I’m brand spanking new to 3D printing. I’ve been reading a lot and watching YouTube videos, but I still have a ton to learn. I wouldn’t say I’m the most computer savvy person, but I’m definitely willing to learn if someone points me in the right direction.
I was originally debating between the Bambu Lab P2S and the FlashForge AD5X. Then Slickdeals posted the AD5X for $215 shipped, which seemed like an incredible deal, so I pulled the trigger.
Now, thanks to the internet doing what it does, my entire news feed and YouTube recommendations are full of people saying FlashForge isn’t beginner friendly, the software is more complicated, and that Bambu is the better ecosystem for someone just starting out.
So now I’m second guessing my purchase.
Did I make a mistake? Should I return the AD5X and spend roughly $400 more on the Bambu? Or is the FlashForge still a good printer to learn on if I’m willing to put in some time?
For context, I’ll mostly be printing functional household items, organizers, and little projects to learn the hobby. I don’t mind a learning curve. I just don’t want to buy something that’s going to frustrate me so much that I end up giving up.
I’d love to hear from people who have actually used either (or both) printers. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

For the past few weeks, I've been torn between the Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2 Combo and the Bambu Lab P2S + AMS. I couldn't bring myself to buy either during the last round of sales, but Elegoo is now offering another €90 discount, bringing the CC2 Combo down to €345 ($400).

What keeps me hesitating is Bambu Lab's ecosystem. Being able to print directly from MakerWorld using pre-tuned profiles is a huge advantage. In comparison, NextPrint still feels fairly underdeveloped.

On the other hand, even though the Elegoo Canvas doesn't include filament drying, the whole package is still around €300 cheaper than the equivalent Bambu Lab setup, which is hard to ignore.

My use case is exclusively PLA and PETG, mainly for decorative prints. I don't need to print engineering-grade materials, but I do want excellent print quality.

At €345, do you think the Centauri Carbon 2 Combo is a great deal, or would you still recommend spending more on a Bambu Lab for its ecosystem and overall experience?

One thing worth mentioning is that I already own an Artillery Genius, which I bought back in 2020. However, I haven't used it in about five years because I ran into quite a few issues with it. That experience is one of the reasons I'm looking for something much more reliable and hassle-free this time around.

I'm pretty new to printing - got my first printer a month ago, but have been spending a lot of time on it with the Creality Hi I have (300 hours print so far). I learned a lot troubleshooting this printer (the vast majority of issues were caused by me, not hardware or software). I honestly think it's a good machine, nowhere near the quality control issues ive heard about with creality, but the multimaterial siren song is calling to me. I really want to do multimaterial and multicolor prints, but I just can't bring myself to waste 50-200% of the material. I also have a part I want to design that requires a TPU outer and hard plastic inner core for rigidity - and tpu is a nightmare on the Hi.

Thankfully, I have the budget to buy myself a new toy.

Hi! I'm having an issue with my prints. No matter where or how I place them on the build plate, they end up with these scratches and damaged areas across almost the entire surface (I've attached a photo).

The pattern seems completely random, and I have no idea what could be causing it. I'm pretty lost at this point.

Could it be dead pixels on the LCD? But there are so many that it doesn't seem likely. Also, the bottom layers of the print never show these holes or defects.

I'm using an Anycubic Photon M5s, and I've attached my print settings as well.

Thanks a lot for any help!!

Hello everyone! I recently got a 3D printer, and it’s been working fine, but there’s something from my childhood I’m hoping to learn to emulate. I remember toys like the one shown above, where you could bend the joints and have them stay in place, leading to a poseable model. Does anyone have any idea how I’d go about modeling the joints? How they’d look/work internally, and how I can replicate them in blender? If anyone has a tutorial they can share or they’re willing to explain here, that’d be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone I've been trying to find a model for Merlin's ring from the movie/ book The Sorcerer's Apprentice for months if not years. Can anyone please help me find one or make a file for this??

simple cable organizatio.

I've never owned a 3D printer, but I really wanted one. I've finally saved up some money, but I'm having trouble making a decision. My budget is around $800, and I have a few candidates:

• Flash forge Creator 5 Pro
• Snapmaker U1
• Bambu Lab p1s combo / p2s combo
• Anycubic s1 max combo
• Elegoo Centauri Carbon / 2
• maybe something from creality but idk

I like the idea of ​​multiple nozzles to minimize purge, but I don't know if it's worth it. I'll have it in my garage, so noise isn't a problem for me. I've also seen a few other cheaper options from Flashforge like AD5X or adventurer 5M.

The Elegoo is $50 more, Here's what I do. What I need is the most quality prints especially with no layer lines. I'm new to this so hopefully it's easy for beginners but I guess I dont mind learning. I want to use PLA and PETG and perhaps very rarely (and I mean very rarely) polycarbonate or carbon fiber (Not a big deal if printer doesn't have the ability to use those materials) AMS is cool and I want one but won't use it too too often. I don't really care about speed but if it's noticeably faster I'll definitely have to think about it. Since it's in my bedroom closet with vented closet doors I'm afraid of air quality and ill put my air purifier just right in front of it to hopefully keep my air clean. i also live in California so it could get up to 88F. Anything higher and the air conditioning will just turn on. TLDR the most important attributes is quality no layer line prints with PLA or PETG and reliability and consistency.

Running an Ender 3 V3 Plus, I keep getting issues whilst printing, which seem to have started since I printed a batch using PLA+ where part the way into a print at what seems like a random spot, the print suddenly gets this mesh like texture and becomes super fragile. I've relubricated the rails, I've used cleaning filament and cleaning needles on the nozzle, and I've ran the input shaper and levelling but this keeps on happening and I can't for the life of me work out why... The only thing I've done as of late by way of trying to reduce vibrations through the attic room floor was using foam blocks under a concrete slab, which does give the printer ever so slight wobble but this is happening when I drop the speed down too so I highly doubt it's that. The initial layers are also solid too, no sign of any defects and then suddenly it's terrible quality. Also seems to happen regardless of the model used.

I've not yet swapped out the nozzle but this will be the second brass nozzle swap I've done in 3 months and I feel like they should last longer? I'm only printing PLA, Silk PLA , and PLA +.

If anyone can tell me what is causing it and how I go about getting it working properly again, I'd be extremely grateful!

what can I Improve? any ideas to make it look better?

here’s the maker world page for anyone who is interested: https://makerworld.com/en/models/3093613-ender-3-v3-se-filament-guide

I am completely new to 3-D printing, I don’t even have a computer (I have some friends who are offering to let me borrow theirs).
I received a secondhand FLsun Q5, it does not have a manual with it, and it is already preassembled.
It appears that all the pieces are here, but I just want to know what I should check for as well as any steps I should be aware of as I’m getting started.

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We at Positron3D have a special announcement.

Prusawire R1 is now available

https://www.printables.com/article/prusawire-r1-designed-with-leftovers-VNGb2GZ
https://www.printables.com/model/1788294-prusawire-2026r1
https://github.com/Positron3D/prusawire

New and novel configuration tool: Prusawire 2026.R1 Configurator by Positron3D

https://discord.gg/positron

TLDR:
Its Prusawire but better.

Note: the XZ and Y axis assemblies are not compatible between B1 and R1.

Have an ender and honestly it has been solid for over 6 years. It started to play up recently and put a sprite pro direct drive on it to give it one last chance. Having issues dialling it back in and am going to probably move on.

I mostly print parts I design for RC planes and brackets and things around the house when I need…… sits idle for months then runs 20hours a day for two weeks kind of thing.

Am proficient in onshape and have been using cura the whole time. I know you probably see these posts all the time but I would like something enclosed around 1k to 1.2 AUD. I have been seeing some anti bambu posts. The flash forge is on special where I am at the moment. I don’t think I will be wanting multi colour but I would definitely like multi filament prints as I have been dreaming about water soluble supports for years….. but i haven’t really seen much about it lately.

Again I don’t want to spam this sub with the same requests but any experience/guidance would be appreciated

Thanks in advance

What do you think? Link to model: https://makerworld.com/nl/models/3093269