3D printed foams or?

[smog]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

A VERY big consideration here is price. I am using a Creality CR-10, and a Mini Prusa, which are both good printers in their own right. But, but they ran ~ $500 each, and produce acceptable results. The prints can be cleaner, but I mostly use them for brackets, supports and mounts, which are normally hidden, so as long as the part is functional, I am good. If I felt like investing a bit more, I would go with a Lulzbot Taz, we use these at work, and they produce a very good product, that needs little finishing, but it is also $3k.

Another consideration here is how fiddly the printer is. One of my main goals to getting into 3D printing is not making it a hobby, but a tool to support my hobby. There is a balance here between price and how much you will have to dork with the printer to good work out of it. My CR-10 requires a bit of work, but for the most part, the biggest chore is leveling it, for the price, I accept that. My Prusa Mini had a couple of issues, but they are well documented in the Prusa community and were easily solved. With just about any sub-$500 printer, you will have a certain amount of fiddling, I that can be said for the sub-$1000 printers as well. But, when you go north of $1k, the printers are basically designed to take care of themselves (breakage no withstanding).


I have heard good things about the Bambu x1, but have no experience with it.

I appreciate you well laid out response. I get pretty extreme hot to cold and humid to dry weather here. As a result used to pretty dramatic swings in tire performance.

I too would prefer a printer I don't have to spend a bunch of time dialing in. As you expressed, I am interested in it as a tool not a hobby unto itself.

Originally Posted by MAGNUMB

Finding a TPU that performs well in most temps and getting your printer to print this type of material is quite difficult, but once mastered very enjoyable.

Yeah, extreme heat and cold are definite a factor here. That said foam and rubber also stiffen with the weather so it's always a consideration