3-D Printers anyone?

[jason370]

Occasionally I see some of you 3D print this or that. I'd like to know what the best 3D printers (for the money) are (assuming you've done some research prior to buying yours). I know i know, you can spend ten grand or a few hundred,, it's a wide spectrum for sure. Still my question stands. tell us about your 3D printer and what you wish you would've bought instead. Please include prices and reviews.

Thanks!

 

[Gwynhwyfar]

I have Bambulab A1 bought at a very good price last Black Week. My son had Bambulab A1-mini before and now we use both of them. I´m very happy with that printer, we printed a whole helldivers uniform for cosplay back in march for 8 people! Over 20kg of filament used! The software is easy to use and I found out many things by myself, the rest I was asking my son and his friend for help.

 

[Throwfa]

Look into the Centauri Carbon, best bang for your buck.

Yes you can go for the more fancy ones with multicolor, swapping hotends, etx. But if you're just starting out and only want to print functional parts the CC is perfect.

 

[Pocket]

I have a variety of printers from a variety of manufacturers. Trust me, there is no single printer that is better than others. It really all depends on what you want to make with it. If you are looking to just make stuff for your peps, I'd agree with Throwfa for the Elegoo Centauri Carbon. I'd also consider a FlashForge AD5M or AD5X. I have a Bambu Labs A1 mini that is an absolute champ of a printer, but if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't get it because of all the BS that Bambu Labs is up to. But if you don't mind their tomfoolery and you want something that just. friggin. works. then they are a great option too.

I teach Additive Manufacturing and would be happy to help you figure out which printer would be right for you based on your use case if you'd like. Like do you want to print in multiple colors? Do you want to be able to print multiple different kinds of plastic? How big of an item do you want to be able to print at once?

 

[Ruckus4519]

Idk how much this matters, and I'm sure the products themselves are good, but Bambu Lab has recently been in controversy regarding their software and terms and conditions.

As far as I understand it, they recently sent a cease and desist letter to a programmer who released a slicer software based on their BambuStudio slicer software. However, BambuStudio itself is also forked from PrusaSlicer under a AGPL-3.0 license, which requires its derivatives to also be open source.

There's also that thing where new firmware/toc changed how your printer acts vs. from when you first bought it.

Idk if anyone here cares about it, but just wanted to give a little heads up in case someone does.

 

[CharmanderInDisguise]

My experience with the FlashForge AD5M has been great. If you're not looking to design your own files and just want to get files and print them out, it's incredibly easy to use. I've made so many things.

 

[Pocket]

Idk how much this matters, and I'm sure the products themselves are good, but Bambu Lab has recently been in controversy regarding their software and terms and conditions.

As far as I understand it, they recently sent a cease and desist letter to a programmer who released a slicer software based on their BambuStudio slicer software. However, BambuStudio itself is also forked from PrusaSlicer under a AGPL-3.0 license, which requires its derivatives to also be open source.

There's also that thing where new firmware/toc changed how your printer acts vs. from when you first bought it.

Idk if anyone here cares about it, but just wanted to give a little heads up in case someone does.

Absolutely. Bambu is starting to really pull some shady stuff and locking their users down to their products only. That's said though, if you don't mind keeping everything Bambu, they do make good printers. Personally, I wouldn't buy another Bambu printer because of what they are doing, but someone new to the hobby or less serious about it may not care.

 

[jason370]

Absolutely. Bambu is starting to really pull some shady stuff and locking their users down to their products only. That's said though, if you don't mind keeping everything Bambu, they do make good printers. Personally, I wouldn't buy another Bambu printer because of what they are doing, but someone new to the hobby or less serious about it may not care.

apple wrote the book on this and they have a crazy big following. I'm personally an android guy but if it works it works.

 

[ContainHer]

Absolutely. Bambu is starting to really pull some shady stuff and locking their users down to their products only.

I had no idea, though I've never had an issue creating my own STL file out of tinker cad, or opening up an STL from another site. If I will be stuck with Bambu only it's going to send me into a spiral.

 

[Pocket]

apple wrote the book on this and they have a crazy big following. I'm personally an android guy but if it works it works.

It does look like they are taking pages out of Apple's playbook.

I had no idea, though I've never had an issue creating my own STL file out of tinker cad, or opening up an STL from another site. If I will be stuck with Bambu only it's going to send me into a spiral.

I doubt they will ever restrict their printers to only sourcing stls from them. I am betting that would be a step way too far for the community and they would decline fast. They are instead going to do things like lock their printers to only use their software (what they are doing already now) and later locking their printers to only use their filament. Once they have those locked down, they can jack the prices and people will either pay it or have a printer they cant use anymore. I hope it doesn't come to this but its definitely a possibility. That's pretty much Stratysys's model already.

 

[V6R3W]

I have been 3d printing at home and work for the past 10 or 11 years. In the past, you had to have a much greater understanding of how the printer worked to keep it running. Every few months I would tweak the marlin firmware, replace a dead stepper motor, add auto leveling, etc.

I recently bought a bambu p2s (with AMS). It's a spectacular machine. No input on Bambu's TOS changes, etc, but they make a great printer that just runs.

 

[Pep_Hobbyist]

I purchased an Original Prusa I3 and a anycubic kobra max. bought them used so I could practice. now that I know what I know I'm getting a Bambulabs P2s. the other ones I had to tinker a lot to get stuff done and helped me understand how 3d printer works. the P2s I'll be able to set it and forget it.

 

[Pocket]

I purchased an Original Prusa I3 and a anycubic kobra max. bought them used so I could practice. now that I know what I know I'm getting a Bambulabs P2s. the other ones I had to tinker a lot to get stuff done and helped me understand how 3d printer works. the P2s I'll be able to set it and forget it.

While upgrading to the P2S from an I3 or the Kobra is hitting the easy button, please do not set it and forget it. I made that mistake with my Bambu and paid dearly for it when it blobbed and I had to replace almost the entire head. All because I got lazy and didn't check on it like I would have my Ender. Have fun!

 

[Pep_Hobbyist]

While upgrading to the P2S from an I3 or the Kobra is hitting the easy button, please do not set it and forget it. I made that mistake with my Bambu and paid dearly for it when it blobbed and I had to replace almost the entire head. All because I got lazy and didn't check on it like I would have my Ender. Have fun!

Good to know. I'll keep that in mind.

Thank you!

 

[Pepperboi]

I started with an ender 3 and modded the thing to high hell. I said screw it and pulled the trigger on a BambuLabs P1S before their software lockdown BS. So yay for having older firmware. Bambu Labs is, for lack of a better term, the apple of 3d printers. You pay a premium, but they kind of just do what they say they do. But, that being said, proprietary parts that may/may not have offshoots. I mean, if you are just looking for an intro hobby 3d printer, an A1 mini $220 would be more than fine for medium/small prints. Though if you wanna just full send it, the P1S is on sale currently for like $600. The thing is, most printers will have varying degrees of fkry that you have to deal with in one way or another. IF you are cool with building things, get an ender 3. If you wnt a plug and play experience, but dont mind potentially being locked into an ecosystem, bambulabs is fine. I dont have much experience with creality outside of the ender 3, but they are alright too.

 

[Pocket]

I started with an ender 3 and modded the thing to high hell. I said screw it and pulled the trigger on a BambuLabs P1S before their software lockdown BS. So yay for having older firmware. Bambu Labs is, for lack of a better term, the apple of 3d printers. You pay a premium, but they kind of just do what they say they do. But, that being said, proprietary parts that may/may not have offshoots. I mean, if you are just looking for an intro hobby 3d printer, an A1 mini $220 would be more than fine for medium/small prints. Though if you wanna just full send it, the P1S is on sale currently for like $600. The thing is, most printers will have varying degrees of fkry that you have to deal with in one way or another. IF you are cool with building things, get an ender 3. If you wnt a plug and play experience, but dont mind potentially being locked into an ecosystem, bambulabs is fine. I dont have much experience with creality outside of the ender 3, but they are alright too.

I agree with this statement whole heartedly. I have a couple Creality machines. Used to be a huge Creality fanboi. But their quality control has gone downhill fast as of late. I bought a K2 Plus not long ago and it has been an absolute nightmare. I would not go with any modern Creality machines but their older ones are great!

 

[Rezwalker]

Bambu A1

its just hassle free and you can print almost any peptide related stuff