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Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

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Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#81

Post by trenchpilgrim »

chakintosh wrote: post #76
skhameneh wrote: post #8

If you don't care about business practices and general privacy concerns, Bambu. If you want a large printer that's decent for tinkering, Sovol SV08. If you want relatively good support and to support a company that has a history of giving back, Prusa. If you want something cheap with a lot of features that tend to be more high end, Elegoo Centuri Carbon. If you just want something cheap that's arguably incredible val…

> If you don't care about business practices and general privacy concerns, Bambu. While I agree, I think it's heavily underselling Bambulab printers in terms of UX and print quality, they are the absolute best in the market and by a mile.

I got a Bambu A1 Mini a few weeks ago and it's practically easier than 2D printing. Printed a whole tabletop game that I played with friends, and replacement parts for a gun that held up at the range.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#82

Post by lucideng »

elcapitan wrote: post #33
lucideng wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do repair and modernizing of cars/motorcycles/dirtbike/ATVs, that kind of stuff. Fuel injection conversions are something I specialize in. That is why I would like durable/resistant materials as an option. I won't be trying to earn with it intentionally, unless I stumble upon a niche. There are already more than a couple 3d printing services around here, no need to compete there. I can do what I need to do in CAD,…

> Fuel injection conversions are something I specialize in. What kind of temperatures/pressures/chemical exposure are you expecting for your prints? You should probably start there, check for 3d printing materials that can actually handle those requirements, and then filter for printing technologies that fit the bill. I would imagine that would already break it down a lot.

see my response to another reply: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45280742

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#83

Post by jopsen »

jamestimmins wrote: post #75
shocks wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They pushed a firmware update which blocked direct use of your printer without using their proprietary “Bambu Connect” application - because ‘security’.

Mind clarifying how that's bad? It sounds just like a driver or something similar.

Authorization through bambulab servers.

Also probably AGPL infringement, since the slicer is a fork of priser slicer which is AGPL, and you can't build the slicer from source, because if you could, then you could use the binary plugin for communicating with the printer in other slicers -- but you can't.

It's pretty blatant IMO.

But it's also a printer that just works.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#84

Post by gol706 »

luqtas wrote: post #74
Mogzol wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of these printers can be run completely offline, although then you obviously lose any network-related features such as sending prints over the network. I know that at least the Bambu printers (and I assume most others) can also be run in LAN-only mode, where they only work with devices on the same network. In this mode you could definitely firewall them without causing issues. The main features you lose by being…

can't you use something like this? https://octoprint.org/ i have no idea if it works with modern ones but my "old" Ender 3 plays nice with it

Octoprint is still a great piece of software that works with most printers, but it's running into a dead end where streaming G Code over the USB Serial emulation isn't fast enough on the newest generation of printers to keep them printing at their full speed.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#85

Post by buzzergfxkjkl »

Mogzol wrote: post #71
drnick1 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's incredibly frustrating that the majority of devices today report usage to the mothership without the user's consent. Does firewalling the device cause any issues? A printer (of any kind) should not reach the open Internet, period.

All of these printers can be run completely offline, although then you obviously lose any network-related features such as sending prints over the network. I know that at least the Bambu printers (and I assume most others) can also be run in LAN-only mode, where they only work with devices on the same network. In this mode you could definitely firewall them without causing issues. The main features you lose by being…

I second this. I run an A1 on a separate IoT wifi network that doesn't have outbound connectivity and using nftables rules for forwarding can send prints from my normal network with minimal fuss.

I did have to play around and use orcaslicer to get the printer set up using the network printing and camera feed working.

The one issue I do have is that it seems I would need to connect the printer to a internet enabled Network to get firmware updates, because the firmware version I have is ironically the one before they enabled SD card updating lol.

Back to the original question, I've had this printer for about a month and have been printing virtually non-stop with very minimal complaints. Coming from an ender 3 it is absolutely night and day in terms of ease of setup and general usage.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#86

Post by jopsen »

alach11 wrote: post #19

I'm going to make an unpopular suggestion. Have you considered using a service that will print and ship to you, like CraftCloud? Depending on volume, your total cost would likely be lower. I know you mentioned privacy concerns so this may not be an option. But it significantly simplifies your work, letting you focus on the parts themselves.

A counter argument is that the short turn around time with local 3D printing is absolutely a feature.

I've printed small stuff just to get the fitting right, before I finished the part with fillets, etc.

Also there is lots of small fun stuff, small fixes you'd never do with a 3d printer if you had to order prints online.

Example, I designed a printed a M8 nut cap with room for the 3mm sharp rod sticking out. I could probably have gotten a metal file to mill down the sharp edge, but it was hard to get at, and this gave a nice finish.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#87

Post by cityofdelusion »

You are sadly getting a lot of answers completely ignoring your requirements.

A Voron or RatRig are right up your alley. They are highly customizable, buy a kit as a base, then upgrade components as needed to do more complex printing. They are completely open source and repairable with no phoning home or any other shenanigans, the GNU/Linux of 3d printers. If you have CAD and machining experience it should be fairly straight forward.

My Vorons are both extremely reliable, I just hit print for 99% of my stuff and it just works with either auto leveling or static fixed offsets (depends on the Voron chosen). If something doesn’t work out, there is an enormous community with many swappable components and the machines are upgradable year after year, or can be kept in a specific older configuration.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#88

Post by horsawlarway »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #77
horsawlarway wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess. Having just bought a Prusa Core One because of concerns about the direction Bambu is headed... I regret it. Hands down. It is absolutely worse from a practical standpoint than the much older X1C I have, and the absolutely maddening part is that the "worse" bits are mostly software related. You can hate on Bambu all you want (and frankly - a good chunk of it is well earned, but some is exaggerated or false) -…

The reality is that “just works” is going to outsell just about everything, including high ground on morals and privacy. If competitors want to keep up they’re going to have to offer models that don’t require any tinkering/tweaking even if doing so is possible, supported, and encouraged.

Yeah... The market is still shifting in response to the X1C.

10 years ago... I would manually level my ender, religiously monitor it, and still deal with a decently high failure rate (esp for anything other than PLA). Tuning the printer took easily as much time as I actually spent printing with it. I upgraded all the things, flashed firmware, ran octoprint, etc...

It was like driving - gotta keep the hands on the wheel and maintain alertness at all times. It was an activity that required my attention and focus.

Then I caved and got an X1C in 2023. It's... a really, REALLY good machine.

It's like flying somewhere. I get on the plane, start up a movie or a book, and someone wakes me up when the flight is over. It's a tool that is doing things for me while I do other stuff.

I'm at the point where I'm not really interested in the "middle" all that much. Either go with a Voron and get the "I'm driving" feeling if that's what you want. Or get a Bambu and get chauffeured to successful print.

Re: Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

#90

Post by amelius »

jhawk28 wrote: post #53
bluGill wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prusa is getting tired of investing R&D and then having someone else copy that. Someone else without an R&D budget can make things cheaper because they don't have that budget.

They are most tired of investing in R&D in the open and then having some company do a patent in their country. The company then sues them for infringement.

That's sad. But how does that affect me as a potential customer?
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