Learning curve can be steep on resin if going in blindly. watched hours of vids for a week prior to getting my first one, then another month of really understanding supports and exposure times and all the little intricacies that can fail a print. Still messed up a lot.

I'd have more trouble reaching this type of detail with such small little pieces on an FDM. Nothing special was done with this post processing. Wash, few minutes in UV lamp, primer and paint.

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Yes, but you can also adjust layer height to .1mm and still have adhesion between layers (which would make the lines smaller)

One thing that can help is a "cold pull". I do this all the time when changing filament colors/types, when it works there's no need to purge any remaining filament. The idea is to heat up the hot end just enough to allow the filament to let go, and pull it before the end has fully melted. For PLA on my Ender 3, I heat the hot end to 85* C and watch the temp as it climbs. As soon as it hits 85*, I put a steady pull on the filament. If successful every bit of plastic (and any crap in there clogging things) will pull out. I hit up the scrap box and found the end of a successful cold pull - pic below. The nozzle end is bottom right, you can even see the bit of filament that was in the hole of the nozzle.

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If you have a PEI sheet and things don't adhere as well as they used to, clean it with acetone. Acetone won't harm the PEI, and it dissolves any PLA remnants you don't even know are there. I was shocked at the difference the first time I used it. I still use 90% IPA for routine cleaning, but if things aren't sticking right it's acetone time.

also sand with some fine grit paper first, it'll give it some bite

That is what I was saying (sort of). No matter what your nozzle size you can still print at .1mm, .07mm, .05mm, etc. the vertical layer resolution is not impacted by the nozzle diameter.

Question: I have big problems of my prints adhering to the mat of my ender 3. If I create a base in slicer it will be just fine. Is there another way of printing so it sticks without a wasteful base? Even if its a square object? What are skirt etc for and why? Raft is great but seems wasteful but not sure what the other options do or help?

I’d try adjusting the mat slightly closer so the first layer ‘smooshes’ against it more (assuming your not using a totally rigid base like glass, but the magnetic or similar type mats). I started printing with skirts a while back and default to them almost always now. It gives you a flat layer around the print for better adhesion and can help with lifting issues at the corner of prints. It’s easy to clean off after the print finishes.

Did your Ender come w/the magnetic build sheet?

Old tricks were to use blue painters tape, glue stick, hairspray, etc. But nowadays most have moved on to a better build plate sheet (it sits on top of the build plate). I just started to try out a PEI sheet, so can't comment on that much other than a couple of small test prints that came out fine. Prints didn't need a raft.

I still use a skit (only a couple of lines) just to make sure the nozzle is primed and adhering to the bed adequately. Never really used a brim.

Full size resin Apollo 13 rocket. 21hr print time on my mono 6k. My biggest print so far. Still need to fine tune my support setting in Lychee.

Brian

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ISS up next!?

Wow! Results like that make me want to get into this. Amazing results

I mentioned earlier in this thread "For as much as I don't want a resin printer...I still want one." LOL, still true.

I'm in the same boat. I love my Prusa MK3s and it has afforded me the ability to design, produce, and sell a multitude of pinball mods that I put back into supporting my pinball hobby. I was considering the Prusa SL1S SLA printer as a complement for more detailed items, but after spending numerous hours researching the process, I'm just not willing to pull the trigger. Besides the ongoing costs of materials, dealing with the liquids, the waste, the curing process, having to paint the models, etc. is just more than I want to take on. Not to mention, I'd have to eat up some limited space in my garage since resin printing is not suitable to do in the house, IMO.

Thinking about the Prusa XL with the 5 tool head changer. Anyone in line for one? I'm very happy with my Mini....it became a household staple in the kitchen.

I put my deposit on the 2-head prusa XL the same day of announcement. I can't imagine needing 5-head changer for what I do, but I may want to someday do soluble support. Like I've said in earlier posts, all prusas up until this printer have buried complicated hotends that are difficult to work on (which is why I went with creality), but this printer is a gamechanger in multiple facets. Pricey, yes.. but I think it'll be worth the money.

Like toyotaboy, I'm in line for a 2-head XL since day 1. I've had my mk2/3 for years and it's been fabulous. The larger print-area will be nice (though it doesn't replace my CR-10s5), but I'm really excited for the myriad of improvements they're making. I'm on the fence about the tool changer; I'm not sure how effective it'll be. Most Dual-Extrusion/IDEX printers I've used up until now have had too many issues. I don't have experience with toolchangers so if it works well, I might upgrade later. But for the moment the 2-head unit is mostly an experiment to see if I use/like it. I might pair it with a Mosaic Palette, if the tool changer isn't fully-baked yet.

Worked out great for my Chexx! The behind the net ramp is on Thingiverse, I designed the puck catcher that goes under the ramp

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Every material changer I've seen either works like crap, or is horribly wasteful with purge towers. The tool changer looks VERY similar to what E3D was working on

tool changing is going to be the next big thing with 3d printing because it won't just be limited to filament extrusion

1. You can have a laser come by and etch a pattern on a layer
2. You can have a probe measure what's printed every so many layers to make adjustments on the fly
3. Milling "might" be possible as a light cleanup pass
4. Maybe one day someone will come up with a nozzle that prints metal?

I don’t know if it will help anyone out, but Microcenter is (still?) running their $99 Ender 3 Pro deal for new customers.
The link to the coupon is here:

https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/specialoffer3dprinter.aspx#eduformdiv

You have to purchase in-store, so this isn’t going to work for everyone, but otherwise it’s a pretty good deal.

Thanks for the tip! That seemed to really help-second print of the night and everything is sticking perfectly. Seemed to take off a whole bunch of crud, and I can't see the outlines of old prints anymore.

I found this article really interesting relating to community developed 3d model trademark takedown actions;
https://www.thedrive.com/news/honda-orders-big-takedown-of-honda-related-3d-printing-models-from-maker-communities

LEGO had a field day on thingiverse a few years back, pissed a lot of people off (they were mostly sharing original LEGO figurines)
https://torrentfreak.com/lego-upsets-fans-by-taking-down-homebrew-3d-print-designs/

Curious what experienced 3d printer experts can help me understand….what is best home 3d printer???

I have been exposed to:
1. Ender- super cheap but requires lots work…

2. Raise 3d - exposed at work costs 3k ish. But we have problems with these

I have been hearing Prusa printers work great and costs ~1k.

Do any of these work flawlessly or is that a myth? Assuming so, so if so, which one requires minimal issues/repairs, etc?

Other manufacturers?

Any advice is good. Thx

1. Ender works fine out of the box with proper slicer settings. People "like" to tweak them to print better. On my ender 5's I have upgraded the cooling with my own design, replaced the hotend with an all metal hotend, replaced the crappy thermistor attached with a screw by soldering in a thermistor that has a nice M3 brass hex that goes into the existing thread, I added the stiffer bed springs, and I installed a PEI sheet.

2. I know the modcouple claims these works flawlessly. Not saying it's not a great printer, but is it $4k good?

3. Prusa can print great (and it does have some decent built in calibration for it's limited logic), but calibration can take 10 minutes. As I've said earlier, prusa buries their hotend which is a huge flaw in my opinion. The new prusa XL looks fantastic

The $120k stratasys printer at my work (which also requires a $17k year service package) for the most part runs flawlessly, but it can also have issues now and then (stuck filament, doesn't want to switch over to backup filament, vaccuum failures). It's also horrendously expensive to replace build sheets every print, and the filament is also ungodly expensive (though they are starting to allow some 3rd party filament vendors now).

Was at the local store last week and they had about 200 of these in stock. Either this has been a smashing success of a promotion, or someone fat-fingered an order for 100,000 printers instead of 10,000 and they are still getting rid of them...

In about 6-7 years of ownership I have never seen my Prusa take even 3 mins. to calibrate. I currently have it set to the most calibration points it supports, and I don’t think it even takes 2 minutes.

The only way to claim it takes 10 minutes to calibrate is to include heating the bed to 100c in the timing.

It’s a little like asking what is the best automobile or the best computer. Depends on you, your needs, and your budget (and patience, skill, willingness to tinker, love of tech, etc..)

No 3d printer is flawless, any more than any car is flawless. Some are more reliable, some less. Some require more frequent maintenance, some less. It all about the tradeoffs.

Assuming, you can swing something in the vicinity of $300-$500, and you want a fairly reliable, low frustration experience: probably an Ender 3 S1 (pro?) or a Prusa mini would fit the bill. If you like hitting social media to access a large support community then the Ender is a great choice. If you want more direct support through the company (incl. dedicated company web forums) the Prusa is probably preferred.

I’ve had an older Prusa for years, and I go fairly long periods without having to do any maintenance. But I also have a CR10-s5 (a cousin to the Ender 3) because it prints 500x500mm, which is 4x the area of the Prusa.

There's no one best answer. To get your feet wet and to understand the principles of 3D printing, get an Ender 3. It costs less, replacement parts are dirt cheap and widely available, and there is tons of advice on how to use it. It will do the job, but it is made to the price point and there is lots of room for improvement. Read toyotaboy's reply above for examples of improvements.

I went with the Prusa because it already comes with all the improvements that I would have made to an Ender 3. It is $800 delivered (if you build it yourself) or about $1100 plus import duties for the fully assembled one. It isn't the most convenient choice. There are no consumer distributors in the USA, except for some replacement parts. At the moment, it takes a month to get, give or take.

Went straight from almost zero experience to a >97% print success rate. (It would be >99% if I had chosen to buy the smooth PEI sheet, but I wanted the textured one. They now sell the printer with both, if you want them.) It needed only 1 adjustment (the Z-height), and I did that twice because, well, zero experience. All other adjustments are automatic.

toyotaboy is correct about the hot end. It's surrounded by part-cooling vents and even just seeing it is awkward. People accidentally break wires trying to remove and replace the nozzle. If it needs major maintenance the hot end has to be broken down piece by piece. So far I haven't needed to do that. In almost two years I've lubricated the bearings, replaced one nozzle, tightened the extruder screw (my fault for loosening it too much for flexible TPU material), cleared one filament jam (through the door on the side of the extruder) and repaired the filament sensor (factory production flaw; I took a razor blade and trimmed off a millimeter or so from one plastic piece and put it back). Very little hassle.

It’s worth noting the comment about the hot end being buried away only applies to the Prusa i3 series, the Prusa mini has a almost totally exposed hot end (it’s certainly no worse than the Ender). These days I wouldn’t recommend most people get an i3, since the mini is about 80% the build area, with a lower price, faster CPU, better interface, and lots of quality of life improvements.

The mini looks decent if you don't mind the smaller bed. It can suffer from the same filament blockage issue as every ender unless you replace it with an all metal hotend. I don't know why prusa didn't go that path seeing how the price difference is so little.

I have a Prusa mk3s+. Love it but if I had to do it over again I'd get the mini. Pretty rare that I max out the bed.

True, the mini is only 7x7x7, rather than 9.84x8.3x8.3. For most people, I don’t know if the 1-2 extra inches make much difference, but it is smaller. Technically, there is a difference in how Prusa implemented the PTFE tube in the hotend. Since the PTFE tube only goes half way between the heat sink and heater block they say it is safe to print up to 270c, even without an all metal hotend.

Mini is cool, but pretty rare that I don't max out the bed on the MK3s (that is one of the reasons I am seriously considering the Prusa XL). You are right though, in that a first time buyer should think about the types of models they want to be able to print and if items are smaller in general the mini is an excellent choice at a far lower price point.

BTW, calibration on the MK3s does take about 10-15 minutes, but you need to understand what that means. The MK3s supports multiple calibrations based on different filament types (e.g. PLA, PETG, etc.) and bed types (smooth, textured, etc.) You only have to perform these calibrations once for each combination of filament type and bed type, save them, and then you will never have to calibrate again pending some significant issue/change to your setup. What the PrusaSlicer does do is initiate a bed leveling routine into every print that takes about 10 seconds or so to perform before a print starts (maybe this is what you are calling "calibration"). This is actually a good thing as it ensures that any warping in the bed or built-in variation is accounted for. If it bugs you that the automatic bed leveling routine fires off before each print, you can easily modify the GL code before slicing to omit it.

Prusa Mini bed area (x:y) | 18 x 18 cm (324 sq/cm)
Prusa MK3s bed area (x:y) | 25 x 21 cm (525 sq/cm) = +62%

Prusa Mini build height (z) | 18 cm
Prusa MK3s build height (z) | 21 cm = +17%

Prusa Mini Kit Price | $349
Prusa MK3s Kit Price | $749 = +115%

Prusa Mina cost per sq/cm | $1.07
Prusa MK3s cost per sq/cm | $1.43

I love my Prusa Mini. In the two years I've owned it, I have yet to want to print something that didn't fit on the bed. I'm not printing out cosplay helmets or giant plastic swords, or 3/4 scale busts of Boba Fett. So if that's your thing, then the bed will be too small. But if you're looking to make functional stuff, toys for your kids, plant pots, pinball machine parts, etc. then the Mini is the one I would recommend.

No upgrades, no tinkering, no additional parts required beyond what was in the box it came in. I set it up once and have not had any parts fail yet. I've had only one failed print out of at least 100 or so. Prints almost always come out looking perfect right off the bed with just the default slicer settings.

I have both printers and completely agree. The mini is a great first printer. Not the cheapest, but probably the best bank for buck and easiest to learn on. I also have an XL on pre-order...completely ridiculous and unnecessary, but man it looks cool!

Pinball 2000 Prismcard opening tool:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4250887

I tend to like the larger build plate. Granted, I don't fill it up often, but it does come in handy at times. For example, I made some 3D grills for my JP and they maxed out the Ender. In that case, the skirt even went off the edge but the model still fit.

There's likely plenty of mods out there to improve just about any 3D printer, but you're sort of stuck with the build plate size.

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I had an ender 3 for 29 days and returned it to Amazon. Bought a Sidewinder X1 and it has been running pretty much nonstop for over a year and a half. Very few issues at all. I level the bed once every few months and it just eats material.

I also went with it for the larger bed. And the 120v bed heater.

I’m just a hobbiest but I love being able to print 300mm wide. Sometimes I go that tall but rarely.

I print quite a few pinball cup holders!

What is the benefit of a 120V bed heater over the 24V?

faster to heat

And faster to spark if a wire comes loose. DC is always safer.

Even at 24V, the spark is going to be rather big given the current available (probably depends on how the power supply is protected and if there's any bulk capacitance after the PS protection circuitry. A fast blow fuse in the line to the heater might be one of the safest bets. I should look into that myself...

Incorrect, you can get frame replacement kits which make the print size much larger. My buddy prints out full size mandolarian masks on his xl ender 3.

Thanks, didn't know you could do that. Are they reasonably priced?

Edit: Found some, and the price.

Not to knit pick, but I think those are standup target stabilizers.

My brain can’t use words on my days off

Fixed my post

The new anycubic printer looks nice. I would like to see how the direct drive does for stringing on certain parts that I have trouble with on my Ender 5 pro.

https://www.anycubic.com/products/kobra