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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 26th, 2023

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  • The e3v3 looks like they at least corrected the major e3 issues, dual screws and abl out of the box. Looks like they’re cheap on Amazon now too, I’d imagine microcenter has them at the same price. I’d avoid any of the “lesser” ender 3 models at this point unless you’re really in a money crunch and absolutely love replacing/ upgrading parts. I do know the Sovol SV06 has a lot of followers and they do come highly recommended in roughly the same price point.

    If she’s mainly going to be making cosplay stuff, make sure the build volume is adequate, or she’ll have to learn more advanced techniques for making parts in multiple pieces. I’d also recommend buying ANY Creality printer from someplace you can return/exchange it, their QC is all over the map.



  • Literally all this. I own a ender 3 v2 and know a couple other people with them. I got mostly lucky with mine, the extruder broke a little earlier than most, however. I went down the upgrade hole a d realized I could have bought a better printer. But don’t let that dissuade you from trying one, like others have said, their QA is all over the place. You may get a gem or a lemon, it’s a crapshoot. From scouring the internet, the ones I see that get the most love in the more budget friendly space are the Prusa Mini and the Sovol SV06. I jumped in a little deeper and got a Bambulabs P1P and couldn’t be happier for $600 out the door @microcenter.

    My advice is, watch a bunch of reviews, but instead of buying into what they’re saying about the printer itself, note the features each printer has and see what ones interest you the most, then look for the printer that has those features.

    More advice? You got it, buddy. Don’t do what I see a lot of people suggest and go out and buy an Ender 3x vx and also buy a metric ass ton of upgrades because someone had them in a review or suggested it on the internet. Set it up and print some calibration cubes, 1st layer tests, temp towers and the like to see how that printer actually works. Once you get more experience under your belt, then maybe look at upgrading. You’ll know what feature it is you want/need, or you’ll have a problem in need of solving that only time and currency can fix.

    Learn the basics. Learning how to tram (level) your print bed is critical for success. Being new and relying on a self leveling unit (without learning how to tram) isn’t a great idea, because they’re not foolproof. Think of a feature upgrade like a CR or BL touch for an Ender as a “tool” and not a “fix” and you’re light years ahead already. 3d printing is a great hobby but like any other hobby you’re going to fail few times before uou get it right. Learn how to verify your chassis and all axis are square. Learn how to calibrate your particular unit.


  • I ran into this with my e3v2 a LOT. Are you heating up the bed and nozzle before you level? You may have answered that and I missed it. Also, I’m not sure how well those silicon things work, I did the “yellow springs” and then make them all equally tight, then level by loosening. Another thing to check- is your build surface flat? Check when cold and hot. My glass bed wound up warping up near the middle ever so slightly and that would be enough to make a batch of moms spaghetti. I was able to get it working well for a while, then it somehow shit its pants into the silicone sock and mucked up the whole hotend with nice black pla+.




  • As someone who owns an Ender 3 v2, a Bambu p1p and an Anycubic Mono 4k, here are my thoughts… If your goal is to print and paint tabletop minis, you do not want an Ender, SV06, or even a Bambu labs printer. Even if you swap out the nozzle for a smaller one, paint and washes WILL absolutely show layer lines, unless you’re willing to do hours of post processing, filling, filing and sanding. FDM is not your friend in this regard. You can, by all means, get acceptable quality prints if you’re willing to spend months calibrating, tuning, failing and burning through filament with printers in your price range, especially once you start upgrading / fixing your printer (ask me how I know). If, on the other hand, tabletop minis aren’t your main goal and more functional parts, or larger decorative pieces are what you’re after, I cannot recommend an FDM printer enough. Cost savings on filament vs resin, speed (kind of), selection and community support are light years beyond the SLA / resin printers. I would try to avoid the cheaper Ender printers however, as other have stated and I can attest, you will be spending a lot of time calibrating and troubleshooting, and eventually throwing money at it.


  • Gonna “both sides” this one…

    I’ve never used a prusa printer, but know two people that swear by them. I know 2 with P1P’s (including me)and one with an X1C. I can attest that it’s a great printer.

    Now, the open source nature of the Prusia is the clear winner in the privacy arena, but ask yourself if the rest of your network/hardware is as locked down as you want your printer to be? I’d be willing to bet a surprising number of people who tout this as their number one concern about BambuLabs printers are using Windows.

    Also, you can print just fine using other slicers and dropping your files on an SD card, never having to connect your printer to the internet at all with the Bambu printers. But they do sort of lead you down the networked path without expressly telling you that it will work offline.

    Not going to get into specs, price or any of that shit, just saying both printers are great and more than capable of what the majority of FDM users want from their machines. I’d love to go Voron all the way, bit I do not have the time to commit to the building/calibration or testing.

    Tl;dr… this doesn’t need to turn into a bloods vs crips argument about which printer is better