3D printer recommendations?

[Count Orlok]

The Count decided the Royal Household needs a 3D printer but is getting conflicting advice. It seems prices have really come down but then a lot of the sub $500 ones are MAndarian knock-offs. The Count's budget is $2,000 and this could be divided for multiple sized printers. He sees you guys printing cool stuff for your Rivians so what do you recommend for such purposes? Is $2,000 too low of a budget for something good?

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[solaskaze]

This site seems to gravitate towards:
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/x1-carbon-combo
as a window shopper only, so was I.
Still toe dragging on use frequency and limitations-in-each-machine

 

[Foobar]

The Count decided the Royal Household needs a 3D printer but is getting conflicting advice. It seems prices have really come down but then a lot of the sub $500 ones are MAndarian knock-offs. The Count's budget is $2,000 and this could be divided for multiple sized printers. He sees you guys printing cool stuff for your Rivians so what do you recommend for such purposes? Is $2,000 too low of a budget for something good?

I’ve got Creality (chinesium) and Prusa. Both are highly capable but Prusa just always works without messing around with anything.
I’ve heard decent results can be had with Bambu as well. If you care about open source, both are open source software but Bambu has proprietary hardware.

 

[COdogman]

Here is a 3D printed Subway sandwich to get you started:

 

[Killer95Stang]

How big of printer are you going to need to make your Rivian snow plow mount?

 

[vandy1981]

I have the Bambu Labs X1 Carbon and it's easier to use than my laser printer. It's pretty much ready to print right out of the box and handles all of the calibration and bed leveling automatically.

I highly recommend it.

 

[Mr. Ham]

This site seems to gravitate towards:
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/x1-carbon-combo
as a window shopper only, so was I.
Still toe dragging on use frequency and limitations-in-each-machine

Agreed. You would be happy with An X1C with an AMS for your budget. I think you could find something that would cost more, but won’t be better. Bambu is the fastest printers out of the box. After market support is ok. I’d say 7 out 10.

(I just upgraded to a P1S after using crap printer for a couple years.)

 

[Zoidz]

I have the Bambu X1C with AMS for almost a year. I have a custom product I design and sell in low volume (unrelated to Rivian) - about 15 to 20 units a month. I’m very pleased with it, especially when compared to my 5 year old previous 3D printer.

You won’t get one shipped/delivered this week. If that matters, MicroCenter sells Bambu so you might find one in stock if there is a store near you.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

I’m seriously looking into 3D printing as my next hobby as well. At a minimum I can make custom Lego bricks. I hope to find some local classes on the subject after the new year.

Last spring, I did a lot of research on actual printers. I bought a Bambu P1P for my niece’s graduation from LSU. She’s a mechanical engineer and has already put it to good use.

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