3d Printers

[Alan W.]

My son has one that he modified to print with a larger variety of plastics. He even has a heated tent to cover his printer for one type of plastic. Like all things you can spend to your hearts content.
There are sites that have lots of printable designs to download for free.
Here is a few things that hi has made for me.
Handles for my HF quick hitch.
Bucket handles and
Mount for exhaust fan.

 

[Root Cause]

Prusa is one of the most popular out there but they sell direct. You won't see them on amazon. doubt you would see one on C'list because of their ease of use and customer service.

Bought one 2 years ago. You can buy it assembled but I chose to build it as they recommended. It helps to understand it. I searched for maintenance instructions or weak links and there is little to do. It is robust.

Grandson made a fancy cell phone holder with gears. I have made 20v/12v holders for batteries and holders to mount both 20 and 12v drills and other tools vertically.

There are websites out there to make endless things and alone that is fun for a while.
For me, it was putting an idea into motion. That requires software. There are many free ones out there but you have to take a little time to learn that. If you or a young person has the desire, there is no reason one cannot learn to 3D software and make ideas into things. Great for prototypes or fixing a broken knob etc.

(I do have a machinist background and have done design work for a living so this was a bit easier but I also watched my Grandson put the printer together with my help and when he saw a model on the screen turn into a part, the lightbulb came on. That was fun to watch.

Back to Prusa. They have a great website. Others help each other. If you get stuck, send a picture or a video and customer service will get you on track soon enough.

The only bad thing is that they are always back ordered so you may need to see if they can still ship by Christmas.

 

[Root Cause]

Paulsharvey,

I wouldn't knock an ender. I had some co-workers who had them. However, they ended up in the closet when they encountered problems.
From my very limited exposure, I would expect that you will be more involved to get the kinks out. There are many videos for enders that will help.

For a kid, it might be the perfect solution to see if it is a toy that is quickly discarded like other toys or if it grabs their attention.

 

[Skeans1]

Another good option is a CR-10 V3 it works out of the box, the only thing I’ve changed on this machine so far has been the extruder as well as the hot end so I can run higher temps to go with the higher speeds I run at. If I’m looking for a beginners printer I’m looking for something with a direct drive extruder vs a Bowden drive system, with the direct drive you will have an easier time tuning the printer as well as the use of different materials is greater.

One of the better upgrades available for any printer is a raspberry pi with something like Octoprint, or what I run Klipper with Fluidd as the webhost. For firmware Marlin works fine as is great for beginners, but when you want to speed stuff up Klipper is the way to go with the same parts I have been able to double the speeds all the way around without any lose of quality.

Resin vs FDM they both have their places I run both for functional parts, that said the detail that a resin setup can produce is mind blowing especially when in person.

 

[Boss 302]

They can and are being used for just about anything, we had one at work and those guys were turning out some pretty neat stuff with them. The classic vehicle market certainly will benefit from this technology, things like lenses, grills etc.

 

[Root Cause]

Just a couple of years ago, they were making mold components to produce 5-10 plastic prototype parts. Now they have metal printers making steel parts in just hours that is at a hardened for high production. Customers were waiting weeks or months for proto parts. Now they can have them in hand in days.

I also see these coming online on assembly lines for low-volume parts. I can see this helping with the supply chain issues even if it means limping along. It's better than getting nothing out the door.

 

[LittleBill21]

So @paulsharvey , which one you buying?

 

[arizona98tj]

I bought a 3D printer about a year ago. As with most tech, there is a learning curve. My advice is to join a few FB groups or other online forums that support the particular model you are interested in....then read a LOT. I do RC flying and surface vehicles for a hobby and so use my printer to make components and parts for that. As I type this, I'm printing the parts for building two RC airplanes, for myself and a friend. My winter project is to learn a 3D design program so I can make what I want instead of trying to find an online file printing something close to what I want. In my opinion, a 3D printer is far from "plug and play". It takes time and frustration to learn how to properly use it. Which model you get will, to some degree, dictate how much time and frustration is required.

 

[paulsharvey]

So @paulsharvey , which one you buying?

Not sure yet. Don't want to dive in too deep, because this might be the kinda thing that gets put in a corner and forgotten. Seems like a lot a sketchy websites, found an Ender 3 Pro for $99; but not getting warm and fuzzy from the website; yamas.shop; found some other good deals on misc websites too, but...

I want the Ender 3 V2, but when you can get a Ender 3 Pro for $100 less...

 

[LittleBill21]

well good luck with whichever you get, reddit has a nice 3d printing group, learned a lot there