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: or [email protected]
There are CAD communities available at: [email protected] or [email protected]
Rules
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No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
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Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
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No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
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No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
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Do not create links to reddit
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If you see an issue please flag it
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No guns
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No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
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The most important question you must answer is if you want to make/print things, or if you want to add 3D printer building & coding as a hobby.
If your intent is the latter, then the other comments have you covered. If the former is your goal, break out your wallet and order an assembled Prusa Mk4 ($1100 plus shipping, customs). Put it in a convenient location with moderate ventilation and good thermal stability and print everything in either PLA+ or PETg. I’ve been through two “cheap” printers and know more about tweaks, firmware, and upgrades than I ever wanted to. I’m tired of having printer maintenance as a hobby and, personally, have a Prusa on preorder.
Alternates for plug-and-play: I have a friend with a Qidi Tech printer from 3 years ago and he does nothing but print Etsy stuff. No tweaking and he loves it. Also, people who have the Bambu P1P and X1 seem to love them. In fact they love them so much they can’t shut up about them. Probably both are good choices for Just Printing and they’re in the $700 range. In all cases you'll still have to learn the intricacies of slicing and, for custom parts, modeling, but at least you won't be fighting with your printer.
This is so true. My first FDM printer after working with SLA was an Ender3v2. I'm intimatly familiar with the inner working now after installing probes, changing out the motherboard, installing a new hot end, compiling custom firmware etc. Looking back I would've just bought one that worked out the gate instead of struggling for so long.
Worth mentioning, Bambu X1 and P1P seem to be trying to fill your first criteria as well.
I've also seen the Anker Make M5 as a cheaper way to just have a printer that's pretty good that takes little fuss.