3D printing

[Larry$]

I see members here printing things, gears, casting patterns, containers ....
I've never delved into it, but have been wondering if an old man and a 10 year old grand son can manage to learn how. I see the files for many things are available online for beginner learning. Point me toward where to start. How deep is this rabbit hole? What printer, software, etc.? Thanks for any help.

 

[DavidR8]

I’m on my second printer. Started with an Ender 3V2 and basically ran it till it wouldn’t.
Bought a Sovol SV06 last Fall and have been very happy with it. Printed perfectly right out of the box.
There’s a ton of of useful things to print without needing to mess with CAD. Sites like Thingiverse have oodles of downloadable files to print.
If the urge strikes you, the ability to design something in CAD and print it out can be a shop game changers.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

I bought an Ender3 as a first printer, it was inexpensive but it needed to be fiddled with constantly to keep the bed leveled. I made the simple modifications for a 3 point mount as well as an upgraded silent driver board.
The mods changed the game . It prints well, but slowly. At about 50mm/second
The learning curve was not bad, but it was a good learning experience in general as I’m not really a computer expert by any stretch of the imagination.
I upgraded to an Ender5 and wished I could have gotten one first.
I basically was assembled with only a few things to do to get printing.
I have not had to adjust anything but printing parameters since I put it to use.
It prints moderately fast @ around 80mm/second
The cura software is pretty easy to grasp and has suited my interests.

Thingyverse is wonderful for getting 3d models

I use Tinkercad for design ( sadly it’s a grade school level learning tool, but I have over 400 functional models that have been rendered)

There are more advanced and esoteric ways to get cad design, if you’re interested in them.

Good luck

 

[matthewsx]

If your budget allows I really like the Bambu X1 Carbon we have at work.

Bambu Lab X1 Series | Desktop 3D Printer | X1-Carbon - Bambu Lab

Bambu Lab X1 series are state-of-the-art desktop 3D printers with CoreXY high speed and multi-color capabilities, built for both beginners and professionals.

bambulab.com

It really is simple to operate and comes with minimal frustration.

However, if you and your grandson want a project look into building your own after plenty of research. Or buy a used one and refurbish it.

Much depends on the 10 year old, if they're the type of kid who loves to figure out a puzzle then a project could be great. If they get easily distracted and discouraged then a ready made solution is probably better.

Kids can pick up things quick when they want so definitely have some CAD software available for him to try.

John

 

[DavidR8]

I converted my SV06 to Klipper and it just flies now and the print quality is better. All in for <$350

 

[GeneT45]

I'd get an Ender 3 V2 Neo as a starting point. It's a low-cost starting point, they work, and the 'V2 Neo has the key convenience features you'll end up wanting. Also pick up the book "3D Printing Failures" by Sean Aranda (sp?). Download Cura Slicer (free) and use it instead of the slicer that comes with the printer (which is basically an old version of Cura). Getting started you can pretty much accept all the defaults in the software, so don't let the many options intimidate you. Even 'old hands' don't use all the settings.

With those, and some help from online videos (and asking questions here) you can get readily get started.

GsT

 

[DavieJ75]

My recommend is the ender 3. V3 se. it comes with the sprite direct drive. Can not be beat for the money, quick search 170us right now. It’s faster than all the others before it. Watch chep‘s video on it. Start simple and work in to it. Print pla, then get in to Petg. Don’t listen to the y tubers telling you need more. If you want, add in bed leveling is quick and easy if you get the creality kit. Then a raspberry pi and octoprint. I have seen many people get caught up in doing to much to quick. I just bought a used ender3 v2 off a guy who gave up. He got frustrated. Why because rather then getting used to using the printer he jumped right in to mods, then spiralled. Buy one and run a half dozen rolls of pla. if you have a bigger budget then the sky is the limit.

For software, I use tinker cad 90% of the time, quick and easy, If I need more complicated I go back to fusion and relearn what I have forgot. Siemens has an overlooked free cad as well. It depends on how much you want to get in to that side. unreal how many models are free, grabcadthingiverse, printables, MyMiniFactory factory, yeggi search will help. You can also pay people to make models for you, some very decent priced.

Good luck, keep the thread going, it’s a great tool and skill set. It’s one Of those things you wished you had done sooner. So useful.

 

[ttabbal]

I love my Bambu X1C. For the new guy though, it might be overkill. Particularly if you aren't sure you will like 3D printing, the cost can be daunting. For those people, the A1 is probably a better choice. It's a lot cheaper, can do most of the same stuff, and is still very well regarded. One thing to remember about the really cheap ones like Ender, they are cheap for a reason. It's not that they are bad or can't work well, but they are the mini-lathe of the printing world. If you are ok with that, go for it, you will learn a ton. Most of it related to printer mechanics, but that can be interesting.

If you are more of the kind of person that wants to print things more than they want to work on printers, Bambu is great. And as someone with kids, the AMS allowing colors and such is a win for them. I like it more for support interfaces that drop off or even dissolve, but there are a lot of uses for it.

I own 3 printers. Lulzbot Mini, Ender 3 S1 Plus, and Bambu X1C. My go-to is the X1 unless it's in use or I need the larger print area of the Ender. If you happen to be interested in Bambu, they have a sale going now that's not bad. I'll also say, don't get into modding before you get it printing well. Any of them can make good prints without mods. Get used to them and how they run before trying to upgrade.

 

[ggbutcher]

My kid bought a Bambu X1 Carbon after futzing around with an Ender 3, he's quite happy with it. Pricey, but it just prints...

CAD for 3D printing can be just all about stacking cylinders and cubes until it looks like what you need. Overlap is the thing; the slicer only cares that at least one of the parts intersects with where it's deciding to make a "0" or "1" to indicate mass at that point.

 

[DavieJ75]

One of the reasons I recommend the ender 3 v3 se because it works way better then its predecessors. It is a different printer then The older ender 3S. After that I would not buy another creality and like others have posted look at the Bambu labs or Prusa printers.

Learning to operate the printer is for sure one thing. Using the slicers can also be a complication for some. I use prusaslicer on my Enders and ideamaker on my belt printer. I have used orca slicer and is nice as Well.