Considering getting a 3D printer

[Mr.J]

Hi all
As the title suggests I’m seriously considering purchasing a 3D printer. From my reading and research I think the Anycubic i3 Mega is the model I’m most interested in. It gets fairly good reviews, has an active online community, has a low entry cost and has an easy set up.

My question are:
Are many of you guys using them? What are your results like? Are they worth the cost/effort?

I consistently see images of 3D printed objects to with layer lines etc. and I’m wondering how easy it is to remove these, either in the printing process or afterwards.

Basically I’m looking for people to share their thoughts and experiences.

Thanks

[bishop odo]

I'd go for the Prusa mk3, sure it more money up front, about double, but in the long run it will save you time and money.  Great community, supper support from the manufacturer, first rate, name brand parts, so it something breaks you can get a factory part.  Chinese clones are hard to get parts for and build quality, is poor to almost dangerous, hard to communicate with let alone get anything.

I'm looking forward, to buying a resin printer for them as well once they come out. 

Reminds me of buying cheap resin, or silicone molds products, from a plastics suppler with no Data sheet, no support. Then buying some "Smooth-on" products the difference in ease of use, quality, and god the smell is night and day, sometimes saving 30% is not worth it.   

[Daeothar]

Well, as it is, I find myself waiting for my very own 3D printer to be shipped at the moment.

It was a bit of a spur of the moment thing to be honest; I've certainly been interested in 3D printing for a while, but never could get over the printing lines. And then I saw a short review of the Sparkmaker 3D printer on Tested.

It featured the new and improved 2nd version of the printer; some plastic parts changed out for metal bits, better interface etc. And at the time I viewed the YouTube clip, it was still being offered on the store on Indiegogo for about half price.

And this is where I got triggered. I ended up buying the printer, plus a bottle of resin for €250,-

Yes; you read that correctly; resin.

Because it's a resin printer. and the vastly superior resolution, combined with the fact that different types of resin could be used, to create different results was what ultimately drew me in.

I chose the resin type that is most suited for miniature printing, but I do plan on getting the version that is heat resistant to 300C; it could be used to create moulds for casting metals!

Now; I'm a 3D printing noob, and even though I got it at a ridiculous discount (about 50% off of retail), this is still an entry level 3D resin printer. But I figured that I personally would never be satisfied with printing lines on my miniatures/models, and at the price I could get it, this was a no-brainer.

They promised that they would start shipping in November 2018, but I already read that they're still improving on the product (better UV lighting, etc), so I'm not expecting my printer to arrive any time soon.

Most likely, I will start using the printer for simple items, such as crates, barrels, dungeon doors, furniture etc. But I do plan on eventually branching out to printing cleaned up models ripped from computer games. 3D sculpting myself, even though I am confident I could learn, for now is too time-consuming (taking the learning curve in mind).

So, concluding, I don't have any hands-on experience, but the lists of reviews mostly reach the same verdict; this printer is entry level and simple, but also produces  really good results, and comes highly recommended...

[zemjw]

The ventillation requirements for resin printers put me off them, at least for now

The PLA printer I have is okay, but there are some things I would like for my next one (whenever that happens):

- large print bed
  The print bed I have is about 150mm square. It's okay for small vehicles, but the thing I'm building just now is too big and I've had to split it into parts. My new printer will have a 300mm print bed, which should cover most things I want it for

- dual extruders
  Printing overhangs is difficult when you're looking at melted plastic. The software will add supports, but they're a pain to remove. You can get rolls of solid PVA, so I'd put the PVA on the second extruder and use it to print supports, which means the finished print should be much easier to clean

- heated bed
  It took me ages to find settings that let prints stick to my print bed rather than curling up. A heated bed should make that easier. It would also let me use ABS, which is easier to smooth, although more toxic than PLA

Print lines are a major pain that I'm working on just now, sadly without much success. There's another thread on the forum discussing it, but elbow grease seems to be the only solution (unless you use ABS, in which case acetone is your friend)

[arloid]

If you're primarily printing miniatures then it would be better to get a resin printer, simply because the quality is that much better. However the price of entry is a lot higher then FDM printers and the resin ain't as much of a money saver either. Even at a discount you should ask yourself if you really are going to print that much that you get your investment back.

FDM printers are better for making terrain and that one shot encounter you're not going to pull out for the forseeable future. If you're going to invest in 2-3 tables worth of terrain a FDM printer pays itself back.

Personally I have a Creality Ender 2, it's a hidden gem in the market, but looking back at it I would have bought a printer with a 200x200mm bed as 150x150 is just a bit too small.

[Fitz]

I've been getting a lot of use out of my Ender 3 FDM printer, which does an amazing job for something that only cost me a couple of hundred KiwiBucks.

I'd like a resin printer — probably an Anycubic Photon — but the Ender 3 does good enough quality for the gaming pieces I habitually print, and it has a large enough bed to be able to print some decent sized pieces (printable area is nominally 220 x 220 x 250 mm, but the bed itself is 235 x 235 mm, and it seems to be able to print right to the very edges).

It's true that FDM prints almost always have visible layer lines, but printing at a layer height of 0.08mm I haven't found them noticeable on the tabletop, once a coat of paint has gone on. Here are a few examples:

This 1:100 scale (15mm) CMP Chevy truck was printed at 0.08mm. The crewman and Bren gun are metal, and came out of the spares box.

The Big Fella is a very old Essex 28mm figure. The ruin was printed on the Ender 3, the 1:285 scale Burford-Kegresse half-track was printed in resin by Shapeways.

This ruin was printed on my Ender 3 at a 0.2mm layer height. The KV2 is a 15mm (1:100) Zvezda model.

This is a model by Duncan Louca, printed at 0.08mm. It stands about 60mm tall.

[Mr.J]

Wow! They look great. I think I’m sold, now I need to decide on which one to go for, it seems the Ender 3 or the i3 Mega are the two affordable models. I have no knowledge of resin printing so I’m ruling that out.

Any thoughts specifically on those models?

[Fitz]

My only experience is with the Ender 3, but I think it was a good choice as an introduction. I'm pretty new to 3d printing, I've only had my printer since June of this year.

I'd highly recommend joining one or more of the Facebook groups dedicated to printing.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/892975347554507/ — The Tabletop 3d Printing Guild — is not printer-specific, but deals with any printing for tabletop games.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/528423924186756/ — Dragonlock & Dragonbite 3D Printer Gaming Terrain — is focused on Fat Dragon Games' models for 3d printing, but is also very useful for Ender 3 owners, as that is Tom Tullis' (of FDG) machine of choice at the moment.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Ender3/ — Creality Ender-3, CR-20, Geeetech A10 3D Printers User Group — this group is devoted to the specific printers in the name, and has thousands of members with plenty of good advice to give.

[Mr.J]

Thanks for the advice guys, bought an Ender yesterday. Let the adventures begin!