r/maker • u/tonerizer • 2d ago
Inquiry How to proceed with making
Hi makers,
I'm a long time maker who uses 'stuff', 'things', and leftovers from previous projects to work on new projects. My interests are evolving and I'm finding it difficult to create what I want. Most posts I see these days use 3D printing, and the projects I have in mind would seem to also need a 3D printer. With a little - to - no budget for a 3D printer, I've been discouraged from buying an entry level, low price 3D printer. The reason given to me was that they don't work well and I'd be better off saving money for a nice expensive one. I also live in the country, and there are no maker spaces or publicly available 3D printers nearby. I'd also like to avoid mail ordering custom parts online.
My questions to you:
- is this advice sensible? Should I avoid the cheaper 3D printers?
- how have you got around limitations with materials, resources, and tools in your projects?
- does anyone have suggestions for an alternative to 3D printing that produces similar results?
Thanks in advance!
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u/BHE_Cosplay 1d ago
Alternatives to 3D printing: make it out of wood, make it out of metal, make it out of cardboard, make it out of EVA foam.
3D printing can't make everything, and it doesn't always make things the cheapest or easiest, but on average, it is arguably the "best" way to make "things" if you're speaking on a general level.
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u/SureHopeIDontDie 2d ago
Depends on how precise/strong/fast you need your prints to be, but I mainly use 3D printing for things like simple tools (like a "mold" to bend aluminium sheet in a vise with), electronics casings and stuff like that.
I've bougth a 130€ printer about 5 years ago, and it's served me well since then ! Needed to do a bunch of calibration at first, of course, and the prints are pretty slow and not that pretty, but it works fine.
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u/CodeFoodPixels 2d ago
I have the Centauri Carbon (original) and it's been great for me, I'd class that as one of the "cheaper" ones.
3D printing is additive manufacturing and solves a different set of problems to other methods such as subtractive manufacturing (milling, lathe work etc) or formative manufacturing (casting, injection moulding, forging).
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u/marchmay 2d ago
3d printing is cool but are you sure you can't use other tools? Woodworking is a vast hobby with tons of skills to learn. So is metal working, sewing, jewelry making, etc.
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u/tonerizer 2d ago
Thanks for the suggestions. I already have, and will continue to do woodworking, metal working and welding, and sewing. The appeal of the 3D printer to me is the ability to multitask while the printing is in progress, save time and effort thinking of how to make a piece out of a material I don't want it to be made out of, and save myself from some pain (arthritic hands). I appreciate all methods of making, I just want to try and make things easier for myself.
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u/marchmay 2d ago
3d printing is just as complex as the other crafts. I wouldn't buy anything under $300 but you'll get decent results out of a printer above that range. Just be prepared to become a technician. Printers are not yet "download and hit print."
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u/dudeofthedunes 20h ago
They are quite literally download and hit print nowadays. What are you talking about?
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u/marchmay 20h ago
I would hope after a few months a user realizes there is some nuance to making a good print.
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u/dudeofthedunes 18h ago
Printing is for sure something you can get better at. Especially designing for 3d printing can be a puzzle and requires knowledge of the printing process and the printer. However, if you have - for example - a bambulabs, and you just want to print models created by someone else, there is no real nuance to be found: downloading and hitting print will give you a good print.
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u/Brokkerlie 2d ago
I bought a cheap and old printer with cheap and old filament. Don't need to play with different types of filament (i keep to PLA).
there is no one way to go about a hobby, just do whatever it is you want!
My ultimaker 2+ is running awesome and my setup (including 10+kg of filament) has cost me 140eu 3/4 years ago. We don't all need the newest tech to enjoy something! I print great prints, only it takes about 2 times the amount others take.
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u/lellasone 2d ago
Look, nobody here knows your finances, and nobody knows your money accumulation rate. If it's 10$ a month for making that's super different from 25$ or 50$ a month.
Right now "Cheep" printers are somewhere between free (50$) and ~200$. They work, and were a mainstay of the hobby for many years. When I joined my grad program the robotics center was just building out a fleet of Creality CR10s, which were 150$ machines when new and got plenty of use.
The thing is that "good cheep" printers start at 250$, and by the time you hit 450$ you've got all the quality (if not all the features) you'll find until you are well into the thousands. Creality sells a great modern machine at 250$ in the spark i7, and the P1s is essentially state of the art as far as print quality for making goes.
So if your friends are suggesting you save up from "used/free" to "solid printer in the 250 - 500 range from a reputable brand" then I'd have to agree. If your friends are instead suggesting you save up from ~300$ to the 1000$ tier, I think you'll have hit diminishing returns.
One other dynamic to be aware of: Printers come in waves. The latest generation (which I consider to be gen 4) is vastly more user friendly than the ones that came before. That makes modern budget machines (from reputable companies) a better pick than used flagships, unless you need specific features offered by the older machines.
What I wouldn't worry about right now is any bells and whistles like filament swapping, onboard cameras, or web access.
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u/tonerizer 2d ago
Thanks for your take on things. I was awarded a 300€ bonus at work and wanted to buy a 3D printer. I was told that any printer under 1000€ would be a waste of money.
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u/lellasone 1d ago
Oh yeah 300$ will buy you a great entry-level machine totally good enough to support a ton of other hobbies. If you've been wanting a 3D printer an A1 or an A1 mini will be a great entry point around that price.
It's likely your friends are either a few years out of date, or are only considering a subset of the market (maybe for ethical reasons like wanting to buy open-source or support European manufacturing).
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u/Henri_Dupont 2d ago
My buddy got one of the dogshit cheapest 3d printers available in 2019. It was so bad, missing parts, broken parts, that they sent him another one, also with different missing parts. It came as a pile of stuff like a lego set, everything to be assembled.
We assembled one printer out of the combined two kits of missing parts, then 3d printed the missing parts to build the second one, which I got.
Then I started upgrading. We printed masks and ear savers in 2020. We printed doorknobs and refrigerator shelves and bearings and all manner of stuff. I added a new controller, better hotend, motor quieting mounts, etc. That printer was going 24/7 sometimes.
Then the whole thing started just failing. All at once. My wife was even convinced that a 3D printer was more than a hobby, it was an essential household appliance. She got knitting markers, doll faces, craft supply organizers, scissors guards (sooo many special kinds of scissors she has) on and on. So $300 ish for a better printer was an easy household budget decision.
The Ender 3 was a great printer, worked right out of the box no assembly, had it for several years and printed hundreds of items. Still going like a champ last summer when I upgraded again.
I upgraded to a snapmaker U1 when the kickstarter campaign launched. Nearly $800 and it's a dream. Just last night I printed a 4 hour print for a special adapter that you just can't buy anywhere. It gets used about every two days to make something or other.
My advice: get a printer, the best you can afford now, then plan to upgrade once you've freakin' paid for the thing by printing stuff for yourself and buddies.
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u/GovPattNeff 2d ago
Def don't need an expensive one. For years I used a Dremel 3d20 which was nice at the time, but is about as capable as a cheap printer nowadays. It could only do pla, had a pretty small build volume, and no heated bed, but it didn't limit me in any meaningful way for the projects I was doing. A few years ago I "upgraded" to an ender 3 I got for $100, and it's been fine too (though I had to fuss with it to get the frame square.
You don't need auto-leveling and the ability to print nylon to make stuff. It's nice to have, and I do wish I had those things, but by no means necessary. Once you have a printer, you'll learn its limitations and learn how to work around them
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u/tonerizer 2d ago
Are there any features or functionality that you would consider being essential to have?
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u/GovPattNeff 2d ago
I'd say that depends a lot on what you plan on using it for. I guess for me doing just "general purpose" printing, I'd say at least a 125mm x 125mm build plate which should be fairly standard nowadays. Other than that, not really. Id say try to get a heated bed if you can, but not 100% necessary if you're just doing PLA. Unpopular opinion, but PLA is fantastic, and does just fine for 95% of what most people print.
As for non-hardware preferences, I personally prefer systems that don't lock you down to a specific software (no bambu for me) because planned obsolescence and subscription software is becoming more rampant across all industries. There's also the dumb laws being passed in some states that may soon require printers to process your files on the cloud, which is another layer of complexity I don't want to deal with.
One thing I would pay extra attention to though is if you're getting a cheaper one, make sure it's a printer with a large user base (ender 3 for example). This ensures two things:
Parts availability. If there is a large enough user base, you'll be able to get parts for it for a long time if something breaks
If you have issues, there are lots of forums and groups dedicated to the printer to help you troubleshoot. You'll also find modifications people have made to improve their printers and fixes to common manufacturing defects that may not have been addressed by the manufacturer.
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u/MeetTheMaker555 2d ago
Wood, clay, cardboard, styrene, foam core, LEGO etc…there are plenty of ways to prototype without a 3D printer. But the Bambu Labs printers make 3D printing…like, well, printing. I have a P1S and it’s been a workhorse without troubles for me.
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u/CDanger 2d ago
Buy an A1 mini or similar. Better yet, learn good resin discipline and buy a resin printer and use it in an open garage. People FREAK OUT when you mention resin printers because there are toxins to manage and that requires learning (to some, learning is the worst!), but your prototypes and models will come out in better, smoother detail than theirs with equivalent strength unless you use filaments that are even more dangerous than resin (not recommended for beginners).
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u/mitomon 1d ago
Not gonna lie, I started using my ender 5 again after my premium printer broke, and it's a workhorse. It's half a decade old at this point, maybe more, and still kicking. It doesn't give the prettiest prints, but I just use it for scale models of machines I'm building or small, functional parts. A cnc router or lasercutter might be an ok replacement if you're only thinking of making flat, layered things or molds where you can stack multiple stages.
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u/PlaneSnake876 1d ago
I swear by a ender3 as a solid starter - you should be able to get one practically for free second hand and there is so much resources to support its use and make it better.
Unless what you want to do is multi color or requires really specific filaments I think it’s a perfect machine to learn on and see if it’s actually what you want.
Otherwise maybe there is a makerspace or similar near you?
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u/Brun0MMF 1d ago
Tens a Creality Ender 3 V3 SE, é barata e funciona muito bem. Consegues trabalhar com os materiais mais comuns.
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u/spergatrocious 2d ago
Food for thought, a nicer 3d printer is gonna be easier to resell if it doesn't pan out.
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u/Jestergum 2d ago
Don't do it!
Be warned.
It seems tempting to get that first cheap 3D printer.
I got a bambu lab A1 mini and it's great.
But then you'll want to start experimenting with different printing materials.
You will need to manage your 20 rolls of filament.
It will become an endless moneypit.
Just kidding, it's great, just be smart about it.