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  1. #1

    Good quality beginners printer - Which of these would you suggest?

    I'm sure you guys get this literally every day haha. I've already done my research though, and it would seem that I've already narrowed it down to the top two choices. It's difficult to now figure out which of these would be the best for me personally though.

    Ender-3x = Seems to be the best of the Ender 3 variants. Mainly because it comes with a couple of upgrades and a glass bed as stock, so I wouldn't need to pay extra to purchase one. Currently it's the same price as an Ender 3 base model, so literally no point not getting it.

    Pro - Lots of people used this, big user base for support and advice etc.
    Con - In order to print with certain materials (such as nylon), it requires a fairly pricey upgrade to a metal hot end.
    Con - Seen some reports of it being unreliable and the print quality being a bit iffy sometimes... but then others say it's great (but they often also add 'for the money' haha)
    Pro/Con - Seems to need a lot of mods to be 'good'. But is also able to be modded relatively easily. Kind of a wash, except it makes its low price deceptive as you have to pay for some of the things it needs.


    Anycubic i3 = Is currently the 'All3dp' websites favorite printer under $300. Which... I mean I don't know if they're reputable/biased or not, but still. Printer gets a lot of good reviews, comparing its print quality to a CR10 and generally seems to be very good for print quality.

    Pro - Great quality out of the box.
    Con - Seems to have a smaller user base, might be harder to get help with issues.
    Con - Also seems to need a hot-end upgrade for nylon etc, but other than that it doesnt seem to 'need' much.
    Con - More expensive (but not a lot more)


    So yeh... looking for accurate and good to use little 3D printer. The Anycubic is more expensive (stock i3 is about the same cost as an upgraded Ender3), but it's not a huge difference and it's close enough that if the printer build quality and print quality is better than it would be worth it to me. But I don't know if it's actually a better printer, or if they're both pretty much the same.

    Hence... I joined this forum!
    (Plus after I get a printer this week I'll probably need lots of help from you guys haha).

    Hopefully someone will chime in with some advice for me

    EDIT:
    Probably should add my use case haha. My first projects will be based around an electric longboard build I'm planning. So prototyping things like motor mounts and battery enclosures. This is why I'm interesting in nylon (or similar) as I may need a very strong and durable material for some of the final builds.
    Last edited by Nirurin; 03-24-2019 at 11:19 PM.

  2. #2
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    8,818
    do not touch ender 3 with a VERY long board !
    terrible design, lots of issues and just don't !

    For nylon you really could do with an enclosed printer.

    have a look at this: https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Rem...r=8-3-fkmrnull

    Not the largest print volume, but as close to plug and play as you can get.
    with the serious bonus of using the flashprint slicer rather than fighting with cura.
    That's because it's actually a rebadged flashforge adventurer 3.

    The anycubic is a much better machine than the ender - but it's still an unenclosed i3, so you'll still have to fight cura and for nylon a heated enclosure is a really good idea.
    Plus on the same site that says there's a new best printer under $300, they also list 16 modifications you should probably do to it.
    Plus both printers use fairly long bowden tubes - an i3 should be direct drive. Bowden setups are fine, but will struggle with the softer, more flexible filaments - like nylon.

    Yeah you can buy simplify3d for a decent slicer - but that pushes the cost up another $100 or so, flashprint is as good as s3d and free, as long as you have a flashforge or compatible printer :-)
    I use it on my klic-n-print replicator clone and I also have simplify3d, but for the knp I prefer flashprint.
    Last edited by curious aardvark; 03-25-2019 at 06:10 AM.

  3. #3
    Engineer-in-Training
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    256
    For strong parts you'll want to print higher temp materials (PETG, ABS, Nylon) which means you'll want a printer with an all-metal hotend. You don't need an an enclosure for PETG, but if you're going to print ABS or Nylon you'll want one. You can build one yourself or buy a printer that is already enclosed.If you're printing nylon you'll also want some sort of dry-box to keep the filament from absorbing moisture.

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