3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: [email protected] or [email protected]
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If your budget allows snag yourself a Prusa. They're very well made, and Jeff Prusa more or less invented the modern 3D Printer. Creality makes fine printers, but you'll spend more time maintaining it than actually printing. I have an Ender 3 V2 and wish I had saved up to get a better printer. I don't have any personal experience with other brands.
You'll need to use a CAD program to make models. TinkerCAD is a great free option. You'll also need to "slice" that model up for printing using a slicer. I personally use PrusaSlicer, but there are others as well.
If you're asking these kinds of questions that tells me you're brand new to all of this. I recommend checking out Thomas Salanderer, CNC Kitchen, and Teaching Tech on YouTube. They're all great at explaining the minutiae of this hobby.
Edit: Do yourself a huge favour and get a model with a self-levelling bed, or at the very least a bed-level probe.
It's a bit of hyperbole to say you'll spend more time maintaining a Creality printer than using it (Ender3 S1 Pro here), though I agree with the sentiment that you should think twice about them unless you enjoy the tinkering and learning aspect of the hobby.
If you want high quality (and fast) prints right out of the box, the tradeoff is you will need to spend more than Creality money.
I would also second PrusaSlicer. I saw significant improvements in print quality and speed using mostly their default Ender3 settings versus what I was able to cobble together in Cura.
S1 Pro here as well, and for 3 or 4 months my hobby was 3D printer troubleshooting before I could transition it into actual 3D printing 😅 Everyone's experience is different, which is exactly the problem with Creality - you'll probably get a decent printer but it's still a dice roll every time until they (hopefully) start investing in consistent quality control.
If I was starting today my budget option would be a Sovol SV06. Prusa definitely has the edge on reliable (albeit somewhat pricey) bedslingers, but my initial aversion to Bambu's closed-ish ecosystem is quickly eroding at the prospect of owning a fast coreXY that just works and handles ASA/ABS straight out of the box.
My Ender 3 V2 needs a complete frame check between each print. It's the only way Ive managed to get consistent prints. At least the design is Open Source!
Fair enough! I may just be lucky to have ended up with a machine that seems pretty solid.
I am indeed completely new to all of this, thank you for your response! I will check out those channels :)