Help buying 3d printer

[damengearig10]

Hi, I need some help deciding on a 3d printer. I will mostly be using it as a hobby. It should be good enough to make fairly detailed prints. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

[RLGL]

What is your price range? Check the spec’s on several brands and models, to get an idea of the size of objects they will print. Where are you located? (availability)

[damengearig10]

Is $600 a reasonable limit I could probably go higher if necessary. I’m in Michigan.

[DaveR]

How large are the items you want to print? What materials do you need to use?

Check out your local library or school, or look for a maker space and see what they have for printers. That would give you some ides.

[damengearig10]

Ok, thanks for you help I’ll look into it some more.

[franciscofiallosb]

@damengearig10

It should be good enough to make fairly detailed prints

How detailed and how big will the object will be? Extrusion printers have a limit for small details, resin printers are better for that.

I recommend always the bamboo lab A1 or the Crealty Hi for beginners, both are easy to set up and cheap. 3D printing isn’t for everyone, printing errors are frequent and it takes some time to get to know the best settings on the slicer.

[Le_Corb]

My limited experience with 3D printers:

I have a Creality Ender 3 which is cheap. It’s only for utilitarian printing- Not ultra-refined but it’s pretty reliable.

My friend has a Bambu Lab printer which is not cheap but it does crazy high quality prints. The only problem are the forced software updates that aren’t always stable. Still, overall it’s a really good printer.

I’ve been using ABS filament. I have yet to see what the Ender 3 can produce using PLA

[endlessfix]

@damengearig10

It should be good enough to make fairly detailed prints.

This is a bit like asking which car is powerful enough to go “fast”. You will still get many different answers dependent on what each persons definition of fast is.

what do you want to print and why. These are the real questions that can help you focus on a good quality/cost/features printer that will maximize the value for you. Do you want to print detailed mini figurines to paint for you scale model Robotech scenes? Do you want to print prototype brackets and structural pieces for a build project? Or finished product items in rainbow colors to sell at the craft fair? Or tools for the shop? Or all of these? Knowing a bit more about what you want to end up with will help you buy enough printer and not too much printer, like a Bugatti to get groceries in.

What got you thinking about getting a printer?

[Mill3r]

I agree defiantly a learning curve for sure.

[tweenulzeven]

@Mill3r

a learning curve for sure

That’s a big part of the fun

[Box]

It’s an oldie but may well give you some insights.

Real User 3d printer reviews

I thought it would be useful to have a collection of reviews from people that actually own and use 3d printers. Like anything else they all look confusingly the same until you start using them and only then do you see the things you wish you had looked at before you bought one. I have written out a list of ‘items’ that you can use as a guide, you don’t have to follow it but do so if it helps your thought process. I’ve put in ‘Price Range’ but as this varies from country to country feel free to…

[Le_Corb]

I find that my Bugatti does quite adequately for shopping. I can jam quite a lot into the passenger seat side if I’m careful.

[ateliernab]

Bambu a1 or a1 mini, good starting point. I got the mini, should have gotten the normal instead, it prints bigger. Ended up getting a p1s too.

It’s good because it lets you learn printing on a fairly simple machine before going deeper, it’s low maintenance, unlike some other cheaper ones that requires you to be a mechanic on the side.

What do you mean by detailed prints ? General stuff? Miniatures ?
For miniatures, if you want fine details the best is resin printing. But filament with a 0.2mm extruder works quite well. It’s not warhammer quality but it’s decent.

[endlessfix]

Hijack warning;

@ateliernab

Ended up getting a p1s too

Did you get the AMS to go with it? How is using the Bambu slicer, as I understand it’s required as the newer firmware won’t work with any other slicer? Nice printer.

[RLGL]

It is my understanding that a change in the network settings on the printer will allow other slicers such as Orca and others. I have been able to do everything I want, up to this point, with the Bambu slicer. I have the X1C.

[franciscofiallosb]

The Orca slicer is like the Bamboo slicer with a couple more settings for different brands, they even have a very similar UI.

[ateliernab]

nah, no AMS. I saw how much waste it create because each colour change means filament purge. I don’t need multi colour print, and if I do, I can print in separate parts or paint. the AMS is worth it with the H2 series, because they can switch hotend making multi-colour prints with pretty much no extra filament waste.

@RLGL

It is my understanding that a change in the network settings on the printer will allow other slicers such as Orca and others.

yeah, I think it’s simply about turning it on local network mode, and not (standard) web mode. only catch is that you can’t remote-access it anymore.
I see it as an acceptable trade-off, advanced users might want to go with another slicer, and they have to provide the extra work for it. most users will stay with bambu’s slicer and won’t really care.