3D printer choices

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

The world of 3D printing seems to move at quite a pace (a bit like computers) and since my last purchase (about 7 years ago) I was wondering if there were any recommendations for 3D printers. My budget is around £500 and I’d prefer an enclosed type unit. The parts to be printed are small prototype parts, caps & covers etc.
I’m used to Cura slicer but not a pre-requisite. Any suggestions welcome……

Matt

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I’m super happy with my Bambu lab P1S, enclosed and about your budget.

Tony

[PackmuleParticipant @packmule]

Hi Matt,

I have a Prusa mk3s+ which has performed brilliantly since I pruchased 2nd hand from that well known web site. I also bought a encloseure for £30 from Amazon and prints using ABS and Nylon/CF have inproved with less warping. PLA / PETG never a problem.

Since Prusa brought our the Mk4 there are a lot of good Mk3s’s around at a good price (bought one for the grandkids for £180 )  these machines were originally £1000 so shop around.

Good luck ,regards Bob

[Andy StopfordParticipant @andystopford50521]

I second Bambu – although the one I have doesn’t fit you requirements (Bambu A1 Mini), it’s very well made, and vastly better than the machines of a few years ago. It has its own slicer which is pretty much press the button and you’re good to go.

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

I got a Creality K1 when they first came out. Loads of problems initially, but now a fantastic printer.

The latest version of this (K1 C) is in budget.

I use the Creality slicer, it’s based on Cura, so easy to work. I’ve printed a lot, possibly 50 kg of filament, with a good number of 12 hour + runs at high speed and 99% success rate.

 

High speed is good, but I found only Creality Hyper filament worked. This costs £15-£25 a roll, depending where you buy.

 

I’d still like to try a Prusa printer, but happy with my K1.

 

Jimb

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

I have an Ender 3 Pro, bought second-hand, which is now well out of date. But it works for me and spares are easily available.

There is currently a bit of a controversy regarding Bambu printers – it would appear, according to various YouTubers, that they are forcing their customers to use the Bambu cloud. Whether this is as big a deal as some are saying, I don’t know – there seem to be ways around it – but it might merit further investigation if you are thinking of buying Bambu.

Rob

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

I’ve had Bambu X1 carbon for over a year now, and am very happy with its performance and print quality.  It’s also spectacularly fast and, so far, reliable.  It cost a lot more than your budget, but as has been said, there are other Bambulab printers more suitably priced.  As for the printing in the cloud business, I personally normally avoid the use of this facility like the plague, but in this case I don’t have a problem with it.  I send my print files via my home network and the Bambu server to the printer.  If you are desperately worried about your intellectual rights being exposed, all you have to do is save the print file to a mini sd memory card and physically take it to the printer, press “go” and sit back and wait.  No cloud involved.  Whatever you get, have fun with it and don’t forget to keep us informed of progress, good or bad.

John

 

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

Bambu PS1 was one on my shortlist and I’ll need to investigate the internet aspect.

Creality K1C is also there.

I appreciate the feedback and will investigate the options suggested. I’ll also investigate a Flashforge unit and keep you posted

 

Matt

 

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

Have you considered a resin printer?

One of the members of my model engineering club gave a talk and demonstration of his two printers. One is a filament type, the other a resin type.

The quality of finish on the resin printer is a lot better then a filament printer.

He uses water based resin, which doesn’t have the problem of the smell from traditional resins.

I have a Creality ender 3 pro filament printer and I am pleased with it. It has the advantage that it can operate at higher temperatures than some, so you can use more different types of filament.

Stuart

[John Hinkley]

On John Hinkley Said:

I’ve had Bambu X1 carbon for over a year now, and am very happy with its performance and print quality.  It’s also spectacularly fast and, so far, reliable.  It cost a lot more than your budget, but as has been said, there are other Bambulab printers more suitably priced.  As for the printing in the cloud business, I personally normally avoid the use of this facility like the plague, but in this case I don’t have a problem with it.  I send my print files via my home network and the Bambu server to the printer.  If you are desperately worried about your intellectual rights being exposed, all you have to do is save the print file to a mini sd memory card and physically take it to the printer, press “go” and sit back and wait.  No cloud involved.  Whatever you get, have fun with it and don’t forget to keep us informed of progress, good or bad.

John

 

You can also send files directly over your LAN:

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/knowledge-sharing/enable-lan-mode

I haven’t actually bothered, since I don’t have a problem with using a cloud service for this, but it’s nice to know there’s the facility if the internet has a wobbly.

[Andy Stopford]

On Andy Stopford Said:

You can also send files directly over your LAN:

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/knowledge-sharing/enable-lan-mode

I haven’t actually bothered, since I don’t have a problem with using a cloud service for this, but it’s nice to know there’s the facility if the internet has a wobbly.

I was under the impression (rightly or wrongly) that a LAN connection requires an Ethernet cable to make a a physical connection. My computer is in a spare bedroom and the printer in detached garage, so a cabled connection, although possible, isn’t a feasible option for me.  If they were in the same room, your solution would be the way to do it.

I don’t want to drag this thread any further off topic so I’ll shut up now.

John

 

[rjenkinsgbParticipant @rjenkinsgb]

I’d also go for a Bambu Labs machine, if you want one that “just works”.

I have a couple of FDM machines I’ve built myself with high-end parts, and the X1C I got last year cost about the same as each of those and is waay better and faster for general work, within it’s size range. (I got it mainly for the multi-filament capability, but also use it for a lot of general single filament prints as it’s simply a lot faster).

 

Re. filament based (FDM) vs. Resin based (SLA):

FDM is better for structural parts, things that may be under stress. The results can be very strong but not very good for really fine detail.

SLA is excellent for fine detail and non-structural items like miniature buildings & figures, display models etc. & other more artistic work. The resulting materials are generally somewhat more brittle than FDM plastics.

 

[JourneymanParticipant @journeyman]

I have recently acquired Anycubic’s latest offering the Kobra S1 Combo this is a core XY enclosed printer with a 4 roll filament dryer/storage box. When it’s working it is very good, nice clean prints and very quick. There are however some firmware problems and I don’t think I would recommend it for a beginner at this time. Bit of a leaning curve for me as it comes with Anycubic’s own version of Orca Slicer which I am not used to, having previously used Cura and Prusa Slicer.

John

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

All good info – thanks. One thing for sure, I will not be going resin. I feel that way is not for me (plus I’m somewhat clumsy with liquids!! – Thanks rjenkinsgb for the clarification)

Top of the list so far is the Qidi Q1Pro which has been brought to my attention. It’s not expensive and maybe ideal for me until I decide to invest more in the tech. (I already have an early 3D printer gathering dust!)

I’ll keep you posted…..

Matt

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

Well, after some thought, research and suggestions – I decided to order a Qidi Q1 Pro. When I have got to grips with it, I’ll feedback here. It has worked out to be £360 delivered which seem pretty good value to me. Lets hope it lives up to its reviews!

Matt

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Matt,

Looks good from a quick view of the specs! One annoyance that I have had to accept is that since I purchased my Bambu P1S the price has just gone down every time I look, such is the world of 3D printing:(

Tony

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

Just to add, I have now produced 3D prints on my Qidi Q1 PRO and I’m very pleased with the ease, speed and quality.
Oooh, how things have improved since I bought my first one 7 years ago….

Thanks for everyone’s input.

 

Matt

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