Some day her prints will come…
I don't agree completely with everything in Tech Radar's compilation but it does give a good overview.
Currently, the best deal that I am aware of on Amazon is the Creality Ender which like my printer is based on an open source project. This means that you will be able to find parts to maintain and improve it for years to come. This printer has a huge following which is extremely helpful. There are other places which sell it as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Comgrow-Creality-Ender-Aluminum-220x220x250mm/dp/B07BR3F9N6
Don't forget to check the $10 off coupon if you were to decide to purchase one.
My favorite software is called 123D Design which is now free but no longer supported by Autodesk. Autodesk was giving it away on Amazon for quite a while. You can now download it from many sites such as https://autodesk-123d-design.en.lo4d.com/windows
It is very intuitive and you just have to ignore the Autodesk sign in. There are many YouTube videos that show how to use it along with tutorials at other locations.
Printer:
https://www.amazon.com/Comgrow-Creality-Ender-Aluminum-220x220x250mm/dp/B07BR3F9N6
Free Autodesk design software:
Wouldn’t consider anything less than a Prusa I3 mk3s .
Waiting for the kit version of the new mk4 to be available.
(hopefully in the next week or so)
If there’s a 3D printing ping list, I’d like to get on it.
Some day her prints will come…
BTTT!!!
I’m on the same page generally. I wasted money on a Delta type, never could print straight or get decent adhesion. I wish not I’d just binned the damn thing and gotten a Creality Ender, I’d be two years ahead. Instead I waited til a buddy raved about it and ended up going with the Elegoo Neptune 2 instead, which is close to being a clone, but with some enhancements. It’s been nearly foolproof, worst problem is bed adhesion with certain colors (black seems the worst) but increasing the temp and/or printing a brim has solved that. Under $150 and with a little care in tramming the bed (levelling is a misnomer, there’s nothing “level” about it) you can get good print after print without fuss.
I had a so-called expert poop all over these low-end Chinese made printers and give an hour-long infomercial for Prusa. If someone wants to throw $1000 at a $100 problem, be my guest but it absolutely is NOT necessary to get good prints without spending a lifetime or $$$ doing upgrades. In fact I bought a touch sensor and haven’t even installed it! I did buy a magnetic print bed which is nice for large prints, easy peasy to get them off w/o hassle.
Let me also give a plug for Tinkercad, which the expert said was very poor and limited and not worth wasting time on. I can produce just about anything in Tinkercad in short time and after comparing the detail and complexity of my designs vs his, I can easily claim victory (he uses Solidworks, which is vast overkill for most non-professionals).
As an example, I recently bought a new kayak with a gear rail and wanted a way to hang a water bottle on it. Took a look at the size, designed one in about 15 minutes, using threaded fasteners from Thingiverse. Perfect! Why buy stuff when you can print it?
The Bambu Labs P1P was listed but not the Bambu Labs X1-Carbon that I bought.
Perhaps it is because the X1-Carbon costs $1,600 with the 4 spool holder they call an AMS.
It costs about $1,200 without the spool holder.
The P1P costs a little over $500.
This is my fourth printer since 2010 and is a game changer.
The Bambu Labs printers are very similar but the X1-Carbon is fully enclosed and has a better monitor.
It only has a 10 inch cube capacity, which is not bothersome for me.
YouTube is a good place to research 3D printers, read the comments.
The X1-Carbon is capable of printing in 4 colors.
Most importantly is speed, which isn’t mentioned.
The X1-Carbon is at least 10 times faster than other printers.
Many projects in other printers take over 24 hours to print.
If the print fails, you have to start over.
Because it takes so long to print, most prints are nearly hollow with 30 percent infill.
Because the X1-Carbon is so fast, I print it solid.
Printing solid allows printing smaller parts and it’s still stronger.
Bambu Labs has an excellent online manual that answers questions with videos.
They also have flexible and removable build plates that attach with magnets.
I’ve had very little issues with the part sticking.
Watching how fast it prints is impressive.
I thought it would shake itself to death but there have been no problems.
I have had issues that took several days to remedy, such as uploading my files to the printer.
That little boat “Benchy” that they use to test printers was printed in 20 minutes and very clean.
I got and Ender 3 V2 Neo. Easy way to get into printing. The new Prusa completely eliminates the need for bed tramming though.
Please add me to the 3D Printing ping list.