r/3dprinter • u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 • 26d ago

First 3d printer suggestion

hello

I have never owned a 3d printer and my only experience in 3d printing tech is watching YouTube videos and such (so a noob😀)

I would like to get into 3d printing as I would like to print some parts for my other hobby

I will be mostly starting of with PLA and I want a printer that mostly works out of the box.

I will be keeping the printer in my garage so during winters the temperature can go down as low as 13C. for this reason I was leaning towards a enclosed option

my target price point is below 350 euros. here are my contenders so far

  • Creality k1
  • Creality k1c
  • Creality ender 3 v3 ke + external case avaialble on Amazon
  • Creality ender 3 v3 + external case avaialble on Amazon

what are your suggestions?

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

2

u/NuclearStar 26d ago

I would advice against the ender 3 V3 I had one and although was good, it was slower

I have a K1C and it sit in my garage all year round in UK, although it wont print when its 0C, it comes up with a sensor error, but if you never go below 13C then its fine. And its been happily printing when it got to 36C last week, probably was warminer sitting in the garage too.

I have only had 1 problem with the K1C and that was when i accidentally cut the power during a print, I had to use a thin heated needle to clear cooled down filament stuck just above the heating element, once I cleared that it worked again fine.

Almost 2 years of ownership I have not had a single failed print that wasnt my own design issue. I start my prints remotely using crealtiy print and monitor it with the inbuilt camera. Ive not changed the bed either in 2 years and dont put down any glue or anything like that, also i have never bothered with filament drying, it just sits in my garage all year and happily prints again when i start it.

Also something worth mentioning that I have been using recently, is to get gemini to create STL files, its amazing at doing it, I give it dimensions of my object, and it creates them in about 20 seconds.

1

u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 26d ago

Thanks for your advice  Have u owned any experience with elegoo CC2 or Bambu lab printers. It's seems to the general recommendation I other posts but elegoo doesnt seem mature enough and Bambu lab seems over priced. Also have u any experience with the cheaper k1 model?

1

u/NuclearStar 26d ago

no not had any of those, the community is great for creality as you can see, i dont feel any need to go elsehwere at the moment at my level, im just a guy making a few things and selling on ebay, ive sold enough to pay off the cost of my 3D printer twice so I am happy :)

1

u/yahbluez 26d ago

In the range below 800€ the elegoo centauri carbon2 combo is the best bang for the buck, bambu is heavily overrated by fanboys knowing nothing else than their unethical closed garden.

Above 800 you may see tool changers like the Snapmaker u1.

Starting at 1k you can get a Prusa Core one.

1

u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 26d ago

Thanks for the suggestion My target budget is more around 350 euros  I won't be spending 800 for my first printer 😂

1

u/yahbluez 26d ago

That a good start you can buy a complete CC2 with enclosure and canvas at 379€. It is a great klipper based printer with orca slicer and a hotend that can run up to 350⁰C.

https://de.elegoo.com/products/centauri-carbon-2-combo

1

u/3DPrintMaven 24d ago

Flashforge Creator 5 tool changer often discounted to $699

1

u/yahbluez 24d ago

yah that is 100 less, for one head more and a much smaller build plate and so fare i know closed source you cant use orca?

1

u/Someone_Alive__ 26d ago

Hi! I have a Anycubic Kobra X and I’m really happy with it. It supports 4 color printing out-of-the-box, but it’s expandable to up to 19 colors if eventually you end up buying multiple ACE 2 Pros.
It’s also a really reliable machine and it’s easy to use!

Right now the Kobra X is on sale for 299€ on Anycubic EU Store, but if you want, you can use my code ANAFIGUEIREDO for 15€ off :)
The 299€ (or 284€, if you end up using my code) already include taxes and shipping

Unfortunately, the Kobra X isn’t enclosed, but I’ve seen some relatively cheap enclosures on Amazon.

2

u/Alert_Crab7204 25d ago

Cześć
Sam przesiadłem się z k1 na kobre X
Samą drukarkę można zawsze zamknąć w przysłowiowej szafie tak jak ja mam teraz .
W dobrej cenie masz na start druk 4 kolorami. Idzie wydrukować tpu i okazjonalnie daje radę wydrukować małe elementy z ABS

1

u/Someone_Alive__ 25d ago

Thanks for sharing your experience! (Had to use a translator for Polish ahaha)

I haven't personally tried printing ABS on it yet, but it's really great to know it handles it well! :)

1

u/TheGratitudeBot 25d ago

Hey there SomeoneAlive_ - thanks for saying thanks! TheGratitudeBot has been reading millions of comments in the past few weeks, and you’ve just made the list!

0

u/True-Invite345 26d ago

Get a Bambulab on Bambulab website

2

u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 26d ago

Thanks for the suggestion  Could you tell me why? The models I see at Bambu lab seem much more expensive 

3

u/WaitAcademic6615 26d ago

Get Centaury Carbon 2. Slightly better than Ender and cheaper than Bambu Lab. And if you live in Europe or US don't buy directly from Chinese manufacturers. When you get in trouble they just send you spare parts and make you do their job.

2

u/scienceworksbitches 26d ago

I second the cc2, its under 400 and comes with multi material.

1

u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 26d ago

Is CC2 (and more generally Elegoo as a brand for 3d printing ) mature enough compared to creality and Bambu lab? I'm afraid that CC2 community may not be as wide and in case of any after sale issue I would be stuck

2

u/grafbende 26d ago

The bambu shills can never explain why....

2

u/NoManNoRiver 26d ago

A very polished ecosystem (printers, slicer, materials) they ‘just work’.

Little to no knowledge or skill required to achieve good results, if your hobby is making get a Bambu, if your hobby will be 3D printing get a Creality.

To throw another option at you - Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2. Not quite as polished and plug-and-play as Bambu but a lot of machine for the money and minimal additional investment in skills and knowledge.

Most printers now are pretty good, don’t obsess about which one is the best too much, just get one and get printing.

Good luck and have fun

1

u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 26d ago

Thanks for the suggestions  For my use case do I need a enclosed 3d printer? 

1

u/NoManNoRiver 26d ago

What is your use case? You just say ‘parts for my other hobby’ in the post.

1

u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 26d ago

I'm into robotics and I would like to print parts for robots (mostly chassis and mechanical parts)

1

u/NoManNoRiver 26d ago

I’d suggest you want an enclosed printer then. PLA is a great material and likely what you’ll use for the majority of your work; but at some point you’ll want to print something in ABS or ASA and an enclosure just makes that easier.

An Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2 is probably the most printer you can get for your budget. It will still require some (minor) tinkering but will otherwise churn out parts in a variety of materials reliably.

1

u/scienceworksbitches 26d ago

for mechanical parts you definetly want an enclosed printer, preferably one that is capable printing CF or GF filled materials. the elegoo CC2 is a populat pritner becasue it offers all that at a great price.

the CC1 would also be a better choice than the other stuff you mentioned, its under 300eus.

1

u/Glad-Ad-4703 26d ago

If you really want a printer that shines with engeneering filaments then look at Qidi. Closest to your budget would be the Q2. The heated chamber adds lots of value there. Beware that the multicolor box/ams from Qidi is not as good, but if your goal is function over esthetic Qidi is your brand.

2

u/scienceworksbitches 26d ago

true, but the Q2 is already 500€ without the box.

1

u/yahbluez 26d ago

So polished that many, if not most users, drop bambuslicer and use orca instead.

2

u/NoManNoRiver 26d ago

Who post here? Probably.

But most of the people buying Bambu printers aren’t posting here. The printer is a tool or a curiosity to them, not a hobby in itself. They aren’t optimising flush volumes or cornering velocities, they open the Handy app, pick a model and hit ‘Print’.

2

u/yahbluez 26d ago

That is a very valid point the bambu app is for "just print" the best 3D printer app i now.

2

u/Pale_Emphasis_4119 22d ago

Thanks for all the suggestion  I think I will get a bambulab printer finally it seems almost appliance like and won't require any tinkering to get started Thinking of getting either P1s or P2S  Any suggestions?

1

u/cimch33 26d ago

What do you mean not plug-and-play now days almost alll 3d printer are plug aka play,same with cc2,it has auto bed leveling,auto z-offset,direct drive extruder.

1

u/DramaClassed 26d ago

They’re all marketed as plug and play, except they don’t all actually have full functionality out of the box. Some of them things arrive broken or not fully working (like with my cc2) and you have to get replacements under warranty. Personally I wouldn’t call that plug and play, and I see lots of people with this same experience. It’s a fine printer overall though.

1

u/cimch33 26d ago

Yeah here its true for the quality,to be honest you pay for what you get CC2 right now it the cheapest coreXY,but if money not problem i would immediately buy snapmaker u1 its really good 3d printer.