3d Printing thread - Who's got what?

[Jerry-rigged]

SO, if I don't see an RC that gbbs my attention on Black Friday, I am thinking I want to get a 3d printer. I just started to seriously look at reviews, but currently it looks like the best budget starter printers may be either the Creality CR-10 or the Anycubic i3 MEGA. The Creality has a bigger print volume, (but the i3 should be big enough) but the i3 has options I'd need to pay extra for with the Creality. Also, I like the smaller footprint of the i3, as the printer will need to live in my already too-crowded study.

So, anyone here in 3D printing? What you running, what do you like, and what do you wish was different?

Trying to make links with no affieate codes -
i3-
https://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_641323.html

CR-10-
https://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_627176.html?
Upgraded CR-10s
https://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_796481.html?

Also kind of thinking of the smaller Creality Ender, but I wonder of the 150x150x200 will be too small , and I wonder if the one-arm design will be unstable?-
https://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_620373.html

 

[WoodiE]

I have been thinking about getting a 3D printer for a long while now and have done some research and for lower price models the Select Maker models from Monoprice are very popular and have a ton of good reviews. Might be worth checking out - https://www.monoprice.com/pages/3d_printers

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Thanks I'll dig into them.

Looks like I could get it from Walmart.com. At a glance, the Maker Select Plus almost looks like a clone of the Anycube i3 mega. Seems lots of these printer look the same, though. Guess someone not into ground RC would say the same about different truggies, too.

One of the print projects I have in mind could use the 300x300 print volume of the CR-10, but outside of that one, who knows if I would ever use the extra size. And I like the 'all in one' build on the MSP / i3 Mega. Makes for a smaller footprint. OTOH, it looks like there is a guy here in Houston that is buying the CR-10 in bulk, tuning them, and reselling for a bit extra. Seems all these cheaper printers have out-of-the-box issues, so this seems appealing for a first printer.

off to youtube -
Jerry

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

I have been printing with the mp select mini for about a year now (v1). It was THE entry level printer at the time, not sure how it fairs now. It is well built and very reliable imo. A couple easy and cheap mods make it even better. My only complaint is the max build size which I have found limiting at times (120mm^3). I guess it depends on what you intend to print. You can double the size of the x and y axis for I believe $100 in parts which I will likely do this winter.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p...6KaJ-wk16u6_sQpbzBa5Q9DJHKKupthwaApSaEALw_wcB

 

[Jerry-rigged]

This little Ender 2 is tempting me. $160, for a 150x150x200. Youtube reviews seem good. One review said he was able to make a software change and get prints about 168x160x220.

The CR-10's baby brother, the Ender 2 -
https://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_620373.html?wid=21

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Hmmm... I have admittedly not looked at any reviews on the one you linked but my first impression is that the tower design looks a bit unstable. The print head on these are pretty heavy and changes direction very fast while printing (in x and y axis anyways). Lots of momentum to absorb and any tower deflections are going to effect part quality and tolerance. Just some food for thought...

Last night I downloaded a camera mount for my tiny whoop (Thingiverse), sliced it up in Cura, and printed it all while waiting for some packs to charge. About 12 minutes of print time and maybe 5 cents in material. I just love having one of these around!

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Today I am getting tempted by the Tevo Tarantula. Flash sale for $169. It is a kit, and the finished printer does not look real 'refined' but it is a aluminum frame. Youtube seems to say it prints decent out of the box, but is worthwhile to print out half a dozen or so braces and upgrades. Does not come with a part cooling fan, but there are lots on thingyverse to print.

I was planning on waiting till payday(Friday) to buy, but this price is tempting....

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Welp, I done did it. Ordered the CR-10. (link in OP)

The Tevo - it has good initial reviews, but the long-term updates seem to point to it not being great long term. Quality issues, lots of upgrades needed to move it from 'decent/good' to 'very good', and it never seemed to get great. If that makes since.

I did look into the Mono Price printers. The mini seems to be a great printer out of the box, but it's 6" cube build volume is smaller than I wanted. The Maker Select didn't seem to stand out from most of the other prusa i3 printers on the market.

My 2nd place was the Anycubic i3 Mega (another Prusa i3 design). Reviews seem to say it prints great out of the box - among the best even. Very close decision between this in the CR-10, I kept going back an forth.

The CR-10 was the winner. It seems to be everywhere, and everyone that has one seems to love it, both on initial review, and 6 months to a year later. I've seen it called the F150 of 3d printers - they get the job done and are almost common enough to be generic. And, well, yeah, I drive and f150. LOL There are reviewers pointing out a few minor issues, but most seem nit-picky, and easy to fix or work around. Add a coupon code to make it $339 from Gearbest, and I finally hit the buy button.

 

[Trapper]

right now the anycubic i3 mega is $299 at gear best with coupon.
stuck deciding on which to buy myself. the i3 pretty much has everything that creality added with their new upgraded cr-10 s4 being the dual z axis motors and the filament sensor.
The CR-10 has a bigger build area which is nice but don't know if id make full use of that big space.

both could benefit from an enclosure though.

Along with the printer a 3d slicing software will be needed though Jerry and after some research simplify 3d has come up on a lot of different sites. @$149 vs cura which is free though is something to consider trying both to see which works best for you. simplify3d offers a free trial i believe.

one more thing to consider is the temps both are capable of working at. the i3 will need an upgrade i think to work with nylon/cf mixtures

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Cura is great, and they are constantly adding new features. No need to buy the other one unless your printer requires it.

Speaking of free software, Autodesk Fusion 360 is free to hobbyists. Highly recommended for 3D modeling unless you are already familiar with one of the other options.

 

[Trapper]

edit: checked again and it let me download a 3 year copy. guess i didnt need the torrent version afterall

is Fusion 360 what you like to use then Dustin?

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Yes, it is awesome. There is also a ton of tutorial videos on YouTube which helps with the learning curve.

 

[Trapper]

trying to find a suitable filament to use for wheels... looking at NylonX or some variation of nylon+reinforcement

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Speaking of filament - any tips on what to buy? I am thinking of getting a few rolls of some better filament for learning the printer (one less potential problem). Maybe Matterhackers - I hear good stuff about it in lots of youtube vids. Also, on Amazon, I see Hatchbox gets good reviews, and is close to half the price of the Matterhackers. Any other filaments I should look at?

 

[Trapper]

buying some cheaper stuff would be ideal to learn with.

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

So far Hatchbox pla has treated me well. I went with them based on amazon reviews and it being available for prime shipping.

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Made anything yet? I cranked out a GoPro based light mount for my snow biking helmet tonight. Test ride just completed, it works great!

Kind of ignoring my rc collection right now, priorities are elsewhere due to the weather...

 

[Jerry-rigged]

I HAZ THE BOX!

But it is a Christmas present, so I gotta wait...

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Put some rocks in there and tape it back up!!!

Seriously though, you don't need a printer to start modeling on the computer. I am hooked on this thing right now... I seem to be drawing up something new everyday whether I need to or not! Perfect off season time killer.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Yeah, I need to download tinker-cad or sketch-up and start drawing. I have a list of things I want to design (small quad frame, 3 different telescopes, bunch of small useless crap... LOL)

I do CAD for a living, so I am hoping these free programs won't pose much of a challenge. Do you know if any of them output a file that I can work with in AutoCAD? Then I could bang stuff out on lunch breaks...