What beginner 3d printer should I get?

tjoreo

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Coming from a place of complete subject ignorance so feel free to make fun of me….

Do these 3D printers produce a melting plastic smell at all? Would one be better suited to a garage/shop location? Or is not an issue and a spare bedroom/home office is perfectly fine? Is it possibly a filament dependent question?
Like it was stated above it depends on the material. I know some materials recommend using a filtration system to catch the fumes. PLA is pretty basic and usually doesn't have an odor or fumes. It comes from plant sugars, but I haven't got the guts yet to try it for a snack. Haha My Ultimaker came with an open top but I built a top enclosure to help regulate the heat and reduce dust as mine is in a machine shop. I used to use normal PLA but have moved over to a Tough PLA as it seems a little stronger and more forgiving to heat. You can actually anneal it like metal to even add more strength. It works well for items outside in direct sunlight but it seems to have trouble for items that might get a little radiant heat, like items left in a hot car. Like @Neohio said I am going to experiment with other types of filaments, but PLA has done everything I need.
 
Hometeam

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IMG 2344


Well I surprised my son with this after he completed some jobs I had for him to do and it also is partly for his birthday too! Thanks @-Bear- and everyone else for all your help!! You made this Dad look pretty cool to his son! Originally my son was a little disappointed when all the Black Friday deals were gone and he thought we had missed them (so with my ninja like skills I ordered one)😂….but I had already told him I wouldn’t get him one till he had completed all his jobs….he has worked to get them all done so tonight we surprised him with it!! He was so excited! Thanks again everyone!!😎
 
Dirtstiffs-1000

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View attachment 412257

Well I surprised my son with this after he completed some jobs I had for him to do and it also is partly for his birthday too! Thanks @-Bear- and everyone else for all your help!! You made this Dad look pretty cool to his son! Originally my son was a little disappointed when all the Black Friday deals were gone and he thought we had missed them (so with my ninja like skills I ordered one)😂….but I had already told him I wouldn’t get him one till he had completed all his jobs….he has worked to get them all done so tonight we surprised him with it!! He was so excited! Thanks again everyone!!😎
Way to go, Dad!
 
-Bear-

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View attachment 412257

Well I surprised my son with this after he completed some jobs I had for him to do and it also is partly for his birthday too! Thanks @-Bear- and everyone else for all your help!! You made this Dad look pretty cool to his son! Originally my son was a little disappointed when all the Black Friday deals were gone and he thought we had missed them (so with my ninja like skills I ordered one)😂….but I had already told him I wouldn’t get him one till he had completed all his jobs….he has worked to get them all done so tonight we surprised him with it!! He was so excited! Thanks again everyone!!😎
That is awesome, glad I was able to help.
 
HeadedOut

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Coming from a place of complete subject ignorance so feel free to make fun of me….

Do these 3D printers produce a melting plastic smell at all? Would one be better suited to a garage/shop location? Or is not an issue and a spare bedroom/home office is perfectly fine? Is it possibly a filament dependent question?
Ours is in our kitchen between the fridge and the oven. There is a very, very slight smell if 3D-PrintiO has been running for 9hrs. Otherwise it doesn’t smell whatsoever. I will say there are some filaments which can produce nasty smells and are very bad for you if you are breathing them in. If you’re running PLA’s I wouldn’t worry about it. If you do any kind of nylon, carbon, ABS or Kevlar I would absolutely put it out in the shop or garage.
IMG 8010
 
HeadedOut

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The P1S was/is my first printer. A friend of mine who has been through a few in their growing years said that if you get a cheap one, be prepared to put money into it and print a lot of upgraded parts to make the printer better and time leveling the bed. He said that the Bambu was the absolute best you could get to start out, unbox, load filament, push print. I’m extremely glad that we went with the P1S.

My wife has been wanting to start a small business and she was thinking about a 3D. I have some SolidWorks experience from my machinist days so dusting off the 2010 HP, 4.8hrs of updates later, I was realizing how much I had forgotten about CAD. @-Bear- I may be sending you a couple questions lol

My nephew has wanted to lear how to play D&D so for Xmas I said if you can find the pieces, we can print them. I stacked the build plate with 12 figurines and it was done within 2 hours!

I will suggest that if you start seeing stuff like an STD show up on your prints, become one with the glue. It’s the only penicillin that will get rid of lift and tip drag like this.
IMG 8023

IMG 8031


Notice the small purple piece in the back where it lays on the counter? Once it starts to release from the bed it will give you warping on the bottom and the tip will drag nasty lines in the top.
 
Hondasxs

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Looks like they have a decent Black Friday sale this year… looking to pick up the P1S… any recommendations on things to get now that you’ve used y’all’s for a year?!?

@Hometeam @Hondasxs @-Bear-
Not much really.

Get the AMS even if you don't expect to do multiple colors.

You should get a filimant dryer.

I have a 2 spot fixdry new in box i would sell under MSRP.

But.. my info is limited.
I'm not sure the bambu is the best multicolor printer anymore. I think there are others now that would walk the dog over this one.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk
 
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-Bear-

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Looks like they have a decent Black Friday sale this year… looking to pick up the P1S… any recommendations on things to get now that you’ve used y’all’s for a year?!?

@Hometeam @Hondasxs @-Bear-

I now have about 30 of these setup running production parts. The only upgrade is this AMS kit that requires you to print all the pieces and then cannibalize the original AMS. You can also buy the pieces already printed and will come with the hardware needed to put it together for cheap (print files are free but will take about 100 hours of printing time to complete if you have no print issues). This upgrade can go in many different way depending on what you are doing. Mine, for example, lets me put the larger diameter spools in without making contact with the enclosure. Others use these to attach filament dryers directly to. The improved setup also makes changing spools easier. The added room let me put large desiccant packs to help with moisture in the filament, as seen here in the front on the housing.

IMG 1997
IMG 1998



Only better thing is these new Prusa XL printers I just got 2 months ago that have 5 print heads on them. I don't really use them for multiple colors. They are a miracle for using supports. I print mostly in PETG and use PLA as a support. PLA doesn't bond with the PETG and separates with ABSOULUTELY zero effort when it is time to remove the supports from the print. In fact most of the time the supports stay adhered to the bed of the printer when I pull the finished part off, meaning no clean up!



IMG 1999
 
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JenElio

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I now have about 30 of these setup running production parts. The only upgrade is this AMS kit that requires you to print all the pieces and then cannibalize the original AMS. You can also buy the pieces already printed and will come with the hardware needed to put it together for cheap (print files are free but will take about 100 hours of printing time to complete if you have no print issues). This upgrade can go in many different way depending on what you are doing. Mine, for example, lets me put the larger diameter spools in without making contact with the enclosure. Others use these to attach filament dryers directly to. The improved setup also makes changing spools easier. The added room let me put large desiccant packs to help with moisture in the filament, as seen here in the front on the housing.

View attachment 450937View attachment 450938


Only better thing is these new Prusa XL printers I just got 2 months ago that have 5 print heads on them. I don't really use them for multiple colors. They are a miracle for using supports. I print mostly in PETG and use PLA as a support. PLA doesn't bond with the PETG and separates with ABSOULUTELY zero effort when it is time to remove the supports from the print. In fact most of the time the supports stay adhered to the bed of the printer when I pull the finished part off, meaning no clean up!



View attachment 450939
I understood EVERYTHING you just said.......
1000007749
 
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Hondasxs

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I understood EVERYTHING you just said.......
View attachment 450982
Dont worry.. I too didnt know PLA cound be used as support material for PETG. Good info.
I hate dealing with supports but this will help a lot.
My biggest problem now is having a space to store 20+ different rolls of filiment.
 
Hometeam

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Looks like they have a decent Black Friday sale this year… looking to pick up the P1S… any recommendations on things to get now that you’ve used y’all’s for a year?!?

@Hometeam @Hondasxs @-Bear-
Um yeah, I was basically gonna say the exact same thing @-Bear- said….pretty much word for word!🤓🤣😂
It has been fun watching what my son prints on it….and he has done a couple things for dad that go Bang, so I like that!! We would purchase again.
 
Sheetmetalfab

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Looks like they have a decent Black Friday sale this year… looking to pick up the P1S… any recommendations on things to get now that you’ve used y’all’s for a year?!?

@Hometeam @Hondasxs @-Bear-
Link?
 
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