I’ve been wanting to get a 3d printer for a while and now I’m starting to finally look at getting one. It seems like in general though finding clear reviews and knowledge on printers is much harder than other things but maybe that’s because I’m not in the hobby yet. Bambu is a no from me but I’m open to other options. I was kinda looking at he centauri carbon but I’ve heard it’s pretty loud and I live in a small apartment. The Prusa Core One seems like a decent option but it’s all quite expensive so I don’t wanna save up for that unless it really is the best option and there’s nothing reasonable cheaper. What’s everyone’s thoughts? Absolute max budget is $1k but I would strongly prefer to spend something ~$500 or less
I had a micro print farm making covid stuff, like face masks, ear savers, and stuff. I had 2 Ender 5 plus, an an Ender 5. I wound it down and kept 1 E5 plus. My machine is heavily modded and tuned, so it suits me fine, except for multi color.
I’m deciding on the evolution of my setup. My first logical option is mod my E5+ more, and add Bondtech INDX later this year. I’ll have a hybrid coreX, fast, multicolor XL printer, but it only makes sense because I have eliminated most of the E5+ weaknesses, and intimately know the printer. At that point it will essentially be a custom one-off machine.
Another option would be to buy a Snapmaker U1, which is an insane value, and is, with the Prusa Core one a true next generation multicolor machine. AMS, And other MMUs, (multi material units), are evolutionary dead ends, made obsolete by tool changers.
A good option may be an enclosed Sovol SV08, essentially a rebuilt Voron, upgraded with the INDX tool hanger.
I bought my printer used, it only cost me 50€. Although I had to replace a bearing in the extruder.
Depending on the offers in your area that might be an option. Or I just got very lucky who knows…
Where’d you find it?
Germany’s Craigslist equivalent.
Sometimes you have to be patient for the good deals to show up. And usually there is no shipping. So some hidden cost in transportation and time may exist.
https://www.sovol3d.com/products/sovol-sv08-3d-printer
This one is awesome. Open source everything. Based on the Boron and a pretty good price too.
The problem is, by the time you add the enclosure, you are at nearly the same price as a Core One kit. Yes, the SV08 is larger, but unless you are into cosplay printing, that extra size is probably a waste of space.
It’s also been on a few really good sales on AliExpress over the past few months, and it’s taken a lot of self-control not to buy myself an entirely unnecessary second SV08 given how impressed I’ve been with mine and the sales taking a third off the cost of the printer.
That said, I have replaced the bed on mine with a graphite one because the stock one’s pretty thin and can warp. Particularly annoyingly, after being hot for about 40 minutes, it’d ping from being warped in one direction to being warped in the other direction, so prints either had to be finished before that or wait until after before they started. It’s not strictly necessary, but it was worth upgrading the bed when there was a price cut to save myself some annoyance and let me fit bed fans so printing ABS was less warp-prone.
Avoid Elegoo like the plague. Horrible customer service. Literal months of fighting, explaining the problem over and over, and four escalations before the ticket was just closed.
We got an Anycubic Kobra S1 to replace the Elehoo junk and its been fantastic so far. They also have a 4.0 vs. Elegoo’s 2.3 on Trustpilot.
If you’re up for making it a hobby and you like tinkering, have you thought of building a Voron? After using a few off-the-shelf units, I’ve come to appreciate using an open source project because upgrading components is so easy and second nature. You can incrementally upgrade specific aspects when your wallet and desires dictate it.
I like the idea but I’m not sure that it’s there for value. Maybe my second printer? Plus idk where to source the 3d printed bits
This just looks like the voron v0.2, but shittier
A voron 0.2 kit costs $650 🙃
No it doesn’t…it’s $359 on permanent “sale” at formbot
Ok fair, i was comparing between LDO kits. If you go outside them sure, but then a non-LDO Rook will also be half as much and even more affordable
But also worse…the formbot kits are good quality and you get them with enclosure which the rook kit you linked at least doesn’t. I’d rather buy the formbot 0.2 than the LDO rook.
If you want a cheap core XY i would go with sovol. I like there near stock Klipper so you will have no headaches updating the Software in the future.
I’ve got the Centauri Carbon and really like it. It is fairly noisy, but we’re in a small studio apartment and it’s been pretty easy to tune out during the day (Overnight prints are annoying though)
Have you tried any mods like a different fan or 3d prints to reduce noise? Curious if those affect the sound
I have a carbon as well and it is louder than I’d like. But with that said it’s no louder (with the enclosure open) than my old Ender 3S1. The real noise comes from the enclosure fan which is optional if you’re printing PLA.
I haven’t tried any sound dampening mods to it though. I have the luxury of being able to stick it in a closet when it’s working.
With it all considered I would definitely recommend it for it’s price point and how well it prints for a novice hobbyist like myself. It’s really close to “set it and forget it”
I’ve considered it but it hasn’t bugged me enough. Probably going to try them out here pretty soon
Consider the following:
- qidi q2
- creality k1c
- sovol sv08 max (for something bigger)
I own the k1c and it’s been ok reliable for the 6 months I’ve had it. If you are printing PLA/PETG you will need to keep the door open (and it’s breakable glass)
Is it hard to mod to have a fan pumping air in?
I’m here to shill for Qidi again whenever their name comes up. I’ve owned two, an OG X-Plus and currently an X-Max 3. They’ve both been rock solid, unpack from the box, and print. My only gripe about the Max 3 is that they are not extending support for their new AMS-esque filament changer doohickey to it, but that wasn’t even on the horizon back when I bought it so I guess I can’t be mad about that.
Thus far Qidi’s machines have been reasonably open source, with readily available parts, and they haven’t pulled any lock-in bullshit. You can run your own firmware on them if you like as well, since the controller boards and so forth are commodity parts.
The Q2 is definitely something I’m considering how’s the volume and such?
I’ve got over 1000 hours on my Anycubic S1. I had the extruder data cable cable go bad after 1000 hours (it was rubbing on the carrier as the print head moved) and got a free replacement from support.
It’s half open. It doesn’t run Klipper but you can install it if you want. It has cloud features but you don’t have to use them. It comes with a proprietary Orca fork but you can run regular Orca or whatever slicer you want.
If you can wait, I’d get a Snapmaker U1.
I’ve heard snapmaker as a brand has been unreliable is that something I could solve with klipper? Otherwise the Anycubic is also a cheaper option between the two it seems
Given the speed and complete change in designs from year to year I don’t think there is any correlation between brands and reliability.
There are many complaints about the expensive Bambu H2D whereas everyone says the P1s is perfect.
I expect the Snapmaker to have problems given its complexity. But 4 print heads for $800 is worth some hassle.
If you want to use networkprinting with stock Firmware you need to use the Windows Orca Fork filled with Adds and send it through there Servers or did they change it?
I think you have it confused with Bambu. You don’t have to use their software with stock firmware. You can network print directly without using any cloud. I’ve used Orca and Prusa. There are absolutely no ads in their slicer.
They have an STL search on their Makeronline.com like Prusa printables.com built into their slicer but that’s not an ad.
