Looking for 3D Printer Advice

[Kurth]

I tried to search the forum, but couldn't search without having "3D" ignored for some reason. Not surprisingly, there are a ton of hits here on the word "printer".

Anyway, my son and I are thinking about getting into 3D printing. We've got no real experience, but we're ready to jump in. Any suggestions on a decent entry-level 3D printer on a budget of $500 give or take? I've been intrigued by the Monoprice MP Select Mini, which was just on sale this past weekend for a mere $179 (on Amazon now for $189).

I also thought some of the printers from XYZPrinting, but I'm kind of wary of their proprietary filament cartridges and software.

There's also PrintRBot and tons of other options.

Any thoughts?

[Daehawk]

The only thing I know about them i got from watching Jerry on YouTube. He's big into them. His channel is
Barnacules Nerdgasm

[Isgrimnur]

I tried to search the forum, but couldn't search without having "3D" ignored for some reason. Not surprisingly, there are a ton of hits here on the word "printer".

[Kasey Chang]

How small (or big) of stuff do you plan to make? You pretty much need a heated platform so the item doesn't stick, based on the research I did earlier as I was somewhat interested of making relatively small items, but the cheap ones don't have the precision to make small stuff nor the size to make larger stuff.

[hentzau]

I have a gifted MakerBot sitting in my basement unused. Got it from my wife's cousin, he played with it for a while but didn't have any of the original instructions, so I really had no clue what I was doing with it. I could get it powered up and recognized but I was kind of afraid to do anything else with it.

[Isgrimnur]

Makerbot manuals

[LordMortis]

No real suggestions but I will say that the technology is still very young and is frequently changing. Don't count on your printer being supported very long. And I will also say, figure out what you want to do and find a printer that fits your purpose. I have a friend who has 3 different 3D printers using three different technologies to support his out-of-his-house profession and he uses all three of them for three different purposes.

[Kurth]

I have a gifted MakerBot sitting in my basement unused. Got it from my wife's cousin, he played with it for a while but didn't have any of the original instructions, so I really had no clue what I was doing with it. I could get it powered up and recognized but I was kind of afraid to do anything else with it.

Want to sell it? I'm pretty budget-constrained, but if you're not using and want to make a couple bucks, maybe we can work something out.

[Kurth]

How small (or big) of stuff do you plan to make? You pretty much need a heated platform so the item doesn't stick, based on the research I did earlier as I was somewhat interested of making relatively small items, but the cheap ones don't have the precision to make small stuff nor the size to make larger stuff.

I don't really know what we'd be making. Probably just trinkets and tchotchkes ... stuff off Thingiverse that catches our eye. We'd love to be able to print lego and lego accessories, but I believe that generally requires printing in ABS, which I know can be stinky and difficult to work with.

The more I read about it, the more I like the Monoprice Maker Select Mini for $189. Check out the specs:

Heated aluminum build plate nozzle cooling fan for printing all filament types
Fully assembled and factory calibrated so you can start printing right away
Complete kit with sample PLA filament, bed scraper, and MicroSD™ card with preloaded model files
Micro USB and MicroSD card connectivity
PC and Mac® compatible
Compatible with Cura, Repetier, and other software

It also stays away from the proprietary filament crap many of the other printer makers (XYZPrinting, for example) are doing. The only drawback is the small print size (4.7" x 4.7" x 4.7") and slow print speed (55mm/sec).

[Kraken]

A buddy of mine bought a printer kit and was posting pics of his progress on facebook for awhile. It took him a week to put it together and get it working, whereupon he printed some improved parts for the printer. Eventually he graduated to little plastic trinkets. Haven't seen anything more in the last several weeks. I think he declared victory and lost interest in it.

[Fitzy]

This might be a long shot, but when we lived in Denver some of the libraries (Denver County and I think Arapahoe) had maker labs people could use. The wait list was long, but if they have something like that where you are you could see if it's something you really want to do before investing big.

[hentzau]

I have a gifted MakerBot sitting in my basement unused. Got it from my wife's cousin, he played with it for a while but didn't have any of the original instructions, so I really had no clue what I was doing with it. I could get it powered up and recognized but I was kind of afraid to do anything else with it.

Want to sell it? I'm pretty budget-constrained, but if you're not using and want to make a couple bucks, maybe we can work something out.

I might be donating it to my kids school. They've expressed interest in trying it out.

[Kurth]

I have a gifted MakerBot sitting in my basement unused. Got it from my wife's cousin, he played with it for a while but didn't have any of the original instructions, so I really had no clue what I was doing with it. I could get it powered up and recognized but I was kind of afraid to do anything else with it.

Want to sell it? I'm pretty budget-constrained, but if you're not using and want to make a couple bucks, maybe we can work something out.

I might be donating it to my kids school. They've expressed interest in trying it out.

Got it! That's certainly a good use for it. I just hate to think of it sitting around collecting dust!

[Punisher]

I actually got up at 4AM on Black Friday to order the Monoprice one because I wanted an inexpensive starter one.
I have only printed out a few things so far, but so far it does fit my needs. I can see needing an upgrade at some point, but that will be way down the road.
It works well now that I have it calibrated, but again, have only printed a few things. A small 28mm figure and a larger Yoda figure for my wife.
Make sure you pick up filament. The sample isn't even enough for the test file it comes with.
I have currently using glow in the dark filament and have an unopened grey spool that I will be using soon when I get back from vacation.
I have earmarked a TON of things from Thinkaverse that I want to print. I can see this getting addicting.

[Kurth]

We opened up the Monoprice MP Select Mini on Christmas, and we've been printing ever since. In terms of ease of use and success rate out of the box, this is a pretty amazing machine. I'm actually kind of blown away by how well it's done. We have zero experience with 3D printing, and I was expecting a real challenge just to get it up and running marginally. Instead, we unpacked it, leveled the bed, and printed a pre-loaded plastic cat with great results. Since then, we've printed very cool shark clips, a new spool holder, cord clips, and a three part pencil holder. We've definitely had our fair share of failed prints, too, but I think that comes with the territory. All in all, I'm loving this thing! Here are a few pics or our (mostly useless) creations:







All of the above was found on thingiverse.com. Of everything we've printed so far, the sharks (Sharkz!) are probably the coolest. They are clips that function like a clothespin. The way the printer built up the head with a shaft that carries through to the body and allows the jaws to open and close was awesome to watch. Fun times!

[EDIT - The spool holder is really a great build, except be aware that it doesn't fit the standard 1KG PLA spools from Monoprice.]

[Kurth]

I have earmarked a TON of things from Thinkaverse that I want to print. I can see this getting addicting.

Would love to hear about some of your prints. What have you found on Thingiverse that you particularly like? There's almost so much stuff on there it's hard to know how to cull it down!

[Punisher]

Printer upgrade wise:
Printed a spacer so that I could add a Fleks3D bed to the printer. over not working as well as I'd, but having the Fleks3d kit makes it easier to grab prints off the bed and not have to worry about releving. plus I can pull the plate and drop another plate in to minimize downtime in prints
a new knob. I hate the original knob
filament clips to keep the filament in place when I switch spools

Misc:
A damaged building model to be used for miniature gaming
some random mini's for gaming
a few different things for people for xmas
a groot bust using wood filament (The wood filament is really cool)
a few different Yoda things for the wife
a school bus to be used for miniature gaming. this required me to use other software to split it in half because it was too big to print out. (print size is the biggest limitation with this thing.)

I did find that painting things that are printed is not working as expected, even with priming it. It tends to really bring out the layer lines lines..

[hentzau]

I did find that painting things that are printed is not working as expected, even with priming it. It tends to really bring out the layer lines lines..

So this interests me a great deal. Is the material of such that you could sand it to smooth it out?

[Punisher]

Not too sure if sanding would help. I'll try to get some pics up over the weekend to show what I mean.

[Madmarcus]

ABS or PLA?

I hear the the layer lines on ABS can be smoothed by misting with acetone but I've never tried it.

[Punisher]

PLA.. Havent messed with ABS yet. From what I read I would need an enclosure at minimum...

[Punisher]

Here are some pics.
The first one is an unpainted model, the second one is primed with army painter primer and a light army painter wash.
You can see how the primer and wash really make the lines noticeable.
The rest are of a "zombie" model I downloaded and printed.
They were primed , base-coated, and washed.
Ignore the horrible paint job. It's been well over a decade and a half since I painted anything and I was never an expert. One of the reasons I printed these zombies is for practice, but now I don't know what percentage of the horrible paint job is due to the nature of the PLA and what is due to my skill level.
I did find out that the printer does not seem to be designed for any sort of detail for miniatures it seems.

[Kurth]

Still really digging my MP Select Mini 3D printer. I thought this recent print would be particularly appropriate to share here:

[Paingod]

Pretty cool!

I was speaking with an old coworker from my last job yesterday and he mentioned that they were looking at possibly 3D Printing boats and were meeting with suppliers. They've got the space, they just need the tech and a market. I thought that was pretty amazing. I don't know how much of a boat they'd be able to print or what kind of durability it has.

[Isgrimnur]

Hey, if you can Flex Seal a screen door in the bottom of a boat...

[Punisher]

Well this is considered a stress test for 3D printers

[KDH]

.
Midwest RepRap Festival (Indiana)

While the name most likely isn’t obvious to most people, but RepRap is the community around 3d printing. So unlike Maker Fairs where 3d printing is also very popular, this time the entire event is exclusively focused on it. This event started off as a small get together of friends in a garage and is quickly growing out of control. A few of the big names in 3d printing were there and we have the chance to stop and talk with a few people. We also brought the camera along so I figured I would make a quick post to share what we saw.

Barnacules Nerdgasm has a bunch of 3D-Printer related videos ... Including a givaway at the reprap festival NOW