First 3-d printer
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Hi! I am quite new in 3d printing. I want to buy my first 3D printer, so now I am researching what models to avoid, etc.
There are reviews and youtube videos out there about various printers, but I am not sure if those are reliable sources or rather marketing from the manufactures...I am happy to say that I convinced my 2 sons to spend their money on a 3D printer, instead of a Nintendo Switch. So the main goal/purpose of the printer will be to print little 'gadgets' for my kids.
Anyway, here is the 3 cheapest printer I have found so far:
- Zonestar P802QR2
- Qidi Tech X-Pro
- Maker Farm 10" Pegasus Kit with the dual extruder option
The first one is dangerously cheap! Shall I totally avoid it?
Why dual extruders?
I love the idea of water-solvable support material. And as far as I know I need dual extruders for that to print, please correct me if I am wrong. -
When buying cheap, buy popular. At least, in the 3d printer space. Pretty much every 3d printer made in china is going to have crap parts. Fixing the crap is easier with a popular machine. I read lots about 3d printers, and have not heard of 1 & 3 on your list, so I would avoid them at all cost.
I made a mistake and bought an "improved ender 3 clone" last year, and have regretted it, for several reasons. Sure, it was "better" than the ender 3, but some of the areas that made it "better" also made it worse. For instance, the print bed is 20mm larger in x & y for a larger print area... it would be nice to be able to make bigger parts, right? Unfortunately, it's still cheap chinese garbage, so the outer edges are warped so bad that the outer area is not useable...the usable space is about the same. Unfortunately, those larger 250mm square print beds are not common in the aftermarket, so to buy a quality aftermarket replacement meant buying an Ender 3 bed, losing any benefit of the larger print volume. So, any aftermarket printer-specific parts are pretty much nonexistent.
Also nonexistent is tech support. Not just from the company, but there is no real active user group online. Sure, there are thousands of us who use this brand, but reddit is crickets, and has been since about a month after they started shipping. With millions of Creality customers, the failures of that brand are very common, very debugged, and very easy to find answers, not only in old threads, but in realtime reddit if you are too lazy to search older threads. My alternative brand? Not so much, anywhere. No reddit threads.
Also rare are open source upgrades, like parts to print to improve your printer. I have made a few parts for the ender 3, but others are invalid for mine. The hot end mounting plate does not match, so aftermarket fan ducts, probe mounts, etc...all of those need to be "remixed" yourself.
The firmware is closed source, so to upgrade it, I have to either port a firmware myself or spend the money on a Duet. That either takes a lot of time, or kills a lot of the affordability.
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Regarding soluble support...I have used it with my first 3d printer (almost 10 years ago), but never use it. It's such a hassle to set up correctly that unless you absolutely need a perfect surface finish with no break-off or razor marks, it's not worth the effort. Another thing that nobody ever discusses is how many hours it takes to disolve the support...it takes forever.
one more thing...you cannot trust the online reviews, even from reputable youtube stars. Those people are often given units that are better tested/debugged than what is available to us in the general population. My choice had raving reviews from dozens of "reputable experts" online, but I regret not getting a common brand.
What you can trust is the millions of reddit threads of people discussing their issues.
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@markjohnston09 At the low end of the range I would definitely stay away from dual extruder machines. It's hard enough to get a single low cost extruder working well, let alone two of them.
I would also ignore any claims about ABS print capability. It isn't going to happen in a low-end printer, or even in a lot of mid to high-end machines, without a lot of modification.
Low end printers will usually come with cheesy controllers that use plug in motor driver modules. I'd order a bunch of spares along with the printer. You're going to need them and nothing is more frustrating than waiting, unable to print for a month, for a $5 motor driver to arrive from China.
Finally, understand that when you swim in the shallow end of the pool, there's no path to the deep end that doesn't leave you gasping for air. Cheap printers are made of cheap parts that you can't modify into a good printer without replacing almost everything.
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I would suggest starting with a simple ender 3. It's a fundamentally solid design and just works. It has a large community and lots of mods available. There's still enough challenge to tuning and tweaking and upgrading that it's still a fun challenge without just being a pile of crap.
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What's your budget.
The Prusa Mini is not cheap but it makes a good first printer, IMO.
Just know that 3D printers can be money pits - it's a great and challenging hobby that can suck you in.
I'm building my 8th printer with two more waiting in boxes.
Frederick
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@fcwilt said in First 3-d printer:
I'm building my 8th printer with two more waiting in boxes.
There must be rehab places for that sort of an addiction! Get help, get it fast !
I am in the early stages - I still wait until one printer is built before all the components for the next printer are on hand. -
@jens55 I had a few printers on my short list, but after digging deeper, there was a number of comments that "After I replaced the hotend, extruder, Bowden tube, fans, display, and controller, my Brand X is awesome!" My reasoning then switched to "well if a printer only becomes 'awesome' after replacing everything, then I'll make one from scratch." And yes, it can get pretty expensive...
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@kb58, I would never suggest to do a self built printer for the first printer. You don't know what you don't know. Better to start with something that basically works and then discover what and how you would like to tweak things. I started with a Creality CR10 which was a pretty decent printer the way it came out of the box.
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Just buy a Prusa. Save yourself a load of faff
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@blacksheep99 said in First 3-d printer:
Just buy a Prusa. Save yourself a load of faff
Faff - never heard that word before - had to look it up.
Frederick
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@jens55 said in First 3-d printer:
@fcwilt said in First 3-d printer:
I'm building my 8th printer with two more waiting in boxes.
There must be rehab places for that sort of an addiction! Get help, get it fast !
I am in the early stages - I still wait until one printer is built before all the components for the next printer are on hand.I always finish each printer and get it working but I do sometimes go back later on with an upgrade or two - or three, or four, or five...
It's that "money pit" thing I mentioned.
My wife shakes her head a lot - she says I have too many cents and too little sense.
Frederick
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Too late to tell me to buy one - I enjoy learning new things and that included building a printer from scratch. It's a pretty decent learning curve, but having built two cars from scratch, I'm used to doing things the hard way - much more rewarding.
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@markjohnston09 I am also looking for the best 3d printer. I have been doing some research on the same and I soon share my findings. Else let me stick around this valuable thread.
Thanks
