3D printing

So any recommendations on a good 3d printer to start with. I know these things are ever changing but what should I look for versus stay away from?
Creality 3 s1 pro, should be possible to find a deal around $350 or so with some effort.

Direct extruder it has makes it worth it vs traditional bowden tube design
 
Not sure that I agree with the direct drive recommendation. They are faster for larger prints but suffer when it comes to detail and shudder due to the extra weight.
 
So any recommendations on a good 3d printer to start with. I know these things are ever changing but what should I look for versus stay away from?
Ender 3 - microcenter has a coupon for $99.
Add the bed probe for $35 and it's almost brain dead to run
 
Creality 3 s1 pro, should be possible to find a deal around $350 or so with some effort.

Direct extruder it has makes it worth it vs traditional bowden tube design
For a starting printer a base ender 3 for $99 from microcenter is the way to go.
Add the bed probe for $35 to get rid of a lot of the learning curve.
If you decide you have a big interest then invest the $100 on a sprite extruder.
 
For a starting printer a base ender 3 for $99 from microcenter is the way to go.
Add the bed probe for $35 to get rid of a lot of the learning curve.
If you decide you have a big interest then invest the $100 on a sprite extruder.
no.
unless that starter printer is by default a something destined straight for the garbage. base $90 thing from microcenter will need even the mainboard swapped out. plus it has vertical power supply connected by a fake chinese xt60 jack that needs to be resoldered to avoid fire. hell no. the minimal starter buy is an ender 3 v2 now, but, it sucks.

of course what i did with your help is cheaper and more fun - but - it requires a certain level of engineering knowledge to alter the base model for touch sensors, rebuild it, swap out extruder, etc.

the second printer with sprite extruder i`ve built for under $200. :) an open box ender 3 v2 on huge comgrow sale, plus a bundle of sprite with sensor on sale as well.

but you got to know what you are doing to get it done. for a generic non-initiated user who just wants it to get it to work straight out of the box - the s1 pro now is the absolute best choice as it got it all in there. i just do not see a lot of point in buying it for stock $450 price, that is all.

and, you do not want newbies to deal with installing klipper or recompiling marlin on a first day of printer ownership, it is inhumane. :)
 
as of bedslingers... well, there is a some sort of truth about it, but, looking at it all now - from my own angle, looking at the available space next - i still see no need in the huge box ender 5 etc.
what i have now works just fine, and klipper provides perfect speed for most of work i care to do. it is sufficient.

it would be fun to find a DIY kit with ender 5 box frame - for real cheap - but i do not see it nowhere, and not inclined to throw an another $400+ into this. just do not see the point.
 
I don’t consider my Ender 5 “huge”.

In fact, it’s small for most of the firearm stuff I tend to do.
 
no.
unless that starter printer is by default a something destined straight for the garbage.

of course what i did with your help is cheaper and more fun - but - it requires a certain level of engineering knowledge to alter the base model for touch sensors, rebuild it, swap out extruder, etc.

the second printer with sprite extruder i`ve built for under $200. :) but you got to know what you are doing to get it done. for a generic non-initiated user who just wants it to get work out of the box - the s1 pro now is the absolute best choice as it got it all in there. i just do not see a lot of point in buying it for stock $450 price, that is all.

and, you do not want newbies to deal with installing klipper or recompiling marlin on a first day of printer ownership, it is inhumane. :)
The $35 creality touch sensor comes with the mounting brackets and cabling needed to just bolt it on.
The Sprite kit is also bolt on - takes a little more work but is relatively easy.

Unless a person is buying a commercial level printer it's going to need operator adjustment and maintenance. Dropping a bolt on part onto the printer is part of the learning curve.

A ton of people will be willing to try out a new hobby for $150 (printer, probe and a spool) whereas very few will want to drop $350.

I didn't tell anyone to swap a Creality extruder into a Tronxy corexy printer, add a BLTouch sensor, and swap to Klipper with remote power controls.
But I would recommend those mods if you want to reliably print at 250mm/s with more resolution than you can get from a bed slinger like the S1 at 60mm/s.
 
as of bedslingers... well, there is a some sort of truth about it, but, looking at it all now - from my own angle, looking at the available space next - i still see no need in the huge box ender 5 etc.
what i have now works just fine, and klipper provides perfect speed for most of work i care to do. it is sufficient.

it would be fun to find a DIY kit with ender 5 box frame - for real cheap - but i do not see it nowhere, and not inclined to throw an another $400+ into this. just do not see the point.
Box frame is great but unless you're really into it a slinger gets the job done just a little slower.
Unless you are printing commercially and need the size/speed then box frames get in the way (have to drop the bed a lot to get access to the print versus the open platform of a slinger)
 
with more resolution than you can get from a bed slinger like the S1 at 60mm/s.
i print with sprite at 110 mm/s, factual extrusion limit at 24 mm3/s according to klipper. kinda settled at that and it is ok.

i bet for majority of new users the consistent 60mm/s will also be plenty.

major drawback of 'adding' anything to stock printer is a necessity to recompile firmware that is not a user friendly process at all. for that reason alone, plus touchscreen display - again, the s1 pro with 300deg top limit is the best thing to get - for those who do not want to build the damn thing themselves.

trying it with the basic boden tubes and constantly clogging BS will produce a lot of negative feelings. the process of simply swapping out filament there is a pain big enough to get straight to sprite and never look back.

anyway, to each their own. there is a shitload of initial level bedslingers now, so, people will be getting more and more on that hobby.
 
i print with sprite at 110 mm/s, factual extrusion limit at 24 mm3/s according to klipper. kinda settled at that and it is ok.

i bet for majority of new users the consistent 60mm/s will also be plenty.

major drawback of 'adding' anything to stock printer is a necessity to recompile firmware that is not a user friendly process at all. for that reason alone, plus touchscreen display - again, the s1 pro with 300deg top limit is the best thing to get - for those who do not want to build the damn thing themselves.

trying it with the basic boden tubes and constantly clogging BS will produce a lot of negative feelings. the process of simply swapping out filament there is a pain big enough to get straight to sprite and never look back.

anyway, to each their own. there is a shitload of initial level bedslingers now, so, people will be getting more and more on that hobby.
Creality now has decent precompiled firmware for the touch.
I agree if you have an old 8-bit motherboard then it's a serious task to upgrade.
On the 32 bit motherboard, just drop the files on a clean SD card and power cycle (assuming the person is fine with the Creality biuld)

As far as 110mm/s, you don't have adhesion issues with tall thin parts and fast Y motion?
 
Box frame is great but unless you're really into it a slinger gets the job done just a little slower.
Unless you are printing commercially and need the size/speed then box frames get in the way (have to drop the bed a lot to get access to the print versus the open platform of a slinger)
any design has its drawbacks.
i looked at the potential costs to make a second unit and could not see any price efficient way to make an ender 5 pro class box unit with a volume exceeding what i had with ender 3 v2.
so I simply made a copy of first one, but cheaper. and it is working just fine.

> As far as 110mm/s, you don't have adhesion issues with tall thin parts and fast Y motion?

nope. i print tall thin tubes at this speed just fine. proper filament material matters.


150mm/s and 6000 speed in klipper is the braking point. extruder also does not want to exceed 28-30 limit, starts skipping.

it was ok at 5000 as well, but i keep klipper at more reasonable 500 - 4000 - 4000 speed and render it with 110 wall speed max in cura, and it is more than acceptable for me this way.
 
So any recommendations on a good 3d printer to start with. I know these things are ever changing but what should I look for versus stay away from?

My choice would be Creality 6SE:


self leveling, heated bed, excellent adhesion and fairly quiet model. You do need a place for this thing, because 3d printing is slow (like a whole day and sometimes 24h or over) and you want stable temp, humidity and no drafts.

This is $280. You can probably shave off a few bucks here and there, may be even order parts from China direct to build your own, but you got to ask yourself how much do you want to do printing vs dicking around and troubleshooting your printer.

You can learn a whole lot just printing things on a printer that works, vs tackling the whole other area of knowing how to fix 3d printers.
 
Spend the money and get a Prusa. It's not cheap, but works so well. I have an Ender 3 and Prusa on the same bench and I want to smash the Ender 3 with a BFH far too often. Upgraded motherboard, Creality BL touch, bed springs, etc., still a POS. I unboxed my Prusa, threw it on the bench and I was printing 15 minutes later with zero "upgrades" and the quality of the prints is far superior. Buy once, cry once.
 
Been using mine for over a year and haven't had to do anything to it but feed it more filament. Its got a ridiculous amount of hours on it, so yes, quite reliable.

I had one for two months and sold it. None of the stock or suggested settings worked. Couldn’t print anything above PLA to any repeatability.
 
I had one for two months and sold it. None of the stock or suggested settings worked. Couldn’t print anything above PLA to any repeatability.
Wow! Kinda sounds like you got a lemon of a machine. I almost exclusively use PLA+ for most everything these days though, it just works very well for what I make. Even these these silly but amusing things come out perfectly.D01625D2-2FE1-474A-A6BA-D52F23DE9ECE.jpeg
 
Wow! Kinda sounds like you got a lemon of a machine. I almost exclusively use PLA+ for most everything these days though, it just works very well for what I make. Even these these silly but amusing things come out perfectly.View attachment 731218
a longer pointless answer is - all those bedslinger printers are pretty much the same exact concept and build.
the only part that matters is the extruder design. prusa extruder was ok/decent, but they jacked up price into a stratosphere due to, mostly, hype.
the sprite extruder pro @pastera and i spoke about is a relatively new thing creality, well, stole :) from prusa pretty much - it is going now for around a $90 and gets job done with 300C capable heater.

what you put that extruder on is your choice, obviously. i only stated s1 pro printer as the simplest choice that has that extruder out of the box.

there are better direct extruders out there, of course, but not in the $100 price range.
why is it good? it is made by a company that is de-facto DJI of 3d printing, so, it has a ton of cheap spare parts around, and you can even swap a whole thing out, if needed.

Amazon product ASIN B0B5Z52QH1View: https://www.amazon.com/Creality-Sprite-Extruder-Pro-Stepper/dp/B0B5Z52QH1
 
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a longer pointless answer is - all those bedslinger printers are pretty much the same exact concept and build.
the only part that matters is the extruder design. prusa extruder was ok/decent, but they jacked up price into a stratosphere due to, mostly, hype.
the sprite extruder pro @pastera and i spoke about is a relatively new thing creality, well, stole :) from prusa pretty much - it is going now for around a $90 and gets job done with 300C capable heater.

what you put that extruder on is your choice, obviously. i only stated s1 pro printer as the simplest choice that has that extruder out of the box.

there are better direct extruders out there, of course, but not in the $100 price range.
why is it good? it is made by a company that is de-facto DJI of 3d printing, so, it has a ton of cheap spare parts around, and you can even swap a whole thing out, if needed.

Amazon product ASIN B0B5Z52QH1View: https://www.amazon.com/Creality-Sprite-Extruder-Pro-Stepper/dp/B0B5Z52QH1
This
The Prusa i3 is $800 and uses an inductive probe so your first layer height will be different for different temperatures (not as bad as capacitive but still enough to cause issues)
 
Anyone using a recent production Bambu Labs X1-Carbon (combo) unit? I've been thinking about getting this (either keeping or selling my FF Adventure 4). Mostly for the multiple filament/color printing ability (in the same print). I need to look deeper into how it actually accomplishes the different colors in the same print. If each color needs to be it's own element or what. I've not found the information yet, but I've also not really looked for it.

At ~$1500 for the setup, plus extras to allow you to use other spools, it's not a cheap setup.
 
@paul73 Not sure if I'll ever want to print nylons. I've been printing PLA and PETG so far. I want to be able to use the CF filament as well. I suppose, IF I wanted to print ABS, I could just use the FF Adventure 4 I purchased a few months back (IF I keep it ;)).

Not sure what you're talking about "all i see there is plastic, in their extruder, i mean." I have multiple nozzles (modules that are semi-quick to change) for my current printer. Changing the ones on the FFA4 requires a different type of effort. To date, I've only changed out for a higher temp version of the same one it came with (.4 nozzle).

BTW, is your shift key busted?? ;)
 
@paul73 Not sure if I'll ever want to print nylons. I've been printing PLA and PETG so far. I want to be able to use the CF filament as well. I suppose, IF I wanted to print ABS, I could just use the FF Adventure 4 I purchased a few months back (IF I keep it ;)).

Not sure what you're talking about "all i see there is plastic, in their extruder, i mean." I have multiple nozzles (modules that are semi-quick to change) for my current printer. Changing the ones on the FFA4 requires a different type of effort. To date, I've only changed out for a higher temp version of the same one it came with (.4 nozzle).

BTW, is your shift key busted?? ;)
yes it is busted.
 
yes it is busted.
Print out a replacement then... :p

Looks like the BL X1 prints ABS too (it's available from them, so I would wager that it would work in their printers). Basically, same filament types would work in my current printer as well as the BL one.

I need to see about getting more info on how you use more than one filament in a print with their unit. I have some things I want to design up that would be multi-colored, or multiple filament types in the same print. I know that it ejects a decent amount of filament when you change during a print. Which means I'll probably need to position it someplace where I can setup a catch container for that. Shouldn't be too difficult to do where I would set it up.

I'd probably get the unit, then decide IF I need to retain my current one after a while. If the BL can take over everything, then no need for another printer.
 
Big fan of the Slice hot end. Would argue that the hot end is the more critical part, especially for high temp applications
 
i have a very particular question, and would appreciate a hint, if anybody knows the exact answer, as i struggle to find a solution.
i am trying to make a coupler with a very specific thread - i need it to fit on a pipe that has 15/16"-24 thread.

i cannot find how to get such a nut of thread or anything in fusion 360. the only relatively close i see is under 'ansi unified screw threads' if you selct 0.9375 size - it gives options for some 15/16" threads - but it skips 24 - there is only 20 and 28.

and i cannot find any external script or utility to make such a thread, but, may be i am not looking right? i would usually pull it from a MaMaster-Carr catalog, but it does not seem to have a nut with such thread, which is quite odd. not sure wtf.
 
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