Best 3d printers
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@BearWithBeard said in Best 3d printers:
I'm happy with the Ender 3 and have no need nor desire for another (filament) printer. The print area is large enough for my needs, [...] Print resolution and detail is fine, I generally have no noteworthy quality complaints aside from the occasional stringing [...] Maintenance is as minimal
Yeah, then I keep waffling back and forth to this. Seems there are quite a number of quite decent "ready to go" units available these days for not too much money.
@BearWithBeard said in Best 3d printers:
But in the end, I don't think it matters much which printer you get...
This point is also well taken. Sounds there is going to be a learning curve no matter what. Maybe a little less so with a widely deployed model...
I dunno, I think... I will keep thinking (for now). :) Thanks for the feedback, guys.
EDIT: Those CNC are something I keep looking at, too...
@TRS-80 A while back Tom Sanlanderer did a video series on how to build a inexpensive clone of a Prusa printer from scratch. That would seem like an easy starting point if you wanted to dIY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6_z0YMhYdM -
@TRS-80 A while back Tom Sanlanderer did a video series on how to build a inexpensive clone of a Prusa printer from scratch. That would seem like an easy starting point if you wanted to dIY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6_z0YMhYdM@NeverDie said in Best 3d printers:
a video series on how to build a inexpensive clone of a Prusa printer from scratch
I actually saw that! The wood frame made me cringe! First think I was thinking, have my buddy the metal fabricator cut me something out of some off-cut flat stock he likely has lying around...
But then I thought, well, why stop there... (also having The Knack, I suspect you know where this leads :) )...
So then I start thinking about one of these very stable cube designs out of aluminium T-bar (or whatever it's called) some pics were posted by @mbj further up thread.
In fact all of these "simple, cheap" designs with the hot end just dangling out there at the end of some arm into space just make me shudder! I cannot imagine that staying stable...
But then I hear feedback like from @BearWithBeard along the lines that they are "good enough" for all the sort of similar things I also plan on doing with it, which gives me pause.
And then I start thinking about these combination CNC + 3d printer (+ other?) combination devices, and then I think "well, maybe that is the way to go..." <-- Maybe this is where I am at currently? It's all still in "planning / research" phase, for foreseeable future, anyway.
Thanks for the link though! Perhaps a solution meeting someone else's needs.
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@NeverDie said in Best 3d printers:
a video series on how to build a inexpensive clone of a Prusa printer from scratch
I actually saw that! The wood frame made me cringe! First think I was thinking, have my buddy the metal fabricator cut me something out of some off-cut flat stock he likely has lying around...
But then I thought, well, why stop there... (also having The Knack, I suspect you know where this leads :) )...
So then I start thinking about one of these very stable cube designs out of aluminium T-bar (or whatever it's called) some pics were posted by @mbj further up thread.
In fact all of these "simple, cheap" designs with the hot end just dangling out there at the end of some arm into space just make me shudder! I cannot imagine that staying stable...
But then I hear feedback like from @BearWithBeard along the lines that they are "good enough" for all the sort of similar things I also plan on doing with it, which gives me pause.
And then I start thinking about these combination CNC + 3d printer (+ other?) combination devices, and then I think "well, maybe that is the way to go..." <-- Maybe this is where I am at currently? It's all still in "planning / research" phase, for foreseeable future, anyway.
Thanks for the link though! Perhaps a solution meeting someone else's needs.
@TRS-80 said in Best 3d printers:
In fact all of these "simple, cheap" designs with the hot end just dangling out there at the end of some arm into space just make me shudder! I cannot imagine that staying stable...
You should see this then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5WjyyeuzksWith these types of rails, the tolerances can be so tight that if you had rails on both sides they'd likely be binding quite a lot. So, though I agree it seems counterintuitive, there can be an advantage to having the support on just one side.
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@TRS-80 said in Best 3d printers:
In fact all of these "simple, cheap" designs with the hot end just dangling out there at the end of some arm into space just make me shudder! I cannot imagine that staying stable...
You should see this then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5WjyyeuzksWith these types of rails, the tolerances can be so tight that if you had rails on both sides they'd likely be binding quite a lot. So, though I agree it seems counterintuitive, there can be an advantage to having the support on just one side.
Linear rails! Yes! Now we are talking!
Entertaining video! :D Thanks, one more on to the list of only a few YouTubers worth paying any attention to...
@NeverDie said in Best 3d printers:
With these types of rails, the tolerances can be so tight that if you had rails on both sides they'd likely be binding quite a lot. So, though I agree it seems counterintuitive, there can be an advantage to having the support on just one side.
Well, with linear rails, yes... But, it's almost... cheating, compared to what I was talking about! :D
All jokes aside, actual design / engineering considerations, bla bla... Of course you are correct.
Anyway, this looks like the "out of the box, ready to go" solution I thought that the Prusa i3 was, I wonder what these go for? After quick search on Internet, wow, comparable in price but far superior design, IMO. Would need to do more research of course, but very impressed initially. I guess these were not available when you bought your Prusa? :)
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Linear rails! Yes! Now we are talking!
Entertaining video! :D Thanks, one more on to the list of only a few YouTubers worth paying any attention to...
@NeverDie said in Best 3d printers:
With these types of rails, the tolerances can be so tight that if you had rails on both sides they'd likely be binding quite a lot. So, though I agree it seems counterintuitive, there can be an advantage to having the support on just one side.
Well, with linear rails, yes... But, it's almost... cheating, compared to what I was talking about! :D
All jokes aside, actual design / engineering considerations, bla bla... Of course you are correct.
Anyway, this looks like the "out of the box, ready to go" solution I thought that the Prusa i3 was, I wonder what these go for? After quick search on Internet, wow, comparable in price but far superior design, IMO. Would need to do more research of course, but very impressed initially. I guess these were not available when you bought your Prusa? :)
@TRS-80 I didn't know it existed back when I made my purchase. Even if I had, I might have erroneously dismissed it for the reason you mentioned because, like I mentioned, it's counterintuitive. Videos like this one demonstrate why it can be better.
Marco Reps has a wicked sense of humor. His videos are both informative and entertaining (if you happen to like his brand of humor, and I certainly do).
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@NeverDie
I got the IKEA LOTS, and the results seem a little better, but still not stable.Sometimes slightly up, then down again.
if I do the trick with the piece of paper and make sure that the piece of paper is just attached, so making a line of the filament, I have to adjust some wheels again every time.
Unfortunately, the supplier of the printer did not respond, so I have no support for that, unfortunately.
As a last option I will place the nuts, and possibly remove the springs completely from the print bed.
I probably do something very stupid wrong and it turns out to be a menu error somewhere deep in the settings or something.
I now have a raspberryPi with octoprint attached to the printer.
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@NeverDie
I got the IKEA LOTS, and the results seem a little better, but still not stable.Sometimes slightly up, then down again.
if I do the trick with the piece of paper and make sure that the piece of paper is just attached, so making a line of the filament, I have to adjust some wheels again every time.
Unfortunately, the supplier of the printer did not respond, so I have no support for that, unfortunately.
As a last option I will place the nuts, and possibly remove the springs completely from the print bed.
I probably do something very stupid wrong and it turns out to be a menu error somewhere deep in the settings or something.
I now have a raspberryPi with octoprint attached to the printer.
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Sorry to hear about your troubles. With my Ender I never have to adjust anything. It worked great out of the box and has continued to do so.
Perhaps you could try moving the whole build plate up to a higher point, where the springs are more compressed? There are also people who replace the springs for stiffer versions. Maybe that could help here.
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I'm one of those who upgraded to stiffer springs. You can buy ten or a dozen or so for cheap on Aliexpress.
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So after being absent for a long period, I'm almost done catching up. It is nice to see all the great projects every one has been working on. As I'm currently in the process of buying a 3d printer I'm just, gonna ask you all for advise. This topic is a little bit old, so maybe some new models have come out.
The things that are important to me, for choosing the right 3d printer are:
- Small foot print: The printer will be installed in my workshop, but that's also our guest bedroom and right now it is my office from which I do my work
- limited budget: I really don't have the budget for one that is over a 1000 dollars or more
- pre made: Unless the best alternative is one I have to assemble myself, I don't want to spend too much time on it. Because I'm pretty sure I'll have to invest a lot of time on learning how to design the casings I want to print out
As regarding to filament types, I have no experience in 3d printing. I'm just a real noob. I also came across octo print it's not a real must, but it would be nice to hookup octoprint to the printer. Any advise is more than welcome.
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So after being absent for a long period, I'm almost done catching up. It is nice to see all the great projects every one has been working on. As I'm currently in the process of buying a 3d printer I'm just, gonna ask you all for advise. This topic is a little bit old, so maybe some new models have come out.
The things that are important to me, for choosing the right 3d printer are:
- Small foot print: The printer will be installed in my workshop, but that's also our guest bedroom and right now it is my office from which I do my work
- limited budget: I really don't have the budget for one that is over a 1000 dollars or more
- pre made: Unless the best alternative is one I have to assemble myself, I don't want to spend too much time on it. Because I'm pretty sure I'll have to invest a lot of time on learning how to design the casings I want to print out
As regarding to filament types, I have no experience in 3d printing. I'm just a real noob. I also came across octo print it's not a real must, but it would be nice to hookup octoprint to the printer. Any advise is more than welcome.
@TheoL What size build volume do you need?
If you have no idea what you should want/need but you just want to get your feet, then I'd say the Ender 3 is a reasonable starting point for learning purposes. I would have said Ender 3 Pro or Ender 3 v2, but from what I've read, many if not most if not all of the Creality silent stepper designs are incapable of doing linear advance, which in my view puts a limit on their usefulness. The Prusa mini might be a good choice if you're OK with its smaller build size.
I'd strongly recommend buying from Amazon or Ebay if you can, because both have reasonable return policies. I've read a lot of horror stories about people receiving bad Asian 3D printers purchased through other sources and being stuck with it and unable to get their money back. In fact, I get the impression that the primary business model for much of the Asian 3D printer market is to over promise and under deliver, sometimes dramatically so.
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So after being absent for a long period, I'm almost done catching up. It is nice to see all the great projects every one has been working on. As I'm currently in the process of buying a 3d printer I'm just, gonna ask you all for advise. This topic is a little bit old, so maybe some new models have come out.
The things that are important to me, for choosing the right 3d printer are:
- Small foot print: The printer will be installed in my workshop, but that's also our guest bedroom and right now it is my office from which I do my work
- limited budget: I really don't have the budget for one that is over a 1000 dollars or more
- pre made: Unless the best alternative is one I have to assemble myself, I don't want to spend too much time on it. Because I'm pretty sure I'll have to invest a lot of time on learning how to design the casings I want to print out
As regarding to filament types, I have no experience in 3d printing. I'm just a real noob. I also came across octo print it's not a real must, but it would be nice to hookup octoprint to the printer. Any advise is more than welcome.
@TheoL I stick by what I said at the start of this topic. But once you get printing you will wish you got a larger print area unless you have defined your requirements in stone first.
There are dual head printers. colour printers, resin printers (which are best for quality builds of a small size so maybe worth looking into for you?).
If you just want to create quickly then there are online places that will print your designs (and they take the hit if a bad print needs a second run). So if you just want a few things then that is an option.
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@TheoL What size build volume do you need?
If you have no idea what you should want/need but you just want to get your feet, then I'd say the Ender 3 is a reasonable starting point for learning purposes. I would have said Ender 3 Pro or Ender 3 v2, but from what I've read, many if not most if not all of the Creality silent stepper designs are incapable of doing linear advance, which in my view puts a limit on their usefulness. The Prusa mini might be a good choice if you're OK with its smaller build size.
I'd strongly recommend buying from Amazon or Ebay if you can, because both have reasonable return policies. I've read a lot of horror stories about people receiving bad Asian 3D printers purchased through other sources and being stuck with it and unable to get their money back. In fact, I get the impression that the primary business model for much of the Asian 3D printer market is to over promise and under deliver, sometimes dramatically so.
@NeverDie Thanx for the quick reply
Well of course we all want to print the largest as possible. But for me it would be casings for my electronics projects. End as far as I've understood you can print them in separate parts and glue those together if needed. I also want to print some gears but that's all small stuff.
I see 3 versions of the ender 3:
- Ender 3
- Ender 3 v2
- Ender 3 pro
But I can not see what the big differences are. Would it be possible to add auto leveling later on?
And I think it's best to order the glass plate? There's a Dutch shop 1-2-3 3d printers. I was thinking about ordering it there. The difference between the 1-2-3 3d printer shop and amazon is over 50 euros. Would that be the difference in quality?
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@TheoL I can't say you which is the best printer :-)
But I can say a word about my experience after 2 years of 3D printing...I have the Anet A6 printer, purchased from Elektor. At that time it was a promotion sell which included PLA filaments.
It was a kit, but easy to assemble. Usually these types of kits can be expanded by printing parts yourself, what I did. www.thingiverse.com is the place to be.So what is important if you don't have a 'pro'-type 3D printer (with pro, I mean auto-leveling, multi nozzle, ...)
- place the printer on a flat stable surface (in my case it is screwed to a thick MDF plate so I can move it in and out the cabinet (don't have the place to let the printer stay))
- the adjustment is very important, namely the distance between the nozzle and the bed. If the printer is moved from his place, the printer always needs to be recalibrated!
You do that by taking a white A4 paper (80gr), put it on the bed and move the nozzle over the plate. You should be able to feel the paper sliding between the plate and the nozzle, not too loose, but not too tight either!
The first times, this will take the most from your time to prepare the printing, but after a while you become handy at it :-) - important that the bed can be heated (I have only PLA experience) to a 50-60 degrees Celcius.
- I print always with 'brim' at 3 mm. Why? When the printer starts printing, the PLA will not start directly, so the first 4 à 5 cm are not well printed. With a brim around your piece, you don't have that problem. It helps also to improve bed adhesion.
Remark : a 'brim' is connected with your piece, after printing you you have to break it down, but that's normally not a problem. You can also use the option 'skirt', same purpose and it is not connected to your printed piece.
But from experience, I use 'brim'. - important that the PLA filaments are putted in their plastic bag if not used! Normally when you open the plastic bag the first time, you will find the known little bags with little granules for the humidity. Don't throw them away but let them in the plastic bag. The PLA must be kept dry!
If you let the PLA in open air too long, say months without using it, you will see that the PLA wire will break more easily.
Don't skimp on the PLA quality, get a premium quality, even with a cheaper printer ;-) - a glass plate or a special 3D printing surface material is important. It should allow the heat to penetrate well so that the first print lines adhere well to the surface. You will also have a smooth bottom.
- Don't skimp on the possible dimensions. You will regret it later ;-) . If the price is affordable, I should take the one with the biggest print volume.
You will find after a while, if you design your own pieces, that the design phase will take the most time.
I myself, use Freecad for 'mechanical' designs and Blender for more artistic designs.
But before designing yourself cases for example, search on www.thingiverse.com or other sites, there are plenty of designs made already. Search even on the MySensors forum for specific node cases :-) -
@NeverDie Thanx for the quick reply
Well of course we all want to print the largest as possible. But for me it would be casings for my electronics projects. End as far as I've understood you can print them in separate parts and glue those together if needed. I also want to print some gears but that's all small stuff.
I see 3 versions of the ender 3:
- Ender 3
- Ender 3 v2
- Ender 3 pro
But I can not see what the big differences are. Would it be possible to add auto leveling later on?
And I think it's best to order the glass plate? There's a Dutch shop 1-2-3 3d printers. I was thinking about ordering it there. The difference between the 1-2-3 3d printer shop and amazon is over 50 euros. Would that be the difference in quality?
@TheoL said in Best 3d printers:
But I can not see what the big differences are. Would it be possible to add auto leveling later on?
Yes. Autoleveling can be added later. I have it on both my Prusa I3 MK3S and my Ender 5 Plus, which came with it stock. The bigger the build area, the more useful it is. My creality doesn't hold its manual bed-leveling all that well (a common complaint among Creality owners), so the auto-leveling really helps a lot. The Prusa I3 MK3/3S is considered a well tuned and reliable printer. My Ender 5 Plus, after a lot of
upgrades, prints almost as well, but from what I've seen Creality's engineering just isn't as good, and upgrades are needed to bring them to a more polished Prusa level. In my view Prusa's are a printer and Creality's are a project. By that I mean Prusa's work well in their stock configuration, whereas with Creality printers you'll probably want/need upgrades. I got the Ender 5 Plus because I'm in the middle of a project where I'm printing not just bigger things than the Prusa I3 MK3S can handle but also because I'm printing a lot of them, and the bigger build surface allows me to do it in parallel.I think people here are right when they say you'll eventually want a bigger build area, but I started with the same goals as you and for me it took 2 years before I felt I needed the bigger build space (and then only because my goals are now different). I don't really regret buying the Prusa with its smaller build volume first, however: over the last two years prices on bigger build-volume printers has fallen by a lot and quality has increased by a lot. I expect those trendlines will continue. Also, I could probably sell my Prusa today for more than I paid for it two years ago, because it's already built and there's a market on ebay of people who don't want to assemble a kit and who dont' want to wait one or two months for a shipment from Czechoslovakia. In fact, when my current project is finished, there's a good chance I will sell it on ebay while it still commands premium pricing. The Prusa was cutting edge for its day, but the other printer companies are catching up and you can now buy 3 of them for the price of one Prusa.
If I hadn't been in a rush, I probably would have purchased an SK-GO instead of an Ender 5 Plus. That said, an SK-GO is not intended to be anyone's first printer. The Jubilee 3D printer also looks very promising, as it supports automatic changing of printheads (something that usually only multi-thousand dollar 3D printers can do), which is the next big trend. Another kit worth considering is the Voron 2.4, which is a fully open source alternative, but again, as a first printer it would likely be overwhelming for most people.
For comic relief, consider:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtnxXU3W_5k@Theol I had thought you were in the USA when I recommended amazon or ebay. Not sure what consumer rights buyers in Europe have, so I have no advice on where to buy there.
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@skywatch I have looked at resin printers in the past. What's not so appealing is that I have to use chemicals. It is located in a guest bedroom, and even though the might be harmless. I don't think I want to go that route.
@evb thank you for your tips! I was already prepared that this will be a long journey lol. Because I read horror stories about people not being able to print at all.
@NeverDie I think you convinced me to go for the Prusa. I've been reading reviews and it is supposed to be one of the quietest printers. Which is a big plus.
I know you all say go for a bigger one, don't go for a smaller one. I will do some research and see what the footprints of bigger printers are. But if I can find a 3d shop nearby. I think I will stick to a smaller one. It's not that I'm building big robots lol.
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Sup guys,
sorry for reviving an old topic, but I don't think new one is needed
found this article about top printers in 2021
so, any good actually? Ultimaker looks promising@LiamW Yes, Ultimaker is one of the better designs, especially for larger 3D printers. Ultimaker actually open sources their designs after a waiting period equal in length to the time it takes Ultimaker to develop a particular model. So, you can buy a legitimate knock-off kit iat quite a discount from the price Ultimaker typically asks. Why does Ultimaker do this? I'd be curious to know. It seems to work out because Ultimaker's target market is typically institutional, such as schools or corporate, where the buyers are willing to pay more so as to get guaranteed support from local live help, which you won't be getting if you buy a DIY knockoff kit.
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Sup guys,
sorry for reviving an old topic, but I don't think new one is needed
found this article about top printers in 2021
so, any good actually? Ultimaker looks promising -
Hi, I'm just a random person here who knows nothing about the world of 3D printers. My grandpa's birthday is coming, so my sister and I want to make a nice gift. Once he told that he wanna try himself in the world of 3d printing, so we consider buying it. Though we know nothing about it. I found this one (spam link removed by moderator) to be fine but is it really worth the price?
