Hi,
I am going to buy a 3D printer, there are so many models and prices on the market, how to find a proper one please?
I used in home generally.
Thanks
Adam
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Hi,
I am going to buy a 3D printer, there are so many models and prices on the market, how to find a proper one please?
I used in home generally.
Thanks
Adam
How's your computing/mechanical/electrical skill level?What sort of budget?
basically start with the most money you can afford and where you want to keep it.
They can be both noisy and smelly. The noise levels are rapidly coming down as silent motor srivers become more common. But some filaments still create quite an obnoxious smell.
But the main thing is how much can you afford.
Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin_au
I am a mechanical engineer, and good at DIY, I can make one, but the time...
Willing to spend ~300.
Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by curious aardvark
I was planed around $300? and put into garage. actually I am looking for a quite machine if the smell is inevitable?
- Choose the Right Printing Technology.
- Find the Compatible Material.
- Determine the Size of the Object You Want to Print.
- Consider the Printing Speed.
- Think About Your Skill Level.
- Find a Suitable Location for the Printer.
- Wrap Up.
I'm still trying to work out if mr SKP is a particularly astute Ai spam bot, or an actual person who talks in bulletpoints lol
$300 is an interesting area.
if you buy direct from the chinese market websites you can get a lot more machine than from amazon. But there is usually import tax - so it probably evens out in the long run.
Dollars - right so you're most likely in the states. Okay
This is a jice looking I3, good reviews and all the bits you should look for in an i3 design: https://www.amazon.com/FoKoos-Odin-5...626085&sr=8-14
Looks good.
Don't jump the gun. I am currently considering returning mine because of specific buyer's regret issues that a little more research time may have allowed to avoid.Quote:
Originally Posted by laoadam
Try to figure out how you will definitely use it and how you might like to use it.
For the record I chose a monoprice Voxel and have been very pleased with everything except for two areas . First, the hassle of predicting just how much support my prints will need to not fail and the difficulty in the removing those supports afterwards -a problem area common to all single material FDM printers. Second I am having second thoughts about the small build area having already encountered a few multi-part prints that are most conveniently printed all at once spread out across the surface of the build plate.I have enough misgivings about these two frustrations and the availability of better options to address them that I am even considering returning my printer to buy something that is a better fit even though that is an enormous pain in the arse.
I hope the responses you receive may shed light on my path forward as well.
with the prints where you get an stl file with seperate parts. Most slicers will let you 'ungroup' them and turn them into seperate stl files that you can then print seperately.
But - yep I would say that the larger the build volume you can affor the better - up to a point lol
Large volume cheap printers will have rigidity issues. Likewise some of the large I3's that don't have z-axis bracing will struggle.
But yep, make the effort to buy a machine that will do what you want.
@matt have a look at tenlog IDEX machines: https://www.amazon.com/TENLOG-Indepe...9704798&sr=8-3
you can use soluble supports in one extruder and anything you like in the other. Has 300c hotends for some of the more esoteric plastics.
And a build volume 300*300*350mm /11.8''x11.8''x13.8'' - over 4x the build volume of the voxel.
And just the best mechanical design i3 currently for sale.
Quote:
Originally Posted by curious aardvark
Thank you!
So often I see reviewers commend a printer for a closed build volume that when I see a good printer with an open frame I wish I could put a concrete number or quality on the trade-offs that will entail. I can put up with noise and odor and am certainly willing to make my own enclosure if I can be absolutely certain doing so cannot compromise the quality of the print but I worry about print quality suffering. Is this really that noticeable in practice? Is it perhaps something that is only noticeable in taller (100+mm?) prints?
Would you say the superiority of the Tenlog is so much greater than the qidi- tech xpro that it would be difficult to defend the xpro unless there was absolutely no way to afford the difference? I can compare build volume but I struggle to compare print quality between this, the voxel, and the xpro based on published info and my single data point of printing with the voxel.
The tenlog is unfortunately almost 50% more expensive than was the Voxel, so if I trade in my voxel in order that I may end up with a much better value of a printer I may also end up with very irritated spouse. If it is superior to the voxel in every respect I may be able to smooth that over but more information will certainly help.
350mm isn't that tall so as long as you don't print tall things really fast - the bed moving should not be an issue.
is it superior to the qidi tech x pro.
Tricky question.
Unquestionablt idex are bvetter than single carriage dual exrtrusion.
But other than that they are very different style printers.
The I3 design is a LOT faster than the cartesian sertup of the x-pro.
It's really horses for courses.
I don't really care if a print looks like it came from an injection moulder. If you want that and have a room with air extraction that has no other use - go for a resin printer. For your budget it will be a MUCH smaller print volume - but really smooth prints.
As fara s fdm quality goes - yes the tenlog should matcgh the x-pro. The movement mechanics are better on the tenlog. But you have to contrast with the x pro where the printbed just goes up and down - on the tenlog it moves front to back.
For the much larger print volume, totally silent operation (oh yeah the tenlod makes almost no noise) at least equal print quality and full independant extruders. and much faster prints - go for the tenlog.
For a ready built enclosed print volume with much smaller build area and serious noise (the x-pro is a replicator pro clone - I'm currently sitting next to something very similiar - and it is noisy !) dual extruders that re more trouble than they are worth. But equally good print quality. Get the x-pro.
I can't help you with your spouse :-)
But I suspect the lack of noise from the tenlog - might help a bit :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by curious aardvark
Once again thank you!
This is very helpful!
Apart from spouse hostility to a trade-in in general, the only thing potentially holding me back from the Tenlog now is quality/customer service concerns. I want to be sure that if I pay for it I can at least get a year of functional service from the thing.
You have mentioned eliminating supports with .slt modifications. What is the most intuitive free CAD software you know of for .SLT editing? Do most of your modifications result in a need to glue together your final results along flat surfaces that were resting on the build plate?
Perhaps it is an artifact of the way my voxel does not 100% level with it's single point auto level, but I find that unless I print everything with a raft, prints turn into spaghetti away from the center. Gluing these raft contacting surfaces doesn't always look inconspicuous and in any event I've had my frustrations with lining up glue surfaces in general, not just with 3d printing, anyway and would still like to minimize reliance on slicing as a means of avoiding supports.
haven't printed anything with a raft for about 8 years.
And that's on all my printers.
As long as your printbed is flat - and it sounds like your voxel bed is NOT flat. You should never need to use a raft.
The 'no supports' thing, does depend what you are printing.
I mostly - 90% possibly more. print stuff I've designed in openscad.
There are quite a few tricks you can use.
Printing in different orientations and angles works well.
Made a square card payment widget holder recently, that held the square device and my phone.
because both parts had overhangs I had to design it to print with the centre point at 45 degrees.
I don't do much artistic printing or any figure printing and pretty muich only design and make useful things.
For which, openscad, is probably the best software to use.
It takes a little bit of 'getting your head round how it works'. But once you've done that it's much quicker and easier to design things than with a wysiwig cad program.
As far as customer support goes - yeah I don't honestly think it's relevant with the majority of chinese suppliers. All 3d printers tend to use off the shelf parts - the tenlog just uses better quality parts than most.
Plus everyone has different levels of expectation from a supplier.
And different users will create/find different problems - many of which are often nothing to do with build quality but more with false expectations and lack of experience of the buyer.
So for me - the best way to currently pick a 3d printer is to go for how it's built and what it's built out of - NOT, necessarily, who built it.
Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by SKP Global
I'll think of it.
Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by curious aardvark
I'll check it out.
Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by curious aardvark
a special advice.