Printer recommendations

3D Fabrication
#1

Hi Y’all ,
My son is taking a robotics class in 7th grade… it’s now has him using tinker cad… and he’s been expressing an interest in a 3D printer… I know he wants to make Nerf parts… boys and Toys that go pew pew pew… he is only 12…

Any way I’m thinking about buying a poly printer for the house… I want to keep under $300. So I know I’m looking at used… I am asking for recommendations?

#2

New, Creality Ender 3 V2 is in your price range, and probably better than most used in your price range.

2 Likes
#3

I was going to ask about those, I keep seeing them for sale on market place
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/523142045454338/

#4

I think some of them come out of the box well adjusted and ready to print, but others, the cam adjust for the rollers are off, and they won’t print well until they are adjusted snug, but not too tight. So some will be people frustrated who don’t manage to figure out how to adjust. Others are probably people who tried them, and like the process enough to move up to better machines.

I would tend to suggest starting new at that price rather than risking inheriting someone else’s problems. You never know what marginally functional firmware they may have installed, or how the hardware may have been mangled. I think used printers are a safer purchase for people who either already have experience troubleshooting and repairing printers, or looking for that experience.

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#5

I highly recommend the Ender 3 either v1 or v2. There’s a lot of information out on the internet from upgrades to troubleshooting. Plus, if you need parts asap, microcenter carries a good amount of spare parts.

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#6

I would agree with Kevin. The ender I think is a good start that wont break your budget. You can upgrade parts overtime as he & you build experience. Microcenter does carry a lot of those upgrade parts.

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#7

This is the printer I have two of and it is pefect for the home user. Polyprinters are more applicable to a commercial enterprise were duty cycles are much longer than what most hobbyists will need.

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#8

If you want a more trouble free experience check out the Prusa Mini:

They have an amazing reputation and tend to be minimal fus.

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#9

The prusa will be the cheapest no-fuss option. If you don’t mind the fuss the ender has great reviews. I personally have the prusa and really like it.

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#10

Thanks all - I have purchased the Ender 3 at microcenter … they had open boxes for $199.99

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#11

Was great seeing him at Lloyd’s

#12

I also agree that the Ender3 V2 is the best choice. It is by far the absolute best printer for the value. It’s highly upgradable, maintainable, and it easy to assemble. As others have said there’s a multitude of support videos and articles out there for it. It’s also got the largest print volume that I’ve seen for under $500. I personally on the ender 3 pro, which was the precursor to the ender 3 V2 and I absolutely love it.
I would recommend staying away from used ones unless it the person is amenable to you inspecting it and it possibly even doing a test print of a calibration cube or something small like that to assess its quality.