3D printing - A beginner's observations and some practical applications
tl;dr: 3D printing won't change your life but it will make your life 1% better in unexpected ways.
Last year, I spent a year-long work trip with someone who was very into 3D printing. To be frank, I initially had zero interest in it. From what I understood of 3D printing, it was expensive, required mechanical experience, coding knowledge, and ultimately not worth what you put into it.
Fortunately, my colleague didn't care what I thought about his hobby and bought a cheap printer to keep himself occupied during downtime at work. Originally, it was just something that occasionally made noise in the background. As the days went on, however, more and more doodads began to appear around the office. A cable organizer here, a desk decoration there; nothing earth-shattering.
The thing that really changed my mind, funny enough, was a simple powder scooper. During our trip, we shared a terribly designed creatine bottle with a narrow neck and no scooper. We spent months pouring out white powder by eyesight alone like amateur crackheads and I will never buy this bottle again. My colleague printed out a scooper with a long neck and the problem went away.
That was the key turnaround that changed my mindset - I had a problem; we printed a solution.
I got back from my trip and decided to try it out myself. After some serious deliberation on how committed I was to this, I purchased the Bambu P1S. It’s not the cheapest option for someone just starting and I chose a Bambu printer because a Youtuber argued that your best way to have fun as a beginner was to pick a printer that “just worked.” It was a compelling enough reason for me to shell $900. (no, I’m not sponsored, just telling my story.)
Some of my favorite prints:
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Long Scooper: the one that started it all for me. This scooper saved us a ridiculous amount of time and effort for what it is. It also gets to the heart of what 3D printing is to me - solving your individual problems with simple solutions.
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Pill Organizer: it’s got a lever that spins a wheel around, opening a different chamber for each day of the week. This one really opened my eyes to what is mechanically possible with just basic PLA plastic. People much smarter than me figured out ways to print devices with hinges, springs, and levers all without needing a single extra tool.
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Scour Pad Holder: This is the one that made most people around me go, “huh, that’s pretty neat.” You’re right, it is. No one likes touching a moist scour pad.
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Slide Wallet: I spent $74 on a SECRID cardslide wallet. While I don’t regret that purchase - I used it faithfully for four years ongoing - I did feel a bit foolish when I realized I could 3D print the same mechanism for $1.50.
That’s not to say anything about the decorative / gifting aspect of 3D printing either. I 3D printed a giant Charizard for my friend’s son the size of his head in eight hours.
That said, there is a mechanical learning curve to even the most user-friendly printers. With the Bambu series, I’d say that if you’ve ever built IKEA furniture or a 100+ piece Lego, assembly is pretty straightforward. It’s the troubleshooting that will get you. Even with basic filament and simple projects, I still encountered the nozzle clogging, filament stuck in the pipes, and bed adhesion problems.
This is a hobby that requires you to be willing to experiment and look up solutions. From what I understand, some printer brands are tougher than others so the learning curve will vary depending on your gear. I quickly learned that there’s numerous ways your print will mess up and your project will look like what the community calls the “spaghetti monster.” Unless you’re a born tinkerer, this is probably the most frustrating part of the process. However, accumulating knowledge to diagnose and solve the problem is very rewarding. I learned that the third slot on a Bambu machine is statistically more likely to jam and 0.5 kg spools are more likely to clog than 1.0 kg ones. Turns out that a lithophane needs to be printed vertically and only looks good with a white filament.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with my 3D printer and I don’t regret my purchase at all. It’s a hobby that provides near-instant gratification - you find the thing you want to print - or design it yourself - and boom, it’s sitting on your printer in a couple of hours. While I’m just taking files from the community and printing the .stl file, the skill ceiling is also very high once you add hardware to your projects (e.g. screws, ball bearings, Raspberry Pi). I’m going to continue to learn and I’m excited about where I can take this machine.
Some questions for the community:
- If you have a 3D printer, how deep in the rabbit hole are you? Are you making your own CAD files?
- What’s your favorite print? If you don’t own a printer, what’s a cool 3D print that stands out in your mind?
- What’s a problem in your life where you think you could 3D print a solution?
I've had a Prusa MK3 for about six years. One of my favorite things about it was being able to continue to upgrade and improve it. I recently got a MK4 with the Prusa enclosure. I feel like it's a big step up, enough that I really want to get a second one to use with an MMU and sell the MK3. I recently posted a model to mount an ESP32-WROVER board as a "PrusaCam" to upload images to Prusa's cloud software. Monitoring a print from anywhere is one of the things that frees me to do long prints and have it not get in the way of life or work.
I actually learned computer modeling in high school (in the 90s) -- ProEngineer on a screaming 90mHz Pentium. I did CAD and solid modeling through college, but it was always in the computer. The 3D printer was finally a chance to get things out of the computer and into physical space.
I mostly do functional prints. Lots of game caddies and parts -- Dutch Blitz, Dominion, Catan, Catan Jr. I've posted about my Catan design here on Tildes before. It and some of my other designs are on printables, but I have a ton of one-off things that are too custom to be worth posting, like the custom organizer tray for our silverware.
By far the most rewarding things over the past year or so has been helping out a friend's 98-year-old dad who is into astronomy. He's an engineer by training, but is used to having to cobble things together with scraps of metal and bolts, and it was hard to get the precision he wants. It took him a while to get used to the idea that we could just change the models to make them what we wanted, but he's come around to it. We started by printing the Hadley, then got into customizing things for some better focusers and other equipment he has. We are also working on a design for a refracting scope with a 116mm achromatic doublet as the primary. He had it all out for the eclipse and got some great pictures. He also likes the open frame and printed scopes because they are very light, so they are easier for him to handle.
I'm steadily finding other ways to help people out. I printed some fish caves (I think they are for spawning) in food-safe PETG for a friend whose son breeds fish to sell. Next week, I am going to my daughter's Montessori school for "replacements day", where I am going to hang out at the school during an inservice day with my computer and my calipers and model pieces that have been lost or broken during the year.
I am in the middle of a project for my in-laws to print a replacement sign for the gate on the cemetery they manage. The goal was to make it look like the original one, but be in black to match the new fencing. I had to make it in pieces that get epoxied together. This is my first foray into sanding, filling, and painting, and by-and-large I am not a fan.
Overall, I think it's a great hobby. It's hard to monetize because so much of the stuff I make is for hobbies, and people don't spend a lot of money on hobbies, so it's probably going remain a hobby unless I happen to break into something. But your story about the scooper is exactly why it's great. You can make exactly the thing that you want to solve a problem that maybe only to have, and it's (relatively) cheap and fast to do so.
Boy, do I have some good news for you!
Do you think there is a lot of potential for amateur astronomers with 3D printing?
When I said that, I was thinking of printing the parts for games. But maybe I have just not hit the right niche.
Astronomy is something that people spend a lot of money on, but 1) a lot of that is optics or electronics and 2) it's a pretty strong open source community. I'm not sure how it would feel to monetize the hard work of others.
The Analog Sky folks seem to be making a go of their astronomy binoculars doing kits with a STEM focus, but that is their own design. I am not an astronomy nut, I'm a 3D printing nut with astronomer friends. Maybe there's room doing the kinds of things I've been doing for my friend – adapting the open source designs to higher quality parts. But how to get connected with people that want to pay for that sort of thing seems unclear.
We have a 3D printer, which we received as a gift, and we have used it a lot more than we expected to. We overwhelmingly use it to make repairs or improvements around the house.
I'm mostly the one who uses it because I am more interested/experienced in 3D modeling.
Here are some examples of things we made with it:
We do download some files for what we need, but the great majority of our projects call for 3D modelling because what we are making is extremely specialized. My 3D modelling experience is with vertex modelling (think Blender or Maya), not CAD, but I use the free version of Fusion 360 for most 3D printing tasks because it is so simple and quick for the kinds of things we print. Fortunately it's a lot easier than vertex modelling!
I only know two other people who have 3D printers. One of them uses it for his various Arduino project, and the other uses it to make assorted tools and things for her silversmithing and gem setting business. She also does lost PLA casting (which is like lost wax casting) using designs she models in Blender.
What a great list! I have a hard time imagining giving a 3D printer as a gift, but seeing all you did with it, I think the person knew you quite well.
I am curious about this one. I can't quite picture what it does, but it sounds useful. I was wondering if you would be willing to share a picture or a model?
It's nothing exciting. You can buy them (they look like this), but being able to print your own means you can make them more specialized for specific sewing projects — for example, for assorted concave or convex curves.
Neat! Thanks. The sewing machine has been quiet since I stopped making masks, but I think this would be worth printing before my next project.
One of my favorite things about Sashiko is the thimble, it's specifically designed to go through multiple layers of fabric. I'm not sure how it would work with a normal sewing needle, but they are usually under US$5.
Here's a post about them.
Oh, I'm not familiar with that kind of thimble. I should try it.
Mine is designed to be used like a tailor's thimble, but the side that I push with is flattened and has a rim around it (inspired by the tip of a raised-edge quilter's thimble). It's shaped to my thumb to ensure that the flat side is always oriented correctly behind the needle eye.
I had no idea there were so many different kinds!
My RSI gives me grasping issues, so the thimble in the inside of the hand makes it more comfortable to hold the needle.
I've gotten in and out of 3D printing over the years. I've done a few of my own custom files. A latch for my previous robot vacuum that had an issue with its lid popping open, some retention clips for LED light strips for some builtins that I built, and a motorcycle handlebar mount for a button that is wired to a garage door remote under my seat so I can operate my garage door from the bike.
My favorite print is probably the organizers for a board game we have called Agricola. It has a bunch of really high quality wood pieces, but having them in trays instead of individual bags made the game much more enjoyable. I didn't design it, someone else made a set of trays that fit nicely inside the box.
I like to fix things to try and get more life out of them. So with the ability to model my own parts, I love being able to print something custom to extend the life of something or make something for pennies that would cost a lot of money because it's a niche thing.
I built a Voron 2.4. It was built before BambuLab first came out with a consumer product, so it was essentially the best consumer-grade 3D printer one could get, if you chose quality parts and put in the time to calibrate it properly. It's still a beast, for the most part, but it doesn't have some of the nicer things that have come out soon. I particularly want to replace my klicky probe with Voron Tap, but I really don't want to put any more effort into it because I don't want to compromise the reliability it already has even though it might be more reliable and capable as a result. The last upgrades I have done are all stuff that just occupies otherwise empty space, like the Nevermore air filter.
I do really basic CAD, but I don't use the big popular CAD programs, I use OpenSCAD. I find it really hard to figure out what steps I would need to get the other programs to make the results that I want/need. It feels like you need to take dedicated classes to learn them because they are designed to be too "friendly" and documentation is weirdly sparse and unhelpful.
It's hard to say what my favorite printed object is. I think 3D printing is most useful when it interacts with other things. Life is just no fun when it's made out of plastic. That being said, my favorite model designed by someone else is this collapsible dice tower. But my favorite overall is something I designed for myself: the MiSTer Arcade Terminal, which gets a lot of use. On a tangent, I'm upset that I can't seem to find which filament I used for the photos in there because I love the color.
If you want a good example of things fixed by 3D printing, you should check out the YouTube channels Teaching Tech and Maker's Muse. Both of them have videos overviewing real-world use cases and the design process used to fulfil them. The former has some very practical prints whereas the other primarilly covers how he uses it for his combat robots. Rctestflight isn't focused on 3D printing, but they use printed parts all the time for some very interesting boating projects. Right now he is testing out propellers for a design contest he put together.
I disagree completely with the tldr, but I’m sure you’re exaggerating somewhat. 3D printing has changed quite a bit in my life, mostly in the fact that whatever I can imagine, I can make (within reason of course)
I do like 90% functional prints, and as I have gotten more into heat press inserts and ASA the utility of things I print has literally only blossomed out to what feels endless. The only thing limiting me is time (and obviously applications that have a high weight/stress factor), which is an incredibly cool thing that makes me feel self sufficient like never before
I have three 3D printers, which is probably more of an answer to "how far down the rabbit hole are you" than CAD habits are. I have a Prusa MK3 (main functional printer), a Voron 2.4 (built as an upgrade to the Prusa but isn't yet reliable enough to run unsupervised, still tinkering with it), and an Elegoo Mars 4 (which I got on a whim to play around with but haven't done nearly as much on; as a learning project, a friend got a bunch of Warhammer models for the cost of materials).
1: I CAD stuff all the time. Mostly I use FreeCAD, as a "least bad of several bad options" sort of choice that I've grown to be efficient with. Being able to just draw a thing and have it exist after an hour or two is a superpower for any sort of hobby that involves making things.
2, 3: So many of them. I had a cool "omg I live in the future" moment last year where I was considering buying a plastic part, but noticed while looking for the part number that the manufacturer had CAD models on their website. So... I just printed that instead of buying it.
I've also been printing an unreasonable number of Gridfinity organizer bits, in an ongoing attempt to tame the disaster that is every desk and workbench I have.
I have multiple 3d printers now, but started with a DLP resin printer about 7 years ago, mostly with the intention of printing minis for tabletop games. The learning curve for resin printing, at least at the time, was incredibly steep - mostly from learning how to get the exposure settings correct based on the resin properties, and to properly orient and support models. While FDM printers need to worry about the latter, for resin printing it is absolutely critical not just to support islands but to consider the suction and adhesion forces on the FEP based on how your model is oriented. For example - if you print a large hollow shape, you may need to create vent or drain holes in the model in strategic locations, otherwise the suction may be strong enough that the print is pulled from the build plate or you may end up with liquid resin trapped inside the piece after it is done. Each print requires so much pre-processing that it is exhausting. This may have improved with all the software updates and whatnot over the years, but I am still kicking with my OG printer and haven't felt the need to upgrade yet. Here's a summary of my overly complicated workflow though: Make or obtain STL > in Meshmixer, orient to minimize suction and islands/supports, hollow, add vents > in B9 creator, manually add supports to all islands > slice the STL > import the sliced file to a "validator" program that checks for islands and flags them to attention > correct any issues and re-slice
Anyways... most resin printers are on the small side, so for larger prints I picked up an extra large FDM printer about a year ago. I've been struggling to adjust to the differences between the two printing methods though. FDM just has so many settings, between bed/hotend temperatures, retraction, speed, fan speed, etc - compared to having only the exposure time settings in DLP. I'm finding that getting a "successful" print is easier or more forgiving in FDM than in DLP, but getting a great looking print is nearly impossible. It may be because I'm starting on hard mode by printing only ABS, which as I understand it is much harder to do than PLA, but I prefer the stronger and more heat resistant properties of ABS, plus would like to simplify post-processing by acetone smoothing rather than sanding. On the plus side, I feel much more empowered to just print whatever I see in FDM without much thought, rather than having to excessively prepare every STL and cater it specifically to my printer and resin qualities.
For making CAD files, I mostly use TinkerCAD as I've found it to be incredibly easy to use, at least for basic functional designs where you can break them down into multiple simple shapes. Using it I've created STLs for electronics projects cases, cosplay props and jewelry, a busy board for my son, etc. I've experimented with Blender, FreeCAD, and Fusion and none were as easy to just pick up and go. I always found myself thinking "how can I do this in this program?" when I used them, pausing frequently to google how and watch tutorials, but with tinkercad it's more of a geometric puzzle of "how can I break this down into basic drop-in 3d shapes" which is less frustrating for me.
I designed and printed Gourry's "Sword of Light" from the anime Slayers. It was a resin print that had to be broken into multiple pieces which were then sealed together by manually painting resin to the seams and applying a handheld UV light. The blade is semi-transparent resin with a hollowed out space for an LED strip, with an additional spot in the the hilt hollowed for the LED's control panel and batteries. The blade also detaches from the hilt assembly for easier transport. To me it's my favorite print because I designed it from scratch, beginning to end, and even now I'm still impressed that I managed to model the blade's cross-guard in Tinkercad with all of its rounded and complex shapes.
Due to rising car theft in my area, I've recently decided that I need a killswitch for my vehicle. However, a hidden killswitch can quickly become useless if it is found, and is also kinda boring. Instead, the James Bond villain in me decided to make a fused panel of 8 switches that would custom fit inside my center console, and only the correct combination would allow the fuel pump and ignition to be powered. I initially wanted to have a couple of red herring switches as well that would toggle the horn, but nixed that after struggling to figure out wiring, as I'm an electronics noob and car horns require the correct polarity to function (while the other components in the assembly do not require a positive wire.) Anyways, it has since been printed in ABS with my FDM printer, with the fuses and switches all pressure fitting perfectly and tightly into place, and it's now waiting to be installed the next time I tear my interior apart.
(edits to fix quote formatting)
Getting into 3d printing has been my hyperfixation for the last little bit, so I'll go ahead and throw in my 2 cents on getting started in case anyone is interested. I've focused on FDM printers, so most of the stuff is going to be about that. Treat everything that follows with the skepticism due an internet stranger without actual experience in the matter.
Getting Started
The biggest question to ask is what you want to 3d print. Some people really take to 3d printing, others end up letting the machine gather dust in the corner. So my recommendation would be to browse some of the 3d printing sites (such as thingiverse or printables) to get an idea of what's possible and some ideas. Then, as you go through your day, consider your environment. What would you tweak about it if you could? Are you missing a piece to some machine or doohickey? Keep a list. If you can populate it, then 3d printing might be for you.
From there, I'd model an object. For many things, you'll be able to find a file somebody else already made. My view though is that one of the biggest strengths of 3d printing is the ability to get a completely customized solution to something, but to do so you'll need to familiarize yourself with CAD software to do so. It doesn't have to be something fancy, and kludging together something from bits of other files works, just so long as it's for you or someone you know specifically.
For what software to use, check this infographic. I've heard there's also software you can use to generate 3d models from video game files if that's your thing, but I haven't looked into it.
Printer Types
There are two main types of consumer models. Most of the time, when people are talking about it on the internet, it'll be the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) type. This is the one where plastic from a spool of filament is fed to an extruder which effectively draws your print one layer at a time. It's good for functional parts, and can get some pretty good detail going if you tune your printer. Check out the Tome of 3d Printed Horrors youtube channel to get an idea of what making miniatures in that space looks like. To get started, I'd estimate a cost of $300-500 depending on what exactly you want.
When looking at FDM printers, you'll see two main types of motion systems: coreXY and bedslingers. A bedslinger is what it sounds like; the print bed moves in the y-axis, while the print head moves in the x and z axes. CoreXY uses a fancy belt system to move the print head in the x and y axes, while generally the bed moves in the z axis. CoreXY is generally a better movement system, but I think it's rather overblown by people online. CoreXY can print faster, due to a lighter print head, does better with tall thin objects that might wobble on a bedslinger, and are generally pretty easy to enclose. However, printers are bottlenecked by the melt speed of plastic these days: stock hotends can't prep things fast enough to keep up with the speed of CoreXY, and if you upgrade the hotend you can run into cooling issues with your print. Bedslingers with input shaping (fancy firmware that compensates for the vibrations of the motors) are in the same ballpark speed-wise as CoreXY systems. Bedslingers are also simpler systems, which makes them easier to fine tune and troubleshoot if something goes wrong. Overall, I wouldn't worry about the motion system.
The other type is resin printing, using either DLP or SLA technology IIRC. These ones print by hardening liquid resin by exposure to UV light. They get exquisite detail, and are the way to go if you want to print miniatures. A major reason they're less popular though is because resin is super toxic. All the steps up until the final part involve handling toxic chemicals, and even then they're cleared to touch but not long exposure (I believe it's a bit like copper; it's fine to touch it and handle loose change, but if you wear jewelry made out of it it'll turn your fingers green). I haven't looked into this one closely, but I'd estimate a $400-$500 cost to get started (the rule of thumb is you'll spend as much on PPE as you will on the printer).
Safety Considerations
The most important thing is ventilation. Many FDM materials (the engineering ones I believe) and all resins release toxic fumes, and all FDM printing releases microplastic particulates. While the microplastics probably aren't a big deal, I'd still say best practice is to keep your printer in a well ventilated room and avoid being in that room while it's printing as best you can. You can jury rig setups with filters, fans, and a grow tent if you want to be really thorough to help deal with this.
Food Safety: Best practice is to not consider 3d prints food safe. While the material you print with might be food safe (such as PLA), there's no guarantee that the dyes and additives used to help it print better are. Further, FDM printers leave layer lines, tiny grooves between each layer that can be a hotspot for bacteria and mold, and are difficult to clean. If you do want to take a swing at it, take a look at food safe epoxies, or use printers to help create molds for ceramics and the like.
Resin printing you're going to need a respirator with filters, preferably rated for both particulates and VOCs. You'll also need safety goggles, nitrile gloves, an apron if you care about your clothes, and good ventilation is not optional. You'll want containers specifically for washing your prints in IPA, trays for works in progress, and some miscellaneous tools for moving things around, and more that I'm forgetting about I'm sure. If you do things right, there's nothing to worry about. If you're not careful, resin can cause chemical burns and worse. Do your homework.
Materials
Resins: Resins have a reputation for being brittle, but they've come pretty far. Engineering resins mixed with some flexible stuff can be pretty strong, and IIRC some resins can be preferred over FDM materials. Don't get water washable resin; it's weaker than the IPA stuff, and at the end you're left with a whole bunch of water that's too big a biohazard to dump down the drain.
FDM materials:
If printing abrasive materials (anything with a filling, like carbon-fiber PLA or glass-filled Nylon), you'll need a hardened steel nozzle. Engineering filaments generally need an enclosed printer.
PLA:
The default. Easy to print with, strong enough to use around the house generally, though brittle. It doesn't do so well outside or with heat; it might melt if left in your car or in the sun on a hot day. Added materials (carbon fiber, wood, etc.) are for cosmetic purposes rather than material ones. You may sometimes see claims about biodegradability or that it can be composted but that's a scam; PLA doesn't biodegrade under normal conditions and can only be composted under industrial conditions. Or it could be, assuming that none of the dyes or additives are toxic. Seek out PLA recycling programs if you want to be environmentally sustainable.
PETG:
While it doesn't have the tensile strength of PLA, PETG more than makes up for it by being considerably less brittle, and more heat and water resistant. Good for prints that need to outside or take a bit of a beating. Not quite as easy as PLA to print, but still good. There are also recycling services for this one IIRC.
TPU:
A flexible material, TPU covers a wide range of stiffnesses, from something like your phone case to something like a shopping cart wheel. This one can be a bit tricky to print, since it's flexible. You'll want a direct extruder rather than a bowden one.
Those three form a pretty flexible core for most of your printing needs. Engineering filaments are nice, but most people are going to be perfectly happy with just the above.
ABA/ASA:
ASA is the newer, cooler ABS that's UV resistant. An engineering filament, so an enclosure will make printing it a whole lot easier. This is a tough, durable filament, and can be vapor smoothed with acetone to smooth out layer lines in post processing. IIRC it's pretty printable.
Nylon or PolyAmide(PA):
Another engineering filament. This one is difficult to print, but has some great material properties. Somewhat elastic at low thicknesses, stiffer at higher ones, low friction, and durable. Additives here, such as carbon fiber or glass, actually make it much easier to print in addition to altering material properties.
PolyCarbonate, or PC
Engineering filament, similar to Nylon in that it's difficult to print but additives make it easier. IIRC it's the toughest and most durable material on here, while being completely rigid compared to nylon's slight elasticity.
Bonus Round: PHA
This is one to watch in the future. PHA is a bioplastic that might be able to actually biodegrade/compost. As a 3d printing filament it's only hit the market this year. Beyond Plastic is the company that claims to be taking it furthest with their certifications, though it remains to be seen if those are genuine or typical corporate deceptive marketing. It's a tricky material to print by all accounts, though it doesn't need an enclosure (or a heated bed, for that matter).
What Printer To Get
Resin People
Elegoo and Phrozen are supposed to make quality stuff. Don't get one that's bigger than you'll need, both for price reasons and because the smaller you go the higher the detail (though modern resin printers are pretty much at magnifying glass detail no matter what; their resolution is measured in micrometers). Combo wash/cure stations can be nice, but I hear you can DIY things pretty cheaply and actually get better washing results than the cheap machines.
FDM People
Sovol Sv06/+: $200/$270, 220x220x250/300x300x340 mm build volume
While this one will require some tinkering (manual z-offset and lubricating some bearings out of the box notably, using a raspberry pi to install the Klipper firmware for faster printing speeds is a popular one), it's got solid bones (it's essentially a clone of the Prusa Mk3, which was the 3d printer workhorse for a good 5 years or so. It's got cheaper parts, but it's also a third the price) and is also the easiest to tinker with. If you're interested in both sides of the hobby (3d printers and 3d printing), or really need the size of the Sv06+, I'd recommend this one.
Bambu Labs A1 Mini: $250 sans multicolor, $400 with, 180mm^3 build volume
Bambu Labs shook things up in the 3d printing space a year or two ago with their X1C. It was a major shift in 3d printers as a hobby (you'll spend a lot of time working on the printer itself) vs 3d printers as a tool (they mostly work out of the box and you spend your time on 3d printing rather than on the printer itself). Of all the recommendations, this one will likely be the most plug and play, though they're hardly immune to issues. Bambu Labs strikes me as a company in the consumer courting phase of enshittification; They're closed source and proprietary whereas 3d printers have before been an ecosystem with a lot of open source. There's heavy marketing, but in my experience the best quality stuff advertises off word of mouth and reputation. And all their printers really want to be constantly connected to their server; you can run things in LAN only mode, but it's a hassle. But at the moment, they make good printers at good prices. I'd choose this one if you want as hassle free an experience as possible, or if you want multicolor printing.
Creality Ender-3 V3 KE: $240, 220x220x240 mm build volume
Creality has a terrible reputation as a company, with cheap parts, a reputation for people working more on the printer than printing, and customer service that'll probably laugh at you if you somehow manage to contact them. That said, this one I have heard good things about; it's just expensive enough to be made of more than duct tape and dreams. It's supposed to be pretty plug and play, and has decent specs for the price. I'd personally avoid it based on the rest of the company's reputation, but if you need size, performance, and hopefully as little tinkering as possible on a budget, do some research on this one and see what you turn up.
Qidi X-Smart 3: $300, 175x180x170 mm build volume
This one is notable for coming with an enclosure, so it'll be able to print ABS/ASA, though nylon and polycarbonate will still elude it. There will be a bit of tinkering involved (manual z-offset), but it has a solid reputation. Qidi is also supposed to have decent customer service. I'd pick this one if you want ASA printing and the size works for you, or if you're jury rigging an air filtration setup (a printer that starts out enclosed makes things much easier on that front).
Qidi Q1-Pro: $440 (with 30DAYSGIFT coupon at checkout), 245x245x240 mm build volume
This one is pushing the budget of a starter printer, but it comes enclosed and can print engineering or abrasive filaments right out of the box. It can actually do better with engineering filaments than some higher cost printers, since it has an actively heated chamber rather than a passive one. It's early days yet, but this one is in the running for the best bang for your buck printer on the market right now. That said, there are some IMPORTANT CAVEATS: The heater has exposed live power while on. The heater has a grating, is in a back corner of the box, and will burn you if you touch it while on, but it's still a flaw that deserves to be called out. IIRC you can print a safety cover for it if you like, but best practice for any machine is to unplug it before you go rooting around in its internals. The Q1 Pro also hasn't been out for long. Early reactions are good, but it's hard to know for sure. I'd pick this printer if you want to tango with engineering filaments.
Multicolor Printing
If you're on a budget, Bambu Labs is the only game in town for multicolor printing. It's definitely cool, but it also comes with some significant downsides. The first is that you'll be spending another $150 for the system in upfront costs, or $250 if you decide to add on one later. The second is that multicolor printing is really inefficient; it's common for prints to take 2-3x as long, and to have as much wasted filament as printed product. Filament is also rather expensive in startup costs if you're looking to build a color library.
The inefficiency can be somewhat mitigated though; what makes it so wasteful is the need to purge filament with every color swap. FDM generally prints in z layers, so a cube that's one color on the top half and a different on the bottom half will only need to purge once. There's also the same amount of waste if you print one model as if you fill up the build plate with identical models.
Overall though, if you want multicolor I'd recommend getting a nice set of paints and primer, which will give you a wide range of colors at the same price point as around a couple spools of nice filament.
Accessories
Some tools and other things associated with 3d printers.
Glue Stick:
Just any regular glue stick, no need for some fancy 3d printer one. Used for bed adhesion, when prints stick either too much or too little to your build plate.
A concrete paver with some foam blocks underneath:
Yes, really. This is used primarily to reduce the noise of your 3d printer, by preventing it from resonating with the table it's probably on. It can also help improve print quality, but since printers these days are pretty good at dealing with vibrations mostly just in the case of your printer being on a wobbly table.
Dry box/Filament Dryer:
Unfortunately, most FDM filaments are hygroscopic, meaning they'll absorb humidity. When you're trying to melt plastic through a very narrow tube, adding water also adds issues. How annoying a problem humidity depends on the climate where you live.
To deal with waterlogged filament, you dry it out. Heating it up too often isn't good for it though, so people will store them in dry boxes to limit how often it needs to be done. For drying filament, there are a few options. For specific temperatures and times, check which filament you're using. You can get a purpose built machine, but they're often cheaply made and not very good. A food dehydrator is great, and can also dehydrate food. Many air fryers have a dehydrator mode, though I'd try to check with a thermometer how steady it actually is. Ovens aren't recommended, because their temperature gauges often aren't all that accurate and they can fluctuate. For the ultra budget option, use a cardboard box with some holes poked in it on your printer's heated build plate.
For dry boxes, a ziplock bag if you're not going to be using your filament for a while works. Toss in some silica gel and vacuum seal to be extra thorough. You can print dry boxes, but you'll want a gasket (print a TPU one or use silicone from your local hardware store). You can also just buy a big sealing plastic tub and use that. Put in some silica gel in a way that you can swap it out when it gets saturated and you're good to go.
DIY Enclosure
Grow tents often work great. People sometimes use the IKEA lack table as well; you can find guides. Add a fan, some filters (Acid free activated carbon IIRC; otherwise it can hurt your printer. HEPA filter is a good call too), and one of those big flexible plastic tubes to vent outside if you really want to get cooking with responsible air quality.
Calipers
Much better than a ruler for getting quick, accurate measurements. There are 3 main styles.Vernier calipers use a little slide rule or something, so you get to squint and do math to figure out measurements. Their advantages are that they're durable, passively theft proof like stick shifts are in cars (since no one knows how to use them anymore), and if you use it long enough eventually someone might take pity and get you a better set.
Dial calipers, as you might expect, use a dial reading instead to banish math to the abyss, where it belongs. Some people prefer these over digital, since there are no batteries involved, and you can see which way you're approaching a measurement from (are you over or under it?) for tolerances. But you'll still be squinting, and they have gears which are sensitive to dirt and grit.
Digital calipers are easily the most convenient. Digital display, easily switch between metric and imperial, take relative measurements by resetting the 0 point. The one flaw is dealing with batteries. Digital calipers have a dirty little secret; they don't actually turn all the way off, and the cheap ones keep guzzling power while "off", eating through batteries.
To remedy this, there are a few options. You can take the battery out when it's not in use. You can get these calipers and use this 3d print to physically disconnect the battery when not in use (any caliper with a head that looks like that should work, but that one is specifically called out as being compatible in the comments). Or you can get these, which someone measured the idle power draw on to confirm they actually go into a low power state.
Mitutoyos are the premium caliper brand, but the market is also chock full of counterfeits, I've heard their quality has started dipping in recent years, and if you don't already have a caliper you really don't need one that's half as expensive as your 3d printer.
Useful Resources
Printer Recommendations:
Another Internet Stranger
3d Printing Discord Doc
Wikis:
Reddit General 3d Printing
Reddit Resin Printing
3d Printing Discord
3d Printer Tuning:
Text Guide
Text and Videos
Useful calibration object
Material References
One
Two
Post Processing:
ASA vapor polishing
Note: Use a respirator when vapor smoothing ASA, and remember that it's going to continue smoothing for a time after you take it out of the chamber. Be careful, acetone can be dangerous.
FDM Miniature Printing:
Tome of 3d Printed Horrors channel
Looks like a pretty good summary. But I'm surprised you don't even mention Prusa. I guess you consider them out of your price range?
I like Prusa as a company, but they're too expensive for me to recommend to beginners.
The mini is a nice printer, but had I included it on my list it would've been the most expensive one on it, factoring in shipping to the USA where I'm at, with a small build volume, no auto z offset, and no enclosure to boot.
The MK 3 is really starting to feel its age. Spec-wise, it competes against the Sovol in that list, and not always favorably; it's a lot easier to get input shaping for a significant speed boost on the Sovol.
The MK 4 is a great printer, but $500 is already a steep ask for someone getting into a hobby, especially when so many people bounce off it. Doubling it, especially when that's still not enough to get you some of the features found on cheaper printers (multi color, enclosure) is more likely to scare them away imo. I see Prusa as more of a dedicated hobbyist/business facing company rather than one for the casual consumer.
I've been printing since 2017 with a Chinese clone of a prusa from a while ago. It's had a lot of fiddling with from me and other friends that have got it to the point where it's basically just click to print on the octopi we run it over. These days it's mostly just replacement boardgame pieces and a slowly appearing magnetic Catan set that I'll paint.
I'll be printing that wallet you linked tomorrow as I've needed a new one for a while.
i have a BambuLab X1C. I am terrible at CAD but I'm actually a process engineer for a 3D printer manufacturer (not BambuLab) so more interested in the technical capability of the X1C than designing my own things to print.
I'm in the process of making a clock out of this print: https://engineezy.com/products/the-rack-driven-7-segment-display
I'm waiting for some PETG to be restocked on Bambu's website so I can finish the first model and tweak settings before I go ahead and print another 6 blocks for the project.
Cable management for my media room. I like the thought of hiding all the cabling, but then I figured I could just print some transparent cable routers, which are custom sized to suit, and then have neat tracks of cables running along walls. That'd look more interesting I think and fit with the aesthetic of all these sources of media converging into one point; the projector behind you.
I've got an Ender3 S1 at home, and a Prusa Mk3 S+ at work. I'm a university comp-sci instructor, so the work machine is available to students, but also a tool in one of my courses that's sort of a freshman potpourri for computer science to get them interested. I've got a nice intro to printing slide deck that they get on the second day of class.
An aside: I tend to push students away from Bambu. I know a lot of folks are happy right now with them, but their marketing tactics and social media pushes are just plain gross. No shade to folks that have bought them and are happy, but there are a lot more choices out there!
Yes. My Ender is probably not reasonably considered an ender anymore. The work machine is augmented with a print server to make it accessible to students (and "control" access, even though they could certainly shove an SD card in). I use a mix of OpenSCAD and Fusion 360. I tend to find that any object I really want to customize probably needs to be in OpenSCAD, as Fusion's step-by-step building process tends to lead to messy models. My original models are all on Printables.
Like OP, I'm a "see a need, fill a need" kind of person. My prints are mostly utilitarian. Daily-use wise, I use my pill sorter the most. If you were to enter my house, you'd probably find a 3D print doing some job in every room. I'm particularly happy with my shaving caddy.
The first thing I was after was actually a car part. I didn't know about the limitations of PLA at the time, so those parts are long gone. I needed the stopper that the brake and clutch sensors hit for my car. It's a Honda S2000, and a lot of the plastic is starting to degrade after 17 years. I ended up buying some but the print got the car started again. I still use a PETG stopper for the brake since it's both easier to replace, and I had a hell of a time getting the official part squeezed into the hole.
I've done a lot since then though. Shelf pins, little cups to stop my wife's wheeled tables at work from wandering around, pistachio bowls, mouse risers for ergonomics, laptop stands, PS5 feet, a soap/sponge caddy for the kitchen sink, and the list will just keep going on.
I have calipers at the ready and any time something annoys me, you'll find me taking measurements and disappearing to CAD for a while.
I have a Prusa Mk3s and I use OnShape for CAD. The biggest project I did was what I call my "accordion-shaped object." It's a MIDI input device that's sort of like an accordion. Here's the video and you can look at the CAD assembly here.
Since then I haven't done much with it. Occasionally my wife makes something that's actually practical, and I've printed toy animals to give away.
Wow! I wish my grandfather was still alive, he would have loved this!! He knew how to play those big, massive accoriands. All by ear, or by watching others and learning by heart when younger. Started young and never learned "the proper way" - but was a damn good player.
This, this makes me realise we really do live in the future. I suppose any moment in history is always the future at that particular time. It just hits harder sometimes you know? :D
Thanks! It's a prototype and not really good enough to play regularly. I hope to build a better one someday. But I take it out of the display case sometimes, and it still works.
I love functional 3d printing and I picked up the hobby during the pandemic. loved my glasses and they broke in a way that fixing them was near impossible. I had purchased a 3d printer and knew nothing about how to use it or make 3d objects. I measured my lenses, taped my old pair together so I could see, and got to work designing 3d printed glasses. My first pair lasted 1 hour and now to this day I have had a pair that lasted 2 years.
I have ended up printing hundreds of pairs since I first started and now broken frames get swapped out in minutes. Plus I got rid of the hinge altogether by refining my design.
When I first showed people, they freaked out saying I was going to screw up my eyes because it's important to line up pupils with the lenses. I did end up taking a 3d printed frames to the optometrist and had lenses made for my creation.
My early pairs were cobbled together in Blender and hilariously, Tinkercad. I have since learned Fusion 360 and recreated my frames from scratch. Here are a few links from earlier days to my first pairs:
Assembled Pair
First version STL file on TinkerCad
Bonus: Shark glasses
I'd be remiss if I didn't also include last year's hobby project. A fully realized and 3d (and 2d) printable board game. Start printing your free "Frostbite" game in time for Christmas! Lol
3d printable board game
These glasses look very neat. It would be fun to do something like that for Halloween.
How are you getting multiple colors?
Thank you. They would work great for Halloween 🎃 I use them as my daily pair and so they are definitely doable for other uses. The multiple colors is a fairly simple technique, but can be programmed. I use Simplify3D and I am able to determine the layer that I want to switch filament. You can program the 3D printer to stop, then swap filament, and restart. I had a few issues with the reheating at times so I went a simpler route...
My "ghetto" way of doing it is I approximate the time it takes to get to a particular layer (my printer lets me.know what layer is printing). When I get to that layer I slow the printer down manually to about 50% speed. Then I quickly yank out the filament and feed in the new filament fast. I slowly ramp back up to 100% and then I have a multi-color print! I sometimes do a few color swaps for a print. Takes a bit of trial and error, but it has worked for me well. I print on a modified CR-10s.
Are your recent designs published anywhere? (I'd like to do this, but I am lazy.)
The linked STL above still works well and I made that one public. I'm holding onto my version 2.0 for now because I put in a lot of work to get it right for my head and unique style.
Boy, I feel inadequate; everyone is using their printers for useful stuff while I use mine primarily to print miniatures for tabletop wargames.
My friend gave me his old Anycubic Photon S which has been pretty great. Also just recently gave me an FDM printer, don't recall the brand or model, but I need to spend some time cleaning it up and replacing some parts on it before I get it up and running. Haven't even bothered looking at it yet, but once I get it going, I'll use that to print terrain for miniature Wargames.
I have an Ender 3v2 that's given me so many problems. I've done lots of research and experimentation and I can never narrow down solutions to my problems. Since I moved to North Carolina I haven't taken it out of its box.
I have enjoyed using OpenSCAD to design stuff. Coding objects into existence is really cool.
Yeah, those are pretty error prone since they don’t have a number of features nicer printers have to automate away common pitfalls, and the cheap parts they use create new ones, especially the PTFE-lined hot end and plastic and brass extruder. Then they use a glass bed which is on the lower end of adhesion and have extremely confusing directions for the already fiddly routine for tramming the bed.
I still have my Ender 3 v2 but I’ve had it so heavily modified to fix all of the things that kept breaking down the process that it’s practically its own thing.
I have the same printer, and for me the life-changing event was installing and setting up klipper off a raspberry pie. Since then, my prints just succeeded
That, and using a PEI sheet for the bed
What is a "clipper"?
Sorry, was using voice to speech
klipper is a software that connects to your printer and speeds up printing while making it more reliable and consistent in my experience
Technically the same level of precision and reliability should be possible with Marlin but for me it was so much easier to learn what I needed to adjust without needing to constantly recompile firmware or even think about SD cards. With klipper to modify the firmware you edit some text lines and reboot the printer to implement them
That sounds really cool! I'll have to check that out.
I just got my first 3D printer at the beginning of this year. I really don't want to tinker. I'm confident enough in my skills to be able to, if I would want to, but I just don't. I got a Bambu A1 mini. It just works out of the box. Pulled it out, turned it on, and it printed a near-perfect Benchy in a little under 15 minutes. So far it's just a very good fit with what I wanted.
I use fuson360 for the more technical prints, and Blender to edit stls and to make more 'organic' designs.
So far, most of my prints have been 3D printing related. If printed filament spools, filament clips, spool holders,.. I have bought some tools (spare hotends, pliers, knives, postprocessing tools, ...) so I printed some storage boxes to organize my drawer... So it's a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy.
But I have plans to create some sculptures to paint. So we'll see how that goes 🙂