3D printer

[twizzstyle]

I have an Ender 3. Out of the box, it was so-so, but cheap. After some mods and a LOT of tweaking (and just learning by a ton of trial en error), it now cranks out really good prints. But it's not something you just pull out of the box, throw an STL file at it, and get beautiful parts.

I've been FDM printing for nearly three years now, and still have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. In general, I'm not a fan of people selling FDM parts as "real products". They still look like FDM printed parts. It's great for prototyping and fit checks (which is what I primarily use it for), and great for the home gamer. Selling FDM products I think is pretty janky...

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[mzdds]

I have an Ender 3. Out of the box, it was so-so, but cheap. After some mods and a LOT of tweaking (and just learning by a ton of trial en error), it now cranks out really good prints. But it's not something you just pull out of the box, throw an STL file at it, and get beautiful parts.

I've been FDM printing for nearly three years now, and still have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. In general, I'm not a fan of people selling FDM parts as "real products". They still look like FDM printed parts. It's great for prototyping and fit checks (which is what I primarily use it for), and great for the home gamer. Selling FDM products I think is pretty janky...

To get nonjanky FDM parts, what would you recommend for let's say under $1000?

 

[twizzstyle]

To get nonjanky FDM parts, what would you recommend for let's say under $1000?

All FDM parts will be janky (again, this is just a personal opinion), that's just how FDM is. It's hard to hide layer lines.

The Ender is all I know, so I can't really answer your question. The Ender is less than $200. Another $100-$200 in mods will make it a great printer. But, a lot of tinkering and failure to get there... steep learning curve.

How you do your slicing may even be more important than the printer. A $1000 printer with bad slice settings will make trash parts, while finely tuned slice settings on a $200 Ender will make flawless parts.

Just like there are tons of printer options, there are tons of slicer options (I use Cura).

It's a fun hobby, just be prepared to do lots of tinkering and have failures before you get it dialed in. Filament is cheap though, so dive in.

 

[dradam]

I have a Prusa MK3s+. They have just come out with the new MK4 model. I bought the kit which I enjoyed building but you can buy it fully assembled as well. I like the machine but I also like the frequent upgrades and improvements they make. I use their slicer which of course integrates well with the printer and is continuously upgraded. Lastly their site for prints "printables.com" I feel is one of the more user friendly sites for downloading projects--- with no fees. I have printed a number of Rivian accessories from there and just posted a tow hook plate holder there this morning.

 

[OldGoat]

Prusa here as well

 

[jfornelli]

I've got 3 Prusas (Mini+, MK4, XL) and would not hesitate to recommend them. Bamboo also has some good offerings.

 

[cbrcanuck]

I notice a lot of great designs for various items getting posted here with their .stl files. What is your go to printer for those that design these items? I just don’t want to buy a random one. Thanks in advance.

I've printed off a few little items over the years including for the Rivian, but I'd never justify buying a 3D printer so just get a local shop to print them for me. It's cheap and easy.

 

[dgennetten]

It would be great to see a summary of those STL files and links in one spot.

 

[R1Thor]

I have a BambuLab X1 Carbon with 2 AMS, and will probably be adding more AMS as time passes. This is the best 'prosumer' unit I've seen on paper by far. For ~$1500, I have a printer that swims circles around our ridiculously overpriced Ultimaker S5 we have at work.

We also ended up building 2 Voron 2.4R2s at work, due to budget constraints and wanting to get a lot more customize-ability and function out of it. Unless you LOVE troubleshooting printers, don't do it, but if you want to save some pennies and build something that can be anything you want it to be, and continue to upgrade over time as you find areas you want to 'improve,' then that's an option as well!

FWIW: BambuLab Software is mostly bulletproof. There have been some updates that have made a few features work less than optimally, but they generally fix those quickly. I'm a fan.

 

[defcon888]

I work for a medical device company (2nd largest in the USA). We use the FormLabs 3+ 3D Printer

Buy Form 3+ Basic Package (formlabs.com)

 

[battincd]

I've had a few Enders, currently have two MK3+, and two weeks ago I bought a Bambu P1S with AMS. I was so impressed I bought a Bambu A1 mini with AMS lite a couple days later. I've been huge Prusa fan for years but the Bambu printers blow me away. Speed, quality, "things just print" and dollar for dollar, you can't beat them. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Craigins]

I work for a medical device company (2nd largest in the USA). We use the FormLabs 3+ 3D Printer

Buy Form 3+ Basic Package (formlabs.com)

How is the printing on it? Is the resin that much of a pain?

I've been watching FormLabs since they spun off to a company. I keep hoping the price goes down but it seems they like to add new features and keep the price high.

 

[defcon888]

How is the printing on it? Is the resin that much of a pain?

I've been watching FormLabs since they spun off to a company. I keep hoping the price goes down but it seems they like to add new features and keep the price high.

That I don’t know. I am in packaging design. We use it to simulate internal blood vessels. We use a form of resin that is very pliable

 

[Zoidz]

I started 3D printing about 5 years ago by backing a KickStarter project that was a build it yourself kit for a couple hundred bucks. It was a mediocre printer at best, only printed PLA, but it was a great intro to 3D printing and troubleshootiing print problems - they were fairly frequent. Besides learning a new tech toy, I wanted to do some low volume custom design/print projects.

I ordered a Bambu X1C Carbon/AMS just under a year ago. It's been a great printer. I've had one or two issues with some connectors on the print head circuit board but beyond that it has been flawless. I've printed about 100 assemblies (4 printed components and one metal part) of my custom product. Customers love it, I'm working on some new designs.

Regarding layer lines, they will always be there to some degree. But I was happily suprised when I used Bambu Black PETG-CF. It might be my design that enables it, but I cannot see any layer lines in the Z faces - they are flat/vertical and all but perfect.

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