3D Printers

[Ots]

Went back a few pages and didn't see anything on 3D printers - what's a low cost one that will make RC car parts?

Got the Fusion 360 download.

[Boomer75]

I have the Creality Ender 3. It looks like it’s $180 on Amazon right now. I have printed bodies as well as parts and printed out a full bug and a Land Rover from 3d sets from it. Seems to work really well and is pretty durable.

[Panther6834]

If you're looking for a great 3D printer, at a reasonable price, from a company with outstanding customer service, I'd HIGHLY recommend chucking out the Prusa Mini+. One of the biggest problems with 3D printers from Chinese companies is little-to-no customer service. Initially, the Ender 3 was on my "short list"...but, after further research, I knew Prusa my was the way to go.

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[Ots]

OK - getting a real education about printers - thanks. I think 'frequency of use' is a factor that I have to consider carefully before I buy anything. But this might be one of those situations where if I had it available I might use it more often, meaning I would find more opportunities for its use than if I didn't have it. Just don't know.

[islandlife]

I have a ender 3 pro, have had it for maybe 3 years. So far its been great, no issues that werent user error. There is a massive amount of info online about these printers as well, which has been very helpfull. I think i paid $300 CAD for mine, and have about $150 in upgrades on it. Full metal hot end, glass bed, metal extruder, upgraded bowden tube. I use it primarily for printing petg and recently carbon reinforced petg and nylon. Lots of rc parts, some stuff for my dirtbikes/motorcycles. And lots of toys for the kid!
Although, i just went and checked out the prusa printers, they look sweet, and look like a better investment if you know your going to stick with 3d printing.

[ben h]

if you want small and cheap id recomend a kingroon kp3s i got my kid one and its an amazing printer for the price and 0 issues with it that werent caused by me also once you have a priner you find uses for it expecially if you figure out how to design parts now if you wanna spend more i love my qidi x-plus and they have super good customer service i have had mine for 2 years now i burnt up the head board the other day at being my fault and they are sending me out a new one.
and if a need for a big printer i also have a ender 5+ thing kicks ass also is just physically huge

[MrAwesome987]

I'd also recommend an Ender 3. I have had a Creality printer in the past (CR-X) and the few issues I had were quickly resolved by Creality. The Ender 3 has huge aftermarket support.

[smog]

Originally Posted by Panther6834

If you're looking for a great 3D printer, at a reasonable price, from a company with outstanding customer service, I'd HIGHLY recommend chucking out the Prusa Mini+. One of the biggest problems with 3D printers from Chinese companies is little-to-no customer service. Initially, the Ender 3 was on my "short list"...but, after further research, I knew Prusa my was the way to go.

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Any insight on the differences between the Prusa mini+ and the i3-mk3?

I am slowly inching closer to pulling the trigger on a printer. My debate has been between the Creality Ender3 and the Prusa i3-mk3?
They seem to be popular amongst the RC crowd and beyond.

[svt923]

Originally Posted by smog

Any insight on the differences between the Prusa mini+ and the i3-mk3?

I am slowly inching closer to pulling the trigger on a printer. My debate has been between the Creality Ender3 and the Prusa i3-mk3?
They seem to be popular amongst the RC crowd and beyond.

The MK3 has a bit larger print volume, dual supported Z axis for less potential of vibration affecting your prints, direct drive extruder, and the temperature range to handle basically any exotic filament you can throw at it. The Mini seems solid but is a bit more limited in the types of filament it can handle and I greatly prefer the direct drive extruder of the MK3 to the Bowden setup on the mini.

I know a lot of people like the Ender but I would spend my money on a Prusa every time. The joy of printing for me is not the tweaking and modding the printer, it is having the finished part in my hand. My MK3 printed better and more reliably out of the box than my old Creality CR-10 that had hours and hours of tuning put into it.

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by smog

Any insight on the differences between the Prusa mini+ and the i3-mk3?

Unfortunately, no. From what I've read, and YouTube videos I've watched, the i3 line is supposed to be outstanding...but, was above my price range. I do know that the MK3 is at least two generations old. The most recent is the MK3S+.

Also, just as they're are a lot of upgrades available for the Ender 3, there are just as many (if not more) for the i3 line. I'm not "putting down" the Ender 3...it's just that, I haven't bothered following information producing to it since I decided I'd get the Prusa Mini+.


~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[themountain]

Look at a voxelab aquila...its a better version of an ender 3V2 and its cheaper. Prints flawlessly out of the box when you set it up right!

[Bertman82]

The hard part will be finding somebody that has owned or at least has experience with multiple brands. I know some people who got a cheaper brand of a 3d printer and eventually upgraded to a Prusa. I bought a Prusa Mini+ kit. I don't have any complaints for the price, and the slightly smaller print size has only been an issue once or twice and was easily resolved by downsizing the size 5% in Prusa slicer.

The only downside is the kit usually has a longer lead time, a few weeks at least.

[nightcrawler48]

I got the Pursa i3MK3S kit about a year and a half ago. Got just over 1,300 hours of print time on it and no complaints, no issues. Re-lubed the bearings twice so far and that is it.

Initially it seemed like a lot of money to just print a few RC parts but I've found a ton of things non-RC to do so I'm glad I spent the money upfront. I've sold a few 3D printed RC parts but made more money selling non-RC items.

IMHO I made the best choice for me and that's the main thing. The Prusa is the only one I know so can't offer any comparisons.

[Ots]

Ender 3 is looking good right now. Cheap enough to be a mistake. Lol!

[smog]

Originally Posted by svt923

The MK3 has a bit larger print volume, dual supported Z axis for less potential of vibration affecting your prints, direct drive extruder, and the temperature range to handle basically any exotic filament you can throw at it. The Mini seems solid but is a bit more limited in the types of filament it can handle and I greatly prefer the direct drive extruder of the MK3 to the Bowden setup on the mini.

I know a lot of people like the Ender but I would spend my money on a Prusa every time. The joy of printing for me is not the tweaking and modding the printer, it is having the finished part in my hand. My MK3 printed better and more reliably out of the box than my old Creality CR-10 that had hours and hours of tuning put into it.

This is what I needed to hear. I also don't really want to make a hobby out of a 3d printing machine. I desire it as a tool that I can count on to produce pieces for my rc projects. While this may change over time, for now that is my only motivation to purchase a printer.
Considering the prevalence of thingiverse and the cost/lead times of shapeways it seems that buying a printer makes sense more and more.

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Unfortunately, no. From what I've read, and YouTube videos I've watched, the i3 line is supposed to be outstanding...but, was above my price range. I do know that the MK3 is at least two generations old. The most recent is the MK3S+.

Also, just as they're are a lot of upgrades available for the Ender 3, there are just as many (if not more) for the i3 line. I'm not "putting down" the Ender 3...it's just that, I haven't bothered following information producing to it since I decided I'd get the Prusa Mini+.


~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

Appreciate the response. I am pretty much sold on a Prusa at this point

[Speedy-Triple]

I recently started 3d printing. I will give you my insight with the 2 different machines I have dealt with.

I got an Ender 3 pro on sale on black friday of 2020 but I never got around to print until a couple months ago and it has been great (I am very familiar with CAD and 3d modeling) so using fusion 360 is easy to create your own parts, this is probably the most challenging part of printing is getting familiar with the design program. My ender 3 pro is great, easy, cheap and you will find tons of information about it. I think i payed less than 200 bucks for it and so far I am very happy with it. (I would buy it again).

As the printing continued ... I recently printed something non Rc-related for my boss. Immediately he purchased a printer for the office ... Unfortunately the prints he wanted did not fit on the ender 3 pro bed size... we purchased an ANYCUBIC VYPER I had to do a bit of research and while the prusa came up as one of the top contenders ... this Vyper was really close in specs to the prusa but at about half the price 400 on amazon. We took a chance and order it ... just like the ender 3,this anycubic was even easier to set up and it allows you to autolevel. This machine has a bigger bed print and it has way better plate adhesion with the included bed mat. it does run a bit more quiet and seems to slightly faster.

All in all both machines are great ... the Vyper has a bit more advantages and is a little more robust than the ender 3 pro but is double the price, something to consider if you are not planning to use it a lot. I did not plan to use it on other things besides rc but i have now used for many different applications.

[Ots]

Don't know about the Vyper but the MK3S+ has great reviews and appears to be worth the money. I just think for that much I would have to have a solid purpose in mind for its use.

Unfortunately I don't.

[smog]

Originally Posted by Ots

Don't know about the Vyper but the MK3S+ has great reviews and appears to be worth the money. I just think for that much I would have to have a solid purpose in mind for its use.

Unfortunately I don't.

Looks like there is also a 6-8 week wait to get one

[nightcrawler48]

Originally Posted by smog

Looks like there is also a 6-8 week wait to get one

That's a little longer than normal. I've seen it 4-6 weeks and 5-7 weeks. When I ordered my kit it was 4-6 weeks and arrived at about 5 weeks. Seems to me the kit has always been longer wait time than the assembled unit. Some people think the assembled unit takes priority and the kit waits for available parts after the assembled unit orders are filled. Expect that is just supposition but then . . . . . . . . . .

[themountain]

I think Prusas are highly overrated...especially considered their price !