Thread: 3d printers?

Ok, considering getting one of these - just because. Something to further the skills base etc etc, and for the kids to have a play with.

Question is, what are the good brands, what to look out for, what plastic material is good for working with and for strength once printed, anything to avoid?

Worthwhile getting a cheap second hand one or is this a pathway to disappointment?

I looked at this a while ago.
The only thing I remember is that the filament type are 'safer' than the resin. Lots of nasty fumes with the resin printer which can be mitigated...but should be enclosed, don't use it on the kitchen table, etc.
Finally figured I want a laser/engraver as I can cut what I want from acrylic sheet.
Looks to be some nice new gear out now. Good luck in your search.
I've talked to Josh at PBTech, Manakau. Seems to know what he's on about.

For FDM printer: I'm using the Bambu X1 for work it is a great unit. Otherwise the latest Ender3 is pretty capable if you don't want to spend too much

I started with a Bambu labs P1P and then got the upgrade kit to bring it up to a P1S as I wanted an enclosure to print some of the more toxic and temp sensitive materials.

Can't fault it, it's not got all the fancy gear like the X1 but it just works. And its fast!

https://www.youtube.com/@TeachingTech/videos check out this guy, he does a few reviews of 3d printers and a whole segment on how to 3d model, really useful stuff

I found it a great addition to learning CAD, i would recommend learning Cad first unless you just want to use other peoples designs, fusion360 is free. I end up making all sorts of bits and pieces, loading trays, scope covers, oddball shape brackets for boat. can even get parts machined out of whatever elsewhere with your drawings. I had a car motor to jetski jetunit coupling machined and sent to my door for $150

can also recommend the Bambu, pretty much plug and play and fast as above. bit more expensive upfront but saves needing upgrades further down the track. Workmate has a QIDI (was a bit cheaper from memory) and that is printing the trickier filaments straight off the bat. His first printer (cant think of brand it printed great also but just very slow but worked out great as a starter (ill ask around more tomorrow) i think that cost him a couple of hundred from jaycar a few years ago.
it is all a big learning curve but quite satisfying.

I print a lot of firearms related stuff using ABS. Pistol grips, magazine holsters, Rimfire suppressors, scope caps etc. printing solid ABS (no infill) with wall thicknesses of 1.5mm to 2mm results in very strong and impact resistant parts that stand up to abuse pretty well.
I have pistol grips on competition rifles that have been used regularly for 6 or 7 years with zero issues.

ABS is cheap and easy to print (compared to other high strength exotics)
But you must have an enclosure and a filament heater or you will tear your hair out (IMO, any FDM printer should have these regardless of material being printed)

I use a heavily upgraded ender. I would recommend spending the $$ on something like a Bambu Lab rather than buying a cheaper model and upgrading.

Like others have said, work on your CAD skills. That's really where it's all at. Printing only other people's stuff is very limiting.

+1 for bambu lab products. Started with a elegoo printer which was fine and a very good start, but then moved to a bambu lab x1c and never looked back.
I use fusion360, there’s a free version and works great!


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Another upvote for bambu lab. They just work. I've started with an A1. Will see how it's going after a year and probably upgrade to the X1.
The new crealty K2 does have a bigger build size, but still seems to be a bit buggy and hit and miss with individual units. If you're in no real hurry and a bigger possible build size is important then maybe keep an eye on reviews/youtube to see how well they start sorting out any issues with those units.
Plenty of free tutorials on getting started with fusion360.
For the kids blender is an additional option as free software for creating 3d characters that can be printed. There are cad type addins for blender but fusion360 is set up better I think for proper cad work.

After I modeled some parts for someone on here I started looking down this rabbit hole, I was looking at "Creality" for the bang/$ ratio but after visiting this shop https://marvle3d.co.nz/ they steered me towards "Bambu Labs" as I'm an old dog attempting to learn new tricks the Bambu would give me a easier start with less hassles.
This shop sells both brands so I felt it was a reasonably unbiased opinion other than Bambu costing much more.

As @c-dog said, learn some CAD first. While you're looking at what's out there you can model lots of test/training projects to do once you've got one, Currently I'm modeling up an interlocking frame to build an enclosure to keep the dust/cold out and the fumes in.
Once I get back to full time work I can buy the printer and I'll be ready to play.

Step son and I got into this back in 2005, when they were basically a kitset only, we imported one from Europe and then made our own ones to onsell, we made about 20 and sold them all before the technology moved on.

Back then I was able to borrow from a friend who had a CAD licence a copy to use, nothing was free back then.

Have been out of it for over 15 years now though

I have a resin (SLA/DLP) printer, its awesome but not ideal for a beginner, you definitely want a FDM printer. I only went with the resin is because I wanted to print molds for softbaits and needed the temp resistance.

Originally Posted by c-dog

I found it a great addition to learning CAD, i would recommend learning Cad first unless you just want to use other peoples designs, fusion360 is free. I end up making all sorts of bits and pieces, loading trays, scope covers, oddball shape brackets for boat. can even get parts machined out of whatever elsewhere with your drawings. I had a car motor to jetski jetunit coupling machined and sent to my door for $150

can also recommend the Bambu, pretty much plug and play and fast as above. bit more expensive upfront but saves needing upgrades further down the track. Workmate has a QIDI (was a bit cheaper from memory) and that is printing the trickier filaments straight off the bat. His first printer (cant think of brand it printed great also but just very slow but worked out great as a starter (ill ask around more tomorrow) i think that cost him a couple of hundred from jaycar a few years ago.
it is all a big learning curve but quite satisfying.

Where did you get the machining done? Sounds like a good price

Originally Posted by makka

I have a resin (SLA/DLP) printer, its awesome but not ideal for a beginner, you definitely want a FDM printer. I only went with the resin is because I wanted to print molds for softbaits and needed the temp resistance.



Where did you get the machining done? Sounds like a good price

I used pcbway after watching a YouTube video, came out mint, shipping was about the Cost of the part.

I've used Craftcloud, which is similar to PCBway.

Craftcloud did some metal 3d printing for me which came back fantastic, and cheaper than most places I looked at

I picked up an old Ender 3 for under 100 bucks. Couple of minor cheap upgrades make a world of difference. Prints are average but it's a good way to find out how much you enjoy it /use it when the novelty wears off and can drop some more coin into it from there.

Prusa is also good