First 3D printer?

I want to buy my first 3D printer I do not know much so I am looking for recommendations on what to buy/ what I would need. Thanks in advance!

 

@Fargo Taco

 

@CoMo Taco - I can only recommend what I'm familiar with but my Ender 3 has been fantastic. If I was in the market now, I'd probably be looking at the Ender 3 V2.

Beyond the printer, you just need a slicing program, filament and something to print.

For the slicer, Cura has a TON of configuration options and the Ender 3 is well documented so you'd have a great base for getting it fine tuned with temperatures, layer thicknesses, etc.

For the filament, I've only used 2 different kinds - PLA and ABS.

For the PLA, my go-to has been

3D Solutech Silver Metal 3D Printer PLA Filament 1.75MM Filament, Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.03 mm, 2.2 LBS (1.0KG) - PLA175TCMS

3D Solutech Silver Metal but it looks like that's out of stock.

For ABS, I have

$24 HATCHBOX ABS 3D Printer Filament, Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.03 mm, 1 kg Spool, 1.75 mm, Black

Hatchbox ABS but ABS is very particular and prone to warping and I haven't had the greatest luck with it yet.

As for what to print, look through Thingiverse and find something that you want/need. The first few things I printed were simple prints for the printer itself and I expanded out from there. You just download the file from Thingiverse, open it in Cura, adjust you slicing setting as necessary and hit print. A few hours (to a few days!) later, your print is ready.

Let me know if you have any questions about anything.

 

Sweet deal love the price of the Ender 3 V2 as well haha.

 

Any recommended add ons I should purchase I am buying directly from the site today and see they have some accessories that might help with print and all.

 

The only thing I've really ever considered upgrading on mine is adding the glass bed, which the V2 comes with. Instead, I've had good luck with blue painter's tape for first layer adhesion.

For your first couple of prints, I'd start with PLA filament as it's the most forgiving. Going to ABS will require some kind of enclosure to keep temperatures consistent during the print to keep it from warping. Like I mentioned before, I haven't had the greatest luck with ABS yet.

 

Cool cool yeah I saw some people use what looks to be like indoor growing tents since those have great temperature control. Thanks will order the basic stuff then.

 

Figure out how many extruders you want. I bought a geeeech a30 pro purely for the range it has, it does 320x320x420 so i can do tall things. I bought it to print a camera rain cover for my timing business.
https://www.phototiming.com/shop/index.php?rt=product/product&path=1&product_id=1

I am also printing a few things now where i want 2 colors but i'll try pausing and changing filament mid-print. I have no desire to buy another or go crazy modding mine.. yet..

 

I have had several 3D printers from fully assembled to kits.

To me the software learning is more important than what hardware you have.

The Monoprice lineup is great if you want a pre assembled 3D printer to get started right out of the box.

My latest is an Anet A8 Plus. I needed a larger printer and it has a 300 x 300 x 350MM print area.

It is now printing a large object behind me and over my head.

I recently moved it and my prints looked like crap.

After observing it I figured out one of the drive belts was too loose so I tightened it up and it is working great.

 

I think the best answer is it depends. I know ender is popular because it's small and cheap. If you want to take the time to tweak it seems fairly good most of the time.

I got Prusa MKS3 and highly recommend it for the quality, features, and active community. It is getting toward mid-grade price but great performance. I gather there smaller version is also good (you can tell they thought things through) and might recommend that over an ender.

Here is one of my prints and some advice if you start making your own models.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-off-your-3d-printed-parts.642265/page-22#post-24836557

 

I bought the Ender 3 v2. I think since I have never touched one before this will be a great learning experience. Excited to start building some things.

 

What software do you use?

 

I haven't done nearly enough of my own designing but I've used AutoCAD and Tinkercad.

 

Tinkercad and learning freecad. I was also using fusion 360 but they nerfed the free version so its out.

 

Congrats. I have an Ender 3D pro (~$250) and think this little thing is an impressive amount of technology and accuracy for the money.

imo proper order and tight assembly is important along with the initial bed calibration.

We're learning Fusion 360 here and the software is powerful. A little frustration comes from Fusion online training courses using a slightly older version of the software with different menus and options but I guess that's the reality we live in with SoS (software as a service) instead of shrink-wrapped software.. plus hobbyist version is free.

 

Built my Ender 3 V2 and when I auto home it pushes my glass bed down. The extruder is always touching the bed and the bed levels are as tight as can be (pushing them away from the extruder) so it can’t go any further. I’m sure I messed something up here.

 

Assuming the V2 is the same and that I remember correctly when I put mine together, the Z switch is adjustable up and down on the vertical rail, isn't it?

 

Yes it is adjustable when I put it up and then auto level it goes back to touching the bed. Is that just normal? and I am supposed to adjust the vertical part before every print.

 

No, your limit switch is too far down. First loosen the springs until each one just has a little pressure. Then manually move the nosel touches the bed with a sheet of paper between it. Then move your Z axis switch until it clicks or the switch makes contact.

Next auto home and move to each corner of the bed. The paper should have some resistance between the nosel and the bed. Not too tight or too loose. Adjust each corner until there is a slight drag.

I just did it a while ago. I had to partially take my A8 Plus apart so I could box the back end with some 2020 aluminum. This is to stiffen it up and to hold the wires that kept knocking over my last print job.

 

The ETH was my first print you can probably tell by the quality haha. The others came after some tweaking. Loving the art of 3D printing thanks everyone for the suggestion and even help troubleshooting. After adjusting my limit switch as you said it fixed that issue and I was able to level my bed properly.