Are there good affordable 3D printers?

[Guest]

I'm new to this stuff and I have no clue what I would need to get into 3D printing. Are there any good affordable 3D printers out there? For 3D printing what software would I need? What materials? By affordable I mean under $500.

 

I believe a printer is considered a peripheral so I posted this here. 

[Sam Z Man]

http://www.peachyprinter.com/#!products/cqv3

[STRMfrmXMN]

I'm new to this stuff and I have no clue what I would need to get into 3D printing. Are there any good affordable 3D printers out there? For 3D printing what software would I need? What materials? By affordable I mean under $500.

 

I believe a printer is considered a peripheral so I posted this here. 

I don't believe these are "Peripherals" per se. Might want to ask a mod where to place this as most people in this subforum are keyboard and mouse nerds.

[spenser_l]

Here's a list of most 3D printers available on the market: http://www.3ders.org/pricecompare/3dprinters/

 

The software you'll need is called slicing software. Slicing programs take a 3D model and "slice" them up into layers, each layer having a defined path that the 3D printer follows in order to build the model up, layer by layer. Some popular open source ones are Cura and Slic3r. There are a lot of different ones available though, some manufacturers offer their own proprietary versions as well.

 

As for material, it will likely be ABS or PLA plastics. 3D printers take spools of noodle-like plastic and melt them down. PLA has a lower melting temperature, is biodegradable, and is more brittle. ABS is the same type of plastic found in Lego, it has a higher melting temperature, and is slightly stronger than PLA.