An enthusiast from the Netherlands here. Software engineer and DIY guy. Made many project from wood, plexyglass and metal, combined with micro-electronics and magnets. 3D printing has been well integrated in my hobby now. It makes it way more easy to iterate and reproduce, especially with small and low-strength items.
I started 3D printing in 2017 with a 101Hero from kickstarter, which had not completed one print sucessfully ever. Then my son bought a Bresser Raptor, which is more a toy, but does print. So that was replaced with an Ender-3 V3-SE which I’m still using today. Although I’m pondering upgrading to a multicolor printer (one which doesn’t poop much)
I’ve mostly been modelling my own art/tech projects/games and the occasional custom bracket/lid/case.
My tool of choice is Freecad. I like the parametric modeling, and the knowledge I will still be able to open my projects next year.
I use my printer to support my hobby, model engineering and general fabrication and repairs. It is good to be able to print out an object instead of buying something at a store, usually for more money. Have you tried Solid Edge for your CAD work. Full featured and FREE.
You have an excellent background: a combination of wood, metal, magnets, and microelectronics—that’s exactly where 3D printing truly shines. Many people are familiar with the journey from the finicky 101Hero delta printer to the Ender-3 V3-SE. The Ender is a workhorse, but manual adjustments and long wait times can be exhausting, especially when you just want to print parts for your projects. It is always about looking past the basic features and focusing on how things actually operate in practice to avoid hidden bottlenecks. This logic applies to hardware setups, but it is just as relevant when navigating online platforms or choosing payment ecosystems. For example, while reading a discussion about casinos that accept KOHO, I found this article: https://ultimatecapper.com/why-are-canadians-still-confused-about-casinos-that-accept-koho-228393/. What I found useful was the way it separates the simple question of card acceptance from the practical details around limits, verification, and withdrawals. That distinction explains why players can still get different answers even when several casinos display similar payment options.
Welcome! Sounds like 3D printing fits your kind of projects really well, especially when you’re already mixing electronics, wood and metal work. The Ender 3 V3 SE is a pretty capable machine too.
I’d probably be tempted by a multicolor setup as well, even if half the fun would just be finding excuses to use it. Nice to see another FreeCAD user here too.
It really is a good fit for that mixed-material kind of tinkering. Printed brackets, jigs, spacers, housings and little alignment pieces are often the parts that make the rest of a project come together neatly.
And yes, multicolor is tempting even when you don’t strictly need it. For functional parts it can still be useful for labels, indicators, softer/harder material combinations, or just making prototypes easier to understand at a glance. Always good to see more FreeCAD users around too — it has its quirks, but it’s very capable once it clicks.
I personally own a Prusa XL and a Snapmaker U1. I have been a long time Prusa user I have a MK3 (s+ upgraded) and bought a Core 1 L as well.
If you need the big size the XL is the only real choice for a tool changer, although the INDX is looking promising I have no direct experience.
If you don’t need the size and are looking at a tool changer, The Snapmaker U1 is a no brainer. It is fast (a touch faster than a Bambu P2S non changing) and uses a Prusa slicer fork so it has decent software although their implementation is cranky by times. It produces very little waste. I wish they would sort out their top lid but at this point there are so many DIY options it is pointless anyway.
FreeCAD’s quirks do tend to show up right when a tiny edit should take ten seconds. Still, coloured labels on functional prints are more useful than they first sound.
you are actually more lucky then the greater toronto area because in the netherlands you got form futura and others and color fabb which offers color on demand
The point about colored labels ringing true for functional parts is worth repeating, and it connects to the filament supply note. Being able to pick small color runs locally does change how often you bother with two materials — the U1’s low waste makes more sense when the spools are easy to get. From Delaware I’m mostly ordering online, so the Formfutura and ColorFabb availability is a real advantage over piecing together single spools from several shops. Does the Prusa slicer fork handle the smaller alignment pieces well enough that you skip supports on them?
On the supply point: easy access to small color runs really does lower the barrier to multicolor, and ColorFabb’s on-demand option sounds like the sort of thing that makes experimenting less of a commitment. From Burlington I’m in the same boat as Delaware — mostly online orders, so local availability stands out. On the slicer question, I’d be curious whether the fork’s support handling actually saves cleanup on those tiny alignment pieces, since that’s usually where the fiddly post-processing piles up.