Don't hate me - Buying 1st Printer

[curious aardvark]

The only issue i know of with the mk3 - and this was back in spetember, so may no longer be a 'thing' - is the head collision setting doesn't always work.

I know this as I tried it at the tct show in september and if they'd been allowed to hit me - the prusa booth staff would have tried :-)
There is a video of thomas sanladerer (I will spell his surname correctly one day, most likely by accident) intervieweing josef prusa. Josef grab the exctruder of a running mk3, Holds it still for a bit and lets go. The machine then resets, and continues on printing. Magic stuff !
But if the collision tech is switched off in the firmware, - because it doesn't work well - when you grab the head, it just buggers the print up and people get annoyed at you ;-)

I suspect I was not the first person to do it - which would explain the sheer hostility from the booth staff lol

[Boundless]

I'm buying a Ender 3 right now due to my uncle having one and liking it alot.

I'm doing it for two reasons. Its cheap AF lol. And this gives me a great thing to practice with. I am still buying the Prusa mk3s in under a month so this Ender 3 is honestly almost pointless but I'm doing it anyway. I was gonna do the pro but by the time it can ship I'll probably have ordered the Prusa already then the Ender would be very very pointless.

[curious aardvark]

one of the old members (marm maybe?) did a lot of abs printing and 85c was what he always recommended.
I think the basic idea is that you need to be just over the glass point of the material to avoid the bottom couple of layers cooling sufficiently to shrink, but not hot enough to make it so soft that you will get material slumpage. Which will have aripple effect throughout the entire print.

It's why I generally print pla on a 65c bed.
Just seems to stick better.

But basically 85c seems to be the best for abs.
So any machine with a 100c print bed will - technically - print abs.
But it is NOT a good 3d printer filament.

pla, pet-g and all the newer materials are ALL better.

Oh yeah here's the skinny on the mini:

[airscapes]

one of the old members (marm maybe?) did a lot of abs printing and 85c was what he always recommended.
I think the basic idea is that you need to be just over the glass point of the material to avoid the bottom couple of layers cooling sufficiently to shrink, but not hot enough to make it so soft that you will get material slumpage. Which will have aripple effect throughout the entire print.

Interesting, I will give it a try and see, should would be faster than waiting for 110C to be reached!

[curious aardvark]

it's creality - so no support, potentially sub-standard parts and just generally lots little issues that people seem to have with them.

There is a difference between a first time buyer wgho does not have existing cnc or mechanical skills and someone buying a second 3d printer or who is au-fait and happy to tinker with mechanical and electronic processes.

So when recommending a first printer to someone who doesn't want to build one from scratch and thinks the manufacturer might help them if they have a problem.
Certain brands and machines should definitely be avoided.

yes creality are huge and make an awful lot of machines.
Some actually work quite well.
A lot don't and even with their bigger I3's that now have dual z-axis motors, they STILL use a bowden tube.
That will give you more issues than an i3 with a direct drive extruder.
The single central rail with sideways wheels as the only support for a large and heavy print bed, will potentially give you more issues than side support rails with bearings.

All these are things I try and take into account when recommending a machine as hassle free as I can find.
Until creality stop making engineeringly dodgy machines - I can't in all conscience recommend them.

[Govard45]

I am just about to buy an Ender 3. I am new to the 3D Printing topic and I would love to have some help by choosing an Ender for me.I thought about buying the Ender 3 Pro because I have seen that there is not a big price difference anymore. But then I stumbled upon a deal that includes the Ender 3 X, with a Glass Plate Platform and the V1.1.5 Super Silent mainboard.Now I don't know if I should get the 3X or the Pro Version.Could someone please help me out? Thanks a lot in advance.To the prices:- Ender 3 is 209 USD- Ender 3X withe a Glass Plate and three extra Nozzles is 219 USD- Ender 3 X, with the Glass Plate Platform and the V1.1.5 Super Silent mainboard for 229 USD- Ender 3 Pro for 239 USD

[curious aardvark]

DO NOT BUY AN ENDER 3

It is a fundamentally flawed design.

If you want a decent I3 - by which I mean with the riginal Prusa design features that creality dispensed with.
Then a monoprice maker select plus (a rebadged wanhao i3 plus) Is about as close as you get without going direct to prusa.

The other one worth looking at would be one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Geeetech-Pr....c100009.m1982
It's also an original prusa i3 design.
Looking at it they've actually done most of the mods I had to do to my 2019 model.

It will need a lot less tinjering than an ender, and will print considerably faster and with better quality.
Oh and it's less than $150 :-)