Best 3d printers
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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?
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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?
@Alex-Miller If you have a 'maker' space near you it might be better to get him some lessons before buying a printer - That way he will know if he is going to be able to use it for what he wants and get all his questions answered by people who know about 3D printing..... Just a thought.....
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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
