3D Printers

self ^ | March 4, 2025 | knarf

[knarf]

Has anyone any experience with the lower priced 3D printers out there ?

Before China REALLY starts retaliating against our tariffs, I'd like to play around with something that could produce, I don't know . . . . something in the area of 10 inches square or thereabouts.

[knarf]

I know there are 100 dollar deals and up, but I'd like to hear from FReepers

[martin_fierro]

Check 'em

[Jonty30]

Do what you want to produce to avoid having traceable serial numbers?

In short, you get what you pay for. Cheaper 3D printers are really hobby printers that teach you the principles of 3D printers, but they don’t really produce anything that will stand up to any abuse under normal use. They are fun to use, but you’ll have to pay for more if you want make stuff that will last.

[Kleon]

If you live near a Microcenter, they often have deep discounts on starter models.

[bigbob]

Having owned four, the Bambu Labs A1 is unquestionably the best entry-level printer. Bambu’s engineers came from DJT the drone company and are doing things the other companies who mostly copy each other haven’t even thought of. The more expensive Bambu models are of course better.

[central_va]

Can a 3d printer make another 3d printer?

[knarf]

Not necessarily, I'm way beyond caring about serial numbers.

I'm 77 with a willing spirit and very weak flesh.

I can still use a wood lathe for crafts that sell, but it gets harder.

A 3D printer seems to be a product that I can play with . . . toys for birthday kids or others (wink) and something saleable

[6ppc]

Don’t know of any that cheap, but I have a Bambu P1S. Works great out of the box. $649.

[FreedomPoster]

Often libraries have maker rooms where you can get time on a printer for the price of materials, or very low. Might be a good way to get your feet wet.

[GingisK]

Yes it can. Most of the critical parts are made of metal.

[Trot]

What are some practical things you can make with a 3D printer?

[Jonty30]

I would get a cheap model to learn from and see if you like the process enough to purchase a more expensive model.

If you turn out to like it, you can then go ahead and invest some real dollars into it. That’s what would advise.

[GingisK]

My first 3D printer came from Amazon. It was a JG Aurora A5S. Its major feature is a 12 X 12 X 12" build volume. It was around $400, and did s nice job for a few years.

Now that I use this to make enclosures and mounts for instruments I needed a nicer printer. I purchased a Prusa XL with five print heads. Wow! That is a wonderful machine, but weighs in around $4500. I ordered it direct from Austria.

Pretty much any of them will get you started. The Prusa is industrial grade.

[6ppc]

I make a tool that holds a cartridge so you can push it into a rifle chamber. Perfect for finding the point where the bullet touches the lands. Critical in my sport of benchrest shooting. PMA Tool is selling them. I’ve made enough to pay for the printer.

[rlmorel]

I have been doing 3D printing since around 2017 and am on my third printer now.

I started out with a Creality Ender, and it was great as a learning experience, I learned a lot, but I had trouble getting consistent successful printing. It would fail half the time, but...I learned a lot. If you want to learn, it is a fine place to start. You have to manually do the bed leveling, and it was a real pain, but I learned from it.

I really wanted to print larger objects with more success, so I purchased a SeeMeCNC Artemis 300, which is a Delta Printer, more advanced with automated bed leveling and could print larger objects and was American made, but...it still failed on me too often. It still felt like a hobbyist printer, albeit a high end one which cost me around $1600). Their support was EXCELLENT. I really appreciated dealing with them. Very good.

But I wanted more. Last August I purchased a Prusa XL printer, made in the Czech Republic, and it is awesome. I have very few failed prints on it, and the prints are VERY good, but it did cost me over $4000. Their support is superb, their directions are the best of any technical product I have ever used (I bought a kit which I assembled myself) and it is a blast to use!

Honestly, the only worthwhile thing about the Creality printer was that it was as cheap as all get out and I learned a lot from it, but I bumped my head early on with it.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions!

Here is my father's retirement plaque that he had for years which had degraded and broken apart, and my brother had lost the scabbard from his sword. I printed the structure that the emblem is mounted on, and also 3D printed a new scabbard! I was quite proud of that, because a new scabbard cost more than I wanted to spend...:)

[GingisK]

What are some practical things you can make with a 3D printer?

Jigs, fixtures, various tools. I printed an insert for a crimping tool to mount connectors on miniature ribbon cable; and, it works perfectly. I printed jigs for using a router on peculiar wood projects.

I have made quite a number of enclosures for electronics devices. One featured plug-in modules for the calibrated analog interfaces.

Mounts for small motors and bearings can be printed.

The multi-head Prusa makes nice instrument panels including inlaid lettering.

If you can 3D model it, you can print it.

[Scrambler Bob]

Sometimes a local library has 3D printers to use. It might cost a little, but they can be a good way to get introducted to the 3D printer learning curve.

Then buy one to meet your needs after getting some experience.

[knarf]

See?

Without knowing WHAT I'm talking about, I knew there are ways and there are ways ... thanks.

I'm watching a couple of P1S videos now.

Thanx for the input

[rlmorel]

You can make a LOT of cool things-your imagination is the limit!

I am one of those guys that, when I need to fix some thing, I go to the hardware store, and look at stuff to see what I can saw apart, put in a vise, make it into something else to fix a problem.

Now...I design it in a 3D program, and...print it! And my new Prusa XL printer is awesome-if I measure a thing, and I want to print something that is 5.35 mm in some dimension, it comes out as exactly that! I recently went to the website for McMaster-Carr, you can download the 3d model of a nut and bolt, print them, and they fit each other like a glove!

[GingisK]

Look nice! Great job.