3DPrinting

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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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what budget 3d printer would you suggest for a beginner? (lemm.ee)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/3dprinting

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

As someone who owns an Ender 3 v2, a Bambu p1p and an Anycubic Mono 4k, here are my thoughts... If your goal is to print and paint tabletop minis, you do not want an Ender, SV06, or even a Bambu labs printer. Even if you swap out the nozzle for a smaller one, paint and washes WILL absolutely show layer lines, unless you're willing to do hours of post processing, filling, filing and sanding. FDM is not your friend in this regard. You can, by all means, get acceptable quality prints if you're willing to spend months calibrating, tuning, failing and burning through filament with printers in your price range, especially once you start upgrading / fixing your printer (ask me how I know). If, on the other hand, tabletop minis aren't your main goal and more functional parts, or larger decorative pieces are what you're after, I cannot recommend an FDM printer enough. Cost savings on filament vs resin, speed (kind of), selection and community support are light years beyond the SLA / resin printers. I would try to avoid the cheaper Ender printers however, as other have stated and I can attest, you will be spending a lot of time calibrating and troubleshooting, and eventually throwing money at it.