Starting the hobby. FDM Printer advice | 3DMeltdown 3D Printing | Page 1

balmy yacht Sep 22, 2022, 8:29 PM

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I made a post in 3D Printing general. I am just copying and pasting it here

Hey all! I'm new and interested into getting into 3D Printing. So excuse my ignorance on this or if I am in the wrong place. Direction would be the best.

I'm insanely into board gaming, and I am a stickler for organization and I found myself buying inserts and holders and everything. I decided after having an etsy cart of like 200+ of upgrades and minis. That I should just spend the more, get into the hobby and learn to do these cool things myself.

My question is I hear these horror stories or if I buy a printer, I will need X, Y, Z etc etc. I am really looking to not only learn but have as little setup as possible. I can put things together but if something that is really good but costs more that has an easier setup (such as plug in, calibrate, get files and go).. Obviously that is dumbing it down so much but I am trying to get to the very base level where tinkering is not needed and all the stuff I need to figure out is not printer setup related.

twilit flume Sep 22, 2022, 9:02 PM

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since you are thinking about miniatures, are you looking for an FDM printer or a resin printer?

balmy yacht Sep 22, 2022, 9:15 PM

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Really thinking about inserts and holders for my games.
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/lost-ruins-of-arnak-organizer

Cults.

Lost Ruins of Arnak Organizer

This an organizer for Lost Ruins of Arnak boardgame. It has been designed for a fast setup, and supports sleeves and vertical standing of the box. There is still room for future extensions.

You have to print:

2x Card Desk Holder Small
2x Card Desk Holder Large
2x Spacer
1x Solo
1x Meeples
1x Score
1x Assistants
1x Temple & ...

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More so something like that vs. miniatures. I don't need minis but maybe if I wanted to do like 1-4 that I would be thinking about but mainly it's holders, items, tokens, stuff like that

twilit flume Sep 22, 2022, 10:34 PM

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i would reccomend you start on an fdm printer, you can do very detailed models on an fdm with smaller nozzle sizes with a bit of tuning

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personally, i have an ender 3 v2. its a good machine if you like to tinker. unfortunately tinkering goes hand in hand with 3d printing in most cases so you may just have to deal with it since you dont like it

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my printer has a good amount of upgrades, and most of them have been very easy, not even crossing into "tinkering territory". just sort of following guides of people that have done the trial and error for you

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however, you may be interested in an anycubic cobra. its direct drive out of the box, auto bed leveling and about the same size as an ender 3. likely it will be my next printer myself. you will still have to deal with the slicer tuning and all of that good stuff. hopefully you will come to like working on your machine. ive found that people who dont like working on their printers will ultimately let it collect dust

balmy yacht Sep 22, 2022, 11:44 PM

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twilit flume personally, i have an ender 3 v2. its a good machine if you like to tinker. unfo...

I don't mind tinkering eventually. I really want to start with as limited tinkering then get into it as I go along. I rather not have to have to buy x,y,z parts in order to start printing is what i mean

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You know the entry is what I want to do what I can do. I saw some printers you can add mods and everything. I will eventually do all the necessary things

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but to start out with the best printer that will be out the box ready

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that does what I want is key then I can go down the rabbit hole later

balmy yacht Sep 23, 2022, 1:55 AM

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Any recommendations @twilit flume ? on an FDM that you recommend

twilit flume Sep 23, 2022, 1:56 AM

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I only have experience with the ender 3 v2, I would recommend it if you plan to do upgrades in the future

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Out of the box it will print, but you will want a new extruder, bed springs, and bowden tube soon after

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I'm sure other people have experience on more printers than I, im not the best resource on this

balmy yacht Sep 23, 2022, 2:49 AM

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True. Thanks! I heard good things on that

cerulean kiln Sep 23, 2022, 11:27 PM

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balmy yacht Any recommendations <@372894405784240129> ? on an FDM that you recommend

what's your budget for the printer?

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if you want something thats ready out of box with minimal setup a prusa mini is a pretty good choice

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The ender 3 is a semi-assembled kit so you'll have to put stuff together and then level the bed etc

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prusa mini is also a semi-assembled kit but its a lot simpler, just one cable and like 4 screws

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it also has auto bed leveling and will print pretty much perfectly with minimal tuning

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downsides are its more expensive than the ender 3 and has a smaller build volume

balmy yacht Sep 24, 2022, 12:19 AM

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cerulean kiln what's your budget for the printer?

200-1500 .. I really don't wanna spend that much but it is what it is if it'll get me everything I want to get into.. Size matters.. Not too huge but I'm big on bells and whistles for my tech

twilit flume Sep 24, 2022, 1:13 AM

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..1500 opens your options by ALOT

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you could get a prusa i3 mk3s+ in that price range

cerulean kiln Sep 24, 2022, 1:33 AM

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if you're more focused on quality the prusa i3 mk3s+ is a good pick, but if you're more focused on size then the ender 5 plus or the tronxy x5sa would be better

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the x5sa is 330x330x400mm and the ender 5 plus is 350x350x400mm

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but the ender is like double the price of the x5sa (360 vs 600, although I've seen the x5sa go for as low as 260)

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still cheaper than the mk3s+ which is 800 for the kit version and 1100 for the fully built one

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the ender and x5sa are both kits

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the mk3s+ is 250x210x210 btw

#Starting the hobby. FDM Printer advice