3D Printer Opinion Needed

[gzig5]

Does anyone have any experience with this one or any comments on the described features?

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13860

There is a slightly used one available locally with some filament and "extras".

Would like to try one of these out and maybe get he kid interested in the hobby. I've got plenty of uses for the small parts it should be capable of even if he doesn't bite.

Decent starter machine?

[Sparky_NY]

Does anyone have any experience with this one or any comments on the described features?

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13860

There is a slightly used one available locally with some filament and "extras".

Would like to try one of these out and maybe get he kid interested in the hobby. I've got plenty of uses for the small parts it should be capable of even if he doesn't bite.

Decent starter machine?

Looks very similar to the Prusa I3 design which is the most popular printer out there.

[KJ1I]

Looks very similar to the Prusa I3 design which is the most popular printer out there.

It also looks similar to the Creality CR-10 (which is itself is a Prusa clone), the second most popular printer. The real question is how well has it been cloned? I checked the sites of several 3D reviewers I trust, but none of them have reviewed the Monoprice. So my recommendation would be spend twice as much and get either the CR-10 or i3.

[MasterMaker]

I have a wanhao duplicator i3(which is the same machine) and it certainly does the job but I do find it to be a bit flimsy and have stiffened it up as a result(resulting in improved surface finish), lots of files for stiffening braces for this and other machines on thingiverse as it is a common improvement done to a lot of different printers as most of them are less rigid than they can be.

It's not a huge problem and the pre-stiffening prints were quite good(once you have tweaked speeds vs layer thickness and temperature), it works great for PLA(which is all I use it for) you need a warm room or an enclosure to print a lot of the other materials and many of them(ABS and others) can give of smell/fumes during printing and generally PLA is the best material for most things( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZX8eHC7fws ) although some parts may benefit from ABS or PetG.

I will eventually buy a smaller machine for small parts and probably build my own machine using alu-plate and 2020/2040/2080 profiles based around the wanhao controller/hot-end/motors/heated bed with the same xyz envelope but much stiffer and at a minimum 12mm supported shaft for x and Y axis, but then again I'm prone to overbuild things on a massive scale and the un-modded wanhao was actually quite sufficient for my needs.

[Paul Alciatore]

I got my first 3D printer a few weeks ago and I am going through the learning curve. There are many things that they don't tell you up front.

One suggestion that I would make is ask to see the user manual FIRST. Read it and ask questions. Can you understand what the manual says? See if you can reach their technical assistance people with your questions.

[BobinOK]

I have that exact printer, bought myself a Christmas present. It's a good buy even new but as said above it needs a couple mods to make it better. The good part is the printer itself can be used to make most of the upgrade parts. Would be a great start for a first 3D printer.

[gzig5]

Seller is asking $220 with three spools of PLA material and some upgrades. Also looks like it will handle a bunch of different material types. So, it seems like it might be a decent deal. Will try to take a look at it this week.

[fixerdave]

I got my first 3D printer a few weeks ago and I am going through the learning curve. There are many things that they don't tell you up front.

One suggestion that I would make is ask to see the user manual FIRST. Read it and ask questions. Can you understand what the manual says? See if you can reach their technical assistance people with your questions.

I'll go that one step further. Make sure there's an active community built up around it. Don't count on manufacturer support at all... not likely to happen at the cheap end. My printer is also a Monoprice, but completely different. They just resell whatever is coming out of China. Search online for the printer... find people asking and answering questions. You should find recommended upgrades, the best settings, tutorials... the lot. If you don't... very scary prospect for someone new.

Aside from that, do realise that once you have a heated build plate and it's somewhat stiff, they all do about the same.
I've taken prints from my $200usd printer and compared them to the Ultimakers at work... no difference, other than price. Speed? The plastic only goes down at the speed the plastic wants to go down. Expensive is not faster either. Build plate size? There have been a couple things I've wanted to print but couldn't because I didn't have the size, but mostly it's not an issue. Dual extrusion? Could be useful, but again watching them have at it at work doesn't leave me overly envious. Things slow down fast with dual extrusion happening.

So, yeah, if there's a community and they aren't all complaining, there's nothing wrong with going cheap. Not as far as I can see (so far).

Oh, they say filament has to be stored right or it goes bad (absorbs moisture). If you buy this thing, I'd recommend you start with known-good until you figure things out. Then, try the stuff that came with it. No point running around in circles, trying to figure out what you're doing wrong, only because the filament is garbage.

The only other thing to ask is why it's being sold... I'd never sell mine and you aren't getting any of my filament either. Even if I bought a new printer, I'd still keep the old one. Printing is slow... the more printers the better. I'd wonder about a used printer.

David...

[Magicniner]

If you want to be able to repair and tinker with your printer buy one that's "Open Source" Wanahao don't use standard open source firmware or hardware so you're tied into them for spares and you can't change your firmware easily.
You might never need too change your firmware, I wasn't even aware it was an option but when I wanted to print Nylon I had to change the alarm shutdown temperatures in my Prusa I3 clone and found the process of editing the setup and compiling a new copy of the firmware with higher alarm temps quite straight forward.

[RB211]

I have an actual Prusa I3 Mk2s. Still waiting for the 2.5 upgrade kit. It’s a good printer.

[ironmonger]

I have a Tevo Tornado, which is a CR10 clone... where does it end.

I have had it about a month. It works well with PLA and the only adjustment I made other than bed levelling was to increase the extruder drive tension.

Bed levelling is an important step and to help that I have purchased but not installed as yet a BLTouch probe. I am going to assume that the software is open source as the BLTouch probe operates with firmware that needs to be installed.
I paid About $325 IIRC, and it arrived quickly and was well packed.

Fun so far. I bought filament at https://coexllc.com/, fast ship and seemed like a good price with good reviews, I have no association with them other than living in the same state :>)

[garyhlucas]

Wanhao I3 duplicator for my grandson. Has an SD card slot, important if you don’t want your computer tied up for long hours. Just put it in a metal cabinet to reduce fire hazard when unattended during long prints. Heat in enclosure helps with ABS. Going to add exhaust fan. I worked in a polystyrene manufacturing plant and the styrene fumes really bother me even though I have a very poor sense of smell.

Also got Simplify3D slicer. Does really nice supports that remove easily.

[wmgeorge]

I have a MakerGear M2, pricey but made in Ohio, USA. Industrial quality, uses standard filament and heated build plate which you will need. Metal framework and very little plastic. It just works. Link> https://www.makergear.com/

[KJ1I]

Oh, they say filament has to be stored right or it goes bad (absorbs moisture). If you buy this thing, I'd recommend you start with known-good until you figure things out. Then, try the stuff that came with it. No point running around in circles, trying to figure out what you're doing wrong, only because the filament is garbage.

This is an excellent piece of advice. Buy a new spool of PLA and use it to learn your printer. THEN, try printing with the second hand filament.