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Anyone own 3D printer?

DesiPower

DesiPower

Lifer
Thinking about buying one for my son, on his upcoming 8th birthday. Now I hear that the cheaper one use proprietor refill, making them expensive in the long run. With a budget of around $500, $800 max, can someone recommend a good printer that maybe uses cheap generic refill (if that's important) and is reliable. I have read that they do tend to be buggy, would appreciate some insight on how to pick a reliable one.

Also there is that aspect of acquiring designs, are designs scalable? or should be careful about the size of the printer? should I also have to take into account which printers can use or more importantly not use some sort of licensed or approved designs? Are there abundant free designs available out there?
 
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The cheap proprietary fill versions can be hacked to use generic fill.
Proprietary fill is still pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things though.

Almost all can import any generic STL file.
There are tons of sites with free open source STL files.
You can even make your own with free CAD software.

And yes, for $500-800, it is going to be buggy.

You should be watching YouTube videos instead of asking on ATOT.
 
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To me they're still a bit like tinker toys. I've got a Replicator2 at work that I just upgraded with a heated build plate. That required a change of firmware and now I'm back to tinkering with it to get the build quality correct.

You can't expect them to be maintenance/problem free devices IMHO.
 
edro said:
Proprietary fill is still pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things though.
Click to expand...
Depends on your definition of cheap. Using the XYZprinting machine that was just suggested by fridgers, you'll be running $28 for 600 g of filament. That would get roughly 6 medium sized items printed. So, that works out to be $5+ for every time the 8 year old hits the go button (which will probably happen a lot at the beginning).

I'm not sure that $5 a pop is "pretty cheap" for many parents.

Sure, miniscule items are cheaper, but there aren't that many cases that I can think of where an 8-year old will want to print only miniscule items.
 
I don't really understand the appeal of current consumer 3D printers.

I have a friend who bought a $700+ one and he barely uses it for anything that isn't some of sort of random box or shape he found online. I don't think he's actually printed anything that wasn't a random trinket.

Maybe if they had tighter tolerances you could manufacture game miniatures in bulk, but they are nowhere neat that quality yet.

I mean if you specifically had a reason to use one (Some sort of industrial process where plastic parts need to be manufactured in bulk?) I can see it, but otherwise, meh?
 
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dullard said:
Depends on your definition of cheap. Using the XYZprinting machine that was just suggested by fridgers, you'll be running $28 for 600 g of filament. That would get roughly 6 medium sized items printed. So, that works out to be $5+ for every time the 8 year old hits the go button (which will probably happen a lot at the beginning).

I'm not sure that $5 a pop is "pretty cheap" for many parents.

Sure, miniscule items are cheaper, but there aren't that many cases that I can think of where an 8-year old will want to print only miniscule items.
Click to expand...
True... I was thinking from a company's point of view.
We actually have the same one linked here at work for playing.
Anything high resolution or special material, we send away for.
 
dullard said:
Depends on your definition of cheap. Using the XYZprinting machine that was just suggested by fridgers, you'll be running $28 for 600 g of filament. That would get roughly 6 medium sized items printed. So, that works out to be $5+ for every time the 8 year old hits the go button (which will probably happen a lot at the beginning).

I'm not sure that $5 a pop is "pretty cheap" for many parents.

Sure, miniscule items are cheaper, but there aren't that many cases that I can think of where an 8-year old will want to print only miniscule items.
Click to expand...


Most people who buy the printer I linked hack it, and then just purchase 2.2kg rolls of filament off ebay for around $17 each. Much much cheaper than the proprietary filament.
 
MakerBot seems to have become the de facto standard for 3D printers, but they start at around $1,800. Then again, I remember when a basic black and white laser printer used to cost that much.

I'd get one myself if they were cheaper. Would be very useful for my RC model building.
 
DesiPower said:
Thinking about buying one for my son, on his upcoming 8th birthday. Now I hear that the cheaper one use proprietor refill, making them expensive in the long run. With a budget of around $500, $800 max, can someone recommend a good printer that maybe uses cheap generic refill (if that's important) and is reliable. I have read that they do tend to be buggy, would appreciate some insight on how to pick a reliable one.

Also there is that aspect of acquiring designs, are designs scalable? or should be careful about the size of the printer? should I also have to take into account which printers can use or more importantly not use some sort of licensed or approved designs? Are there abundant free designs available out there?
Click to expand...

Even though it's fun having a local machine to play with, you may want to consider a gift card to Shapeways, an online 3D printing service. They have an insane lineup of materials to choose from:

http://www.shapeways.com/materials

For example, they just added 3D-printed porcelain, which can be used for baking dishes & pizza stones because it's dishwasher, oven, and microwave-safe! They even have transparent plastics now:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/RY...onauts-set-1-144?li=nav-tab&optionId=56356196
 
Kaido said:
Even though it's fun having a local machine to play with, you may want to consider a gift card to Shapeways, an online 3D printing service. They have an insane lineup of materials to choose from:

http://www.shapeways.com/materials

For example, they just added 3D-printed porcelain, which can be used for baking dishes & pizza stones because it's dishwasher, oven, and microwave-safe! They even have transparent plastics now:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/RY...onauts-set-1-144?li=nav-tab&optionId=56356196
Click to expand...

I'll admit I don't know much about shapeways, but this seems the best way to go.

$500-800 will buy you a ton of crap online...spreading that out over a few years of ordering stuff makes it even easier. If the kid has really gotten into it by then, that's when you start looking at buying one. I'm assuming the machines will get better/cheaper over this time as well.

Seems like the smart move for now.
 
You should teach your kid 3D modeling.
Kids love to build. 3D modeling is the ultimate building experience.
 
For an 8 year old? I'm not sure how much fun he will get out of it versus fun that dad will get out of it 🙂

Buy him some LEGOs.
 
Unless you like/need to build nick knacks, there is no reason to own one in the home.

Ad agencies, engineers, artists, etc. these are great.

Plus, the texture quality is still pretty shitty. If you want a smooth feel to your items, you need to sand or coat them with something.
 
Kaido said:
Even though it's fun having a local machine to play with, you may want to consider a gift card to Shapeways, an online 3D printing service. They have an insane lineup of materials to choose from:

http://www.shapeways.com/materials

For example, they just added 3D-printed porcelain, which can be used for baking dishes & pizza stones because it's dishwasher, oven, and microwave-safe! They even have transparent plastics now:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/RY...onauts-set-1-144?li=nav-tab&optionId=56356196
Click to expand...

OP should also check out libraries, an increasing number of them are offering 3D printers.

In Colorado Springs this one has 5 3D printers, laser cutter, etc and all you need is a library card.
http://ppld.org/c3/makerspace
 
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