I "think" I know what printer I need, could really use some guidance...

[L67GS]

So I posted in the forum welcome thread but I think I may have found my printer already. I'm big on experimentation and would like to be able to print in a wide variety of materials, TPU, TPE, Nylon, and recycled PET are what I'm looking at most.

From reading I see a direct drive is the best choice for the softer materials, and I can't imagine it much matters for the harder stuff, but I'm still learning here.

I'd like to pretty quickly get set up extruding my own filament to keep waste down and I drink junkie level amounts of Pepsi so I have plenty of PET on hand at all times. For this reason I want to keep some room in my starter budget for a shredder and extruder.

I'm not against upgrades, and understand that a budget machine will possibly require some mods to be most useful, the machine I'm looking at is pretty cheap so that frightens me a bit, the Creality CR-10 V3 E3D Direct Drive Extruder Printer is what I'm currently looking at.

With more research to do, and a shredder and extruder to source I'm still a couple of months from pulling the trigger and adding this to my lab, but I'd appreciate any suggestions just so I don't end up with something I regret.
Thanks for reading, Tom

[L67GS]

After more research it looks like that printer is right for me {?}, I could go with the lower version and upgrade to the direct drive extruder but it doesn't save much, and adds drama. The CR-10 has gotten some rave reviews, and I see several here too. Immediate upgrades I'd like to do are auto bed leveling and an enclosure, both of which appear readily available on Amazon. CR-10 V3 E3D with upgrades brings my initial printer investment up to about $470.00, a little more than I wanted to start but unless I'm wrong this printer should be more or less "done" (as far as my needs go) after that.

Filament Extruder:
I see filament extruder as an early purchase, but there don't appear to be any good retail options so DIY will have to do, the extruder itself seems to be pretty straightforward, I'm not a huge fan of the wooden bases they usually use so I'd be more likely to weld one up out of angle iron or braze some aluminum together. Probable looking at $250.00.

Grinder:
The more I read, I'd like to have some pieces plasma cut and make a grinder, there's a shop here with a CNC plas table, I built the computer that controls it. There's also a place that does the high pressure water cutting and it's VERY precise but expensive. Early on I'll be hacking a cross cut paper shredder. $60.USD

Storage:
My plan for storage might be a little weird, I'm considering a plastic tote, rubberized foam weatherstripping on the lid, with a couple pounds of silica gel in a coffee can full of tiny holes placed inside. $50.00.

So if this is the plan, my total initial investment will be about $830.USD, plus a couple rolls of filament to learn with, of course I could "save" $310 and buy all my filament for a while, do the extruder and grinder later. For that matter, I could save another $40 and hold off on auto bed leveling, but that seems worth the investment. Maybe someone experienced will chime in and tell me if this is a good plan ...

[LePaul]

Can I offer some guidance?

Tiny Machines sells Creality machines that they have assembled, inspected and tested out. They also offer upgrades which they can do for you. If you want to upgrade to a better hotend, like the Bondtech/Slice DDX product, they do all the hard work for you.

If you are looking to learn and see if this hobby is something you are interested in getting into, I would check out what they have.

There is a lot more to printing than just the printer. Slicer settings and learning to dial thing in for each material is time consuming but worth while.
I'd also emphasize a filament dryer and proper storage.

Also consider an enclosure and fire safety.

These printers and the materials off gas a lot of VOCs and Nanoparticles. They are not harmless, as the science is showing us. You can research that. (I've added enclosures, carbon air filtration and air purifiers to my shop and notice a lot of my sore throat/post nasal drop issues alleviated)

Tom, I 'm not sure your long term plan but if you are just dipping your toes into this tech, I can share what I have learned from going to Hobbyist to working full time at a research lab in 3D printing. Avoid cheap. Avoid clones. Stick with quality components. Equipment is an investment and failures loose money and time.

Tiny machines is at https://www.tinymachines3d.com/

You didn't specify a print volume but the Creality machines have the benefit of having a vast audience for upgrade paths. There's a lot of no name stuff out there that's just a clone of a clone, made cheaper with crap parts and no support.

If I were looking to toss less than $800 at a printer, the Ender 5 Plus has good reviews and lot's of upgrade paths.

The Bambu Labs X1 is also an excellent machine, stripped down of the premium upgrades the X1 carbon has.

If your budget is a bit higher, check that Bambu Labs X1 Carbon out.

[L67GS]

Interesting stuff, thank you so much for the input. The Ender is a little smaller than what I was hoping for, which was a big selling point for the CR-10. tinymachines3d seems to do a significant markup, but I could save some money by doing a base model CR-10 to get the size, and doing an upgrade to get the direct drive, thus ending up with a better printer than the CR-10 V3 E3D, unless the Titan already IS a nice extruder. Then the power supply is not as large so that may be a bad plan.

For my needs I really can't spend a ton of money as I'll likely go months between prints, but a filament dryer (which I didn't know existed) is a great idea. Also an enclosure, I was planning on one because they are recommended for some of the materials I'm interested in, but I hadn't considered emissions because of my workspace. Mine will be set up in a shop environment with a large area and high ceilings but cutting in a a carbon filter to be safe would be a good idea, I may even be able to make a bezel to hold cut filter pieces in as an early project while learning.

I'm starting to reconsider the auto bed leveling after reading more, my printer is going to be on a steel table on a foot thick concrete pad so after it's initial leveling it's hard to imagine anything getting strange too quickly.

So to summarize what I'm really after I suppose:
1) Reasonable quality at as low a price as possible to allow me to cost effectively set up with filament extrusion, proper filament storage, ect.
2) Enough size that I won't outgrow it too quickly.
3) Has to shoot soft materials, I really really want to experiment with making my own air bags and bellows more than anything.

I do understand that a high quality machine produces high quality results, but really mine just needs to produce acceptable results because it'll be used for proof of concept and items for personal use.

[LePaul]

A few thoughts -

I know you're on a budget but I would really consider expanding it some.

I'm not a salesman for Tiny Machines but I like to see people get a good value, especially someone completely new, like yourself.

There's a few CR-10 style machines there that would suit your needs. This one caught my eye (https://www.tinymachines3d.com/products ... d-bl-touch )

There's an option on that list for an enclosure they sell, which is the Printed Solid Next Gen enclosure, which is quite good. I have 8.
You can see my live stream build of one -

The carbon filter setup is sold by 3DUpfitter and bolts inside.

Filament Dryer I use is called a Print Dry Pro with a few upgrades so I can try 4 1k spools at a time or a large 3kg

I also use BlazeCut Fire Suppression tube inside the enclosure. If fire breaches the pressured tube, its blasted with 400 psi retardant.

Again, I've been doing this for years (2014) and over many lessons learned as a hobbyist and 3 years doing it professionally, those are my suggestions. I've seen a lot of people minimize safety. Recall that these machines have ZERO safety standards. Your toaster goes through more certification accreditation than these things. I've experienced a 3D printer fire before, millions in damage and the litigation process as a result. So, my view on these cheap, imported devices with questionably wired heaters has changed!

[L67GS]

Last night a friend of mine showed me the Artillery Sidewinder SW-X2 at newegg for under $300, a little curious because it's $100 more everywhere else, but it's a trusted retailer so I checked out the reviews. It got great reviews and was better than the CR-10 in nearly every way, but it does run the same Titan extruder, has the same build size, and has auto leveling included as a standard feaure.
Anyway, I watched reviews all morning, then decided to purchase just in case I was seeing a typo on the newegg site that would be rectified in a day. So I said 2023 was the year, and sure enough 12hrs into 2023 I bought my first 3D printer.

I also ordered a 1kg roll of PLA, and a 1kg roll of TPU to start learning with, a nozzle assortment, and silica gel to throw into the bags with my filament until I get properly outfitted.. After it arrives I'll measure it up and come up with an enclosure since they aren't as easy to find as Creality enclosures, and I will be doing a carbon filter with a couple of fire extinguisher bombs in the enclosure.

https://www.newegg.com/p/288-00CD-00020 ... S5VJFA6436

[L67GS]

It came yesterday, I spent an hour tuning rollers and such. Assembly was 4 screws, so really easy. The Sidewinder X2 was definitely the printer for me, my first 3 prints are all more than acceptable, the vase thing was a file that shipped with the machine, the whistle was last.
I downloaded the whistle, sliced with Superslicer using the stock profile for X1 ABL, and printed it. The finish on the whistle is nicer than the vase things file that came from Artillery!

I ordered some black and blue PLA that looks close to the Sidewinder blue to print some Z axis support brackets. Also ordered a magnetic bed sheet, and want to get a dial indicator on the Z leadscrews and make sure they're perfect.
After that, I'm done, it should be a reliable tool and I can start prototyping with it and start thinking about the extruder project.
Overall, I'm thrilled my first experience using my first printer yielded those results. I know this is the part where I need to get more deeply acquainted with slicer software, but Superslicer really impressed me on the first try.

[L67GS]

From reading and watching videos I'm aware that bed adhesion can be a problem, but in an odd twist of fate my Artillery bed has the opposite problem where it's hard to remove prints. Once I do get them off they leave a residue on the bed. I've ordered a flexible sheet but it will not arrive for another week.

Any tips for removing items and cleaning the bed? Maybe manually raise the bed temp after the print is finished?

Edit: after more reading I've decided to simply wait until the flexible bed plate arrives.

[LePaul]

Glue stick (PVA) or extra hold hairspray can help, since it can act as that buffer between surface and print

I find Wham Bam bed systems work the best for me

[L67GS]

Armed with an oversized Elmer's glue stick I printed a gantry level, a pair of whatzits to check the bed and bridge level, and a stylus (that the designer elected to orient on end for printing) so my fingers stop hitting 2 buttons at a time on the Sidewinder's tiny screen.

Bed sheet should be here today so it's almost tune-up time.

I think I need to get more comfortable with Superslicer to eliminate those blobs from layer transition as seen on the whatzits.....

[LePaul]

The prints look good, welcome to the 3D Printing world