There seems to be quite a few members here now that turn out amazing objects with their 3D printers. If you could tell us about your printer, the good and bad, consumables used and what you thought, programs used and any other information you think would be useful to novices like me and many others here.
I’ll keep tabs here about the different types of printers with a link to your post which you may want to include links to anything you have made etc.
I went thru this, what your OP wants… raw infomation on 3d printing and equipment. Whats the bare bones, what the “range of the middle” for intermediate use and cost and convenience and ability, and whats the “actual” quality that gives you “x” to get some particular use you have in mind done.
its all over the map when i tried, and i really dont know THAT much more than before i asked here.
SOME guys actually “like” their 200-500 dollar unit, and can show you cool stuff they made with it.
OTHER guys explain the need or usefulness of theit 550 dollsr unit vs someone elses 300 unit.
I’m sure SOMEone here feels that anything under 1000 dollars is chinese junk, best avoided, and has the cool one.
shrugs
I am FINALLY in a position to BUY ONE, and…. i know precious little than I did befoire asking, and watching their conversations develop. I know i can LIVE without one? But… i have needs that need fulfilled with fabrication, and really this looks like the best tool for certain jobs. And why lie? There is a “toy factor” involved because i think they are simply “neato”.
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i THINK, not “know”… i THINK this is like my LATHE… I went with bottom of the line chinese, a HF 7x10… because with startup tooling needed adding to the purchase cost, and my bad patch for money at the time i pulled the trigger? I had to roll with it.
now that i can reflect? The experience actually owning even my toy lathe, and actually making “real parts”, is worth it for the investment alone… even if i had to sell it and buy a big one? my education was invaluable. I am continually still amazed at what i CAN accomplish with it, rather than concentrating on what i CANT do… which is spin something over a certain size, or use a shaft thickness of TOOL too thick i get over centerline when i cant go that high for the operation, and my piece length is compromised moreso when i need the tailstock on.
my best GUESS and HUNCH is that the 3d printer world is identical in philosophy to this small lathe.But, until i start DATING a 3d printer? i cant tell you anything that means more than an opinion of a non-owner. i will watch this thread with GREAT INTEREST in case you can get information otuof them i couldnt, or, maybei got theinfo i needed, and too nooby to grasp it yet.
shrugs
If you are interested in 3D Printing I would check if you have a fablab or similar nearby.
Google it or look in the list http://fablabs.io/
If you could get along to a HackerSpace open day, you’d be able to get a bit of hands-on with a machine, & be able to discuss with other people who use them.
They have an open day on the 6th, with a 3D printing session.
TONS of forums out there on 3D printers.
I remember being in the same boat a while back. Had NO CLUE what to get or why. I just kept asking and asking until I “thought” I had enough answers to make a proper decision. Ultimately I got exactly what I needed…at an excellent price. 
The only thing I could say is just try to get a printer with a bed that is at least 6 x 9 inches because if it’s much smaller, you’re very limited to what you can make (build)
Also, a printer that uses 1.75 filament is most common and what I have. Try to get one with a heated print bed. I think that is VERY important.
As far as print precision, mine has a precision of 100 microns. That’s fairly common but good if you print in detail (and you’ll want too).
You can get much better precision, but truthfully, it jumps the price up a good bit and you probably won’t need more precision unless you are an engineer working on commercial prototyping.
Don’t forget that anything you print needs a CAD file. You can either make your own if you can do 3D CAD modeling or there are thousands of files available for download free at thingverse.com
As far as printers……
I know this one well and it is VERY good for the money……
MonoPrice 3D printer
Here’s another one, lower priced, that is nearly identical in terms of specifications….
3D Printer for $363.00 US
Ultimately tho, you’ll have to do your own research and get one that seems to suit your needs and tastes best.
All I can say is, when you finally pull the trigger, I’m fairly certain you’ll be glad you did. 3D printers are FAR more useful than I had imagined when I was first looking at them. I’ve been able to make my own replacement parts for many household things that normally would have to be re-purchased. I’ve also made a boatload of gadgets that make everyday life just easier and more convenient. The possibilities are endless.
It’s one of things that once you have and know how to use, you’ll never want to be without one again. A fantastic tool. Not just a “toy”.
To be honest, I’ve actually made and sold enough items with my 3D printers to more than pay for them
I’m currently rocking a Makerfarm Prusa i3v 12”printer. It’s got the hexagon hot end set up for 1.75mm filament and uses the RUMBA controller based on the ATMega. It will print up to a 12x12x12 cube. I haven’t ever put it to that challenge, but I have made a few things over 8” wide and tall. I can tell you that having a hotend that can exceed 230°c is a benefit. Some of them have PTFE liners which can melt/deform when printing ting with higher temp materials like ABS or Nylon. I have a heated build plate with a special substrate called LokBuild. It was a Kickstarter project I saw and it works flawlessly for everything I have wanted to print. If you just want to go with a basic PLA printing, then you won’t need a heated plate and simple blue painters tape works great for printing on. I need to replace one of the linear screws on my z-axis as it’s got a slight bend and it transfers to the print as it moves vertically. Looking back I could have gotten away with a smaller printer, but it is nice every now and then to have the capability to print larger objects. As far as software goes, I tend to use Cura or Slic3r. Cura has a nicer interface, but slic3r seems to have more fine tuning and options. When I make my own designs for objects, I use 123d Design. It’s got just about the same usability as Autodesk and it’s free.
All in all, it is definitely a worthwhile investment. If you are like me, then getting a kit will teach you more about the design and operation of the printer more than you’ll ever learn by buying a prebuilt one or reading online. Just something about putting it together and programming the controller really made it click for me.
Thanks for all the info guys. So whats the advantage of the heated plate?
Heated bed helps prints to stick. Getting things to stick to build plate is one of the first problems you encounter after assembly.
In order to build straight the lowest first layer had to stick permanently to the ground. You print with hot material, which is expanded, when it’s cooling it shrinks, that brings tension in your material.
That can result in
- separate the object from the table while printing, or
- a slanted object
- warping
- lifted edges
The bad effect s are more with ABS lesser with PLA material. There are other methods to get your stuff stick, but a heated bed is the nicest.
So in the end you want a heated bed.
Thanks for the explanation joechina. :+1:
I’ll just add a link to what I wrote in another thread a while back in case you missed that one:
The Prusa mk2 is quite expensive, but the quality of the parts, the support and the capabilities are a lot better than the china copies. On the other hand, if you begin with a cheap machine you will be forced to learn a lot more, so it really depends on if you want another hobby (fixing your 3d-printer) or actually print stuff… 
+1 on Fab Lab.
You may also want to check out your local community college. Many have 3D printers, non-credit 3D printing classes, and open lab times.
3D printer prices have dropped to dang near manufacture prices…it’s crazy
If I knew what I know now then…and it was available…I would have bought the Ender-3 rather than the Anet A8…
If I had the money…I would have probably gone CR-10…
If you’re printing with PLA normally you don’t really need a hot plate. I have an inexpensive printer from MicroCenter and it works just fine. The old trick of lining the bed with blue painter’s tape works. Some folks use a glue stick to coat the tape or bed, but I never found that necessary. It’s when you get into plastics that melt with higher temps, that a hot plate helps, because if those cool off too fast they’ll warp and peel off the bed. Machines with a heated bed and enclosed build chamber are good because they keep a more even climate around the part - but again, only really necessary if you’re printing in the higher temp materials.
The newest Prusa printers are nice because they use a newer controller board with Trinamic stepper drivers - they have some great features like sensorless stall detection, and a super quiet “whisper” mode. The Prusa printers also detect when you’re out of filament and stop the machine for you to reload. They come at a steep price however, but the extrusions are far better than the flimsy lasered plywood stuff of yore.
If you want super high resolution and surface quality, and are not printing large things, an SLA printer maybe the way to go. But it requires expensive UV curing resins, a UV “oven” and an ultrasonic cleaner and isopropyl alcohol to clean excess resin. But the parts look almost as good as injection-molded parts.
I recently bought an Anet A8, but after all the safety mods I’d have been better going for an Ender-3. Although the A8 does a good job.
Not done much printing yet. I’m still learning the software to make my own stuff. I also have the CT data from a scan of my sternum and would like to print my rib cage at some point.
I’ve used an Ultimaker 2 a lot, a few monoprice printers, a prusa and had some parts printed on $$$$$$ Stratasys machines.
Honestly, they all seem to require tinkering, kicking, swearing at and loads of frustration. Though, I suspect some of the really cheap ones are just REALLY bad.
IMHO, a heated build plate is a required “feature”. I don’t really have a preference on 2.85mm or 1.75mm filament. I’ve heard that the larger is better for really big and fast printing but then again, I don’t think the Ultimaker can really handle that type of use.
A friend of mine designed and built his own that has hardware with more in common to a cnc router than a 3d printer and honestly, it shows but most people aren’t willing to plunk down $6k for a 12x12x12 print volume machine. He also had two print heads which enables the machine to use dissolvable support interface material which can be a pain as it basically requires a heated ultrasonic cleaner and NaOH to remove but it does result in some really nice parts.
I forgot that I used to deal with parts that came off SLA machines and while the parts did look pretty good, even those weren’t dimensionally perfect. They typically came out smaller than drawn in the vertical axis.
My local Fab Lab has a collection of Ultimaker 2+ and one 3.
A bunch of the hard core users bought Ender3 kits for 175€. They are very satisfied with the results from the cheap printer. They say Ender3 prints on par and better as the Ultis.
Built time of a kit is 1 hour and easy.
I have been working with a Ender 3 for the last 8 months. It is super affordable and if you are a little handy or feel the need to upgrade in the future there are a lot things you can do with it. Mine was $220 and I have been super happy with it. I did have adheason issues until I went to plane glass.
(Order on Amazon to get a good price and so if something is messed up from the factory you can return.)
I am still making basic things. One thing that you have to learn to do is calibrate your build surface each time. If you don’t want to calibrate look in to getting a BLTouch, I don’t have one as I am still learning all about my printer. Think about what you are printing and don’t be afraid to just go for it.
Most printers from the factory will need to have some things printed out so the printer can / will function better after you are up and running. Filament guides, tool trays, spool holders, shrouds, ect…
i bought Anycubic kossel plus few months ago. it’s a great machine, large print volume, great linear movement, wire management is good
but there is some drawback, the biggest one is the fan, there are 2 fan, 1 fan for cooling the print, and it’s too underpower, and 1 fan to cool the e3d extruder, and it’s way over power and noisy, but after few mods, i’m please now
another drawback is it uses a4988 as stock driver, so it’s very noisy when printing, but after changing it to TMC2208, i can finally sleep in peace
I have a Kossel Plus too. Apart from minor adjustment, printing with it is a charm. It provides a great price/performance ratio. It isn’t my first printer, that’s why I decided to buy this kit. However, it easy assembly process makes it ideal even for rookies.
I mainly use it to 3D print figures and car models with PLA, wood filaments and even HIPS. It comes with an automatic leveling system that grants optimum results at any time, a killer-feature considering its price.
I agree with mrheosuper, the Kossel Plus is a little bit noisy. I suggest installing it in a workshop rather than in living areas. However, moving to TMC2208 stock driver is a valuable solution, considering the price of the printer.