3D PRINTING

[RatLabGuy]

My kids have one at their school they get to use in their tech class and they love it. They told me they wanted one for Christmas. Guess I might be in the market now. And I guess I need to go back through this thread looking for recommendations. Anyone want to save me some time and tell what they recommend?

Here is the one I'm planning on getting based on recommendations from here and from the tech teacher at the high-school.

Official Creality Ender 3 V2 Neo 3D Printer with CR Touch Auto Leveling Kit PC Spring Steel Platform Full-Metal Extruder, 95% Pre-Installed 3D Printers with Resume Printing and Model Preview Function https://a.co/d/55c6mQe

X2. Its the most point-and-shoot you will get in this price range, and by far has the widest user base.
Ender3 has become like the 80s/90s Honda civic that vaulted Creality into a massive world leader. There are parts everywhere, thousands of YouTube videos, forums, etc to rely on, and its been through several iterations now so that all the bugs are worked out.

 

[Tacoma747]

Printing TPU is an absolute PITA. I did get the settings right to where it wasn't messing up (the new printer was over feeding same as the old one). It's crazy how with the old printer I had so much luck with TPU and then all the sudden it causes trouble constantly. I had to dial the speed and flow down to get it to print right. I then tried to up the temperature so I could maybe print a little thicker layers (.2 up from .18). Well that hasn't worked and it's back to messing up. Going to try the settings again that worked good numerous small prints to see if those setting still work.

So, moral of the story is: TPU is really cool but an absolute PITA.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Printing TPU is an absolute PITA. I did get the settings right to where it wasn't messing up (the new printer was over feeding same as the old one). It's crazy how with the old printer I had so much luck with TPU and then all the sudden it causes trouble constantly. I had to dial the speed and flow down to get it to print right. I then tried to up the temperature so I could maybe print a little thicker layers (.2 up from .18). Well that hasn't worked and it's back to messing up. Going to try the settings again that worked good numerous small prints to see if those setting still work.

So, moral of the story is: TPU is really cool but an absolute PITA.

It definitely takes some dialing in.
I print in TPU on my Bibo2, and have found there is a MASSIVE difference between filament manufactures. Every one takes some dialing. Some mixtures are more "plasticky" than others. Note there is a range of Shore A hardness in TPU, which is related to the urethane % of it.

One thing is for sure, you must print TPU slow. I've never had luck w/ > 30mm/s and often run at 20-25 for safety. Stringing can be an issue, so dialing retraction settings can really matter.
Wait - also some TPUs are hygroscopic. If you are having random problems, try drying it out first.

 

[Caver Dave]

X2. Its the most point-and-shoot you will get in this price range, and by far has the widest user base.
Ender3 has become like the 80s/90s Honda civic that vaulted Creality into a massive world leader. There are parts everywhere, thousands of YouTube videos, forums, etc to rely on, and its been through several iterations now so that all the bugs are worked out.

Ditto, basically what my son has now... was OG Ender3 and we've bolt-on-bling'd it out to include everything @Keith1138 listed

 

[RatLabGuy]

Ditto, basically what my son has now... was OG Ender3 and we've bolt-on-bling'd it out to include everything @Keith1138 listed

And it's just like w/ our offroad toys.
Bought it "basic" for X, then after getting all the xtras and bolt ons and swap outs etc for Y, you realize you could have just bought it for X+(1/2)Y and zero time and gray hair.

 

[ncsutj]

I ran across this Toybox 3D Printer. It's definitely geared towards kids and printing "toys". Which is the main reason for getting it but I would still like to be able to print things as well. Biggest draw back I see is it has a small printable size. Worth it or would I be better off with the Ender?

Toybox 3D Printer

Welcome to the Toybox Store. Unleash your imagination with the new Toybox printer. Toybox is the first-of-its-kind 3D printer for kids. Be the first to receive your very own. Available today!

toybox.com

 

[Black Bear]

What do yall use to draw parts in? I have a couple friends with cnc plasma tables and I'd like to be able to draw parts and have them cut it for me.

 

[R Q]

Was considering getting my son a 3D printer for Cmas, after reading a few posts, maybe not. He likes an end game in sight and with all of the pracrtice and learning curve it may be a waste of money.

 

[RatLabGuy]

H ow old is he? across this Toybox 3D Printer. It's definitely geared towards kids and printing "toys". Which is the main reason for getting it but I would still like to be able to print things as well. Biggest draw back I see is it has a small printable size. Worth it or would I be better off with the Ender?

Toybox 3D Printer

Welcome to the Toybox Store. Unleash your imagination with the new Toybox printer. Toybox is the first-of-its-kind 3D printer for kids. Be the first to receive your very own. Available today!

toybox.com

How old is he?
My opinions are pretty well reflected what's in this article. It's neat and convenient that it will just do stuff out of the box with no tinkering will work but there is little room to grow for him or you

Toybox 3D Printer Review: Reasons Not To Buy

The Toybox is a kid oriented 3D printer that is fairly expensive for its limited functionality. FDM printers like the Anycubic Kobra provide more value.

4dfiltration.com

 

[RatLabGuy]

What do yall use to draw parts in? I have a couple friends with cnc plasma tables and I'd like to be able to draw parts and have them cut it for me.

I use some form of CAD. Which one depends on the complexity of the part and how much time I want to sink into it.
Honestly I use TinkerCAD a lot bc it's just really easy and fast.
Your application is a little bit different though, if it's just for plasma cutting you only need a 2d drawing.

 

[ncsutj]

How old is he?

My opinions are pretty well reflected what's in this article. It's neat and convenient that it will just do stuff out of the box with no tinkering will work but there is little room to grow for him or you

Toybox 3D Printer Review: Reasons Not To Buy

The Toybox is a kid oriented 3D printer that is fairly expensive for its limited functionality. FDM printers like the Anycubic Kobra provide more value.

4dfiltration.com

Kids are 5 and 8. I like the simplicity of them to be able to just choose an item and it print. But I've pretty much talked myself out of it because of the limitations.

That article does say it doesn't recommend any of the Creality printers such as the Ender because of poor design and quality control. They suggest Anycubic Kobra or Artillery Genius Pro. It sounds like the one they have at their school is a Anycubic Vyper.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Kids are 5 and 8. I like the simplicity of them to be able to just choose an item and it print. But I've pretty much talked myself out of it because of the limitations.

That article does say it doesn't recommend any of the Creality printers such as the Ender because of poor design and quality control. They suggest Anycubic Kobra or Artillery Genius Pro. It sounds like the one they have at their school is a Anycubic Vyper.

Very possible, those are popular for schools.
Creality's quality control is getting better, but they are the stereotypical "you get what you pay for" example.

 

[ncsutj]



Light Saber they printed at school

 

[RatLabGuy]

Welp I just pulled the trigger on a complete facelift... Bondtech LGX extrduer, Mosquito Magnum hot end, new high wattage cartridge etc... going on the CR10 to enable smoother high-flow prints. While waiting on that stuff, time to learn about Klipper.

 

[ncsutj]

Pulled the trigger on an Anycubic Kobra Plus.

 

[Tacoma747]

Apparently our Moravian tree topper star broke last year, my wife mentioned buying a new one, but the 'cheap' in me decided it was better to spend countless hours printing and gluing one together (center, then all points are glued on) It did turn out great, and a little smaller than the ones you can buy so I think it looks better. Also printed one that fits on a light, 2 halves glued together.

 

[R Q]

Thats one of the 3 printersi n my house right now . It technically belongs to a coworker who went on a year assignment to London, he left it w/ us so it has become my son's project printer (see my next post...). He immediately added a BL touch to it for auto-leveling.

If you want a bigger format printer, its ag reat deal for the money. A major drawback though is that you can't uset he USB port and the TFT screen at the same time, so if you want to use Octoprint or other printer servers it requires a lot of extra work.


Ah yes the Honda Civic of 3d printers.
We have one the robotics team members pass around for learning, it also spends a lot of time at our house.
The new V2 motherboard is so much nicer.

Ok this sold me on this one as a gift. Any reason I shouldnt get it?

 

[Tacoma747]

Ok this sold me on this one as a gift. Any reason I shouldnt get it?

Best I remember without looking back, Ratlabguy's comment was in response to my post about the CR10V2. It's a large printer which means it can print pretty big stuff, but it also covers a fairly large area (in all reality not much more than a smaller printer though). I sold my CR20v2 and bought a new CR10v3, they are basically the same aside from the extruder being mounted to the hotend. I do like the V3 better but the extruder is a pain to remove and the screws are blocked by the fan, it's a horrible design... There are printable upgrades for the extruder to make it handle TPU and soft filaments, this is probably the biggest plus over the CR10v2. It's a cheap machine, but mine has served me well. Creality sent me a whole new extruder/hotend for mine just because of a minor issue, now I have a spare.

 

[Tacoma747]

Ok this sold me on this one as a gift. Any reason I shouldnt get it?

And also, check ebay. You can get a NEW CR10v3 for $316 shipped after tax. If you can find a V2 cheaper its basically the same machine just without the direct drive extruder, the direct drive really is only a plus if printing soft filaments.

How old of a kid is this gift for? Are you prepared to do most of the tinkering? My 10 year old would never be able to figure out a bunch of the issues I have had.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Ok this sold me on this one as a gift. Any reason I shouldnt get it?

Best I remember without looking back, Ratlabguy's comment was in response to my post about the CR10V2. It's a large printer which means it can print pretty big stuff, but it also covers a fairly large area (in all reality not much more than a smaller printer though). I sold my CR20v2 and bought a new CR10v3, they are basically the same aside from the extruder being mounted to the hotend. I do like the V3 better but the extruder is a pain to remove and the screws are blocked by the fan, it's a horrible design... There are printable upgrades for the extruder to make it handle TPU and soft filaments, this is probably the biggest plus over the CR10v2. It's a cheap machine, but mine has served me well. Creality sent me a whole new extruder/hotend for mine just because of a minor issue, now I have a spare.

I was actually referring to an Ender.
IMO get an Ender instead of a CR10. They are way more popular (larger community) and have all the electronics inside the case. It has little bearing on the build capability but the fact that the CR10 has a separate big box that sits off to the side that contains nothing but the motherboard and (terrible) interface is asinine. It makes the hwole thing take up a lot of space.

There are a bazillion Ender models now. If you need to stay really cheap you can get an original Ender3 for like $100 at Mirocenter. But the difference in what you actually get for the money moving to the V2 or even better, the newest lines which is the Ender3 V3 Neo or an Ender3 S1 is totally worth it. Personally I wouldn't bother with anything less than either of those two because they come with all the features you're going to end up wanting anyway. Unless you just want to be really cheap and "get" to learn to add features on your own.
The primary difference is the Neo is a Bowden drive (meaning the extruder is remote from the print head, so you will have "some" trouble with "some" flexible filaments) and the S1 uses their new direct-drive.
If I had up to $500 to drop I'd personally get the S1 Pro because it can do high temp AND direct drive, and if could splurge a little more get the S1 Plus bc then it also has everything in the Pro with the bigger bed (same as a CR10).
this has a good comparison of the differences.

creality

creality

www.creality.com

 

[Tacoma747]

I was actually referring to an Ender.
IMO get an Ender instead of a CR10. They are way more popular (larger community) and have all the electronics inside the case. It has little bearing on the build capability but the fact that the CR10 has a separate big box that sits off to the side that contains nothing but the motherboard and (terrible) interface is asinine.

I agree completely with the CR10 interface. It's like working MSDOS! I got used to it with the CR10v2 which was the only reason I still got a CR10V3. There are a few things I have printed that used the full 300x300 build plate area, but have not printed anything tall that an Ender couldn't print. The CR10 definitely seems antiquated, I am sure an Ender is MUCH easier to learn but I wouldn't know because I haven't had one.

 

[RatLabGuy]

I agree completely with the CR10 interface. It's like working MSDOS! I got used to it with the CR10v2 which was the only reason I still got a CR10V3. There are a few things I have printed that used the full 300x300 build plate area, but have not printed anything tall that an Ender couldn't print. The CR10 definitely seems antiquated, I am sure an Ender is MUCH easier to learn but I wouldn't know because I haven't had one.

I rarely use the interface on my CR10 bc I generally interact w/ it via Octoprint and/or directly through Cura. When I have it it drives me crazy.
Over my Christmas break I plan to try out Klipper, which should mostly bypass ever having to use it at all.

 

[R Q]

And also, check ebay. You can get a NEW CR10v3 for $316 shipped after tax. If you can find a V2 cheaper its basically the same machine just without the direct drive extruder, the direct drive really is only a plus if printing soft filaments.

How old of a kid is this gift for? Are you prepared to do most of the tinkering? My 10 year old would never be able to figure out a bunch of the issues I have had.

He's an adult but loves to tinker with stuff so he should be fine

 

[Keith1138]

So im trying to get 3D printers set up in my classroom to print student designs. I've ran into two different issues. First is a FlashForge Finder. It starts to heat up and hits 70% or 156C and just doesn't get any hotter.

Second issue is with a JellyBox. It's a two fold issue first is the the test print is having an adhesion issue. One corner seems to be popping up during infill. I tried this print twice. This led to the machine auto stopping. When I made it return to home the z axis decided to try to reach the negative. I was able to raise the extruder via the control pannel. I think I can resolve this issue by resetting the bed height and starting point.

I circled the corner that is popping up.

 

[upnover]

To learn to do this I'd have to have someone right beside me teaching me, otherwise, as I read through this thread I only hear Charlie Browns teacher. I have watched several You-Tube videos of things peoplemake. The two that stands out the most is the guy who prints out artificial limbs(arms and hands is all I saw) for kids that have lost limbs or born without them. Most of them are very expensive but he makes them at a very small fraction of the cost. And, the You-Tube Channel Thunderhead289, he made an adapter and put a lawn mower carb on a V-8, (302 I think, in a maverick. He's tested it pretty good, No horse power much, slow to get up to speed, but, was getting in the 40s and 50's MPG out of it.