A couple questions from a soon to be 3d printer

[Moonstonemike]

I just got a Ender3 s1 pro. Thanks @Tex Koder for helping me choose a printer.
I have to wait a couple more weeks till my birthday to open it though.

I'm looking forward to being a newb and asking you guys all my dumb questions. Hopefully the learning curve isn't too painful.

My question is about dryers. Should I be investing in a filament dryer? If so I have seen a couple different types. Some with fans, some without.
Some with temps up to 45-55deg while others are up to 70deg.

Also am I better off sticking to one material type for a while to learn the mistakes and what changes fix them before testing other materials? What would be a versatile material to learn with pla, pla+, petg?

Thanks

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

I got a s1 pro for Christmas. I am still on the learning curve.

 

[dure16]

Start with PLA/PLA+ until you get a handle on the basics. It is far more forgiving than other materials. When you're ready to expand, I would recommend trying PETG, ABS, and TPU. My favorite filament is nylon but it's not easy to print.

And yes a filament dryer would be useful.

 

[Johnny b]

I'm looking forward to being a newb and asking you guys all my dumb questions. Hopefully the learning curve isn't too painful.

My question is about dryers. Should I be investing in a filament dryer? If so I have seen a couple different types. Some with fans, some without.
Some with temps up to 45-55deg while others are up to 70deg.


Thanks

I think just a conventional dryer should be adequate. I picked up this frigedaire off craigslist for cheap. Mine doesn't have a fan but gets much hotter than 70 deg. Best to keep people and pets out of them. Hope this helps!

 

[Quiklearner]

Hey Mike,

I live in Ontario too. I've been 3d printing for over 10 years now and I just recently bought at food dehydrator for this. Works great on PETG and TPU, I have never needed to dry PLA filaments.

 

[Tex Koder]

I just got a Ender3 s1 pro. Thanks @Tex Koder for helping me choose a printer.
I have to wait a couple more weeks till my birthday to open it though.

I'm looking forward to being a newb and asking you guys all my dumb questions. Hopefully the learning curve isn't too painful.

My question is about dryers. Should I be investing in a filament dryer? If so I have seen a couple different types. Some with fans, some without.
Some with temps up to 45-55deg while others are up to 70deg.

Also am I better off sticking to one material type for a while to learn the mistakes and what changes fix them before testing other materials? What would be a versatile material to learn with pla, pla+, petg?

Thanks

Congratulations!
Welcome to the 3D Printing Club!!

I'd say Open that sucker up now!!!
Keep the free roll of filament in the box as your Birthday Present , you're be much Happier for the EXTRA (couple of weeks) time you have Learning about And Using this printer

Hold off on the dryer until you're ready for the advanced filaments. (BTW, I use a used food dehydrator, it works just fine.)
Cut your teeth & get yourself familiar with using PLA+ first.
Cause you are going to make tons of mistakes at first. Best to understand what's going on with the settings and your printer than to have a multitude of different filaments (and their quirks) thrown into the mix...

Good Luck in your new Adventure!
and you're going to have your mind Blown with additive FDM production -to see something materialize FROM NOTHING on the build plate to the actual part in front of your very eyes! (as compared to subtractive manufacturing..)

It's like having your very own Star Trek's Replicator

 

[Gedrick]

Keep the free roll of filament in the box as your Birthday Present , you're be much Happier for the EXTRA (couple of weeks) time you have Learning about And Using this printer

Hold off on the dryer until you're ready for the advanced filaments. (BTW, I use a used food dehydrator, it works just fine.)
Cut your teeth & get yourself familiar with using PLA+ first.
Cause you are going to make tons of mistakes at first. Best to understand what's going on with the settings and your printer than to have a multitude of different filaments (and their quirks) thrown into the mix...

Great advice here, it's going to take a bit of tinkering and trial and error to get the printer into a "press button / receive thing" state. Definitely want to put some hours aside for that.

Agreed that you probably don't need a dehydrator depending on where you live, unless you're in a place extremely humid, but even then I'd hold off for a bit. Just keep the filament in a cool closet or something.

I have only ever printed with eSun PLA+, found on Amazon for about $24/roll, comes in dozens of colors, and consistently prints great across the color spectrum I have. And what's even better is that if you're printing RC parts (which I have a creeping suspicion that you will be, since you're posting this on an RC forum ) PLA+ is pretty darn tough.

Enjoy!

 

[dure16]

One additional point - filament quality makes a world of difference. The super cheap PLA on Amazon prints like crap.

eSun PLA+ is my go-to PLA. It prints like a dream and the price is right.

https://a.co/d/2579BBf

eSun PLA+

Great minds!

 

[Tex Koder]

I use Inland brand filaments -Microcenter's house brand- which itself is produced by eSun.

Mainly because they are 30minutes drive from me AND they carry just about every type and color in store..
Because I like to see the Actual Color in person.

Virtual 3D View - Their in-store filament inventory. They have an Even LARGER selection now.. (This was their original selection.)

 

[Moonstonemike]

I got a s1 pro for Christmas. I am still on the learning curve.

Start with PLA/PLA+ until you get a handle on the basics. I

I think just a Replicator

Great advice here, it's going to take a bit of tinkering that you will be, since you're posting this on an RC forum ) PLA+ is pretty darn tough.

Enjoy!

Wow I can see there's going to be no shortage of help here. Thanks everyone for the advice.
@Quiklearner Do you just get your filament from Amazon or do you source it from somewhere else?

 

[Moonstonemike]

One more question. What color is good to start with. I'm guessing some colors show the imperfections more so would be better for "tuning"

 

[dure16]

One more question. What color is good to start with. I'm guessing some colors show the imperfections more so would be better for "tuning"

Eh, you’ll eventually buy them all anyway

 

[PeighDay]

I use Inland brand filaments -Microcenter's house brand- which itself is produced by eSun.

Mainly because they are 30minutes drive from me AND they carry just about every type and color in store..
Because I like to see the Actual Color in person.

I would kill to have a Microcenter that close.

I just got a Ender3 s1 pro.

Congrats on the purchase. Just recently picked one up myself.

Hold off on the dryer until you're ready for the advanced filaments. (BTW, I use a used food dehydrator, it works just fine.)

Regarding filament dryers, would an oven work in lieu of a filament dryer? Going to try and print in TPU

 

[Moonstonemike]

I would kill to have a Microcenter that close.


Congrats on the purchase. Just recently picked one up myself.


Regarding filament dryers, would an oven work in lieu of a filament dryer? Going to try and print in TPU

My concern would be any chemicals that come off the filament. Also oven temps go up and down while maintaining temperature. Might end up melting your roll.

 

[dure16]

Regarding filament dryers, would an oven work in lieu of a filament dryer? Going to try and print in TPU

The minimum temp on many ovens (mine included) is too high for most filaments. You’ll end up with melted plastic.

 

[Tex Koder]

The minimum temp on many ovens (mine included) is too high for most filaments. You’ll end up with melted plastic.

Correct.

Even a small toaster oven runs too HOT to do the proper trick...
Ask me how I know.

 

[Moonstonemike]

Correct.

Even a small toaster oven runs too HOT to do the proper trick...
Ask me how I know.

My oven has a keep warm but I think it's still 150f or 170f.

 

[Gedrick]

I use Inland brand filaments -Microcenter's house brand- which itself is produced by eSun.

Mainly because they are 30minutes drive from me AND they carry just about every type and color in store..
Because I like to see the Actual Color in person.

Virtual 3D View - Their in-store filament inventory. They have an Even LARGER selection now.. (This was their original selection.)

Holy cow, what a selection! I happen to have one about 45 minutes' drive from me (although I am up in the northeast ) and I need to actually go check it out. Specifically because I want to try some silk printing and the crap I bought off Amazon sucks.

With that selection I'd probably drop $500 on new filament.. just seeing all those colors I'd be so overwhelmed! I'd have to grab like 10 rolls to make it worth the drive!

 

[Quiklearner]

@Moonstonemike : I HAVE bought spools off of Amazon, but generally buy off of 3DPrintingCanada or Filaments.ca for the engineering type filaments. i have recently been buying Creality brand HP-PLA and CR-PETG from Great Hobbies of all places... It prints easy and is consistent. MG Chemicals PETG is also decent and is sometimes found cheap at SAYAL Electronics in Markham.

The best advice, I personally, can give you about 3D printing is to get VERY familiar with the mechanical, electrical and software systems on your printer. You will at one point or another, need to give them attention. Don't get discouraged with the 10^23 settings, start basic and make deliberate adjustments when necessary. Keeping notes helps!!!

 

[LudeNation]

I just got a Ender3 s1 pro. Thanks @Tex Koder for helping me choose a printer.
I have to wait a couple more weeks till my birthday to open it though.

I'm looking forward to being a newb and asking you guys all my dumb questions. Hopefully the learning curve isn't too painful.

My question is about dryers. Should I be investing in a filament dryer? If so I have seen a couple different types. Some with fans, some without.
Some with temps up to 45-55deg while others are up to 70deg.

Also am I better off sticking to one material type for a while to learn the mistakes and what changes fix them before testing other materials? What would be a versatile material to learn with pla, pla+, petg?

Thanks

For now I'd say no, stick with PLA+/PRO. Other filaments like TPU,TPE, PETG have steep learning curves.
Get profiles from CHEP or other community members on YouTube.
Cura 5.0 or newer as a slicer.(my opinion)
Get stronger Orange springs(Amazon)so you don't have to lvl the bed as often.
Creality Glass bed & Purple glue sticks.
Then when your tired of leveling you bed get a BL Touch for ABL.
Let me know if you have any questions. I've had my ender 3 for almost 4years now.