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The Everything 3D Printer Thread

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F-22

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Jan 23, 2022
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1,830
I've had my Prusa i3 Mk3 for many years and it paid for itself a few times over. I'm considering getting an upgrade now - but Prusa offerings seem a bit overpriced. I'd really love to own the Prusa XL both for a bigger print volume as well as for the color changing but it seems like it is just a bit too much for something like that. Been out of the loop on new printers since I got the mk3, so I wonder if anyone can recommend a more competitively priced XL alternative?
 

Jehannum

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Joined
May 3, 2012
Messages
1,360
Location
Albuquerque, NM
IMG_5055.jpegThis is the difference between the original plate size and the new plate, now waiting on the big bed heater and new pei sheet to arrive, gives me time to learn klipper and this m8p lol
You probably want a beefier bed heater MOSFET for something that size.

Creality runs the CR10's 310x310 on an external MOSFET, because it'll burn the board-mounted driver out fairly quickly. You can find external MOSFETs on amazon fairly readily, just pick one that matches the amperage rating of the bed heater you buy, and make sure the power supply is up to the task.

Good luck with the upgrade!
 

draco_1967

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Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
205
Location
Utah
I've had my Prusa i3 Mk3 for many years and it paid for itself a few times over. I'm considering getting an upgrade now - but Prusa offerings seem a bit overpriced. I'd really love to own the Prusa XL both for a bigger print volume as well as for the color changing but it seems like it is just a bit too much for something like that. Been out of the loop on new printers since I got the mk3, so I wonder if anyone can recommend a more competitively priced XL alternative?
The Bambu printers seem to be really doing well in terms of bang for the buck and print speed/quality. They handle multi-filament printing well too. They don't have the build volume of the Prusa XL though. I am really hoping they come out with a larger print volume model within the next year.

Creality has the K1 Max, which is their competition to the Bambu X1C, but I don't think Creality has multi-material options.
 

rollinlower

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Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Messages
185
Location
Rogersville TN
The one I'm planning on is a 390 mosfet, just have to get it installed the original design had the factory plate heating through that bed and this one and I'm sure it wasn't helping all the problems I was having but now she should be running right lol
 

XJSuperman

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Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Messages
3,087
Location
Central Iowa
Hello. Basic newb 3d printer guy here. I can make a separate thread if you all would prefer but I figured this was a decent starting spot. I screwed up and fell down the same rabbit hole trap that many others did: I bought a cheap Creality Ender 3Pro, added CRTouch and a Sprite assembly. Creality doesn't make working firmware for that combo even though they push it for sales and claim they support it. I found some custom firmware that kind of works when it wants to, but I think its time to cut my losses and upgrade to a good working printer I can trust to run its job without me sitting there next to it all night. I have too many hobbies to learn firmware and I am not interested. CAD I can handle, I have plenty of things I want to print, and it would be strictly a home hobby for me. No commercial sales, just tools, parts, and some gifts. I've been seeing good things about the Bambu printers, but $1500 is hard to swallow in my case. I'd love a good-right-out-of-the-box printer if they truely exist. Multicolor would be nice but isn't a dealbreaker.
Should I throw this in a new thread?
Should I go back to googling options?
Or are there any solid recommendations for this scenario?

Thanks.
 

draco_1967

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Jan 3, 2021
Messages
205
Location
Utah
I'm in a similar boat. I have been using my Ender3 for 3 years now, and I am so sick of having to babysit it and tweak it to get it to print properly. When it does, it's great. But sometimes I want to throw it out the window. I like what I have learned about printer design, but I don't want to be tinkering constantly on my printer.

I am looking at the Bambu, but will probably go with the P1S. The P1S/AMS combo is $950 before taxes. That $500 difference will buy a lot of fillament! I am not sure the extra $ of the X1 is worth it to me. You can still use the AMS and print quality is the same, it just lacks a few extra bells/whistles of the X1. I don't need a fancy touch screen or lidar (that seems to add little value anyway). The Bambu printers do have some quirks and issues. If you follow the social media groups dedicated to them, there are plenty of opportunities for bad prints. Often it is user error, but it shows the machines are not foolproof. Bambu printers seem to provide the closest thing to a machine that will just let you print (after you have done the needed calibrations for the filaments you use), with minimal maintenance requirements.
 

rollinlower

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Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Messages
185
Location
Rogersville TN
For the ender 3's I can't recommend btt skr boards high enough Iv ran them on marlin and just now dabbling into the klipper world on my biggest machine and there not hard to install or program at all
 

fsts2k

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Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
45
Location
Chicago
I'm in a similar boat. I have been using my Ender3 for 3 years now, and I am so sick of having to babysit it and tweak it to get it to print properly. When it does, it's great. But sometimes I want to throw it out the window. I like what I have learned about printer design, but I don't want to be tinkering constantly on my printer.

I am looking at the Bambu, but will probably go with the P1S. The P1S/AMS combo is $950 before taxes. That $500 difference will buy a lot of fillament! I am not sure the extra $ of the X1 is worth it to me. You can still use the AMS and print quality is the same, it just lacks a few extra bells/whistles of the X1. I don't need a fancy touch screen or lidar (that seems to add little value anyway). The Bambu printers do have some quirks and issues. If you follow the social media groups dedicated to them, there are plenty of opportunities for bad prints. Often it is user error, but it shows the machines are not foolproof. Bambu printers seem to provide the closest thing to a machine that will just let you print (after you have done the needed calibrations for the filaments you use), with minimal maintenance requirements.

Lurker here, have not posted much. Got into the 3D print game 2 months ago with the X1, it is my first printer. I just had a friend get a P1S without the AMS. Both are fantastic.

I can't speak to a comparison with an Ender but I will say you are spot on regarding the Bambu. It is not foolproof but it is darn close. PLA is nearly flawless every time as long as I use the glue stick and keep print speed at 100%. I have increased speed above 100% and had failures, have not dug into why that is or not. When I don't use the glue stick I have had some first layer issues but the machine has caught them nearly every time.

ABS and TPU has worked really well for me but again, make sure to use glue stick. I should note, I do use Bambu filament which I realize may be more expensive but it seems to work.

I am a fan of these printers and they don't take much tweaking to get solid prints. I have a 2mm and 8mm nozzle coming, will see how the printer does with those. The biggest issue for me has been the learning curve related to CAD. Using TinkerCad now and trying to learn Fusion360... that is taking me time.
 

Cc_windsurfer

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Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
259
Location
SB, ca
So far my k1 has been faultless. Just ran 5 spools of ASA thru it with no issues. Only print failures were when I tried to do something stupid -not the printers fault. I don't even use glue stick since I hate cleaning it off the build plate; just printing directly on the PEI plate.

Definitely worth considering as a lower cost alternative to the Bambu printers.
 

Black300zx

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Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Messages
782
Location
Elkton, Md
For the past few weeks I've been fighting some sporadic underextrusion issues on m E3 Max Neo. Some GridFinity bases, bins, and plier racks that I designed and printed for my toolbox came out functional, but a bit less robust than I'm used to. I chalked it up to slicer setting issues combined with ~year old PLA that I was just trying to use up.

Fast forward to last week, I went to print off some parts that I've printed dozens of times before (same exact gcode file...) and they came out like absolute garbage. Underextrusion, next to no layer-to-layer adhesion. My printer is in my basement, near a window, so I thought that maybe the recent cold snap was to blame so I built a cardboard enclosure and slowed down the print speed by 20%. Better, but not nearly acceptable. Decided to take the nozzle out and give it a good cleaning and I quickly found a broken wire on the one extruder fan. Soldered it back on and print quality improved significantly, but there were still extrusion gaps visible on the top layer (and likely present throughout the parts).

I decided to check my e-step calibration to see if it was staying accurate across different temperatures. 200C, commanded 100mm of extrusion and measure 95mm consumed. Hmm. Bumped it up to 210, commanded another 100mm and only extruded about 75 :yikes:. Ran a repeat and noticed the extruder slipping when it got to the end of the slack filament, then noticed a clear wear groove in the extruder gear. The gear appeared to be worn enough that it didn't have enough grip to spin the filament spool without slipping.

I noticed that the gear sat pretty far above the filament and that there was plenty of clearance to push it a few mm down further to put the filament on a fresh portion of the teeth. Off the extruder motor came and into the press it went with an 8mm hex socket supporting the bottom end of the shaft and a socket above the gear. Pushed it 3mm further onto the shaft and now it's extruding accurately within 1-2% and almost done a set of parts that looks better than anything I've printed in the last month. :love::love:

Question: Are brass extruder gears an expected wear item, or did my dead fan possible cause thermal issues (and poor nozzle flow) which put more stress on the gear leading to this wear?
 

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nicholam77

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Dec 18, 2016
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2,655
Location
Minneapolis, MN
@Black300zx it’s a wear item in my experience. I believe they make hardened steel ones that might last longer but might leave more bite marks on the filament if you’re retracting a lot. They also make upgraded dual gear extruders that use two toothy gears instead of one. I ran into slipping issues on my 3v2 and I moved the gear like you did, which helped for a bit, but in the end despite adjusting the extruder tension and replacing parts, I never fully solved it. Went direct drive with the Sprite and have never looked back.

I doubt the fan was the issue.

Good luck, hopefully it keeps working! If I ever get under extrusion I usually replace the nozzle with a fresh one, to, just to be sure.
 

Black300zx

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Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Messages
782
Location
Elkton, Md
@Black300zx it’s a wear item in my experience. I believe they make hardened steel ones that might last longer but might leave more bite marks on the filament if you’re retracting a lot. They also make upgraded dual gear extruders that use two toothy gears instead of one. I ran into slipping issues on my 3v2 and I moved the gear like you did, which helped for a bit, but in the end despite adjusting the extruder tension and replacing parts, I never fully solved it. Went direct drive with the Sprite and have never looked back.

I doubt the fan was the issue.

Good luck, hopefully it keeps working! If I ever get under extrusion I usually replace the nozzle with a fresh one, to, just to be sure.
Thanks for the feedback. I really can't complain as this is the first worn out item after a year of solid use. Plenty of hours on it, and I'm sure pulling on a 2kg spool of filament like it was for a few months didn't help. I'll keep an eye on the gear for further wear and likely jump to the Sprite when it gets worn out again.
 
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fsts2k

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Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
45
Location
Chicago
As noted above, I have been starting to get working with my Bambu printer. While I have printed a fair number of things, these two of my first designs and prints. The first is an organizer for my Sherline Lathe thread cutting attachment. It has a number of change wheels and parts that I didn't want to lose. One of my lessons was that the lettering would have been better if I had used a .2 mm nozzle; a label machine fixed it.

The second is designed for my shotgun case, it holds chokes, hearing protection, and snap caps. This one took me a few prototypes to get the curves correct based on how the case is designed... Tinkercad for all its benefits does seem to be challenged here, or it could be my lack of skill with it.

Lot of fun to be had with the printers and some reasonable helpful pieces. Next up is going to be a set of organizers for all the lathe and mill tools.
 

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JordonMusser

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Jan 5, 2009
Messages
367
Location
Dallas, TX
The Bambu printers seem to be really doing well in terms of bang for the buck and print speed/quality. They handle multi-filament printing well too. They don't have the build volume of the Prusa XL though. I am really hoping they come out with a larger print volume model within the next year.

Creality has the K1 Max, which is their competition to the Bambu X1C, but I don't think Creality has multi-material options.
I had a MK3S+, and switched to the Bambu Carbon. It is WAY faster, better quality and more consistent. I was up and running with out issues instantly.

When they offer an XL sized version, ill be first on the list! I had planned to buy a PRUSA XL, but got tired of waiting.
 

purplezr2

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Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Messages
5,292
Location
Central MN
I can't find my previous post, but I purchased a Bambu X1 Carbon pre-Christmas. Very impressed, have had a few issues, but overall really good experience. I have a flashforge guider II that has worked well, but is slow compared to the BBL.
 

ArcReactorKC

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Joined
Jun 1, 2019
Messages
2,237
Location
Out in the county NE of KCMO
I can't find my previous post, but I purchased a Bambu X1 Carbon pre-Christmas. Very impressed, have had a few issues, but overall really good experience. I have a flashforge guider II that has worked well, but is slow compared to the BBL.
Bambulabs have completely changed the game.

I have a ton of printers from ones I built myself from parts way back in the day, to ender 3's, belt printers, and a slew of other corexy machines.

One X1C is able to replace multiple of the others with it's speed and reliability. I have been chomping at the bit waiting for a larger machine. If they can get up to 300x300x300 I'll be a buyer immediately.

I have a raise3d machine that was double the price of an x1c and it sits collecting dust most of the time now.
 

Cc_windsurfer

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
259
Location
SB, ca
As noted above, I have been starting to get working with my Bambu printer. While I have printed a fair number of things, these two of my first designs and prints. The first is an organizer for my Sherline Lathe thread cutting attachment. It has a number of change wheels and parts that I didn't want to lose. One of my lessons was that the lettering would have been better if I had used a .2 mm nozzle; a label machine fixed it.

The second is designed for my shotgun case, it holds chokes, hearing protection, and snap caps. This one took me a few prototypes to get the curves correct based on how the case is designed... Tinkercad for all its benefits does seem to be challenged here, or it could be my lack of skill with it.

Lot of fun to be had with the printers and some reasonable helpful pieces. Next up is going to be a set of organizers for all the lathe and mill tools.
Dig the sherline organizer. Planning share the stl file somewhere?
 

fsts2k

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Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
45
Location
Chicago
Dig the sherline organizer. Planning share the stl file somewhere?
Sure, happy to. Just published on Makerworld, does this link work for you?

 

Cc_windsurfer

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Joined
May 1, 2015
Messages
259
Location
SB, ca
Sure, happy to. Just published on Makerworld, does this link work for you?

Had to make an account, but 'twasn't to difficult, got it. Thanks
 

kppolich

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Joined
Apr 7, 2020
Messages
347
Location
Eastern Iowa
3D printer to the rescue again. I went down the Sonos rabbit hole to start 2024 and have a set of One's as rear surrounds in our basement. The stock Sanus Sonos stands are 34" tall, I needed another 1.5" to fully clear the couch cushions. 45 mins later, voila!

Need to swing by Lowes to get a longer fixing screw.

PICS show before/after. Freaking 3D printer is the Swiss Army Knife of male home appliances.
 

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jeepxj

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Mar 2, 2008
Messages
17,851
turned the speeds way up on the .6 new nozzle:
1705199760088.png




 

shakenfake

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Joined
Apr 16, 2023
Messages
609
Location
Shlumpt, TX
Hello friends,

Question about Cura and slicing. Maybe someone can help me
1705200702828.png

Why does this constantly happen where my slicing stops right about there and then never moves again. I guess the program just breaks and can't compute? I cannot figure this out.
i7-13700k 3.4 GHz and RTX 2070 Super.
 

kaymccampbell

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Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,513
Location
Upstate New York
Hello friends,

Question about Cura and slicing. Maybe someone can help me
1705200702828.png

Why does this constantly happen where my slicing stops right about there and then never moves again. I guess the program just breaks and can't compute? I cannot figure this out.
i7-13700k 3.4 GHz and RTX 2070 Super.
Maybe you've got a break in your object? I've never had Cura stall, except on a defective file.
 
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