3D Printers

[chpthril]

Whos got one?

Model and brand

Pros/cons

Learning curve on the software?

Lever of use? Are you a hobbyist or pro-level? I would like a quality finished product but dont need a unit thats built to run everyday. My use would be more towards hobby level in terns of frequency of use, but want a finish that I could feel good about charging a customer for.

[chpthril]

Bueller, Bueller

[awd95mn]

I have two of them at home and manage the 3d printing lab at work. At home I have an older Monoprice Maker Select V2 and also have a Prusa I3 MK3. The Prusa is basically the Cadillac of the "cheaper" 3d printers, but it comes with a price and a lead time compared to some of the cheaper chinese versions. What you do get with it is quality components and some features that make it easier to use, like auto bed leveling. I get the question often from friends and coworkers about what printer to get and I usually steer those starting out to a Crealty Ender 3 Pro V2. It's a sub $300 printer that does a nice job for the money. And really it's less than $300 if you find you don't use it enough or like it, but when you do figure it out it prints nice. Must haves for me at this point in any printer is the "quiet" control board, a heated bed, and a removable flexible bed to make removing parts really easy. The Crealty Enders have a strong following and YouTube is a good resource in helping to get them figured out.

PLA material is going to be the easiest to start printing with, but for things related to our boats PETG has a lot good properties that make it last better in the elements. PETG still isn't too bad to use either, it just prints at a higher temp then the PLA. The plastic electrical control box was broken and I couldn't find one the same size so I printed a new one out of PETG and it held up great all last summer in the elements as an example (black box in the picture). Brass heat set inserts can be used to hold pieces together with screws, you just heat them up with a small torch or soldering iron and melt them into a hole.

The software to turn a model into a gcode (the code the printer can read) is fairly straightforward and free to download (most common is the Cuts software). The hardest and most time consuming part is modeling the parts to be able to print them. A common software that you can use for free to model is Fusion360. If you are making simple shapes it's somewhat easy to use and there are also a lot of tutorials out there on youtube to get it figured out.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I hope it answers some of your questions.

[chpthril]

I was actually on the Prusa site yetserday. Their price point did not scare me off, but i will look into the Creatly models.

Had not though about the material and UV. So some units are limited to the material they can run? I would want a more UV stable material for sure.

For the foreseeable future, simpler shapes would be the case. Take a job I just finished. The new head unit was much deeper then the old one, so we needed space the new unit out. I have to cut the outer dimensions, then cut the opening for the head unit. Then round the edged and polish it all up to look good. I figure my labor time could have been used for the CAD work, then let the printer do its thing while I go do something else, and end up with a better finished product with more brain time and less muscle time. I call this working smart, not hard.

[isaac]

I’ve use my ultimaker 2 (upgraded to 2+) for years (5+?), without problems after the 2+ upgrade. Works very well for my hobby stuff. Hardly ever fails a print. I use a combo of “scad” and SketchUp. There is definitely a modeling learning curve