Best 3d printers
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FWIW, I own both a Prusa and a Creality CR-10 Max. I purchased the CR-10 Max because I had a need for a large 3D printer, and there are very few inexpensive printers on the market as big a it is. Prusa has an excellent online community. I thought Creality would as well, since it probably sells more hobbyist printers than everyone else combined, but I was very surprised to find that the official Creality forum to be of little use. There's a huge ecosystem of 3rd party upgrades for Creality printers, and, IMHO, it's because the printers themselves desperately need upgrading.
BIQU printers are a lot like Creality printers, but in some sense they are pre-upgraded and so are a more complete solution out of the box. It's a brand worth considering if you're in the market for a 3D printer. In particular, the print-head is much easier to demount and service than either the Prusa or the Creality because they simplified the wiring to a single wired connector. Unfortunately, they don't make anything as big as the CR-10 Max, so it wasn't an option for me.
The SK-Tank, by SecKit, is currently in beta, but it looks like you get a great printer for the price if you don't mind assembling a kit. It's aimed at people who are already experienced 3D printer users and who can appreciate the improvements it has over regular run-of-the-mill 3D printers. The design that preceded it was well received, but it was discontinued in favor of this new design, which is meant to be easier to assemble.
There's also a UK kit maker, whose name slips my mind, but they have a newly released large format 3D printer kit based on regular aluminum extrusions. I could look up the name if anyone has interest. Instead of typical software based auto bed leveling, it physically adjusts the bed to be level automatically, similar to the Voron. IIRC, the SK-tank also takes that approach, so apparently it has advantages over software-only autobed leveling like what Prusa and Creality offer.
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The Ender 5 is more affordable and a great 3D printer, but the Prusa MK3S+ is definitely the best. Just depends on how much you want to spend.
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thanks for the great information.
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FWIW, I own both a Prusa and a Creality CR-10 Max. I purchased the CR-10 Max because I had a need for a large 3D printer, and there are very few inexpensive printers on the market as big a it is. Prusa has an excellent online community. I thought Creality would as well, since it probably sells more hobbyist printers than everyone else combined, but I was very surprised to find that the official Creality forum to be of little use. There's a huge ecosystem of 3rd party upgrades for Creality printers, and, IMHO, it's because the printers themselves desperately need upgrading.
BIQU printers are a lot like Creality printers, but in some sense they are pre-upgraded and so are a more complete solution out of the box. It's a brand worth considering if you're in the market for a 3D printer. In particular, the print-head is much easier to demount and service than either the Prusa or the Creality because they simplified the wiring to a single wired connector. Unfortunately, they don't make anything as big as the CR-10 Max, so it wasn't an option for me.
The SK-Tank, by SecKit, is currently in beta, but it looks like you get a great printer for the price if you don't mind assembling a kit. It's aimed at people who are already experienced 3D printer users and who can appreciate the improvements it has over regular run-of-the-mill 3D printers. The design that preceded it was well received, but it was discontinued in favor of this new design, which is meant to be easier to assemble.
There's also a UK kit maker, whose name slips my mind, but they have a newly released large format 3D printer kit based on regular aluminum extrusions. I could look up the name if anyone has interest. Instead of typical software based auto bed leveling, it physically adjusts the bed to be level automatically, similar to the Voron. IIRC, the SK-tank also takes that approach, so apparently it has advantages over software-only autobed leveling like what Prusa and Creality offer.
BTW, the UK manufacturer's printer is named "Rat Rig" and comes in various sizes, including one that has a build area of 500x500x500mm. It's a kit.
Lastly, Prusa has announced the Prusa XL, which is a large format 3D printer that includes an impressive number of technical improvements over the alternatives that should put it at the leading edge. It's one of the more expensive printers out there, but at least you get additional value for the extra money.
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What‘s a good, semi-affordable, good, maybe upgradeable, good 3D printer? I read a comparison article between a number of printers, and the one they liked the best was the Prusa. Which of course I had never heard of, and isn‘t sold on Amazon. Creality seems like the most popular on Amazon. It does not have to come from. Amazon, I just shop there a lot.
I have no experience at all with 3D printers, but I was an IT tech for years, have done a fair amount of coding and played with Raspberry Pi a bit. I want something I can learn on, but not so limited I would want to replace it within 3 months.
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What‘s a good, semi-affordable, good, maybe upgradeable, good 3D printer? I read a comparison article between a number of printers, and the one they liked the best was the Prusa. Which of course I had never heard of, and isn‘t sold on Amazon. Creality seems like the most popular on Amazon. It does not have to come from. Amazon, I just shop there a lot.
I have no experience at all with 3D printers, but I was an IT tech for years, have done a fair amount of coding and played with Raspberry Pi a bit. I want something I can learn on, but not so limited I would want to replace it within 3 months.
@vomaxa said in Best 3d printers:
What‘s a good, semi-affordable, good, maybe upgradeable, good 3D printer? I read a comparison article between a number of printers, and the one they liked the best was the Prusa. Which of course I had never heard of, and isn‘t sold on Amazon. Creality seems like the most popular on Amazon. It does not have to come from. Amazon, I just shop there a lot.
I have no experience at all with 3D printers, but I was an IT tech for years, have done a fair amount of coding and played with Raspberry Pi a bit. I want something I can learn on, but not so limited I would want to replace it within 3 months.
thanks in advance for any help
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What‘s a good, semi-affordable, good, maybe upgradeable, good 3D printer? I read a comparison article between a number of printers, and the one they liked the best was the Prusa. Which of course I had never heard of, and isn‘t sold on Amazon. Creality seems like the most popular on Amazon. It does not have to come from. Amazon, I just shop there a lot.
I have no experience at all with 3D printers, but I was an IT tech for years, have done a fair amount of coding and played with Raspberry Pi a bit. I want something I can learn on, but not so limited I would want to replace it within 3 months.
@vomaxa A lot of people seem to like the Voron. Its base doesn't move, so it prints the same regardless of whether it's a small model or a large model. Also, it does hardware autoleveling instead of software autoleveling. In addition, it has very active development, and it prints fast.
On the other hand, Ender 3 and its variants is probably the most popular because of its low price and relatively fast setup.
I have a Prusa i3 MK3, and quite honestly, the design is getting a bit long in the tooth. That said, a lot of prominent youtubers who are focused on 3D printers still describe it as their "go to" 3D printer, because, perhaps more than some other printers, "It just works."
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@vomaxa said in Best 3d printers:
What‘s a good, semi-affordable, good, maybe upgradeable, good 3D printer? I read a comparison article between a number of printers, and the one they liked the best was the Prusa. Which of course I had never heard of, and isn‘t sold on Amazon. Creality seems like the most popular on Amazon. It does not have to come from. Amazon, I just shop there a lot.
I have no experience at all with 3D printers, but I was an IT tech for years, have done a fair amount of coding and played with Raspberry Pi a bit. I want something I can learn on, but not so limited I would want to replace it within 3 months.
thanks in advance for any help
@vomaxa If you look at my post at the top of this thread (second posting) then all that still really applies. You need to list your requirements and then research until you find a compromise you believe to be the right one for your needs.
I also added a creality ender 5 plus a couple of years ago. This has a bigger build volume and is very upgradeable with new control boards from creality and third party vendors as well as having many common components to other printers in the range.
Whatever you decide it is a leraning curve and more frustrating than the promotional videos would have you believe. Still it is rewarding to make things that previously you couldn't at home.....
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Dual Extruder 3D Printers are best for quick and better printing.
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Bambu Labs has gotten a lot of buzz recently for being super fast and generally awesome.
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@NeverDie yeah they have become famous and undoubtedly super fast
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Reporting back: I have my BambuLab X1C printer setup and have printed with it for about a week. It's fantastic: it's fast, and the prints come out perfectly every time. Truly an appliance: it works with only minor setup straight out of the box. I'd say it's a quantum leap better than my Prusa MK3S, which I guess I should try to sell while it still has value.
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