Who has a 3d printer?

[Mikes]

With the rise of STL files and the quality of (some) printed minis these days, it's time to start thinking about investing in a 3D printer.

 

So, who has one? How much did you spend? What's the running costs like? Would you like to share some of your creations?

 

I'll start off with a couple of figures I had printed by Mr Lee's MInis in the UK. These were the first 3d printed models I'd seen close up, and they're so, so good.

 

 

 

[Nicky]

I have a couple of Resin printers. mainly an Elegoo Saturn and am shortly going to be selling prints on my website when it launches. you're looking at the following running costs:
30-40quid per litre of resin medium to large miniature prints are around £5 per print of resin.
as much 99% IPA as you can muster for cleaning purposes. not just for dunking and cleaning prints, but for work area cleaning, tool cleaning etc. you can get water washable resin, but ive stuck with IPA cleaning prints.
you could use nitrile gloves or get washing up marrigolds,
potentially Charcoal air filter blocks if you're concerned about smell/fumes
replacement FEP vat sheets for the vat,
and if you're running a lot of printing you'll need new lcd screens.

[instasis]

We've got a Ender 3 v2. It's fine for lots of things, but I absolutely would not print anything to do with miniatures with it. Plant pots, thingie-ma-jigs and many other practical things have been printed with it, along with some busts, but the effort involved in getting rid of the ridges on it along with the print times themselves mean it's a non-trivial amount of effort.

 

I've not tried resin, have no intention to. 3D printing is a hobby in and of itself IMHO. It took me weeks of effort to get this machine dialled in to a good print quality, consistently, and about £100 over the base cost of the machine for extra bits and bobs.

[DarhkFox]

Same. I have an ender 3 v2. It's good, once you get used to making sure it's level.

 

However, miniatures... i wouldn't bother. Larger figures generally come out okay but resin is the way forward for detailed prints.

 

I'd love a resin but i just can't justify it at the moment.

[davadvice1]

Hi,

 

I'm bumping this as I'm interested in getting a 3D printer, it would be handy for some stuff for home automation and perhaps some car parts that are out of production. 

 

Is there a place to look for advice on what device to get and a decent beginner tutorial?

 

Cheers 

[DarhkFox]

Can anyone reccomend a resin printer? I see Anycubic on ebay have their Photo Mono 4k for £210.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275138974909?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D091b2455c0c349ee85fdc986172db735%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D284002839910%26itm%3D275138974909%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DANYCUBIC&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Aefac192a-8805-11ec-a2f2-66c74ef540b8|parentrq%3Ad3dcaccb17e0a77d17f0513ffff25556|iid%3A1

 

From what i understand it doesn't have AA though compared to the SE though.

 

Any have one of these? Any good? 

[c-cat114]

I've got a couple of 3d printers. A Creality se 6 and a Tiertime Up mini 2.

 

The mini 2 I adore. The industrial design is the best of any printer I've used and it comes up with very good quality prints. Negative is that its now expensive (I bought it way cheaper than is now) and slightly small build plate. I'd argue slightly better for beginners. That said another negative is that it says it prints pla but I've never found the right settings for it. The Abs outcomes are awesome though. 

 

The creality I'm starting to use now. Good levelling, good interface. Dislike Cura (Tiertime slicer miles better). First few prints have been good though. 

 

Haven't played with resin but want to some day. I've got a student who runs both types and he says both are as easy to get into. Can ask him which resin one he uses if you want 

[c-cat114]

(at work I've got a Da Vinci - it's OK but no better than that, an Up Mini 2 and a Dremel 3D 45. The Mini 2 and Dremel are my two top picks. Creality Next. Flash forge after that. Ultimaker good but utterly nowhere near worth prices quoted). 

[DarhkFox]

Yeah I have a Creality ender 3 v2 and it's a good printer especially for more bulky items. I end up using it more for printing figures out for people and the quality is somewhat lacking in that area.

 

On the same page i don't want to spend a large amount of money on something if i end up not using it much. the PLA printer can be a pain in the ass to level sometimes.

[Omizzay]

I just bought an Ender 3 S1 but still haven't received it yet.  The main reason I got this version is because of the simplified setup process as well as the self-leveling and (from what I can tell through watching some reviews) better quality prints.  

 

Is there somewhere where I can get really nice detailed STLfiles for free, or do I have to join these Patreon groups?  I know that Thingiverse, Cults3D and MyMiniFactory sites have great free STL files, but most are pretty basic and I'm looking for more detailed figures along these lines:

 

[Mikes]

On 21/03/2022 at 07:50, Omizzay said:

I just bought an Ender 3 S

 

Nice. How much did that set you back?

[Omizzay]

9 hours ago, Mikes said:

 

Nice. How much did that set you back?

350 quid

[The Bag]

@Nicky and others with resin printers how do you find the fumes?  I've seen so much stuff talking about fumes, about needing ventilation and/or an air purifier that it's putting me off getting into resin printing.  Especially as the place it'd make most sense for me to have stuff setup is in room I'd be painting in, so I'd be in the same place as the printer reasonably often.

[Nicky]

I have an elegoo Saturn and the dirty side is pretty much contained away from the electrical side. The older printers like the anycubic photon had a ducting system that would pull fumes from the dirty side (the resin vat bit) through into your room for some stupid reason. You can get some Elegoo little carbon filter things pretty cheap you recharge and place inside thr print hood if you're sensitive. but tbh the smell isnt too bad with certain resins. im currently using Elegoo's ABS-Like grey without the filters running and its okay. Where it does get stinky is when you're cleaning and youve got resin everywhere. i used to hate running my old Anycubic Photon, but the saturn - and i guess Mars are pretty good for not stinking everything up.

 

but really smell is the least of the worries. get a giant silicon matt, marigold gloves, multiple bins, blue paper roll by the truck full and litres upon litres of 99% IPA

[CJB]

On 20/03/2022 at 20:50, Omizzay said:

I just bought an Ender 3 S1

Thinking about getting one of these myself. How are you finding it so far?

[Omizzay]

10 minutes ago, CJB said:

Thinking about getting one of these myself. How are you finding it so far?

It's arrived but I'm waiting till next month to open it for my son's birthday.

 

From all the videos I've seen, it seems to be the best Ender so far.

[CJB]

A gift that keeps on giving!

 

I agree! I've had an itch to get a 3D printer for a while now and this might be the one.