3D Printer Recommendations
- Thread starter mildot
- Start date
polskadude
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- London Ontario
Get one that prints titanium...
StandardIssue
CGN Regular
- Location
- Onterrible, Communist Turdezuela
Prusa i3 Mk3S kit can be had for around 700 bucks and is one of the best bang for your buck printers. You can either buy the kit and assemble yourself or buy it premade for $1000 ish. There is also the Ender 3 which is good. Do not get the cheap Chinese 3d printers as many of them fail after 5-6 prints. Polylactic Acid or ABS are popular filaments, with ABS being better for final products. PLA is not as strong but is plenty tough for most applications. Learn how to use Blender (3d modelling software), Cura 3d (slicer), Autodesk Fusion 360, and learn how to play around with .stl and .obj files using the aforementioned software.
Some websites:
3dprintingcanada.com <-- trusted place to purchase 3d printers and filament
thingiverse.com <--- place to download free .stl files to practice 3d printing
Feel free to send a PM if you have any more questions. I am not an expert by any means but I have a degree of familiarity.
Some websites:
3dprintingcanada.com <-- trusted place to purchase 3d printers and filament
thingiverse.com <--- place to download free .stl files to practice 3d printing
Feel free to send a PM if you have any more questions. I am not an expert by any means but I have a degree of familiarity.
Thanks, great starting point. let me do some research , Cheers
I have a background in CNC, not really recent, but what can I get if I go "all in" for $5000?
I've used Cadcam software? am I knocking on the same door?
TEVO Tornado - 500$
Fusion 360 Free for hobbyists
Simplify 3D - 170$
Here is a rifle clamp for shooting from a tripod, just finished a prototype. Few other projects as well.
Match Savers
Mag Extenders
Indoor training scope adapter (IOTA)
Fusion 360 Free for hobbyists
Simplify 3D - 170$
Here is a rifle clamp for shooting from a tripod, just finished a prototype. Few other projects as well.
Match Savers
Mag Extenders
Indoor training scope adapter (IOTA)
Last edited:
StandardIssue
CGN Regular
- Location
- Onterrible, Communist Turdezuela
$5000 3d printers tend to have more bells and whistles like direct wifi connectivity, higher printing volumes, faster printing speed, and they are often compatible with a wider variety of filaments. I personally don't have experience with the more expensive ones. However, I know many of them are honestly quite crap with regards to reliability and build quality for the price. In this case, spending more on a 3d printer might not yield better results. If you are dead set on spending $5000 on a higher end machine, and you want to use different filaments, then I would highly recommend you get one that has carbon fibre shielding to prevent exposure to toxic plastic fumes. PLA is non-toxic and I would highly recommend you get a machine that works with this filament until you are more acquainted with the process.
If you know CNC milling and Cadcam then you should be able to figure out how to use Fusion 360 and Cura.
I uploaded a PDF for you with regards to 3d printing:
https://files.catbox.moe/db5vi7.pdf
Last edited:
ABS may not be toxic to handle but it does release nasty vapours and a lot of particulate while printing and should not be printed in an area where people are breathing without an enclosure and ventilation.
The Prusa offering is great if you think you will need the tech support, get frustrated easily or have no prior robotics/electrical experience. If you’re willing to spend the time figuring out things for yourself and chasing down problems I’d recommend the Ender 3. On sale on Amazon it can be had for less than 1/3 of the price of the Prusa and the Amazon return policy helps abate the risk from dodgy Chinese quality.
Don’t buy filament on Amazon. Try filaments.ca they offer refill rolls that can be stuck on a master spool for very cheap. They also have a good stock of exotic filaments.
The Prusa offering is great if you think you will need the tech support, get frustrated easily or have no prior robotics/electrical experience. If you’re willing to spend the time figuring out things for yourself and chasing down problems I’d recommend the Ender 3. On sale on Amazon it can be had for less than 1/3 of the price of the Prusa and the Amazon return policy helps abate the risk from dodgy Chinese quality.
Don’t buy filament on Amazon. Try filaments.ca they offer refill rolls that can be stuck on a master spool for very cheap. They also have a good stock of exotic filaments.
StandardIssue
CGN Regular
- Location
- Onterrible, Communist Turdezuela
Thanks for the clarification with regards to ABS!
As far as what you can get for 5000$, you can get some nice machines for that price. But don’t start with one. As stated by the other poster, there are some nice features on the prosumer machines at that level but the actual difference in capability is so tiny. Mostly quality of life type upgrades and features for printing exotic plastics that have no practical uses. These plastics are only useful in very niche industries. It would be fun to print with PEEK for example, but at 300$+ a spool nothing you make will be sellable.
Get a cheap kit, put it together and learn the ins and outs of the FDM process. Make your mistakes. It would be bad to spend 5K on a machine to find out you just don’t have the knack for product design and modelling. You can learn what you need to learn in order to be successful at 3D printing just as well on an Ender 3. You aren’t going to be able to print any faster or much nicer by blowing 5K. In fact you might find out that for your purposes 5K$ on 15 Ender 3s is a better business decision than 1 Ultimaker...
Get a cheap kit, put it together and learn the ins and outs of the FDM process. Make your mistakes. It would be bad to spend 5K on a machine to find out you just don’t have the knack for product design and modelling. You can learn what you need to learn in order to be successful at 3D printing just as well on an Ender 3. You aren’t going to be able to print any faster or much nicer by blowing 5K. In fact you might find out that for your purposes 5K$ on 15 Ender 3s is a better business decision than 1 Ultimaker...
I have a Prusa i3 kit that I assembled from scratch. The assembly process allowed me to know the machine inside out, made troubleshooting much easier. I'm not aware of any printer, $500 or $5000, that does not require troubleshooting. I'll recommended getting something inexpensive, such as an i3 many have mentioned, and go on from there.
Creality products for the win. My ender 3 pro printed great out of the box. I'd look into either that or a cr10 depending on how big you think your projects are going to be. Both are great starter machines that won't be overwhelming to learn on and parts are easy to find.
There's lots if resources online with YouTube videos or Facebook groups for the creality machines if you have any issues.
There's lots if resources online with YouTube videos or Facebook groups for the creality machines if you have any issues.
Turkinator
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Onterrible
This could not be further from the truth
Ive got an Anet A8 the cheapest of the cheap that is still going strong. Even if it did fail which its unlikely to do, its a Prusa i3 clone so parts and support are abundant. You do not have to buy a $1000 printer to get into the game and start making good prints, and there are MANY affordable options out there that will get you printing. I'm eyeballing the Creality Ender 3 right now on Amazon for $289 w/ free shipping for Prime members. As long as you stick with a Prusa i3 clone you really cant go wrong.
If you're already planning to spend real money for a real machine, and have a CNC background, I would go look at the Markforged machines. They aren't a hobby machine. Highly capable. I'm considering picking one up as the next major tool purchase for the shop. Bonus is the ability to print carbon fibre. You can also imbed continuous fibre reinforcement that creates parts with a strength nearing machined aluminum.
www.markforged.com
www.markforged.com
Last edited:
StandardIssue
CGN Regular
- Location
- Onterrible, Communist Turdezuela
Good to know. I have heard horror stories with some of the cheaper Chinese 3d printers with regards to reliability. But if it served you well then I am glad.
Turkinator
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Onterrible
Do you know what they said went wrong with their printers? I can't think of anything that would be difficult to fix or replace yourself on these i3 clones. The most expensive part I can think of would probably be the hotbed but even then a straight up replacement (no upgrade) would only be like 50$.
Correction: I just looked them up on Amazon and a cheap hotbed is about 20-30$
Last edited:
