d printing is a really fun hobby. If you need more 3d printer options, you should check out this website.

[dzjr]

@pptacek
Thank you for your response to my message,
It took a little longer on this side because my work took a lot of time this week.

1 & 2 will not apply to me either, I may not have 3D printing experience, but I have enough technical skills to adjust and assemble something, but I don't want to be able to print something first. half an hour to adjust everything.

So if I see your message like this, it would end up on the Ender 3 (Pro?) Or the Flashforge Creator Pro.
I was thinking of max € 500 myself, but is it worth the price difference of about € 400?

Ender 3 = € 180
Ender 3-Pro = € 235
Flashforge Creater Pro = 625

[dzjr]

@alowhum

Thank you for your response to my message,
It took a little longer on this side because my work took a lot of time this week.

I have read through part of the link, and keep reading that the Ender-3 (pro) would be the best choice?

Of the Prusa i3, I read on the Dutch platform Tweakers.net that there are some safety aspects, so would the power supply not be fireproof?

So if I see your message like this it would end up on the Ender 3 (Pro?)
Also thanks to @pptacek's response

How did you mean the touch screen? do you mean that you actually have to replace the controller with a Raspberry pi?

[alowhum]

Of the Prusa i3, I read on the Dutch platform Tweakers.net that there are some safety aspects, so would the power supply not be fireproof?

I haven't read that, but I haven't looked into the Prusa deeply. I bought the Ender 3 because of its price to performance ratio.

I wondered if I should get the Ender 3 pro. The only thing it really added that I wanted is a better power supply. But since it doesn't really impact anything, and you can always upgrade later, I decided to go with the normal Ender.

How did you mean the touch screen? do you mean that you actually have to replace the controller with a Raspberry pi?

No, I mean that some 3D printers come with fancy touch screen interfaces. The way you normally use them is that you put a file on an SD card, put that SD card in the printer, and then use the on device interface to start the print.

But you can also connect a Raspberry Pi to your printer (it has a USB port), and then it can control the printer. Once you do that, you can start, stop and follow prints through a web interface. No more hassle with SD cards. It's something you will want.

I use a 10 euro Raspberry Pi Zero W for this.

[dzjr]

@alowhum

I also think I'm going to buy an Ender-3,
The difference between the 3 and the 3-Pro turns out not to be very big, in this video they tell the differences.

If I would like to have a larger / other later, the costs are manageable, I think ....
Or is the Flashforge Creator really worth the extra money (my dad wants to contribute too)?

Thank you for explaining the Raspberry Pi addition,
I have already seen a tutorial how it works, I still have a Pi-3 and Pi-2, which I can use nicely, also in combination with a camera.