Hello everyone!Hey out there, I need a new 3d printer and am completely new to it, so I would like to hear which 3d printers people would recommend that are the best for the price, preferably one for under 240USD, thanks in advancehave so far looked at:
Creality 3D - Ender-2 Pro and CREALITY ENDER-3 NEO or maybe an ender 3 v2 neo
and which size should my printing pad have? thoose two i have looked at have around 165x165x220 is that enogh?
No one can answer the size YOU need, especially if we don’t tell us what kinds of things you want to print.
I’ve read and watched some reviewers I trust and the Sovol SV06 seems to be highly recommend and in your price range.
The ender 3 v2 Neo is probably a better choice then the others you mentioned but do your research before you but. There are lots of You tube videos on most printers in you price range.
I don’t know much about either of those printers specifically, but in my opinion you need to step back and ask yourself one very important question: why do you want a 3d printer?
If the idea of building and modifying and working on the printer itself interests you, then carry on. This is a big part of the hobby and something that appeals to a lot of folks. Many of them eventually go on to build something like a Voron. It’s not that different than the woodworker who builds their own table saw or CNC router.
If you’re not interested in building and modifying and tinkering, however, and are more interested in the printer as a means to realising your plans rather than the plan itself, I’d strongly encourage you to save more money and get something with a reputation for “it just works out of the box.” Prusa and Bambu are the two that come to mind, but there are a few others I’ve seen videos on. Of course this is influenced by my personal experience, but it’s an element of the “what’s a good first printer?” question that I think gets neglected.
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Ender 3 v2
My Ender 3V2 just worked out of the box too. After I got through the learning curve I have not had any problems beyond the same ones that afflict all printers IE: wringing etc. You can buy an equivalent model Prusa (same basic design as an Ender) but it won’t print any better and will cost 3 times as much. Some people condemn the cheap Chinese printers as junk but once you get use to using a 3D printer they work fine. Cheap and easy to fix if necessary.
Not suggesting you shouldn’t get a more expensive printer, there are some with great features that have come out recently but make sure it will do what you want it to for what it will cost.
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Hi @Skihop
I agree with the comments above, It really does depend on if you want to print “looking at” stuff or “doing with stuff”
I also wanted to truly welcome you to the forum. Hope to see you here when you make your final choice and start burning spools…
My recommendation would be to start small and, ideally, buy from somebody you can PHYSICALLY go back to when you have problems, need adjustments that don’t seem to be working (ie getting your bed level using those damn wheels) or just questions.
When I say “small”, I mean that literally, as it will be easier for you to get your first prints going, level the bed and adjust things. It will also make it easier to take back to the store when you have problems. Don’t think that down the road you will want to print flower pots that are 400mm in diameter so you should buy a printer that can handle that right from the start - start small.
Features to consider:
- Easy to buy replacement parts. This really means the hot end components (nozzle, hot end assembly, thermistor(s) and heater cartridges).
- PEI build surface over stainless steel that is held onto the build surface with a flexible magnet surface. I find this works best in terms of holding the model during printing with easy release when it cools and no need for chemicals. Borosilicate glass would be my second choice but I don’t find it works as well as PEI and generally needs more maintenance (cleaning and using glue to hold down the model). I’m sure people will comment on this point.
- Look for something with a Z axis sensor that senses the heated bed - the first three printers I got had the Z axis sensor on the Z movement axis/rods/supports and adjusting that, along with leveling the bed, was something of a chore compared to having a heated bed/print surface sensor (which can also assist in leveling).
- Just PLA. Don’t get hooked into something that the manufacturer claims can do PETg, ABS, ASA, TPU etc. Chances are a first printer can’t do a good job of them so don’t get hooked in by false promises.
- A colour UI probably isn’t easier to use or produces better prints than a monochrome one. Don’t get hooked into paying extra for a pretty display, especially for your first printer. If it has a colour display, great, if not don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything important.
- A USB port that can be used by a PC or other higher end system (ie a Raspberry Pi) to control the printer.
- I wish there were more controllers that didn’t use a micro SD Card (aka TF card) for storing gcode files for printing but I’ve only found one that works with USB Thumb Drives (Robin Nano V3) and it’s a million percent nicer. The good news is, that if you have a USB port (previous point) you can start controlling your system with Octoprint or, become a cool cat and, use Klipper. If you do find a printer with a controller that works with a USB Thumb Drive, please let everyone know.
I’m not a big fan of the single arm bed slingers like the Ender 2 - my first one was one of those and it got out of alignment a lot (basically every print). Maybe the Ender 2 is better but I would recommend a cheap version of the Ender 3 as you will probably be adding to/upgrading the printer no matter what and you can end up with a pretty decent printer with the Ender 3 without a huge amount of outside investment. The Ender 3 is a good choice because of the plethora of parts available and the huge amount of resources on the interwebs.
Don’t buy any upgrades to the printer until you have it working and have had it produce a few dozen models over at least two months. There are two reasons for this, the first is if you do any changes to the printer, you warranty will be void and, secondly, until you really understand how the printer works and where the problems lie for you, you’re really throwing your money and time away.
You’re going to have a lot of fun, a lot of frustration and a lot of learning. Start small and don’t add anything to the printer until you are comfortable with what you have, are able to slice .stls and .3MFs and have an idea on how to optimize your prints.
Finally, don’t forget that you have a great resource here for questions.
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You should buy a Micro Sd to Sd card adapter about $10 (the Micro SD card plugs into it and through a ribbon cable it plugs into the Micro SD slot). Besides being able to use full size SD cards it will also stop wear and tear on he sd card slot, since you no longer have to plug the cards into the MB, which is important because if it fails then the MB is useless. If the adapter fails just replace it not your MB.
This adapter is not new to me and doesn’t change the comment. The Micro SD is a terrible format for 3D printers - the only reason why it exists at all was to be used in cell phones (which don’t use them any more, except in limited cases). Actually the SD format ain’t great either for 3D printers - they’re primary use is in cameras.
I’m happy that the only thing I have to worry about with SD Cards is for updating firmware - although, as I said, I much prefer using USB Thumb Drives, like you can with the Robin Nano V3.
The micro SD cards are crap but the only “improvement” available at this time is the adapter, unless someone had come up with one for USB to micro sd cards.
big fingers and carpet are never a good idea for micro SD cards,… Just my 2cents…