3D Printing

FDM Printers

personal ranking

  1. Voron - good hardware, very upgradeable + repairable, very open-source
    • best option if you’re fine with building it yourself
  2. Prusa - good hardware, very upgradeable + repairable
    • gold standard for quality + customer support
  3. Qidi - well-priced CoreXY printers with some interesting features, prints engineering filaments out of the box
    • the Qidi Q1 Pro is an amazing value and very competitive with Bambu Lab!
  4. Sovol - SV06 ACE is a Prusa clone, SV08 is a Voron kit, very repairable + open
  5. Bambu Lab - good hardware and some parts are replaceable, but very closed ecosystem
    • Bambu Lab has locked down on third-party software!
  6. Creality - meh hardware for the price, may not be as reliable as other brands.
    • ecosystem is also quite closed, but less so than Bambu

Elegoo’s Centauri Carbon recently released, could possibly be an incredible value but wait for independent reviews to release

Prusa

  • smaller bed-slinger: Mini+ ($429 for kit, $459 for semi-assembled)
  • standard bed-slinger: MK4S ($729 for kit, $999 for pre-assembled, +$270 for MMU3)
  • upgrade CoreXY: Core One ($949 for kit, $1,199 for pre-assembled)

There no real reason why you should get the Prusa Mini+ unless you want a small printer/the cheapest printer from Prusa. Other options in this price range offer far better value (Sovol, Qidi, and Bambu Lab all have good options)

The multi-material unit (MMU3) can be purchased separately for $359 preassembled or $329 as a kit ($299 if you exclude print your own parts)

Qidi

  • cheaper CoreXY: Qidi Q1 Pro ($599 $449)
  • larger CoreXY: Qidi Plus 4 ($999 $799)

Sovol

  • cheaper bed-slinger: SV06 ACE ($299 $279)
  • larger bed-slinger: SV06 Plus ACE ($349 $299)
  • larger CoreXY: SV08 ($599 $569)

Bambu Lab

  • smaller bed-slinger: A1 Mini ($299 $239, $459 $389 for AMS lite combo)
  • cheaper bed-slinger: A1 ($399 $379, $559 $529 for AMS lite combo)
  • standard CoreXY: P1P ($699 $539)
    • with enclosure: P1S ($699 $649, $949 $849 for AMS combo)
  • upgrade CoreXY: X1 Carbon ($1199, $1449 for AMS combo)

Bambu Lab has restricted access to its printers, so you are unable to use third-party software without changing to “Developer Mode” (LAN only mode) in firmware after v4.0.0.0!

If you want to continue using a Bambu Handy-like app with Bambu printers, I recommend the “Bambu Companion” app (unfortunately iOS only) with Tailscale. It works surprisingly well!

The multi-material unit for the P1 and X1 printers (AMS) can be purchased separately for $349 $319. You are able to connect 4 AMS units to print 16 colours at a time! The one for the A1 series (AMS Lite) can be purchased separately for $269.

Bambu Lab has also released an upgraded multi-material unit (AMS 2 Pro) for $349 with built-in filament drying and better access to the filament tubes. They have also released a single-filament multi-material unit (AMS HT) for $149 that has hotter drying temperatures and a display for viewing the humidity of the filament. You are able to pair 4 AMS 2 Pro units with 8 AMS HT units to print with 24 colours at a time!

Creality

  • budget bed-slinger: Ender 3 V3 SE ($219) or KE ($299)

The Ender 3 V3 KE can print at higher temperatures + has a linear rail for the X-axis + has Klipper firmware

  • upgrade CoreXY: K2 Plus ($1299, $1499 for CFS combo)

The multi-material unit (CFS) can be purchased separately for $319

Elegoo

  • cheaper CoreXY: Centauri Carbon ($299)

The Centauri ($199) is even cheaper alternative if you don’t need an enclosure

Voron

  • fixed gantry CoreXY: Voron Trident (price varies depending on kit)
  • moving gantry CoreXY: Voron 2.4 (price varies depending on kit)

Resin

  • smaller: Elegoo Mars 5 Ultra ($338 $269)
  • larger: Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra ($524 $399)

Post-Processing

  • wash & cure
    • 2-in-1 machine: Anycubic Wash and Cure 3 ($119 $99 for standard, $219 $159 for Plus)
    • separate machines: Elegoo Mercury X ($199 $159)

You will also need isopropyl alcohol to post-process resin prints

Safety

  • nitrile gloves ($ depends on amount)
    • standard: Venom Steel
    • fine motor skills: Grease Monkey

Filaments

If you find a brand of filament for much cheaper than the options below, than go for that. These are just some good reliable options that are well-reviewed online

Standard

  • PLA: Hatchbox PLA ($25.99) / Polymaker PolyLite PLA ($22.99)
    • alternatives: eSun PLA+ ($23.99 $21.99) / Sunlu PLA ($18.99 $11.99)
  • PLA Matte: Polymaker PolyTerra ($20.99)
  • PETG: Hatchbox PETG ($24.99) / Polymaker PolyLite PETG ($22.99) / MatterHackers MH Build PETG ($24.99) / Sunlu PETG ($22.99 $11.99)
  • wood: Hatchbox Wood PLA ($32.99)

TPU

  • 85A: NinjaTek NinjaFlex ($99)
  • 90A: Polymaker PolyFlex TPU ($39.99)
  • 95A: NinjaTek Cheetah ($99) / Overture High-Speed TPU ($30.99) / Polymaker PolyFlex TPU ($29.99)

Tougher

  • ABS: Hatchbox ABS ($23.99) / Polymaker ABS ($22.99)
    • alternative: eSun ABS+ ($22.99 $19.99)
  • ASA: Polymaker PolyLite ASA ($29.99) / Sunlu ASA ($14.99)

Resin

  • Sunlu ABS-like ($27 $18 for 1kg, $49 $35 for 2kg, $69 $53 for 3kg)
  • Elegoo ABS-like ($21 $15 for 1kg, $39 $31 for 2kg)
  • Siriya Tech Fast ($36 $29 for 1kg, $67 $57 for 2kg, $155 $140 for 5kg)

Tools

  • bed adhesion solution: 3DLac ($37)
  • glue: 3DGloop
  • filament dryer: Creality Space Pi ($65) / Sunlu S2 ($79 $44) or S4 ($139 $129)
  • vacuum-seal bags: any will do, eSun and Eibos kits seem pretty good
  • 3D print recycler: shredder/extruder
  • micro-shears: Fiskars micro-tip pruning snips ($17 $11)
  • 3D pen
    • standard: 3Doodler Flow ($79)
    • for kids: 3Doodler Start+ ($49)

Storage

  • microSD cards: Samsung Pro Plus ($ depends on storage capacity)
  • SD cards: Sandisk Extreme Pro ($ depends on storage capacity)

Addons

  • RFID for non-Bambu filaments: OpenSpool
  • screen upgrade: Panda Touch (for P1 series)
  • open-source multi-material system: BoxTurtle / ERCF v2 / Tradrack (for Klipper-based printers like Vorons)

BoxTurtle and Tradrack seems to be much easier to put together than ERCF, but your mileage may vary. I have never used either.

Software

  • slicer: OrcaSlicer
  • printer software: OctoPrint (remote access, automated print failure detection, etc.)
    • plugins
      • Dashboard (a dashboard for monitoring the printer)
      • Arc Welder (reduces stuttering during printing by modifying gcode)
      • OctoEverywhere (automated print failure detection)
      • Filament Manager (manage spools of filament)
      • PrintTimeGenius (more accurate print time estimates)
      • OctoLapse (timelapses)
      • Exclude Region (prevent printing within a region in the current gcode)
      • Simple Emergency Stop
      • UI Customiser
      • loads of other plugins exist, try them out!
  • Bambu Handy alternative: Bambu Companion (iOS only)
  • print farm management: Polar

OrcaSlicer is based on PrusaSlicer, which itself is a very good slicer!

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