3D Printing - Best budget printer?

[AlexAngelliux]

Hey all,

I'm certain this gets asked about a bajillion times so if a post exists that still contains relevant and up to date recommendations let me know.

I want to get into 3D printing, and am looking for a good budget option. I'm not looking to print anything massive, mainly just tinkering with making my own raspberry pi cases and maybe a handheld. Hoping for something that is easy to work with, and preferably compact as space is limited in my room. My dad would probably use it as well for making parts for his model trains. Does anyone have any good recommendations for less than $300 US? I want to spend as little as possible as I am broke.

Appreciate any info provided.

[spaghet rat]

ender 3 pro

[TVwazhere]

If you live within driving distance of a Microcenter, they sell Ender 3 Pro's for $99 (with coupon, otherwise they're normally $200)

 

Dollar for dollar it's the best deal you'll find anywhere for what you get. 

[AlexAngelliux]

2 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

If you live within driving distance of a Microcenter, they sell Ender 3 Pro's for $99 (with coupon, otherwise they're normally $200)

 

Dollar for dollar it's the best deal you'll find anywhere for what you get. 

I don't live near a Micro Center unfortunately. Looking on Amazon it seems my only option is to get it for $200. 

[BigJSaucy]

I'd consider the Prusa MINI. It was my first printer, it's still my go-to printer for most things. It's never really given me trouble, and has been able to handle Nylon, and flexibles with very few issues.

• Around 300 450 bucks
• It's slightly small
  • It can print most projects I come across, but size can be an issue.
• It's small!
  • It's easy to fit into an enclosure.
• It's super quiet
• It's super reliable

It's not the most printer you can get for the price, but it's plug-and-play. Click-and-print

EDIT: I was wrong about the price. Turns out they are like 450, sorry.

Edited May 31, 2023 by BigJSaucy

[BigJSaucy]

10 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

If you live within driving distance of a Microcenter, they sell Ender 3 Pro's for $99 (with coupon, otherwise they're normally $200)

 

Dollar for dollar it's the best deal you'll find anywhere for what you get. 

99 Bucks? That's really hard to pass up.

[manikyath]

give wanhao a look.

the D12 is basicly an ender 3 pro on some solid spices.

they start at 230x230mm build plate, and go up from there if you want to print bigger things.

they're also available with direct drive extruder, which helps with stuff that doesnt handle bowden very well (flexible fillaments, but also just springy plastics)

[AlexAngelliux]

7 minutes ago, BigJSaucy said:

99 Bucks? That's really hard to pass up.

I'm once again regretting living where I do. My girlfriend lives close to a Micro Center, so I may send her to pick one up for me and have her ship it, since whenever I visit I don't drive and wouldn't be able to bring it home myself. Just depends on how expensive shipping would be and if the unit would survive shipping.

[Kilrah]

I would avoid bowden extruders, but that may be because since both my printers are direct drive I'm always the one having to print flex stuff for friends who can't 

[AlexAngelliux]

1 minute ago, Kilrah said:

I would avoid bowden extruders, but that may be because since both my printers are direct drive I'm always the one having to print flex stuff for friends who can't 

Gonna be honest with you, I'm not really sure what this means.

[Kilrah]

Having the extruder motor on the print head itself instead of it being on the frame 

[spaghet rat]

7 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Having the extruder motor on the print head itself instead of it being on the frame 

i mean i got an ender 5 s1 for my school bc of the direct drive but its been ging us nothing but problems on the z axis

[Bob__]

1 minute ago, spaghet rat said:

i mean i got an ender 5 s1 for my school bc of the direct drive but its been ging us nothing but problems on the z axis

we have been screwing with it for months and we cant get it to work (we go to the same screw)

 

its been printing super fragile stuff calibration issue maybe

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

I would avoid bowden extruders, but that may be because since both my printers are direct drive I'm always the one having to print flex stuff for friends who can't 

i'm such a direct drive guy that i've designed my own bracket to move the motor ~3mm lower down to the nozzle... but bowden does have an advantage when it comes to "sheer mass being swung around"

 

 although - for the mass problem, someone on the forum recently brought up the idea of adding weight to the top of the printer, to balance vibrations caused by head movements as just XY movements instead of the frame having to catch all of that.

 

4 minutes ago, AlexAngelliux said:

Gonna be honest with you, I'm not really sure what this means.

with "direct drive" the motor that feeds the fillament is on the extruder (the bit that swings around while printing). it means the distance between the motor and nozzle tip is smaller, so you have more control over feeding when you have flexible fillaments, and less friction on the fillament, which means less chance for slipping. with the feed setup i currently have on my printer having fillament jam is essentially impossible, between the clamping force, the drive gears, and the hotend.

 

with "bowden" that motor is "somewhere else" (creality puts it on the gantry, ultimaker puts it next to the fillament spool holder), which means there's much less weight being thrown around, which means less vibrations, less stress on the belts, etc. basicly higher theoretical print speed.

 

1 minute ago, spaghet rat said:

i mean i got an ender 5 s1 for my school bc of the direct drive but its been ging us nothing but problems on the z axis

how is the Z axis related to it being direct drive? perhaps just some calibration is in order?

 

if you mean layers are coming apart - try overextruding about 5% or so. some plastics just dont like to stick / some spools of plastic arent exactly made to spec.

[spaghet rat]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

if you mean layers are coming apart - try overextruding about 5% or so. some plastics just dont like to stick / some spools of plastic arent exactly made to spec.

we tried that im not saying its an extrusion isue but it consistently prints like 3-4 mm of the bed and zoffset changes nothing

[manikyath]

10 minutes ago, spaghet rat said:

we tried that im not saying its an extrusion isue but it consistently prints like 3-4 mm of the bed and zoffset changes nothing

how about some calibration and bed leveling? sounds like your bed is just 3-4mm below the Z min stop switch.

[spaghet rat]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

how about some calibration and bed leveling? sounds like your bed is just 3-4mm below the Z min stop switch.

tried that both with paper and crtouch i have lost so much sleep over this 

[Kilrah]

42 minutes ago, manikyath said:

but bowden does have an advantage when it comes to "sheer mass being swung around"

It's one of those things that are said a lot but I've never seen actually being a problem in real life...

[manikyath]

7 hours ago, Kilrah said:

It's one of those things that are said a lot but I've never seen actually being a problem in real life...

weight is a problem if you try to print faster. the extruder on my wanhao i3 plus is so stupidly heavy that it has ringing artifacts at any speed beyond 60mm/s, no matter what you do.

[DoctorNick]

11 hours ago, AlexAngelliux said:

Hey all,

I'm certain this gets asked about a bajillion times so if a post exists that still contains relevant and up to date recommendations let me know.

I want to get into 3D printing, and am looking for a good budget option. I'm not looking to print anything massive, mainly just tinkering with making my own raspberry pi cases and maybe a handheld. Hoping for something that is easy to work with, and preferably compact as space is limited in my room. My dad would probably use it as well for making parts for his model trains. Does anyone have any good recommendations for less than $300 US? I want to spend as little as possible as I am broke.

Appreciate any info provided.

I would recommend a Sovol SV06, as it get good reviews and is basically a Prusa MK3 copy: https://sovol3d.com/products/sovol-sv06-direct-drive-3d-printer

I has z-probe and direct drive and is easily upgraded with klipper in the future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SV06

[Salacious B Crum]

Get an A1 mini from Bambu labs you won’t regret it unless you like mental punishment stay away from an ender or clone

[AlexAngelliux]

1 minute ago, Salacious B Crum said:

Get an A1 mini from Bambu labs you won’t regret it unless you like mental punishment stay away from an ender or clone

I ended up picking up a Neptune 3 Plus from Elegoo, it's been great so far.