3D Printing. Your suggestions and experience?

[roberta05]

Hi there, I want to ask you about 3d printers before buying.

Can anyone recommend a good model for someone who has never used a 3D printer before?
Can printers under 1000$ use with different materials? Such as plastic, wood, leather, acrylic etc. or does it use only one material?
Is it possible to scan and print a model car body???
Can you guide me, please?

Any suggestions and ideas will be pretty appreciated! thanks

Moderator note: moved to the general discussion forum

[printbus]

Welcome to 3DPrintBoard.

A good place to start learning about 3D printing is with an overview guide like this one on 3DPrint - https://3dprint.com/82272/what-3d-printing-works/
That will give you an idea of the different types of 3D printers, an idea of what they can do, etc.

There are a lot of existing threads throughout 3DPrintBoard that discuss printer options. Once we have a better understanding of what you are looking for, someone should be able to help guide you.

As to what a $1000 (USD?) printer can do, again, there are different 3D printing technologies. The least expensive are those that melt one form or another of a plastic filament (ABS, nylon, PLA, PETG, etc.) through an extruder. There are wood-based filaments are out there, but even those have fine wood particles mixed into the filament.

Yes, there are ways to scan 3D objects like model cars, or even people. Depending on the complexity of the object, not all scans will print very easily.

Again, spend some time on research and you'll soon better understand the capabilities and limitations. You might also consider looking for a hackerspace or makerspace in your area. They would already be equipped with 3D printers that you can use, and there would be people there that could help get you going.

[awerby]

You seem to be confusing 3D printing, which is an additive process, with CNC carving or laser cutting, which are subtractive. Nearly all sub-$1000 3D printers only use plastic of one sort or another, which needs to be provided in the form of "filament", essentially plastic wire which comes on spools. This stuff is melted and deposited in thin layers to build up parts.

If you want to start with wood, leather, cast acrylic, etc., then you need to look at different kinds of machines. Laser cutters are good at cutting flat sheets of material; CNC routers and mills can handle thicker pieces, and do 3D carving.

It is possible to scan cars, or model cars, and either print or carve models from the scans. But this requires some extra equipment, software, and expertise.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com