Buying a 3d printer at the end of 2024, which one?
December 12, 2024 12:23 PM Subscribe
I am looking to buy a 3d printer for my yarn shop to make little items like stitch markers and point protectors, little rubber and plastic tools, both basic and decorative. Currently these are almost exclusively made in China, and I expect them to get a lot more expensive next year. I’m looking for a printer that will work with both stiff and flexible filament (PLA and TPU, I think), ideally in multiple colors. I would love something that doesn’t require a lot of frequent calibration and babying. Low price is less important than easy maintenance.
Cnet recommends the Bambu Lab A1 Combo, which looks good if you can trust them, but I don’t know who to turn to for objective unpaid tech reviews anymore. I’m not tech challenged, but I’m not up on what’s current and haven’t done 3d printing before. I’m happy to dive in, but I’m more interested in actually making stuff than endless tweaking and optimizing for its own sake (I have plenty of that in my other hobbies).
Cnet recommends the Bambu Lab A1 Combo, which looks good if you can trust them, but I don’t know who to turn to for objective unpaid tech reviews anymore. I’m not tech challenged, but I’m not up on what’s current and haven’t done 3d printing before. I’m happy to dive in, but I’m more interested in actually making stuff than endless tweaking and optimizing for its own sake (I have plenty of that in my other hobbies).
A friend recently got the Bambu A1 Mini after having another filament printer for a while, and it just... works. He got a clean print on his first try, practically no layer marks, great precision. Since then he's been cranking out prints like crazy because it's just so easy and reliable.
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:57 PM on December 12
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:57 PM on December 12
I have a Bambu P1P. It has required no calibration or babying and I am very pleased with it. The AMS (multi colour print system) is wasteful, but works like a charm.
posted by corvine at 1:10 PM on December 12
posted by corvine at 1:10 PM on December 12
I have a Bambu P1S and I like it a lot, but this is my third (upgrade!) 3D printer.
I'm guessing and have heard from others that the Bambu A1 Mini is solid.
Bambu slicer is fine. Possibly even nice.
Agreed that printing in multiple colors on the same print can be incredibly slow and wasteful. However, if you want to switch between different colors of filament regularly, I recommend the AMS. It makes printing using different colors on different prints just really easy, I could start a print right now from work and send it to my home printer, and use any one of the four rolls of filament that are currently loaded. Loading the filament in the AMS is also easy.
And, if you want to print small things where you have one or two layers that are one color, and then other layers that are other colors, it's not so bad, you can paint the color on the layer in the slicer easily. It's where you are switching between colors multiple times, especially in the same layer, that multi-color printing is the worst.
posted by leahwrenn at 1:22 PM on December 12
I'm guessing and have heard from others that the Bambu A1 Mini is solid.
Bambu slicer is fine. Possibly even nice.
Agreed that printing in multiple colors on the same print can be incredibly slow and wasteful. However, if you want to switch between different colors of filament regularly, I recommend the AMS. It makes printing using different colors on different prints just really easy, I could start a print right now from work and send it to my home printer, and use any one of the four rolls of filament that are currently loaded. Loading the filament in the AMS is also easy.
And, if you want to print small things where you have one or two layers that are one color, and then other layers that are other colors, it's not so bad, you can paint the color on the layer in the slicer easily. It's where you are switching between colors multiple times, especially in the same layer, that multi-color printing is the worst.
posted by leahwrenn at 1:22 PM on December 12
I bought 2 Anycubic Kobra 3’s and love them. Their multi color system is enclosed and doesn’t require special spools. Their print quality blows my first printer (Flashforge Adventurer Pro 5M) out of the water.
posted by funkaspuck at 1:28 PM on December 12
posted by funkaspuck at 1:28 PM on December 12
And yeah, nthing BambuLabs - I bought a P1S last summer after years of struggling with an Ender 3 and a Monoprice Maker Select III and some weird little unheated M3D thing before that, and this is honestly the first time I've had a printer that pretty much lives up to the marketing, you just feed it filament and objects come out after a very short while. The full size AMS is, agreed, kind of silly for multi color printing, but it is awfully convenient to just be able to say "and now I want to print this in _blue_" and not have to trudge off and load new filament into the printer, the AMS just does it.
There's one minor argument for making the jump up to a P1S and full flavor AMS - if you live somewhere dusty or damp, filament doesn't like either of those things. Dirty filament will cook off into a nozzle blocking glob of carbon eventually, and damp filament will boil off the half a percent water it soaked up in the hot end and give you a bad time. If you keep the whole thing enclosed like the P1S and AMS, those problems are reduced. But it's not insurmountable to work around those concerns through DIY means.
But the A1 Mini and AMS-lite combo is a steal for $349, and if you don't really care about multi color and your needs are small, the Mini alone at $199 is one of the best deals in printing.
posted by Kyol at 2:04 PM on December 12 [2 favorites]
There's one minor argument for making the jump up to a P1S and full flavor AMS - if you live somewhere dusty or damp, filament doesn't like either of those things. Dirty filament will cook off into a nozzle blocking glob of carbon eventually, and damp filament will boil off the half a percent water it soaked up in the hot end and give you a bad time. If you keep the whole thing enclosed like the P1S and AMS, those problems are reduced. But it's not insurmountable to work around those concerns through DIY means.
But the A1 Mini and AMS-lite combo is a steal for $349, and if you don't really care about multi color and your needs are small, the Mini alone at $199 is one of the best deals in printing.
posted by Kyol at 2:04 PM on December 12 [2 favorites]
Bambu is cool, but also Prusa is great. Solid machines, solid performance, great support. Not made in China, so no rush.
They're not as sleek, but they're excellent workhorse machines with little fuss.
posted by jellywerker at 3:02 PM on December 12
They're not as sleek, but they're excellent workhorse machines with little fuss.
posted by jellywerker at 3:02 PM on December 12
Prusa, absolutely Prusa.
I played around with various hobbyist machines for 10 years or so, but when it was time to get serious I bought myself a Prusa i3 mk3 and have never regretted it in the least.
My only complaint (and it’s a little one) is that the surface of the build plates gets weaker and peels off over time. I’ve gone through two plates in the four years I’ve had it.
Otherwise it works like a dream.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:10 PM on December 12
I played around with various hobbyist machines for 10 years or so, but when it was time to get serious I bought myself a Prusa i3 mk3 and have never regretted it in the least.
My only complaint (and it’s a little one) is that the surface of the build plates gets weaker and peels off over time. I’ve gone through two plates in the four years I’ve had it.
Otherwise it works like a dream.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:10 PM on December 12
I've got ten years of 3D printing in everything from 100 to about 50K dollars and I would say grab a Bambu straight off the bat. The only possible other option would be if you saw a second hand, well cared for Ultimaker 2 somewhere since they are such incredible workhorses and cheapo ass nozzles, but for fast, small, cheap, big community etc, Bambu are killing it right now. The prints are gorgeous and the highest speed setting I belive is even called "ridiculous" or something :)
posted by Iteki at 11:20 AM on December 13
posted by Iteki at 11:20 AM on December 13
i absolutely love my bambu x1c. i got the wirecutter-recommended prusa mark III two years ago and it was a slog learning all he variously ways i could screw something up. this year i got the x1c and it’s a revelation. everything Just Works. seriously, usability-wise it’s like the transition from an apple ][ to a mac. it’s also wirecutter’s new favorite.
since you want to print TPU, i would recommend an enclosed model (x1c or p1s). TPU is very sensitive to moisture and humidity, so you’ll want a dry box dispenser if you don’t have an enclosure (i like the polydryer).
also, most TPU doesn’t work with bambu’s AMS add-ons. but they recently started selling their own “AMS compatible” TPU. this is a big deal because now if you have an enclosed AMS you won’t need a dryer box.
posted by bruceo at 6:30 PM on December 13 [1 favorite]
since you want to print TPU, i would recommend an enclosed model (x1c or p1s). TPU is very sensitive to moisture and humidity, so you’ll want a dry box dispenser if you don’t have an enclosure (i like the polydryer).
also, most TPU doesn’t work with bambu’s AMS add-ons. but they recently started selling their own “AMS compatible” TPU. this is a big deal because now if you have an enclosed AMS you won’t need a dryer box.
posted by bruceo at 6:30 PM on December 13 [1 favorite]
nthing the X1C, with a little note-- if you're concerned about getting locked into the Bambu cloud/ecosystem, you can skip the cloud set up and configure it on your local network. You may also want to look into using OrcaSlicer, a community-maintained fork of BambuSlicer (itself a fork of PrusaSlicer, itself a fork of etc etc).
posted by phooky at 8:54 AM on December 15
posted by phooky at 8:54 AM on December 15
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Note that printing one object in multiple colours is still pretty shitty because of all the wasted plastic and time, even if you get the multi-spool holder. It's just a very wasteful process (multicolour printing), and not likely to change anytime soon with filament printers.
Other than that, the machine is perfect.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:55 PM on December 12