3D Printers....

[iMigraine]

Been curious about them, what they can do and how much must one spend to get a decent one. Are there any places on the web that you would recommend to checkout.

One of the problems I see is that most people seem to make trinkets or War Hammer characters with their 3D printers. Would like too see some interesting parts made that are actually useful if your NOT interested in the above.

Is the tech still too new to be really usefully for making stout, resilient, parts that can withstand heat and direct sunlight?

TIA

[yolocalypso]

We spent about $200 on an Ender 3 Pro to basically make warhammer tabletop terrain. My coworker used his Ender 3 Pro to 3D print parts to make another 3D printer that’s worth probably $1500- he added a camera and Raspberry Pi so he can print remotely, etc. my other coworker spent $1000 on a printer that can print huge things- helmets, etc. he bought a scanner as well to 3D print car parts. I know another guy who has 7-10 Ender 3s set up and he specializes in drone parts- go pro housings, battery housings, etc. So you can definitely 3D print useful stuff.

I would say $150-$200 for a decent printer. We got ours from Amazon, but I know Microcenter has sales on them all the time- all my work buddies got theirs on sale for $100.

[osis32]

They have Teflon reinforced polymers but you need upgraded extractors and tips.

[ibanezfoo]

Been curious about them, what they can do and how much must one spend to get a decent one. Are there any places on the web that you would recommend to checkout.

One of the problems I see is that most people seem to make trinkets or War Hammer characters with their 3D printers. Would like too see some interesting parts made that are actually useful if your NOT interested in the above.

Is the tech still too new to be really usefully for making stout, resilient, parts that can withstand heat and direct sunlight?

TIA

Go to youtube and binge videos about the Ender 3. Yes, there are better printers nowadays but that one just works. There’s infinite support for it. Download the program Prusa Slicer to play around with and see what it’s all about. Go to thingiverse and cults3d websites to see what kind of models are out there. Check out the youtube channels PSR and the 3D pew general and the Reddit group fosscad if you are interested in 3D printing your own firearms.

Check out the YouTube channel Thomas Sanlanderer if you want to see what types of materials you can run in these machines and the various properties they have.

The tech is not really new anymore. There are tons of materials available for printing now. You can make your own filaments out of water bottles and weed eater nylon (don’t run that in the house! You’ll probably die). You can even buy the Glock material and run that through your printer.

What kinds of things are you looking to print? Warhammer models are generally printed on resin printers which is a whole other thing. I have a few resin and a few FDM printers and use them regularly/daily.

[C.G.]

What IBanezfoo said, the Ender might be a good inexpensive start, you may decide that 3D printing is not for you (as several of my friends), and then it will collect dust or end up in Goodwill or you may like it and up building something yourself to suit your purpose later but the Ender will get your feet wet in the meantime. One thing to add, download some free CAD programs, i. e. FreeCad, it does take some time to learn it, but there is great satisfaction from creating your own designs, at least for me.

[xfer42]

Get a cheap Ender and see how it goes. I over paid and bought a TAZ 6 about 4-5 years ago. Its nice, but not $2500 nice. It has been flawless though and gets quite a bit of use.

I use mine often. Its only for tools, shims and parts. Ive made a toy or two for the kids, but I put it to use for stuff around the garage and house. Heres a few things off hand that Ive used it for:

Downloaded and printed tool holders for lathe.
Designed the tailstock scale mount for tailstock DRO.



Automatic bullet colators and plates for bullet feeders. You can make these for about $30, or buy them commercially for several hundred. I made 2. Large and small. Downloaded this from thingiverse (it gets taken down every time).



Designed these and printed them last night.
I needed to make a box to house an air filtration system for a fiber laser. Makes it easy to join boards together and tack them with nail gun+glue.


Designed bullet trays for inspection and cam loader.
I only shoot my reloads, so I dont have bullet trays.


Designed these for loading 6.5 creedmor on the single stage.

[67Cuda]

I have an Ender3. It's very handy and complimentary to few other things I do at home.
Projects come in spurts, but still handy to have.
If you get one and don't want to get stuck just making things you find on line, learn a CAD program. I use FreeCAD.

Here's a fun project I made for my car. It's a wireless charger for my phone.

Sorry for the large pictures.

[C.G.]

If you get one and don't want to get stuck just making things you find on line, learn a CAD program. I use FreeCAD.

Same here. Not exactly the most intuitive program but there are a lot of tutorial videos on YouTube which make it a lot easier but still one has to invest some time. I am starting to get the hang of it (at least till the release of the next version I am on 20.1 at this time) and designing your own stuff is more satisfying than actually printing it.

[Dr Pete]

Take a look at https://www.matterhackers.com/

Helpful people and will be happy to sell you everything to get you started.

Just a happy customer.
Be careful kids in candy stores are................you get my point.

And your going to want some cad program to design your own stuff at some point.

[sonofeugene]

As an engineer who uses high end printers of all types and materials, I can tell you unequivocally that the cheap printers you are talking about are toys. You can have fun with them making stuff, but that’s it.

[ibanezfoo]

[67Cuda]

As an engineer who uses high end printers of all types and materials,

[ibanezfoo]

Just some nerds playing with their toys

[Remus]

Depending on your work environment, often the best engineers are those that have the "practical" hands on skills as well as the theoretical "technical" knowledge. The practical knowledge can be critical when it comes to ease (as in time/money/swearing) of your designs.

[mshill]

Having read this thread, and two of my sons having Ender3 S1 printers, is there something better at the $400 price point? I'm actually looking to get something with a bit bigger print volume so a followon question would be is the Enders S1 Plus worth $550 or again is there a better value?