Newbie looking for first printer!?

Hi guys

I'm currently looking to purchase my 1st 3D printer.

My budget is around £600 (I don't mind paying a little more for the right printer) & would like something that makes good quality prints. The prints I will be making will be custom parts/pieces for my RC Model scale boat parts, nothing major as the parts will be mostly static/cosmetic pieces, but detail is a must! & my Mrs will also be using the printer to make cosplay pieces!

Any help much appreciated! like I say I'm after something that makes good quality prints, the ones that have cought my eye so far is the following:

Prusa i3 MK3S (comes in kit or prebuilt form) I don't mind the kit as I do a lot of model making etc (hence why I want a 3D printer!)

Creality CR 10 MAX 3D Printer (larger prints) but read mixed reviews on this?

I also want a printer that is pretty straight forward to use & doesn't require a degree in science to operate!!

Any info much appreciated!

Thanks :)

If you've read mixed reviews on the Creality, you've probably found consistently good reviews for the Prusa i3 MK3s. Depending on how patient you are, there's hints of a Prusa Max printer, to compete with the larger models on the market, but likely with Prusa's reputation behind it. I've built a Prusa i3 MK2s and it was quite enjoyable. I understand from a fellow makerspace member that the MK3 is even easier to build. Prusa support is excellent too.

yeah the hardest part of building a prusa is actually getting the thing in the first place.
prusa seem to be the only printer manufaxcturer who is always playing catchup.
They always have more orders than stock.

It's not the largest build volume - but you'll be surprised just how much you can fit in.
If you've got the money - get one.

It might also be worth olooking at the prusa mini - slightly smaller build volume, but almost half the price.
I mean the mk3s is the better option, but the mini is also a good buy.

My opinion on how creality design machines are well known round here :-) Any company that deliberately designs sub-standard machines should be avoided, untill they stop doing so.

So - yep absolutely go prusa.

It's not just that they are great machines, but you get a proper manual - that is actually correct (very rare). Can't recall anyone complaning about their after sales service either.

Creality makes very capable printers contrary to what Aardvark says. There are literally tens of thousands of satisfied Creality owners world wide, over 60,000 on the Creality users Facebook page alone, and that doesn't include the tens of thousands that aren't members on the page. But that fact seems to be completely ignored here. But you'll read more about that shortly as I'm sure there will be a reply to this comment.

The advice given above regarding the Prusa is correct. They are one of the best out there, no doubt about it. If you have the money and the desire to get one I don't think you'll regret it.If you want a bigger build area or don't want to spend the money on a Prusa, Creality has some fine offerings. The CR10 family is a good start. I am currently running a CR10s Pro V2 and it has been running flawlessly since day one. You will get mixed reviews for all brands of printers. 3D printing is a finicky business and if someone screws something up, they blame the printer, not their lack of knowledge, screwed up building of the printer or their heavy handed handling of the printer.

I always recommend speaking with a reputable dealer that sells multiple brands of 3D printers over asking for recommendations on a forum. They can give you the good, the bad, and the ugly of different printers and brands and help you choose one that will suit your needs. A good retailer is also a great resource while you are learning as well.

Some folks on here are heavily biased against Creality and always talk about engineering and design, but as I mentioned above they completely ignore the fact that tens of thousands of satisfied users print great quality prints with these printers every day.

We are not the one ignoring the facts :-)

Haha, you are unbelievable Aardvark. I wish I had a knowledge as superior as yours that can negate what tens of thousands of people prove every day.

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Originally Posted by 686 Shooter

Creality makes very capable printers contrary to what Aardvark says. There are literally tens of thousands of satisfied Creality owners world wide, over 60,000 on the Creality users Facebook page alone, and that doesn't include the tens of thousands that aren't members on the page. But that fact seems to be completely ignored here. But you'll read more about that shortly as I'm sure there will be a reply to this comment.

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Quick reality check. Facebook support groups are not places where people go to brag on how great their stuff is. Because if it was that great and they were having that good of a time with it then they should be spending time making things and not posting on social media, right? Rather it is where they all go to find help for the things they can not resolve on their own. I am a member of a handful of these groups just to help out and give back and maybe you should go back to your creality F.B. page and run a post/poll to see how many would actually buy that printer again. I do not own a Creality machine. They are problematic but not enough for my tastes. Just because there are that many machines made and sold does not begin to imply that there are anywhere near as many satisfied customers. But we all know today that you are happy with your Creality. 60k on a f.b. support group sounds scary. Because nobody buys a 3d printer to make posts on social media, right? Everybody buys a 3d printer to make stuff out of plastic. Which is way different than posting on social media. I think that is a whole lot of people trying to find specific help. What are your thoughts on this subject?

Of course not everyone n there will be happy. So your logic on this is all the people people who discuss filaments, nozzles, slicers, show their latest prints or designs, or just want to discuss 3d printing in general are only part of this Facebook group because their printers are junk? And if you post a question or ask for assistance with a problem on Facebook it means your printer is junk?

I guess that loguc also says that the 38,000 members of the Original Josef Prusa i3/MK2/S/3/SL1 Owners group on Facebook all own garbage printers as well because otherwise they'd be printing and not posting on Facebook

I'm sorry but I fail to see your logic on the Facebook thing.

I'm just saying that claiming large numbers in a support group is not exactly the best way to show how successful something is. And I am sorry you do not get that logic. Claiming how many are sold or how vast the aftermarket parts support is or how many different flavors are available or even prices going up over time all are all great ways to demonstrate the success of a product. It is troubling that the first thing you can think of to show the greatness of Creality is the size of it's support groups. And I would like to postulate, if I may, that maybe your first thought on Creality being of a support group speaks volumes in and of itself, no?

Its a user group, not a support group. Its for people who use Creality printers to discuss and share all aspects of them. You seem to think it is only for problems and I don't see where you are getting this idea from.

Your bias and inability to understand how a user group works speaks volumes in and of itself, no?

Regardless, I will bow down to your and Aardvarks superior knowledge. All Creality printers are garbage and thier users are idiots for not realizing this. I will no longer defend Creality printers or the users of them on this forum.

Bash away gentlemen. You and your printers are truly superior do you deserve to do so.

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Originally Posted by 686 Shooter

...your printers are truly superior...

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Ya they are, Thank You for noticing. I do try my hardest. Like me they are all one of a kind. And I have been at it for a while, now. I currently have Old Blue..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/VXpU4A.jpg
Printalicious..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/H9as9v.jpg
Big Red..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/onnRjg.jpg
And I don't have a name as of yet, but there is this absolutely huge TronXY printer I am currently building and have come this far on..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/wq8WU5.jpg
Really, Thank You for noticing. I don't think I would have used 'superior' to describe my own machines. But it does sound nice. I am a member of many of your 'user groups' on F.B. They are support groups, buddy. Make-up, bikini's, and camera's are for showing off on social media. 3D printers are for making things with plastic. If you bought one and are very happy with it then that would imply that you are happily occupied in your spare time with 3d design software and slicer software and on thingiverse and exploring the incredible world of rapid prototyping. If you bought a 3d printer and find yourself dwelling on social media in a group it is most likely because you haven't found the joy you were looking for in your initial purchase. And if you bought a 3d printer just to show off and dwell on social media, well, you probably would have been better off with the make-up, bikini, and camera.

Wow dude. You need to come out of your mom's basement once in a while. There's a whole world out there. You may even meet a girl. No let's not get too far ahead. Just start by leaving the basement.

People with lives do more than 3D print and actually enjoy interacting with others, both on social media and face to face.

And I have to ask, why are you wasting time on here? You mustn't be finding the joy you were looking for in your printers. Otherwise you would be enjoying the incredible world of rapid prototyping right now, not showing off and dwelling on an internet forum.

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Originally Posted by 686 Shooter

Wow dude. You need to come out of your mom's basement once in a while. There's a whole world out there. You may even meet a girl. No let's not get too far ahead. Just start by leaving the basement.

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Ya so here is a picture of my 3 children helping me build the new Geeetech i3 Pro B (Old Blue) when we first got it back in early 2016..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/0i6t1h.jpg
And here is a picture of my youngest son, Drew, helping me print an entire i3 printer a year later..
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/zXC13Z.jpg

Because as a father of 3 my hobbies are teaching skills to my kids. I am here to help others in whichever way I can. be it directly or from ideas posted up on things to build or ways to rework these printers. And For each rework I have, there is a thingiverse page to go along complete with every design I drew up free for any and all to download and print out at will. And each of these printers also has a build thread here so any and all can even see an example of each piece and part being installed. I am no CA or Spegelius but I try to do my part.

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Originally Posted by AutoWiz

\Because if it was that great and they were having that good of a time with it then they should be spending time making things and not posting on social media, right? Because nobody buys a 3d printer to make posts on social media, right? Everybody buys a 3d printer to make stuff out of plastic. Which is way different than posting on social media.

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People do go on social media to discuss things and show off their creations and accomplishments, not just to complain as you believe. I share my knowledge and experience and have also learned a lot from Facebook groups. I also have made many friends that share the same interests as I do. It's a lot of fun. The vast majority people on those groups are not opinionated and derogatory, regardless of the brand or model of printer you use.

It is awesome that you include your children, but if you are teaching them not to discuss their passions and share their accomplishments, even on social media, and to just sit and "make things out of plastic" I truly feel sorry for them, and you. Sharing with others is one of the greatest parts of this hobby. By sitting here with a closed mind and an I know better than you attitude, it is robbing you of a part of this hobby as rewarding as when a long complex print completes perfectly. You may not be physically in your moms basement, but you are there mentally. And that is worse.

I am done with this forum. Don't bother replying, I won't see it. I want to be part of an inclusive community that truly wants to provide the best information they can to it's members. This forum is not that kind of community. And that's a shame because it could be a great place to share our passion for 3D printing.

Moderator, if you read this please delete my account for this forum.

We can beat a dead horse. You can have the last word. I am good with that. But we can't leave things on your hateful and inaccurate accusations about me, bro. I have been accused of many things in my days but closed minded has never been one of them. I am pretty sure any thread I have running any where should do a good job of proving that. And aside from your hate speech we need to correct your understanding on F.B. support groups and places where you would go to show off or share your generalized 3d printing ideas. Because the F.B. groups are a group of people that own that exact model 3d printer. This statement means 2 things. First that you are appealing to a very small niche when you could be trying to reach out to a much larger group for generalized 3d printing ideas. But also it generally means you won't be impressing anybody with what they could be doing themselves. For the last time F.B. support groups are for that and there i guess you could practice showing off or sharing ideas with such a small community? But when you are serious about sharing general 3d printing ideas or showing off then you will find a much larger base and of people without exactly what you own to appeal to. F.B. support groups are awesome. And I am on many. But generalized forums are a better place for sharing the general ideas and showing off because they will always be a much larger base. People reach out to the small community of their own when they need help understanding what they are struggling with. And those will always be the people you are trying to show off to and impress in these groups. But in the generalized forums out there you will consistently find people with real knowledge to bounce ideas off of.

I'm a brand new member and printer user. Kinda strange that the first topic I read, makes me want to get some popcorn.

lol - in any online group or forum you will always get those who have ideas set in concrete and insist on belittling and insulting those who disagree with them, without ever explaning or backing up their opinions with any kind of evidence or facts.

Personally I like reasoned argument. If you have an opinion different to mine - convince me I'm wrong and I'll change my mind.
686shooter did not have a mind capable of changing.

We are exactly the type of community he claimed to want - but in reality was not really looking for.
And no, I will not remove his account to 'sanitise' the forum.

c'est la vie. As they say in canada (and possibly even france)

So, what flavour popcorn ? ;-)

Salt and theater butter (lots) will be fine, thank you.

I'm a well versed forum user, and have been online since the time Merit freenet (late 70s). Before good ole AOL.
Nothing surprises me on the net. :)

Hello and welcome to the group. It's not always drama in here. Sometimes we try to help and convince others they need to re engineer their printers with new hardware. You know, spreadin' the good word and stuff.

Ah the sound of a dial up modem trying to connect to a bulletin board.
Nostalgia - and I really do not miss it lol

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

Ah the sound of a dial up modem trying to connect to a bulletin board.
Nostalgia - and I really do not miss it lol

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I ran the Hartland Pride BBS (Wildcat under OS/2) for 14 years. The Inet became available and my calls on the 3 line system went to 1 or 2 a day.
Time to close it.

You can try Lotmaxx sc-10 shark.


The Lotmaxx SC-10 Shark is an incredibly well-built and reliable printer out of the box, which makes it perfect for beginners. With easy to use features like a flexible heated build plate and handheld touchscreen, in my experience, there were zero tweaks required to get amazing prints. That's an incredible achievement for any printer, let alone one at this price point. I've tried a lot of 3D printers over the years, and almost none of them have "just worked". Full marks for the core package.


The Lotmaxx SC-10 Shark doesn't compromise on build quality, yet it's also easy to use, works out of the box for reliable prints, and is very reasonably priced. It even has a selection of upgrades available, able to turn it into a dual-color extruder, or even a laser engraver.

BIQU B1 3D Printer TFT35 V3.0 Touch Screen SKR V1.4 32 Bit Dual Operat – Biqu Equipment is a great printer to start with. It comes with all the good electronics. color dual mode touchscreen, 32 bit controller, silent drivers, and a simple aluminum extrusion frame. Upgrades for this machine would be linear rails n guides to replace the rubber v-wheels and a second Z stepper motor. It also appears it would be rather easy to stretch any of the axes.

well the Lotmaxx sc-10 shark - looks like an ender 3 clone and is a kickstarter project - so not available to actually purchase and own yet.

On principle and experience I'd advise against most kickstarter projects.
They often take a long long time to arrive, if they arrive at all.

bear in mind that a kickstarter 'purchase' is NOT a purchase at all.
You are giving the company money with no actual guarentee of any good in return. It's almost a charitable donation.

Yes I have 'bought' a kickstarter printer that never arrived - and I'd actually waited until the campaign was finished and the machines had started to ship.

But it's mainly because it's not an actual buyer-seller transaction. You are simply gicving money to someone with no legal guarentee that you will ever get anything in return.

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Originally Posted by claudiaok1997

I always recommend speaking with a reputable dealer that sells multiple brands of 3D printers over asking for recommendations on a forum. They can give you the good, the bad, and the ugly of different printers and brands and help you choose one that will suit your needs. A good retailer is also a great resource while you are learning as well.

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Wait. Did you just imply there are 3d printer brick and mortar stores where all these makes of printers sit on shelves to be sold? Buddy, that simply is not how this industry works. And brick and mortar stores are going away as a whole anyway. Even the online stores that sell multiple brands of 3d printers do not carry inventory nor have shelves of these different printers on display like some sort of tv display at wall mart. That is not even plausible for these printers that are so cheap and all come completely unassembled. They use drop shipping and never see the box of the things they sell. And so even the 'stores' of which you speak will refer to reviews and forums for their own information on which printer is better. At best they could tell you which sells better from first hand experience but that only implies which is the cheaper to buy. Unfortunately that is the sad reality in todays world. But you know, don't get me wrong, I popped a little woody for a minute when I thought about a store we could walk into and see all of the printers of the day built and working for comparison. But then it fell flaccid and I began to chuckle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

well the Lotmaxx sc-10 shark - looks like an ender 3 clone and is a kickstarter project - so not available to actually purchase and own yet. On principle and experience I'd advise against most kickstarter projects. They often take a long long time to arrive, if they arrive at all. bear in mind that a kickstarter 'purchase' is NOT a purchase at all. You are giving the company money with no actual guarentee of any good in return. It's almost a charitable donation. Yes I have 'bought' a kickstarter printer that never arrived - and I'd actually waited until the campaign was finished and the machines had started to ship. But it's mainly because it's not an actual buyer-seller transaction. You are simply gicving money to someone with no legal guarentee that you will ever get anything in return.

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I am taken by the price tag to build envelope ratio. 2 filament printing is cool. Today 3 or more is better. A laser engraver is cool. And as much as they are to buy and add onto any other printer there is just no justification for $439 for 235x235x265. It is just absurd in todays world. Almost as absurd as leaving the weight of a laser engraver on the gantry while you are just 3d printing or leaving the weight of the dual extruder hotend on the gantry while you are laser engraving. And if anybody ever wondered no you do not laser engrave printed plastic. Nor do you print plastic over what you etch with a laser. But the cool and unrelated add on accessories has given me a million dollar idea. A cartesian 3d printer with a fleshlight attached to the heated bed so as the bed warms it warms and as the Y slides back and forth you get happy no matter what the printer does. And I bet I could get $439 for making even the worst failed print a good experience.

The phrasing and lack of presence on the forum leads me to believe this is a bot generated response. It's barely on topic, although better than some posts I've seen. The post count says 2, but I can't find the "other" one, which may have been another bot post.

I agree with you; the concept is unrealistic. Even though Home Depot sells Dremel 3D printers, it's unlikely there's available a qualified associate to explain or caution a prospective purchaser.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AutoWiz

Wait. Did you just imply there are 3d printer brick and mortar stores where all these makes of printers sit on shelves to be sold? Buddy, that simply is not how this industry works. And brick and mortar stores are going away as a whole anyway. Even the online stores that sell multiple brands of 3d printers do not carry inventory nor have shelves of these different printers on display like some sort of tv display at wall mart. That is not even plausible for these printers that are so cheap and all come completely unassembled. They use drop shipping and never see the box of the things they sell. And so even the 'stores' of which you speak will refer to reviews and forums for their own information on which printer is better. At best they could tell you which sells better from first hand experience but that only implies which is the cheaper to buy. Unfortunately that is the sad reality in todays world. But you know, don't get me wrong, I popped a little woody for a minute when I thought about a store we could walk into and see all of the printers of the day built and working for comparison. But then it fell flaccid and I began to chuckle.

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That's ridiculous,please send your name and shippping address to support@lotmaxx.com to check. All the supporters’ machines have been sent out.

Yes,laser engraving can be used on plastic.but need to adjust the laster power.the laser engraving usually used on wood and leather.

I said Printed plastic and no you wouldn't laser engrave a printed part unless you just hit your head or were otherwise having problems with your ability to think logically. I mean you would design your part to print the way you wanted it in the first place. Multi purpose is cool but it is better with a changeable toolhead so you aren't slinging around all that weight. The way that machine is configured it isn't the best of both worlds but rather it is more like a jack of all trades that is a master of none. If it were setup so that the hotend were removed for laser engraving and vice versa then the X carriage can be A LOT smaller and you can have a bigger build envelope with the same footprint or external dimensions of your rig. I mean having the 2 fixed together is cool only if they can work together on the same project but two completely separate things that together hurt each other's individual performance hard linked like that is just inefficient at it's absolute best. I mean from an engineering point of view.