Cheapest 3D printer on the market NOW?

[Blackdavid]

Hello guys!

I am a student, with barely any money left for my hobbies. it would help me a lot in my further development to have a 3D printer just for myself I can use, But I simply can't afford it. Even the cheapest ones that are around 300$, are too expensive for me. As I am a full-time student, lving out of my hometown, i have to pay rent, bills, taxes(yep) and food.. Plus, the college i go to!

SO, I am asking you kind guys, what is the cheapest 3D printer I could possibly find on the market now? Doesn't matter if its used, scratched, ugly etc... I don't care not a single bit about the looks of it. I just want t to be functional.
What pricetag can I expect on somethng like this?

[bshadown]

one word of advice, NEVER go on the cheap side you buy cheap you buy twice, nowadays you can find a lot of cheap printers but the quality (or legitimate sometimes) of those can be extremly bad, one example is the cobblebot, they argue the quality and size are great...... is not, that been said, i would sugest either a zortrax (https://zortrax.com/) or an I3 Prusa (http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3/es), you can chose from a plug-and-play printer or a DIY printer both options are great it all depends on your commintment on this type of technology, and remember, the answer depends on who you are asking to.

[Blackdavid]

I know I should never buy cheap things, But I need it, and I have to buy it cheap because there is no other way to have it.. And both of these printers you listed up here are way out of my budget, im sorry.. Thanks for your effort anyways.

[Blackdavid]

Also, If someone could give me an exact parts list what I need to build it, I would most likely be qualified to build it. I just need the exact links to these parts too, because I get lost when I watch all those drivers,LCD's, ramps, 1.4 etc.. I don't have a clue what im buying.

SO if someone could give me some link to all the parts i need to buy, that would be awesome!

[bshadown]

Ok lisent, i know its hard to begin on this world, but even if you buy the exact parts, even cheap ones, most of them will cost you above 300-400 bucks, meabe if you contact geoff he can further help you out, he owns a prusa i3 and as far as i know he is an expert on that type of printer. hope it helps, cheers.

[curious aardvark]

you need to hit ebay and find a smallish printer someone's outgrown.

[Geoff]

Hello guys!

I am a student, with barely any money left for my hobbies. it would help me a lot in my further development to have a 3D printer just for myself I can use, But I simply can't afford it. Even the cheapest ones that are around 300$, are too expensive for me. As I am a full-time student, lving out of my hometown, i have to pay rent, bills, taxes(yep) and food.. Plus, the college i go to!

SO, I am asking you kind guys, what is the cheapest 3D printer I could possibly find on the market now? Doesn't matter if its used, scratched, ugly etc... I don't care not a single bit about the looks of it. I just want t to be functional.
What pricetag can I expect on somethng like this?

The print controller is the part you cant get anywhere else, and that will cost about $80, all the other parts you can salvage except for the hot end, which I have seen now as cheap st $20

[Feign]

While I don't exactly agree with bshadown that cheap automatically is bad, I've got the feeling that a hot end is right up there with parachutes and birth control for things you don't to buy at the rock-bottom cheapest price.

The cheapest fully assembled printer that is on the market (not on crowdfunding) that I can think of is Printrbot Simple. More importantly, I've seen maybe one fifth as many people dissatisfied with it as I have seen bragging about theirs, which is a very nice ratio. The assembled Simple Metal runs at $599, though the Simple Makers Kit (wood frame, not metal) is $349. Granted, both of them are on the small to very small side of things, but the quality I've seen from them is consistently good.

So far though, $500 is the bottom limit for fully assembled printers and $300 for kits. There are kickstarters still in development that promise cheaper, but if you want and want now, then that's the money you gotta spend.

Look at it this way, $500 is the cost of what, three college textbooks these days?


All that textbook money... gone forever...

[bshadown]

Ok, sorry if i sound that cheap is bad, but i just had so many headaches with cheaper things and honestly i got enought of bad and cheap things, and yes Feign you aré right there aré parts that can be salvage but you have to keep looking everywhere sometimes even on the thrash, (yes i got some old printers out of the thrash, the only problem Was a faulty cable) but again it depends on the time and Will you have in order to keep searching

[sam007]

I wont advise you to go for a cheap printer as they lack quality & there cost you more.