this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2023
84 points (100.0% liked)

3DPrinting

14797 readers
49 users here now

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]

There are CAD communities available at: [email protected] or [email protected]

Rules

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

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

so im a teen with not alot of money but i want to get into 3d printing, another community suggested the ender 3 original. it looks like a solid printer but who know im a noob after all. my budget is around 100$ or less. im looking into making mini figures and painting them or whatever nerdy thing i find. i know the budget is tight but im hoping there is something, also im debating on buying a used 3d printer because they seem cheaper.

also any tips for a noob would be great like what makes said model good or bad compared to other models and such.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] dack 7 points 8 months ago (2 children)

If your goal is to make mini figures, what you want is an SLA machine. They are much better at making small detailed objects than FFF. However, it will definitely cost more than a cheap FFF machine like an Ender 3.

The Ender 3 variants are cheap and a great platform if you are OK with tuning/tweaking things. If set up properly they work great and are pretty reliable. But of you want something that works out of the box and doesn't need any tweaking/tuning, you will probably be disappointed with it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Also resin is kinda dangrous and more tedoius. Dont get resin on your skin and the fumes are pretty bad, you also need ventualtion.

[–] PeachMan 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You can get some surprising detail out of an Ender 3, especially if you pop on a smaller nozzle.

[–] dack 1 points 8 months ago

Sure, you can print minis with an FFF machine. But there's a reason the mini printing folks primarily use SLA. For that particular application, it's significantly better. I say this as someone who uses an Ender 3 and is quite happy with it. If my main goal was printing minis, I would probably want an SLA machine instead.