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But, my kids seem interested... so just out of curiosity, let's say I had $300 to play with? What to buy?
You want a CR-10 S off ebay. It should be less then $300 shipped. Well I am not sure to Hawaii. I bought one around Christmas time and had my first print going within an hour of unboxing it. I just purchased his big brother the CR-10 S5 with a 500x500 built plate. This is so I could rapid 3d print out my new cast manifold to test fit. Upgrade wise you can print most mods yourself to get started. I have added a few things to my printer to help make it a bit quieter, but other then those it has been doing PLA great.
CR-10 S5 500x500 bed CR-10 300x300 bed Test fitting the manifold CR-10 S5 printing out my manifold
I second the Creality CR-10 series. I recommend PRUSA for the high quality and community support, but Creality has a good bit of support as well and it's a great printer for the money. I will probably be picking up a large print bed model at some point myself.
Third the CR-10S recommendation. Build area on it is 300x300x400 tall. Also picked up an Ender 5 for $250 and love it. Made by Creality as well, but a 235x235x300mm build area. Threw a $20 32 bit board on it with silent stepper drivers and it's pretty sweet. 24v system heats up a little quicker than the CR-10 and I'm not afraid to go a little faster with it since the bed is moving for the Z direction, not the Y.
Concur on the Creality recommendations. I have an Ender 3 that I've had pretty good luck with. I will second the observations that these are not "set it and forget it" appliances. The huge number of variables will keep you tweaking constantly to get the best quality part. Some prints/materials can be maddeningly finicky, but it's damn near hypnotic watching a printer at work when things are going well. I'd definitely treat it as a hobby though rather than a household tool.
RESURRECT!
I've gotta get on this bandwagon and have limited my scope of need... the kids need this thing more than I do. Stimulate their creative side and get them thinking about problem solving, coding, engineering, etc...
I was about the pull the trigger on the Monoprice Select Mini, but I think the Ender3, although twice the footprint, is going to be a better fit for what I think we'll use it for.
My favorite, by a long shot, among the low cost 3D printers is the Cetus Mk.3. a simple design with quality components (woo linear rails!) that can also be purchased with extended range, and has add-ons for a leveled, heated bed for more advanced materials.
I was actually going to buy one recently but my roommate (another PhD student) ended up having a research printer shipped to our house (one that retails for $3000+, and still isn't as nice as the Cetus).
I have an ender3 Pro that I like. Worked decently enough out of the box. I have modified it slightly. It seemed like the angle of the filament from the spool going into the extruder was too sharp and would cause it bind. I printed a guide that holds the filament out further. All in all it's a good printer for the money but will require fine tuning to get good results. I use Fusion360 for cad.
RESURRECT!
I've gotta get on this bandwagon and have limited my scope of need... the kids need this thing more than I do. Stimulate their creative side and get them thinking about problem solving, coding, engineering, etc...
I was about the pull the trigger on the Monoprice Select Mini, but I think the Ender3, although twice the footprint, is going to be a better fit for what I think we'll use it for.
I would highly suggest checking out the CR-10S. I say this over the Ender just due to the larger print area. 220x220 might be a bit smaller then you want. Otherwise Ender's are great printers.
Ender 3 Pro is the best bang for the buck. Spring for the Pro over the base model for a power supply that's less likely to burn down your house. If you want to go a little more up-markets, the CR-10S pro V2 looks to be a great setup out of the box.
I've had my Ender 3 Pro printing non-stop for the last two weeks to make face shields for local health care providers. It's a great machine.
Bought the Ender 3 Pro and 2 spools of 1.75 PLA... a white and a black. Should be here on the 20th... first order of business is a couple Bane Covid masks. I'll get on the forums and do some homework on how to set it up and test&tune.
Good call. The Ender is pretty good to go out of the box. I would recommend that you print a "Petsfang" duct for it at some point early on. Also, Google how to check if thermal runaway protection is enabled on your firmware. Often times it's not by default, which will require a reflash. You can definitely run the printer without, but I wouldn't recommend leaving the house with it running unless it is. The build surface the Pro comes with is great for PLA, but when you expand to other materials you might want to grab a piece of glass.
Last edited by shooterschmidty; 04-11-2020 at 08:38 AM.
Reason: Spelling
Love my Ender 3 pro. Printed beautifully out of the box with just a bed level (learn to level the bed, do it well, do it often). I definitely would like a CR-10 as well at some point for larger prints. Just starting to play with mods now.
Good call. The Ender is pretty good to go out of the box. I would recommend that you print a "Petsfang" duct for it at some point early on. Also, Google how to check if thermal runaway protection is enabled on your firmware. Often times it's not by default, which will require a reflash. You can definitely run the printer without, but I wouldn't recommend leaving the house with it running unless it is. The build surface the Pro comes with is great for PLA, but when you expand to other materials you might want to grab a piece of glass.
Upgrading the board to one with better stepper drivers (BTT SKR Mini E3 or Fysetc Cheetah) is nice for 32 bit processing and quieter drivers but is a little more in depth of a job.
if the build surface is the magnetic one it's fine up to 80C which works for PETG as well. I've heard complaints about it but I have had great luck and maybe had one or two prints unstick out of 100.
Just ordered the upgraded board and a glass bed. Been looking on Thingaverse for all the "upgrade" parts to print first. Stupid Kauai... should be about 10 days for delivery, even with Prime. Most important thing is to make initial setup as easy as possible and first few prints actually work and prove useful... otherwise kids will lose interest.
I never had much luck with the stock build surface with PETG, but it's worth a shot. Incidentally, PETG is awesome. It's pretty much all I use now other than some specialty PLA filaments (wood-filled are pretty fun to play with).
Just ordered the upgraded board and a glass bed. Been looking on Thingaverse for all the "upgrade" parts to print first. Stupid Kauai... should be about 10 days for delivery, even with Prime. Most important thing is to make initial setup as easy as possible and first few prints actually work and prove useful... otherwise kids will lose interest.
The printer works fine out of the box. You are much more likely to fubar something trying to 'upgrade' it than improve anything.
^Says the guy on a forum that specializes in helping bro's "upgrade" a vehicle people have called "most perfect car in the world". H8R!!!
Of course I'm going to modify it. Don't let my 12 year Miata-owning&modifying hiatus fool you! I drove a base-model 2005 4Runner for 180k miles followed by a '93 Pathfinder from 150k-180k (while the wife rides around in a loaded Sequoia Platinum) just to save up for when I retire from the Navy, settle into my "forever home", and start my Cobra build. Northern Virginia McMansion requirement is a 3-car garage... Factory Five MkIV, BABY!
Question/scenario for experienced 3D printer people here...
If you only had to have one offering from Creality, which would you choose?
I got into 3D printing about 6 years ago when I bought an Ultimaker 2. Since I still have that printer, I know nothing about the new offerings on the market. A family friend wants to buy one for her son for his birthday and asked me for recommendations. Budget is around $300 or less. I think I have it narrowed down to an Ender 3 Pro or the CR-10. What do you think would be the best option between those two choices?
The birthday boy is a Mechanical Engineering student and lives about 30 seconds from me, so I do not think we will have issues with assembly, tuning, or setup. That said, I do want him to have something that can be setup to make great prints with decent reliability.
If you don't need the extra size of the CR, I'm a big fan of the Ender 5. The bed dropping for Z axis instead of moving for Y is a better design in my opinion.
07-24-2019, 10:20 PM
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