Buying 3D Printer in low budget

[sairfan1]

Hi I want to buy a 3D Printer in low budget something like $200 to $300
I liked CReality Ender-3 Pro or Ender-3 V2 because too many accessories are available, looks like too many ppl worked on it and there is a lot of help available.
I noticed there are a lot of other series available of this printer does anyone know which one is better?

Is there any other printer within this range that i can consider?

I want to print supports for mini cnc pen for writing, some supports for stepper motors for different projects, supports for aluminum rails etc.

[mawyatt]

Disclaimer, have no knowledge about 3D printers or 3D modeling!!

We've just ordered the Genius 3D printer per a recommendation. Wanted a decent quality print and simple to use, not really concerned about print speed or yield size yet. These apparently use the Trinamic motor controller/drivers (quiet) which was a plus. Waiting on delivery, they just had a price reduction too (~$270).

Best,

[Jan Audio]

I have the ender-3 pro and it is good.
The important thing is wich filament you take,
i have found out that the creality PLA is really good it dont warps,
my local shop sold me : velleman brand, it warps badly.

Just go for it and use a 0.32mm layer, it prints faster.
Maybe if some other brand has a nozzle that supports bigger layers i would go for that,
printing can take 2 or 3 days.

[sairfan1]

What accessories would you recommend i should buy with it, like i saw some people buy nozzles etc.

i do not have any experience using 3d printer i have no idea what type of items may help of needed while working

[wizard69]

Hi I want to buy a 3D Printer in low budget something like $200 to $300
I liked CReality Ender-3 Pro or Ender-3 V2 because too many accessories are available, looks like too many ppl worked on it and there is a lot of help available.
I noticed there are a lot of other series available of this printer does anyone know which one is better?

I have no idea which is better and frankly I'm surprised that printers can be had at these low prices.   The question you have to ask is a low end printer worth it to you?   Only you know what your intended usage is.

Is there any other printer within this range that i can consider?

DIY is likely your only other choice.   These manufactures seem to come an go with the wind and I suspect a lot of that is due to pricing stuff way too low to be profitable.   Going DIY gives you the advantage of shopping around for hardware that will work with your build.   If you have the shopping and mechanical skills you should be able to build a better machine for the dollar than what can be had prebuilt.

In the end you may have to adjust your budget.

I want to print supports for mini cnc pen for writing, some supports for stepper motors for different projects, supports for aluminum rails etc.

Yeah here is where I start too have problems.   Don't get carried away with everything you hear about 3D printing.   Filament based systems can be great for some projects, however you need to carefully consider their value in CNC machine building.   Or simply for use with steppers.    For one steppers run hot, most motors do when running at designed loads, this is not good for low melting point plastics.   I would not expect a low end printer to be able to handle some of the more innovative filaments so you really need to consider carefully their applicability to whatever you have in mind.

Also if the stuff you plan to build from extrusions can be put together from brackets and so forth supplied by the extrusion company you can often be better off going that route and not buying a 3D printer in the first place.    Bosch, 8020 and basically all the rest have a large inventory of parts ready to bolt together.    Frankly it is easier to build a machine out of ready made parts.

[CatalinaWOW]

I own a Creality Ender 3.  I got the very bottom end model for $179 on sale at the time.  The only real upgrade I have done on it is to add a glass bed.

It has been more than adequate for what I have done with it.  Knobs for equipment, cases for projects, repair parts for various household goods and some structural parts.

I don't think you can do better in the price range considering the large amount of aftermarket support and the truly excellent online forum support for the product.  Virtually any 3D printer will involve a fair amount of learning as you find the eccentricities of filaments, bed adhesion and slicing.  You should expect this learning curve no matter what you buy.

Do think about what you will be making.  A 3D printer is a wonderful tool, one of the more frequently used tools in my array of tools, but it isn't the right tool for everything.  The plastics available for use with the Ender 3 are actually quite strong, but they are not as strong as metals and do have limits for high temperature operation.

That does not mean that a 3D printer is not the right place to start for a bootstrap to high capability CNC machining.  The parts you can make will be good enough to make a better machine that can make still better parts.  Basically rapidly recapitulating the growth of industrial capability over the last few hundred years.

Good luck on your project whichever way you go.

[sairfan1]

Do think about what you will be making.  A 3D printer is a wonderful tool, one of the more frequently used tools in my array of tools, but it isn't the right tool for everything.  The plastics available for use with the Ender 3 are actually quite strong, but they are not as strong as metals and do have limits for high temperature operation.

Do you buy plastic from CReality/Ender? can you please recommend what accessories i should buy that can be helpful?

does anyone know what is major difference between Ender-3 v2 and Ender-3 Pro

[CatalinaWOW]

Do think about what you will be making.  A 3D printer is a wonderful tool, one of the more frequently used tools in my array of tools, but it isn't the right tool for everything.  The plastics available for use with the Ender 3 are actually quite strong, but they are not as strong as metals and do have limits for high temperature operation.

Do you buy plastic from CReality/Ender? can you please recommend what accessories i should buy that can be helpful?

does anyone know what is major difference between Ender-3 v2 and Ender-3 Pro

I buy filament from several sources.  I haven't found any that don't work.  In general I have preferred eSun.  My biggest problem is getting exactly the color I want.  For making equipment knobs this is important to me, and colors vary from vendor to vendor and lot to lot.  The bad news is that I have purchased lots of filament trying to get what I want.  The good news is that I have lots of filament for the projects that don't need a particular color.  I have done predominantly PLA and PLA+, but have also done TPU and one other which escapes me at the moment.  Each new one is a learning experience.

The Enders come with all the accessories you really need.  A can of hair spray and/or a glue stick are about the only other things that come to mind.  There are many things that some people find useful that I haven't found the need for yet.  Bed leveling sensors.  Filament out sensor.  Spring steel base.  I would hold off until you have learned enough to know what your want.

A careful read of the Ender web site will tell you the differences between the models.  An upgraded CPU board is one, I don't remember the others. The only one I think is invaluable is the heated bed.  The others are nice, but let your budget drive you here. 

[Jan Audio]

Those filaments dont stay long good, they can get brittle.
I have a roll that is so brittle, it breaks for just being in the printer doing nothing,
it might be a bad brand, i dont know what brand, someone gave it to me for testing when i had this printer new.
Just saying dont pile up to many you cant use.

I dont have any extras, you can print them mostly,
i dont have space for a filament holder next to the printer, its not needed exept with those brittle old filaments it seems.

[Jan Audio]

I buy filament from several sources.  I haven't found any that don't work.

Have you tried the velleman warping PLA ?

[CatalinaWOW]

I buy filament from several sources.  I haven't found any that don't work.

Have you tried the velleman warping PLA ?

I have not.  So can't speak to their quality.  Each of the vendors material has required tweaking of temperature for best results.  I have not experienced any serious filament aging problems.  Perhaps the average humidity in my work area is low enough to give problems.  Perhaps I just use it fast enough to prevent problems.  My oldest filament is less than two years old.

[mawyatt]

I own a Creality Ender 3.  I got the very bottom end model for $179 on sale at the time.  The only real upgrade I have done on it is to add a glass bed.

It has been more than adequate for what I have done with it.  Knobs for equipment, cases for projects, repair parts for various household goods and some structural parts.

Per a recommendation we just ordered the Genius Printer for the same usage mentioned, but know nothing about 3D printers and the support software. What type of software do folks use for these printers and creating the 3D models for things like knobs, small cases, brackets, and other small parts? Know Fusion 360 is popular, but are there other options?

We've downloaded the Personal Use version of Fusion 360 and began playing around with it (no prior 3D modeling knowledge), haven't had much luck since the main small case 3D file we've been creating seems to vanish, it's happened at least 4 different times and with 4 different new file starting again attempts. Sure it's something I'm doing, but not being able to recover the core file, and basically having to start all over from scratch isn't fun!! Not being able to edit your files if you don't store them as admin is irritating indeed, unless of course you "Sign Up"!! Slowly getting the program flow but Fusion 360 isn't reassuring so far, but they do have great tutorials tho.

Autodesk has been sending me all sorts of emails and voice message phone calls, offering "Specials to sign up" and so on, like they are really hurting for $. Did sign up as Wyatt Labs LLC, which is a new company just started, but at the moment has noting to do with 3D modeling or printing and stated so. I haven'y even figured out how to get a decent 3D file produced yet, much less even printed, and they are hounding us to Sign Up. Suspect the program is splendid, but absolutely not impressed with Autodesk tactics regarding the Personal Use and hounding new users. Anyone else have this experience with Fusion 360 Personal Use and Autodesk?

Best,

[wizard69]

Those filaments dont stay long good, they can get brittle.

This is actually a problem with many plastics.   At work we buy plastic extrusions that can go bad just sitting on the shelf.   This is one reason why I asked about what the builder intends to do with the parts he intends to build for the machines he wants to make.   3D printing, on a low end printer might not be the best choice and isn't the low cost choice if the goal is to build a CNC router or similar machine.

There are lots of good reasons to own a 3D printer but if part of the goal is to build other machines I find it hard to suggest buying a 3D printer.    Instead take the money your would spend on the 3D printer and buy the brackets and plates to assemble the extrusions.   It gets even cheaper if you can do some of the gussets plates and so forth yourself.   This isn't as cool as watching a 3D printer run, but in the end you can build better stuff.

I have a roll that is so brittle, it breaks for just being in the printer doing nothing,

A very real problem, that is why buyers of low end printers really need to understand if the resins that the printer can work with will be stable over time.

it might be a bad brand, i dont know what brand, someone gave it to me for testing when i had this printer new.
Just saying dont pile up to many you cant use.

I dont have any extras, you can print them mostly,
i dont have space for a filament holder next to the printer, its not needed exept with those brittle old filaments it seems.

In an ideal world you will want your printer to have its supply reel such that the resin easily pulled off the reel.   Doing so can greatly reduce failure to feed issues.

In any event my first post was trying to get to the point that turning to 3D printing isn't always the best course of action.   Like any other technology it isn't often the best choice.   It is great when it is though.

[sairfan1]

What CAD software you guys recommend? i also checked fusion 360 its crazy expensive, free version has a lot of limitations, its all based on i watched a lot of videos on youtube to learn CAd.

[CatalinaWOW]

I use FreeCAD.  It has lots of foibles, but it is truly free, and will remain so, though there is always the possibility that it will become unsupported as current developers lose interest.

Others find FreeCAD unsatisfactory.  As someone who has never been exposed to 3D CAD software in a professional environment I am not in a position to disagree with them.  But it has been up to all the jobs I have used it for, with no more head scratching (and often less) than other packages I have tried (Blender, TurboCAD, Solidworks and a little bit of Catia and Fusion 360).

[Microcheap]

I think Fusion 360 still the best free option. Which limitation of the free version is holding you from complete a design? For me, the only big annoyance so far is the long time it takes to export STEP files.

Solid Edge has the free Community Edition that does not requires any registration and you don't need log in to anything to used it. Just install and use it. I have used Solid Edge a long time ago and it used to be a powerful CAD tool, I still have to test the free version though, but it seems promising .

Design Spark Mechanical is another option. It uses a push-pull approach to edit features that I couldn't get used to yet but I found it very useful to convert and edit STEP files.

And finally, you have the free and opensource FreeCAD. This is the most popular alternative in the "maker community", together with Fusion 360. It has a lot o potential and I hope it keeps evolving, I really want to have the option to switch to Freecad but at it's current state, for me, it's too cumbersome to use. Every action, every feature requires dozens of steps and mouse clicks when it could be done in one or two. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled after working with SoliWorks for some time, but you should try it and see if it fits your needs.

[Jan Audio]

I would not go for fusion, i am happy with openscad for simple objects its good.

I dont know why you would not use blender instead of fusion ?, its free, or am i missing something ?

[beanflying]

Lets start with some Myth busting!

Fusion 360 has SEVERAL tiers of free. I have been on the startup one for a bit over two years now and it has very few limitations. Have a good read here for a start https://www.eevblog.com/forum/mechanical-engineering/fusion-360-mechanical-design-tips-tweaks-and-discussion-(not-eagle)/msg3084200/#msg3084200 The limits on the hobby version are now fairly established and known and I think in the last page there is a video linked explaining those limits.

@Jan we tried sometime ago to talk to you about Slicers/CAD and you come hell or high water had to stick to Linux Windows XP of die so others should take your ANTI Fusion stance as that of a Non User unless you have joined the modern world your use of Fusion is what? https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ender-3-pro-file-format/msg2744464/#msg2744464

If Freecad gets done what you need then fine do it but it is severly limited compared to Fusion and NOT comparable.

Filament goes brittle IF YOU DON'T STORE IT CORRECTLY ! Store if back in the bag with desiccant packs or better yet if you can back in a bag vacuum it and seal it if you don't need that colour for some time. Left out on the machine even for a short time the unrolled bit in particular is prone to becoming brittle and breaking. If I have been lazy and not put the current roll away peeling off a few metres and scrapping it works fine.

I own two Ender Pro's one fairly stock and the other modded for flexible filiments. Both run glass beds and a few minor mods but are a great way into 3D printing. My CR-10S doesn't get a lot of use as the Enders are just a no fuss workhorse and quicker to get going by comparison.

Have a further look through this mega thread you will find plenty about the Ender's and what they can do for results https://www.eevblog.com/forum/3d-printing/3d-printer-yet/

[Jan Audio]

@Jan we tried sometime ago to talk to you about Slicers/CAD and you come hell or high water had to stick to Linux Windows XP of die so others should take your ANTI Fusion stance as that of a Non User unless you have joined the modern world your use of Fusion

The whole concept of paying per month or per year is bad.
They stop the free version and you are completly used to payd software.
Once you get the feel for some program its hard to switch to something else that is about the same.
Why not install blender and export as STL files ?, get used to something that is free is better.

[beanflying]

Specific question HAVE YOU USED Fusion at all?

Fear mongering about the disappearance of a 'free' tier or Cloud Phobia is just complete  until proven otherwise. Autodesk do have form for skulduggery but I have been using them on and off from Autocad 2.X days at Uni when a license for it was $10k+ so Fusion is a bargain by comparison. Even if I decide not to go to a paid subscription from my Startup one I can go back to the Hobby one if I choose and all of my drawings and files can be exported if needed.

Blender is not a solution for Engineered parts it is not a CAD solution and as this is primarily an Engineering forum not an Artistic one Blender simply doesn't cut it.

[Jan Audio]

Specific question HAVE YOU USED Fusion at all?

Fear mongering about the disappearance of a 'free' tier or Cloud Phobia is just complete  until proven otherwise.

They wanted to make fusion payd before, my friend was freaking out about it.

Blender is not a solution for Engineered parts it is not a CAD solution and as this is primarily an Engineering forum not an Artistic one Blender simply doesn't cut it.

So blender is not precise i assume, with floating point math errors or something, what else ?

[wizard69]

This is asinine, having your work in the cloud is effectively putting your business at risk every time your net connection dies or is not available.   Using the cloud as a back up is one thing, allowing your business to be held hostage due to loss of access is a nightmare.

Specific question HAVE YOU USED Fusion at all?

Fear mongering about the disappearance of a 'free' tier or Cloud Phobia is just complete  until proven otherwise. Autodesk do have form for skulduggery but I have been using them on and off from Autocad 2.X days at Uni when a license for it was $10k+ so Fusion is a bargain by comparison. Even if I decide not to go to a paid subscription from my Startup one I can go back to the Hobby one if I choose and all of my drawings and files can be exported if needed.

Blender is not a solution for Engineered parts it is not a CAD solution and as this is primarily an Engineering forum not an Artistic one Blender simply doesn't cut it.

[richard.cs]

I've had an Ender 3 Pro for about 15 months, about 12 months ago I got a second one because I was that impressed with it. For the price difference I'd suggest getting the pro, it's got bigger extrusions in some places so should wobble less. I got a glass bed with it but I've still not used it because I like the stock magnetic one, printed a few upgrades but they're mostly gimmicks and not necessary at all.

They've both been in regular use for the whole time*, mostly running bargain-basement filament**, and I've had very few problems. I decided from the beginning that I didn't want to spend all my life endlessly tweaking and calibrating, so I've not bothered and they both print just fine. I level the bed only if I change nozzle or pick up and move the printer, and they pretty much just work. They are moderately loud, so depending where you're putting it you might want to get one with a silent motherboard - the motor drivers are different so they "sing" less. I've done that as an upgrade for one of them and the fan noise is now dominant but that doesn't bother me as much.

I do all my modelling in OpenSCAD.


*Including 3 months of printing Covid PPE 16 hours a day.

**I've had a few bad rolls, and they weren't all the cheap ones.

[beanflying]

This is asinine, having your work in the cloud is effectively putting your business at risk every time your net connection dies or is not available.   Using the cloud as a back up is one thing, allowing your business to be held hostage due to loss of access is a nightmare.

Specific question HAVE YOU USED Fusion at all?

Fear mongering about the disappearance of a 'free' tier or Cloud Phobia is just complete  until proven otherwise. Autodesk do have form for skulduggery but I have been using them on and off from Autocad 2.X days at Uni when a license for it was $10k+ so Fusion is a bargain by comparison. Even if I decide not to go to a paid subscription from my Startup one I can go back to the Hobby one if I choose and all of my drawings and files can be exported if needed.

Blender is not a solution for Engineered parts it is not a CAD solution and as this is primarily an Engineering forum not an Artistic one Blender simply doesn't cut it.

Seriously you have no clues to you other than to go on an anti cloud rant  I would prefer offline too but the only time in three years I have had an issue was when an idiot contractor took out the Broadband line to our town for three days. Not a huge hurdle tethered the phone to open Fusion and the model I needed to work on, shut down the tether and did what I needed, reconnected later and saved. Fusion also allows local saves and you can if you want load and work on these local saves but you lose proper Version control if you do.

This is NOT the place to clog up the OP's thread with litigating the Cloud Phobia 

[beanflying]

Specific question HAVE YOU USED Fusion at all?

Fear mongering about the disappearance of a 'free' tier or Cloud Phobia is just complete  until proven otherwise.

They wanted to make fusion payd before, my friend was freaking out about it.

Blender is not a solution for Engineered parts it is not a CAD solution and as this is primarily an Engineering forum not an Artistic one Blender simply doesn't cut it.

So blender is not precise i assume, with floating point math errors or something, what else ?

In the years I have used Fusion I have not seen anything that said Autodesk was making Fusion paid only so unless you have a link to this you friends freaking out over $2/day has no factual basis that I am aware of. As of today Fusion remains with a Free tier and the public face of the company shows on going support to maintain that until they say otherwise. Will they ever change this in X years even Microsoft stopped supporting XP

BLender is primarily a Mesh modelling environment for Artistic type work and can be BENT toward a CAD program but it is NOT. Fusion is a 3D Engineering modelling environment based on a coordinate system of lines and vectors that can also work with Meshes if needed it does mesh modelling BADLY.