I fully understand your verdict. I was pretty isolated when I got and built my A8, not realizing others had such an inconsistent result. Mine works great and I love it; getting similar quality prints as the MakerBots, Prusa's and Tevo's I've used professionally in the past. However that inherent uncertainty in the QC lottery means it just can't be effectively rated and it's a gamble. Recently, in addition to contract work, I've been CADing up parts to fix my dad's tools like a gasket to fix mesh into a rain gauge, a new handle on a B&D work bench and handles for clamps. Love your videos Bill, and it was an honor to meet you at the Seattle Mini Maker Faire!
I bought an Anet A8 and later a Creality CR10-S but I do not regret buying the Anet a8 at all. It really taught me a lot about 3d printing and tinkering with the machine and upgrading it was actually a very rewarding experience. I haven't done a tone of upgrades to it but enough that it prints great and the safety features of course were added as well. I really like the Anet a8 as its a good learning tool for 3d printing to really understand what is going on and how things work. My CR10-S prints better of course but not by a whole lot and I had to do some tinkering with it as well to get it there.
I've been using a pair of Coocheer prusa i-3 clones, with a 220-275-230 build area. Over all they have been good to me though I have made a few changes for ease of service and reliability. I switched the filament drive to one you can remove the fan on when changing filaments (and not have it all spring apart) and also switched to a steel drive gear as the brass one can chip easy when you get a jam. I went up to a 0.5 nossel to also reduce clogging. My spools sit above the printers, had to add a guide so the filament would not rub on the selector nob as it was speeding the print up or slowing it down randomly. They both have a ton of run time now and rarely have any issues if I set them correctly.
Bought the Prusa i3 mk2s. Love it but still not entirely convinced I have it fully dialed in. Prints are amazing regardless. I've made lots of fun things that you can find online but mostly have enjoyed designing and printing useful things for around the house. Custom shower caddy, corner guards for daughter's furniture, plugs and tunnels for my wife and I, toys that you can't find in store from the shows my daughter likes (Nella the princess night sword), and finger braces for my sister with a degenerative nerve disorder. Unbelievable how amazing it is to rapidly fabricate anything that comes to mind. Totally renewed my artistic passion. Your videos have come in super handy from time to time. Thanks for your awesome work.
Thanks for the update. Sounds like I made a good choice with my CR-10. And I'm also very pleased with my Monoprice select mini. Great little machine for about $200. I keep it on my desk at work and most people don't even notice it, unless they are waiting for their print to finish. The CR-10 is great, just too big to hide on the corner of your desk.
It is amazing to see how far 3D printers have come in the last 3 years! For $500 you can get a crazy nice works-out-of-box printer that can print an entire helmet in one go!
I don't have any experience with many of the 3D printers mentioned in this video, but I own a Monoprice maker select V2 (also a Wanhao duplicator), and we have a Stratasys Dimension Elite industrial 3d printer at my work (as well as a few off the shelf desktop ones), and I am astonished at the quality of the prints from my maker select in comparison. It took 6 screws to put together and just worked. I did very little tinkering (even though I know how) and for $250, it was a great deal (it goes on sale regularly). They also have a Monoprice select mini that has pretty good quality prints for closer to the $200 range sometimes, but the print area is much smaller.
Totally agree, I have the Prusa i3mk2S and it just drops right in to help with workflow. Still building up to printing some big props but it has done great in supplementing other builds with small parts, which of course I modelled myself! :) so satisfying
I got a Printrbot Simple Metal. It has a small print volume, but upgrades are available and the Printrbot company is great. The price point isn't too bad and right out of the box the detail is nice.
For the last 2 years I've used my XYZPrinting Davinci 1.0A and just the other night my printing printed it's last. The printing came with a warranty because they know you will need it. Through my countless battles with XYZ's customer service I've nicknamed them Customer No Service. I'm sad to see my printer go, but also hopeful to look into a newer, better printer. I intend to scavenge Leo (yes I named my printer) for parts and always keep apart of him around in my future as a maker. Thank you Bill and Britt for testing out this printer and reminding me that the CR-10 exists, because I think that'll be my best option for a while.
I love my CR-10 and it was only £439 on amazon and came with a free 1kg spool of PLA as well as the sample spool which was itself probably 500g. I could have bought it cheaper on gearbest but there does seam to be an issue on getting gearbest stuff into the UK without prices spiralling out of control. It worked straight out of the box (ok not straight out I had to put it together) and I'm super happy with it, I've just finished printing the fallout 4 laser pistol without any reprint requiring disasters (we'll except for the parts I wanted to tinker with to get a higher quality print) which considering, apart for the little cup thing gcode that comes pre-installed, that was the first thing I printed I was very impressed, I worked out that from the amount of PLA and electricity I used it probably cost me about £7 to build. I had considered the Dremel but that seamed expensive for what it did, and your video on the A8 steered me away from that and I didn't fancy burning my flat down (plus it seemed really expensive by comparison to the CR-10 on amazon). Just excited about my next project now :D
I have a flash forge dreamer and that was £800 2 years ago. I needed a larger print area so I brought a cheap tronxy x3s kit and with just a few mods to the Y axis to stop the bed from wobbling it is now my go to printer and the dreamer is 2nd. I could by 5 of the tronxy kits for the same price as the flashforge. The flashforge is a lot nicer to use with the touch screen the over all quality is excellent, but the tronxy prints just as well and once you get used to the clunky buttons and menus it's not that much harder to use.
Hi i have my Anet A8 never had an issue but yes i modified it how i like it didnt spent $150 since i used Pla for upgrades the same printer upgraded itself . but that was just me i would like to see the video or time Lapse of the Helmet please .
Monoprice Maker Select, the Melzi Board fried on up but worked up until that. recommend a mosfet if you buy this printer. currently working on upgrading it to a ramps board since the melzi is toast.
I'm still very new to this. I started making a helmet with Pepakura, but man do I hate that process. Which has me looking at 3D printers. I don't have a problem getting something cheaper that I have to upgrade. In fact that sounds like a lot of fun. But I'm also a photographer who already spends hours retouching pictures. I'm thinking of just spending the extra money to get something out of the box, that I can run while I do my photography thing.
My a8 is still doing good, but my CR 10 is amazing. I hope you get a CR 10. I think you will love the print size and the much improved prints. My next printer will be the largest CR 10. 500mm x 500mm x 500mm You can print the whole helmet in one go!!!
For cosplayers and prop replica types the CR-10 and the new Tevo Tornado seem to be the ideal on the costs/benefits table. Those two can print a full sized helmet. They are reasonably dependable out of the box and don't need a lot of tweaking or upgrades. The Prusa I3 Mk3 looks to be a phenomenal printer. Probably the best new one. But cosplayers will get more bang for the buck on the CR-10 and Tornado's much much larger print volume. The average cosplayer will probably never use most of the super fantastic features of the MK3. Multihead extrusion seems great, but is really situational. Such as water soluble support material. It's wonderful Until you realize it is expensive as hell and prints incredibly slow.
I wish the CR-10 was out when I bought my printers, would have saved me the need to upgrade in build volume. Now I've spent about the same gathering parts for a custom jumbo printer that still have to put all together and some how make work.
I went with a smootie board for the electronics, hoping it would give me better control. not so worried about the actual build, just making everything talk and move correct.
You will absolutely use every new feature of the Mk3. The multi material is a different thing from the main Mk2/2S/3 machines. The new stuff like filament sensor, better frame and general improvements will be better for any print, regardless of size. Granted the CR10 etc allows bigger but unless you can run a printer for days (I run out of time at about 12-13 hours as the printer keeps me awake) you don't really benefit from the bigger size. I've had my Mk2 for almost a year and am considering the 2.5 upgrade kit for it to get most the new features. Yes I have to run more smaller prints but I see this as a feature not a bug once you pass a certain point.
Christopher you should check out Thomas Sanladerer, he did a video on different bases for a printer and was able to make his run very quiet. I have mine set on a scrap plastic counter top 3/4" thick and they also run quiet. The longest print I ever did was around 30 hours/600 grams and was to the limit of my build area, it really needed to be done in a single piece. I have a couple projects in the cue that won't take nearly that long but need a bigger build area, that's where the CR-10 can really shine. But for sure having a better, smaller printer in addition to a large capacity printer would be the best combo.
I personally just finished a Fallout 3 Pip-boy well over 120h of printing on my "Monoprice Mini select". For a $200 printer with a 120x120 build surface, I HONESTLY can't complain. It is my FIRST 3d printer,(Training wheels) and i am AMAZED with it. I made something practically out of THIN AIR!!! a Prop from one of my favorite games, it has it's issues, but overall absolutely satisfied with how this pip boy turned out. I will be getting myself a bigger printer in the near future now that i have been bitten by the bug!!! wish i could share pictures on here....
I roll an anet a8, anycubic delta, and just received and built the Creality ender 4 yesterday (first impression video may get shot tonight). The a8 is a great tinkerer/upgrade using it to make itself better printer. Delta are great for speed but are very difficult to get dimensionally tuned for things requiring accuracy vs quick but detailed prints. Corexy are a cross and highly accurate, a little faster than standard cartesian gantry styles, but also the math is more complex for the hardware so can be a little glitchy when tuning settings.
Yup. I'll tell you why, bought a budget printer, about 600... I've learned a lot with it, which is great, you wouldn't have learned these things if your printer would work great out of the box, but... With the amount of upgrades done to it to make it work better, I've spent another 500+ and tons of hours. Reality is, with many of the budget printers, you will spend more time working ON the printer, than working WITH the printer
This is stupidly expensive for a piece of tech that is basically just a very weak version of a CNC mill. A well... never mind. Thank you for your answers.
sub 200$ kits can make a great starting point and learning experience. but the learning curve is steep, if you havent developed some "technical sensibility" or "tinkerer's instict" yet. and even with a top notch machine, you still gotta learn to "drive" it properly. in the end it's just a whimpy little cnc with a glorified miniature hot glue gun. but it can pull of geometry that's unthinkable with a cnc mill. i'm using an anet A8 myself, and it soon became in indispensable tool to have at my disposal. it didnt take much to get really good results out of it (not just "for the price"), that some cant seem to coax out of a 1k machine. but then again, i'm a life time tinkerer.
I have the anet a6 and it is a great printer it has a few upgrades over the a8 and prints way better out of the box without needing upgrades. At $20 more I would recommend the a6 over the a8
Not in props territory (yet) but my experience is with Makerbot 2 (2nd gen), Ultimaker 2 and the ZYYX printer. Ultimaker is by far the easiest to use out of the box since that is one of its main selling points. ZYYX comes with a licence of Simplify 3D and gives all the controls of all the parameters, so it is more "powerful" but also limited to ONLY Simplify 3D, no other Slicer software is supported. But an auto leveling function, filament feed detector, active carbon filter and a sturdy frame with full enclosure since almost five years has proven that the know what they are doing from the start. They also released an new "pro" model for a hefty sum for more advanced materials like carbon fiber and nylon for prototyping., could be interesting for more durable hinges etc for props. I'd say that over a certain price point one gets decent quality in hardware to being able to print very hassle free and with quality, after about $500+ it more and more comes down to settings/capabilities in the slicer software and filament quality/age/type. all them extra $$$ after that is for features that is nice to have and design.
I just got a Monoprice maker select for $200, and without any modifications, it prints amazingly, and it's not a kit. It's got a build size similar to this printer, but it's more stable, and much safer.
I have a HicTop 3d desktop printer (2nd Gen). I love it to bits, but at nearly two years old, it is ready for possible retirement (all the bearings and belts are wearing out, plus I had to replace the circuit board because of a power surge). That's why I am building my own version of Tech2C's Hypercube. Your comment about the the hook for the light made me laugh. I do not want to even count how many things I have made like that. The answer is too many
Punished Props See, I thought about doing that (I have a small missing panel on my dashboard) and my friends gave me a look like I was crazy, but that is still cool. They (3d printers) are so useful.
I'm about to agree with you, so bear with me for a sec. I bought a Geeetech Aluminum Prusa i3, and I'm getting some wonderful prints out of it. But, that's after 100+ hours of tweaking, tuning, tinkering, and after it literally started on fire. I improved it, so that it was safer, better and stronger. So, for me...as a 3D printing nerd who actually enjoys calibration...it's a good printer. For people who are getting into 3D printing for prop making or other things...not so much.
Actually many more expensive printers can be found that are re-furbished for example the "Lulzbot Mini" is a solid 3D printer and well under $1000 if purchased re-furbished.
The a8 hardware isn't too different from the prussa i3 mk2. Sure there are differences in the build envelope, the build plate and most of all the firmware. And although I did enjoy your a8 videos, you did say most of those mods had little effect, yes you spent a lot of time but if you weren't going down the wrong path how much time would you have actually spent?. If you add a fusible link from the auto parts store on the 12v side and plug the printer into a surge protector (to add a switch and additional protection, besides you probably already have one) replace the z homing switch with a bed sensor and solder the wires to the print bed. Then flash the latest Marlin and you have a decent machine. You can then print some prussa parts and get a clone e3d hot end with a genuine e3d heat break. The y tensioner isn't really needed, you can adjust the threaded rods. The x tensioner is nice as long as you push against the rails for the x and not the rails for the z. You have to look at $200 printers as a kit. But it can get you started and teach you a lot about printers. The tevo tarantula is another kit type machine. If you get it right it'll print super fast, the Bowden extruder keeps things light for high acceleration but you probably want to get a pair of linear bearings for x and y and upgrade the z motor mount. The mks board it uses is as clean as the anet board all the hardware is off the shelf not somewhat altered clones. No oddball processor or altered pin out so there is expandability but this is a printer that could use a box for the power supply and screen. It's not very good out of the box, but again, look at it like a parts kit. You're building a printer of your own, and the kit is collection of parts you may need and don't want to source and collect on your own. I'm not sure the cr10 is all it's cracked up to be. It probably has a few of the shortcomings of the tarantula like the single y track and single z motor (well I'm not sure a single z screw is bad, but you really want the track on the side of the screw to be tight)
This was a great series, you really delved a lot into the whole 3d printing for prop making. Thanks:) And by the way - since it is a czech word, Prusa (originally written as Průša) would be correctly pronounced as if it was written like "Proosha". I'm not criticizing your pronunciation just thought it could be interesting for someone, since it is becoming quite a popular company:)
I think they're both very useful tools that provide very different services. Depending on how you like to build your props, either one could be a complete waste or super worth it. I would suggest keeping tabs on what you find yourself wishing you could accomplish the most when building, and then seeing which of those tools (It might be both!) applies best for your needs.
I am using Anycubic kossel to print out the Sword Art Online (Elucidator) full size sword but printing it into 12 parts. Anycubic Koseel have the volume of 150 x 300 so is very good is printing sword especially you can just print straight up to 290mm in one single piece.
Hello buddy I really need sone direction here..I want to get into making armor and masks and prop weapons and things of that nature and was wondering is there a course I can take that thoroughly explains these things from start to finish and also concerning 3d printing is it better to 3d print lets say a helmet like that or to make it out of fiberglass and bondo and which is more cost efficient. Please give me some direction my friend.
I'm a Wanhao fanboy, but the Prusa i3 Mk3 is head-and-shoulders above the competition at this point. It has SO much more going for it than anything else in the price point. It is THE printer to buy right now.
I'm a filmmaking teacher who's looking to purchase a 3D printer for my students to create a la carte props for their productions. Does anyone have any advice? Suggestions? Sites I should start with?
My observations lead me to think there are two types pf people into 3D printing * One type consists of people, such as yourself, they are 3D printing hobbyist. They use 3D printers to make things * The other type are 3D printer hobbyist. They get the printers as something to constantly tinker on
I'm ridiculously new to this, ordering my first printer in 2 weeks, I just want to know where to get filament, from recommendation not google, best price, good product, and what filament would you recommend
Watch videos from the UA-cam channels he mentions, also "Make Anything" on UA-cam is pretty good, he shows you how to make things. There is free to use software called "MeshMixer" and "Autodesk Fusion 360" which have some pretty good video tutorials.
Of the free tools out there: Programmer by trade: Open SCAD (Some thingiverse files come in .scad and make parts way more customizable) Makers/engineers: Fusion 360 (You'll need to rebuild the .stl if you want to meaningfully change up the design, but chopping in half/resizing is pretty easy plus there's plenty of tutorials out there.) Artists: Blender (Huge community of artists, mountains of tools, and heaps of tutorials)
If you're going to spend $500 on a cheap 3D printer, you might as well spend $599 and get an Original Prusa i3 Mk2S kit. When they announced the Mk3, they dropped the Mk2S kit price to $599, and that is a frickin' steal. I really like mine, but I do pine for the Mk3 features, especially the filament detection and magnetic/bendable build plate.
It has been interesting watching these videos now, when the price of printers has come down so much. There are several entry level printers now at $300 or less. This reduces the appeal of a low budget printer that you need to put additional work and mods into it. I mean if you enjoy building and modding the tool, it could be fun. But if the goal is to make printed props on a budget, there are a lot better options today than there were 3 years ago.
As a 3d printer user/hobby prop maker I like the way this video was presented. I see too much of one extreme end of the spectrum or the other. Some say its a tool they can't live without. Others say waste of money. Most forget that its just a tool. Do you really think you can make great things with just a screwdriver, or a hammer only. No. It best if used in concert with a bit of imagination, talent, and a bit of skill with other tools under the maker's belt. I never owned an expensive branded printer and there are times when I just wished the machine did what I wanted it do. Other times I'm like "perfect tool for the job I needed done." This could be down to my skill as I even now am learning what works and what doesn't. Or it could be down to the tech not quite to the level of a paper printer. Its not quite down to the level of pushing single button and it working out every time. But it is getting better and what matters most is a lot of the learning curve associated using a 3d printer is shrinking. Allowing new people to get and use 3d printer. Right now I kind of feel we are in the "you need to be a car mechanic if you want to drive a car" level of progress. Eventually a time will come when you just need to know how to drive. Yes truly believe that buying a cheap printer is the best course for a tinker. As it forces... give yeah gives you the knowledge of its inner working allowing you to better understand why it works the way it does(and maybe allows you to fix it). And gives you incite that you just don't get otherwise. But I do agree if your just want a printer that works with less hassle get a more expensive printer that has this 3 things; known brand name(companies want to keep the name squeaky clean), a warranty (for when things do go bad) and a large community (to dig knowledge from) Also sanding is a pain at times. Filling in gaps is sometimes better than sanding flat. Bondo, spot putty, filler is your friend. But I think it works really good with mold making. Yup resin is way easier to sand than pla or abs. Yes it is a little wasteful pick your poison. Though if your making multiple stuff. Yeah way easier to make one master, getting it super smooth then making copies of that.
I've got a cheap Prusa I3 clone by CTC. My experience is pretty much the same as yours - I spent many hours "improving" it (which mostly involved making it more rigid, and building a wooden enclosure for it). I've had it a year so far and it's broken down several times - the heater in the hotend failed, the hotend jammed up with burnt plastic, and I've spent countless hours messing with the printbed to make it flat. When it prints, it's pretty good, when it's broken I get to learn another thing about fixing 3D printers (and that's the thing, it's fixable with cheap parts off eBay). If my aim wasn't to learn about 3D printers, I'd also save up more money and buy one from a known brand - and I'd make sure it had a self-levelling bed system and dual extruders so I can print using dissolvable support filament. I've wasted so much plastic and time with failed prints because the first layer wasn't right.
Get out of my head......! All I've been thinking about the last few weeks is getting a 3d printer for my prop making. Like you said, you can use it just to simplify hanging a light! Thanks for the great advice as always..
Punished Props I did it...what a learning experience! The building was fine...but all the computer, firmware crap kicked my butt! I ended up with an Anycubic Kossel Delta....still working the ugly out of my prints...but I'm printing! Keep making!
If you have the money and don't want to spend time tinkering, just get yourself a mk3. Me? I built the AM8 extruded aluminum mod and over time ended up swapping out nearly everything for upgrades. The only original parts are the nema 17 steppers, board, and LCD, and they're going to be replaced after the next paycheck. I love my machine now, but it cost ~$450 (including the A8 purchase) and a bunch of time printing parts/troubleshooting/assembling to get there. To top it off, the old parts can be put back together into an A8 again.
Hah! That's totally where I'm at. On the cusp of having 2 working printers, but then I'll want to upgrade the A8 all over again. When will this madness stop?
Yeah sorry I don't think I'll be doing another series like that. I already have enough 3D printers. I would rather focus more on 3D modeling custom work and finishing techniques.
For $1,000, you can buy a lot of very good vacuum molded pieces for cosplaying. As someone who has 3-4 costumes, it is cheaper than buying a printer and doing it all yourself.
Cheaper in the short term, but it you're gonna 3D print a dozen costumes in the next few years, a 3D printed can be an amazing investment! Also it's way more fun.
Yep, the Anet A8 results are really inconsistent even in the same machine, each try gives different results. Now I'm printing 28mm miniatures, mostly from thingiverse to paint those and have some fun, and some of them look amazing, I barely believe how good those were printed, others... even taking my time cleaning the nozzle, tunning up the heat bed, the X axis and so, were horrible, delaminations, details gone, support material stuck on the mini... Well, for the price was ok as your first 3D printer (as it was to me), but now there are much better options, for the same, or a bit more money, also, now I'm priting the parts to make a hypercube in PETG (from Tech2C) with the anet, and it takes some try and error, but it does the job, so when you understand the basics of 3D (I had no idea about how it would run, desing 3D things or even having experience with anything more complex than an angle grinder, a drill press and regular home shop tools) you can make good upgrades and enjoy, or printing yourself an open source 3D printer on the budget you want, from 200 bucks to 1000 dollars. To me, it was a good invest as it was, only for learning, having some fun and being amazed staring the machine working and printing things, I enjoy working on it, I feel like a child learning something new.
0:16 That awkward moment when you have annotations disabled 4:29 Granted, some people like tinkering. I mean, I learned how to repair computers because I got a ultra cheap laptop that fell apart and needed a bunch of fixing and I couldn't afford a repairman or a new machine. I kept fixing it and it lasted me two years (I consider that to be terrible, and I consider 4 years to be acceptable). I learned a lot, and now I'm pretty good at diagnosing laptop issues. So now, family always ask me to fix their machines... I never wanted to be a tinkerer, but I went from no knowledge to having a pretty solid understanding of how a computer worked. In all fairness, the machine itself is still operational, but the network card has died, and that is an integrated chip, which means I need to replace the motherboard to fix it. That machine tied me over until I could afford my current machine, which is a lot more solid.
Bill, if someone can find 200$ they can surly wait and save up another 100$ and source out parts motors,power supply .... and end up with something not as good as the newly announced Prusa I3 mk3 but defiantly equivalent to the MK2 and a hell of a lot better then that Beeping A8 and Cr-10.
Well, unless you buy a 3d printer that can print in really fine layers (and even so you still see the layers...) sanding, primer, sanding, more primer, more sanding is pretty much standard in FDM printers... The only printers you might avoid lots of sanding are the resin ones, that the surface comes out smooth. But those are way more expensive (not only the printer, but also the material) and the printing area is smaller. So not an option (for me, especially because of the price).
If you really expect a 3d machine to make something perfect,youre nuts. I make custom prop guns,and working around the factory parts in the gun is just crazy. A rough shape is good enough for me.I just need to file and refine It further.
I had 2 prusa mk2, and those things are crap..if you run them a few hrs a week..ok, but for running long hrs, no way...i spent more time fixing them and changing parts then printing.....sold them and got 2 ultimaker 2+ and in 10 months..NO ISSUE..and they run 24/7
I've only had 1 failure on my Mk2 in the 10 months I've had it, which was a pinched fan cable. Maybe design error maybe builder error but support sent me a new one that day. That said I run mine maybe 2-3 days a month, I have no doubt that if you were to run them hard some of the design decisions may well start to show. What sort of failures did you see?
You know what I want to know ? Why is it there is no step by step actual Diy videos or info on building 3D printers ? I mean if someone is on a budget.... buying quality pieces a bit at a time is the way to Go !! 3D printer companies really have that big of a Monopoly ?
the Prusa doesn't have great service! Once they ship your order they can give to %^&* about anything that happens. My Prusa burnt out in the first month due to faulty assembly from Prusa.
If you want a 3D printer that works out of the box with no fiddling you shouldn't buy a kit. Also, complaining about the extra time it takes to do the safety mods doesn't really make sense to me. If people know that those upgrades are must-haves from the very start installing them isn't extra effort, it's just part of building the thing to begin with. You also did some stuff in this series that seriously had me scratching my head. Any particular reason you printed everything with a raft? Those are a case by case thing, using them for every print is just a waste of plastic. And good LORD, you leveled the bed after EVERY print!? Do you hate yourself or something? As long as you don't physically move the printer itself between prints you can really just calibrate it once, tighten everything up, and be good for a while. Sure, I wouldn't recommend the A8 to someone expecting to have a user experience similar to a regular inkjet printer, but I feel you made getting the thing to work properly look more insurmountable than it really is because you made decisions that needlessly made it harder on yourself.
I fully understand your verdict. I was pretty isolated when I got and built my A8, not realizing others had such an inconsistent result.
Mine works great and I love it; getting similar quality prints as the MakerBots, Prusa's and Tevo's I've used professionally in the past. However that inherent uncertainty in the QC lottery means it just can't be effectively rated and it's a gamble.
Recently, in addition to contract work, I've been CADing up parts to fix my dad's tools like a gasket to fix mesh into a rain gauge, a new handle on a B&D work bench and handles for clamps.
Love your videos Bill, and it was an honor to meet you at the Seattle Mini Maker Faire!
Right on! Thanks for the feedback. =D
I bought an Anet A8 and later a Creality CR10-S but I do not regret buying the Anet a8 at all. It really taught me a lot about 3d printing and tinkering with the machine and upgrading it was actually a very rewarding experience. I haven't done a tone of upgrades to it but enough that it prints great and the safety features of course were added as well. I really like the Anet a8 as its a good learning tool for 3d printing to really understand what is going on and how things work. My CR10-S prints better of course but not by a whole lot and I had to do some tinkering with it as well to get it there.
I've been using a pair of Coocheer prusa i-3 clones, with a 220-275-230 build area. Over all they have been good to me though I have made a few changes for ease of service and reliability. I switched the filament drive to one you can remove the fan on when changing filaments (and not have it all spring apart) and also switched to a steel drive gear as the brass one can chip easy when you get a jam. I went up to a 0.5 nossel to also reduce clogging. My spools sit above the printers, had to add a guide so the filament would not rub on the selector nob as it was speeding the print up or slowing it down randomly. They both have a ton of run time now and rarely have any issues if I set them correctly.
Neat!
Bought the Prusa i3 mk2s. Love it but still not entirely convinced I have it fully dialed in. Prints are amazing regardless. I've made lots of fun things that you can find online but mostly have enjoyed designing and printing useful things for around the house. Custom shower caddy, corner guards for daughter's furniture, plugs and tunnels for my wife and I, toys that you can't find in store from the shows my daughter likes (Nella the princess night sword), and finger braces for my sister with a degenerative nerve disorder. Unbelievable how amazing it is to rapidly fabricate anything that comes to mind. Totally renewed my artistic passion. Your videos have come in super handy from time to time. Thanks for your awesome work.
That is splendid!
Thanks for the update. Sounds like I made a good choice with my CR-10. And I'm also very pleased with my Monoprice select mini. Great little machine for about $200. I keep it on my desk at work and most people don't even notice it, unless they are waiting for their print to finish. The CR-10 is great, just too big to hide on the corner of your desk.
It is amazing to see how far 3D printers have come in the last 3 years! For $500 you can get a crazy nice works-out-of-box printer that can print an entire helmet in one go!
Isn't it awesome?
Thank you for your thoughts on the 3d printer. I found the whole series educational. Keep up the great work.
You're welcome!
I don't have any experience with many of the 3D printers mentioned in this video, but I own a Monoprice maker select V2 (also a Wanhao duplicator), and we have a Stratasys Dimension Elite industrial 3d printer at my work (as well as a few off the shelf desktop ones), and I am astonished at the quality of the prints from my maker select in comparison. It took 6 screws to put together and just worked. I did very little tinkering (even though I know how) and for $250, it was a great deal (it goes on sale regularly). They also have a Monoprice select mini that has pretty good quality prints for closer to the $200 range sometimes, but the print area is much smaller.
Totally agree, I have the Prusa i3mk2S and it just drops right in to help with workflow. Still building up to printing some big props but it has done great in supplementing other builds with small parts, which of course I modelled myself! :) so satisfying
I got a Printrbot Simple Metal. It has a small print volume, but upgrades are available and the Printrbot company is great. The price point isn't too bad and right out of the box the detail is nice.
That's fantastic!
For the last 2 years I've used my XYZPrinting Davinci 1.0A and just the other night my printing printed it's last. The printing came with a warranty because they know you will need it. Through my countless battles with XYZ's customer service I've nicknamed them Customer No Service. I'm sad to see my printer go, but also hopeful to look into a newer, better printer. I intend to scavenge Leo (yes I named my printer) for parts and always keep apart of him around in my future as a maker. Thank you Bill and Britt for testing out this printer and reminding me that the CR-10 exists, because I think that'll be my best option for a while.
I've recently been looking into 3D printing for cosplay projects, and I am definitely going to invest in one.
Your helmet came out awesome!
You're gonna have so much fun!
I love my CR-10 and it was only £439 on amazon and came with a free 1kg spool of PLA as well as the sample spool which was itself probably 500g. I could have bought it cheaper on gearbest but there does seam to be an issue on getting gearbest stuff into the UK without prices spiralling out of control. It worked straight out of the box (ok not straight out I had to put it together) and I'm super happy with it, I've just finished printing the fallout 4 laser pistol without any reprint requiring disasters (we'll except for the parts I wanted to tinker with to get a higher quality print) which considering, apart for the little cup thing gcode that comes pre-installed, that was the first thing I printed I was very impressed, I worked out that from the amount of PLA and electricity I used it probably cost me about £7 to build. I had considered the Dremel but that seamed expensive for what it did, and your video on the A8 steered me away from that and I didn't fancy burning my flat down (plus it seemed really expensive by comparison to the CR-10 on amazon). Just excited about my next project now :D
I had the same thoughts about my A8 when I saw the CR-10 that came out.
I can't recommend the A8 to anyone but it was a good learning experience.
My anet a8 is going great ! I loves the a8 vids u did!
Splendid!
I have a flash forge dreamer and that was £800 2 years ago. I needed a larger print area so I brought a cheap tronxy x3s kit and with just a few mods to the Y axis to stop the bed from wobbling it is now my go to printer and the dreamer is 2nd. I could by 5 of the tronxy kits for the same price as the flashforge. The flashforge is a lot nicer to use with the touch screen the over all quality is excellent, but the tronxy prints just as well and once you get used to the clunky buttons and menus it's not that much harder to use.
Very interesting!
I really wanted the CR-10, but couldn't afford it.
Tronxy definitely makes some solid printers for their price, and most of their quirks can be solved with 3d printed parts
Hi i have my Anet A8 never had an issue but yes i modified it how i like it didnt spent $150 since i used Pla for upgrades the same printer upgraded itself . but that was just me i would like to see the video or time Lapse of the Helmet please .
Monoprice Maker Select, the Melzi Board fried on up but worked up until that. recommend a mosfet if you buy this printer. currently working on upgrading it to a ramps board since the melzi is toast.
I'm still very new to this. I started making a helmet with Pepakura, but man do I hate that process. Which has me looking at 3D printers. I don't have a problem getting something cheaper that I have to upgrade. In fact that sounds like a lot of fun. But I'm also a photographer who already spends hours retouching pictures. I'm thinking of just spending the extra money to get something out of the box, that I can run while I do my photography thing.
My a8 is still doing good, but my CR 10 is amazing.
I hope you get a CR 10.
I think you will love the print size and the much improved prints.
My next printer will be the largest CR 10. 500mm x 500mm x 500mm
You can print the whole helmet in one go!!!
WOoooooah!
For cosplayers and prop replica types the CR-10 and the new Tevo Tornado seem to be the ideal on the costs/benefits table. Those two can print a full sized helmet. They are reasonably dependable out of the box and don't need a lot of tweaking or upgrades. The Prusa I3 Mk3 looks to be a phenomenal printer. Probably the best new one. But cosplayers will get more bang for the buck on the CR-10 and Tornado's much much larger print volume. The average cosplayer will probably never use most of the super fantastic features of the MK3. Multihead extrusion seems great, but is really situational. Such as water soluble support material. It's wonderful Until you realize it is expensive as hell and prints incredibly slow.
I wish the CR-10 was out when I bought my printers, would have saved me the need to upgrade in build volume. Now I've spent about the same gathering parts for a custom jumbo printer that still have to put all together and some how make work.
I hope your custom 3d printer work great for you.
You can always tell the software the size of your new 3d printer, so that won't be a problem.
I went with a smootie board for the electronics, hoping it would give me better control. not so worried about the actual build, just making everything talk and move correct.
You will absolutely use every new feature of the Mk3. The multi material is a different thing from the main Mk2/2S/3 machines. The new stuff like filament sensor, better frame and general improvements will be better for any print, regardless of size. Granted the CR10 etc allows bigger but unless you can run a printer for days (I run out of time at about 12-13 hours as the printer keeps me awake) you don't really benefit from the bigger size. I've had my Mk2 for almost a year and am considering the 2.5 upgrade kit for it to get most the new features. Yes I have to run more smaller prints but I see this as a feature not a bug once you pass a certain point.
Christopher you should check out Thomas Sanladerer, he did a video on different bases for a printer and was able to make his run very quiet. I have mine set on a scrap plastic counter top 3/4" thick and they also run quiet. The longest print I ever did was around 30 hours/600 grams and was to the limit of my build area, it really needed to be done in a single piece. I have a couple projects in the cue that won't take nearly that long but need a bigger build area, that's where the CR-10 can really shine. But for sure having a better, smaller printer in addition to a large capacity printer would be the best combo.
I personally just finished a Fallout 3 Pip-boy well over 120h of printing on my "Monoprice Mini select". For a $200 printer with a 120x120 build surface, I HONESTLY can't complain. It is my FIRST 3d printer,(Training wheels) and i am AMAZED with it. I made something practically out of THIN AIR!!! a Prop from one of my favorite games, it has it's issues, but overall absolutely satisfied with how this pip boy turned out. I will be getting myself a bigger printer in the near future now that i have been bitten by the bug!!! wish i could share pictures on here....
It is an utterly magical process
I roll an anet a8, anycubic delta, and just received and built the Creality ender 4 yesterday (first impression video may get shot tonight). The a8 is a great tinkerer/upgrade using it to make itself better printer. Delta are great for speed but are very difficult to get dimensionally tuned for things requiring accuracy vs quick but detailed prints. Corexy are a cross and highly accurate, a little faster than standard cartesian gantry styles, but also the math is more complex for the hardware so can be a little glitchy when tuning settings.
500$ is considered low budget for 3d printers? Well it seems that I'll stick with foam for the time being.
When the top of the line ones start at 3g's, yeah $500 is still on the low budget side lol
Yup. I'll tell you why, bought a budget printer, about 600... I've learned a lot with it, which is great, you wouldn't have learned these things if your printer would work great out of the box, but... With the amount of upgrades done to it to make it work better, I've spent another 500+ and tons of hours.
Reality is, with many of the budget printers, you will spend more time working ON the printer, than working WITH the printer
This is stupidly expensive for a piece of tech that is basically just a very weak version of a CNC mill. A well... never mind. Thank you for your answers.
Monoprice has printers under $500 that work well out of the box
sub 200$ kits can make a great starting point and learning experience. but the learning curve is steep, if you havent developed some "technical sensibility" or "tinkerer's instict" yet. and even with a top notch machine, you still gotta learn to "drive" it properly.
in the end it's just a whimpy little cnc with a glorified miniature hot glue gun. but it can pull of geometry that's unthinkable with a cnc mill.
i'm using an anet A8 myself, and it soon became in indispensable tool to have at my disposal. it didnt take much to get really good results out of it (not just "for the price"), that some cant seem to coax out of a 1k machine. but then again, i'm a life time tinkerer.
I have the anet a6 and it is a great printer it has a few upgrades over the a8 and prints way better out of the box without needing upgrades. At $20 more I would recommend the a6 over the a8
Not in props territory (yet) but my experience is with Makerbot 2 (2nd gen), Ultimaker 2 and the ZYYX printer. Ultimaker is by far the easiest to use out of the box since that is one of its main selling points. ZYYX comes with a licence of Simplify 3D and gives all the controls of all the parameters, so it is more "powerful" but also limited to ONLY Simplify 3D, no other Slicer software is supported. But an auto leveling function, filament feed detector, active carbon filter and a sturdy frame with full enclosure since almost five years has proven that the know what they are doing from the start. They also released an new "pro" model for a hefty sum for more advanced materials like carbon fiber and nylon for prototyping., could be interesting for more durable hinges etc for props.
I'd say that over a certain price point one gets decent quality in hardware to being able to print very hassle free and with quality, after about $500+ it more and more comes down to settings/capabilities in the slicer software and filament quality/age/type. all them extra $$$ after that is for features that is nice to have and design.
I just got a Monoprice maker select for $200, and without any modifications, it prints amazingly, and it's not a kit. It's got a build size similar to this printer, but it's more stable, and much safer.
I have a HicTop 3d desktop printer (2nd Gen). I love it to bits, but at nearly two years old, it is ready for possible retirement (all the bearings and belts are wearing out, plus I had to replace the circuit board because of a power surge). That's why I am building my own version of Tech2C's Hypercube.
Your comment about the the hook for the light made me laugh. I do not want to even count how many things I have made like that. The answer is too many
I've started replacing parts of my car with printed parts! =D
Punished Props See, I thought about doing that (I have a small missing panel on my dashboard) and my friends gave me a look like I was crazy, but that is still cool. They (3d printers) are so useful.
I'm about to agree with you, so bear with me for a sec. I bought a Geeetech Aluminum Prusa i3, and I'm getting some wonderful prints out of it.
But, that's after 100+ hours of tweaking, tuning, tinkering, and after it literally started on fire. I improved it, so that it was safer, better and stronger.
So, for me...as a 3D printing nerd who actually enjoys calibration...it's a good printer. For people who are getting into 3D printing for prop making or other things...not so much.
I think the aluminum frame probably makes a huge difference.
It helps some, for sure, but it's still wobbly in one direction. The main issues I've had with it are electric/electronic in nature.
Actually many more expensive printers can be found that are re-furbished for example the "Lulzbot Mini" is a solid 3D printer and well under $1000 if purchased re-furbished.
That's a really great point!
I have an anycubic i3 mega s and mega x. I love them both.
I use the Creality CR-10 S4 as well as the Wanhao duplicator i3 v2.1. And both are working incredibly well ;)
That's awesome!
The a8 hardware isn't too different from the prussa i3 mk2. Sure there are differences in the build envelope, the build plate and most of all the firmware. And although I did enjoy your a8 videos, you did say most of those mods had little effect, yes you spent a lot of time but if you weren't going down the wrong path how much time would you have actually spent?. If you add a fusible link from the auto parts store on the 12v side and plug the printer into a surge protector (to add a switch and additional protection, besides you probably already have one) replace the z homing switch with a bed sensor and solder the wires to the print bed. Then flash the latest Marlin and you have a decent machine. You can then print some prussa parts and get a clone e3d hot end with a genuine e3d heat break. The y tensioner isn't really needed, you can adjust the threaded rods. The x tensioner is nice as long as you push against the rails for the x and not the rails for the z.
You have to look at $200 printers as a kit. But it can get you started and teach you a lot about printers.
The tevo tarantula is another kit type machine. If you get it right it'll print super fast, the Bowden extruder keeps things light for high acceleration but you probably want to get a pair of linear bearings for x and y and upgrade the z motor mount. The mks board it uses is as clean as the anet board all the hardware is off the shelf not somewhat altered clones. No oddball processor or altered pin out so there is expandability but this is a printer that could use a box for the power supply and screen. It's not very good out of the box, but again, look at it like a parts kit. You're building a printer of your own, and the kit is collection of parts you may need and don't want to source and collect on your own.
I'm not sure the cr10 is all it's cracked up to be. It probably has a few of the shortcomings of the tarantula like the single y track and single z motor (well I'm not sure a single z screw is bad, but you really want the track on the side of the screw to be tight)
If you still want a great machine for less than 200$ get a creality ender-2! It has lower build volume but amazing quality for this price
This was a great series, you really delved a lot into the whole 3d printing for prop making. Thanks:)
And by the way - since it is a czech word, Prusa (originally written as Průša) would be correctly pronounced as if it was written like "Proosha". I'm not criticizing your pronunciation just thought it could be interesting for someone, since it is becoming quite a popular company:)
Thanks!
You forgot to link to everyone's channels in the description. Glad you have them props though.
Ooh! Thanks for the heads up!
What do you think is more worth the money versus time and work... laser cutter or 3d printer?
I think they're both very useful tools that provide very different services. Depending on how you like to build your props, either one could be a complete waste or super worth it. I would suggest keeping tabs on what you find yourself wishing you could accomplish the most when building, and then seeing which of those tools (It might be both!) applies best for your needs.
I am using Anycubic kossel to print out the Sword Art Online (Elucidator) full size sword but printing it into 12 parts. Anycubic Koseel have the volume of 150 x 300 so is very good is printing sword especially you can just print straight up to 290mm in one single piece.
Excellent!
Hello buddy I really need sone direction here..I want to get into making armor and masks and prop weapons and things of that nature and was wondering is there a course I can take that thoroughly explains these things from start to finish and also concerning 3d printing is it better to 3d print lets say a helmet like that or to make it out of fiberglass and bondo and which is more cost efficient. Please give me some direction my friend.
I'm a Wanhao fanboy, but the Prusa i3 Mk3 is head-and-shoulders above the competition at this point. It has SO much more going for it than anything else in the price point. It is THE printer to buy right now.
Do you have the video of the Build ?
Sure do! ua-cam.com/video/8DPUVGWFYFs/v-deo.html
Aw, sad to hear about fewer 3D printing focused building, but happy to get what I can.
Don't worry, I love my 3D printing, so we'll have plenty of it going forward.
I'm a filmmaking teacher who's looking to purchase a 3D printer for my students to create a la carte props for their productions. Does anyone have any advice? Suggestions? Sites I should start with?
Budget?
So I'm looking at the CR10 S5 which is around $1.3k Australian...It has quite a large build space, would you recommend it?
I have the a net a8 and i just ordered the Tevo Tornado. i also have 3 wan hao i3 pluses. So yea i like to tinker. :)
love you man
Thanks, friend!
My observations lead me to think there are two types pf people into 3D printing
* One type consists of people, such as yourself, they are 3D printing hobbyist. They use 3D printers to make things
* The other type are 3D printer hobbyist. They get the printers as something to constantly tinker on
I'm ridiculously new to this, ordering my first printer in 2 weeks, I just want to know where to get filament, from recommendation not google, best price, good product, and what filament would you recommend
I've had really great experience with Matterhackers brand of filament.
Thanks
I dont know how to resize, make and cut 3d models, i want to learn how. Where do i look?
Check out tutorials on UA-cam.
TheMaliciousShow that depends of what 3D modeling software are you using. You can use 3D builder
Watch videos from the UA-cam channels he mentions, also "Make Anything" on UA-cam is pretty good, he shows you how to make things. There is free to use software called "MeshMixer" and "Autodesk Fusion 360" which have some pretty good video tutorials.
Blender
Of the free tools out there:
Programmer by trade: Open SCAD
(Some thingiverse files come in .scad and make parts way more customizable)
Makers/engineers: Fusion 360
(You'll need to rebuild the .stl if you want to meaningfully change up the design, but chopping in half/resizing is pretty easy plus there's plenty of tutorials out there.)
Artists: Blender
(Huge community of artists, mountains of tools, and heaps of tutorials)
Thanks for your recommendations. After watching the series on the Anett I would buy the more expensive one.
If you're going to spend $500 on a cheap 3D printer, you might as well spend $599 and get an Original Prusa i3 Mk2S kit. When they announced the Mk3, they dropped the Mk2S kit price to $599, and that is a frickin' steal. I really like mine, but I do pine for the Mk3 features, especially the filament detection and magnetic/bendable build plate.
It has been interesting watching these videos now, when the price of printers has come down so much. There are several entry level printers now at $300 or less. This reduces the appeal of a low budget printer that you need to put additional work and mods into it. I mean if you enjoy building and modding the tool, it could be fun. But if the goal is to make printed props on a budget, there are a lot better options today than there were 3 years ago.
Totally! It's amazing how far the industry has come!
What camera do you guys use?
Here's a list of all my tools: punishedprops.com/bills-tools/
As a 3d printer user/hobby prop maker I like the way this video was presented. I see too much of one extreme end of the spectrum or the other. Some say its a tool they can't live without. Others say waste of money. Most forget that its just a tool. Do you really think you can make great things with just a screwdriver, or a hammer only. No. It best if used in concert with a bit of imagination, talent, and a bit of skill with other tools under the maker's belt. I never owned an expensive branded printer and there are times when I just wished the machine did what I wanted it do. Other times I'm like "perfect tool for the job I needed done." This could be down to my skill as I even now am learning what works and what doesn't. Or it could be down to the tech not quite to the level of a paper printer. Its not quite down to the level of pushing single button and it working out every time. But it is getting better and what matters most is a lot of the learning curve associated using a 3d printer is shrinking. Allowing new people to get and use 3d printer. Right now I kind of feel we are in the "you need to be a car mechanic if you want to drive a car" level of progress. Eventually a time will come when you just need to know how to drive. Yes truly believe that buying a cheap printer is the best course for a tinker. As it forces... give yeah gives you the knowledge of its inner working allowing you to better understand why it works the way it does(and maybe allows you to fix it). And gives you incite that you just don't get otherwise. But I do agree if your just want a printer that works with less hassle get a more expensive printer that has this 3 things; known brand name(companies want to keep the name squeaky clean), a warranty (for when things do go bad) and a large community (to dig knowledge from)
Also sanding is a pain at times. Filling in gaps is sometimes better than sanding flat. Bondo, spot putty, filler is your friend. But I think it works really good with mold making. Yup resin is way easier to sand than pla or abs. Yes it is a little wasteful pick your poison. Though if your making multiple stuff. Yeah way easier to make one master, getting it super smooth then making copies of that.
I've got a cheap Prusa I3 clone by CTC. My experience is pretty much the same as yours - I spent many hours "improving" it (which mostly involved making it more rigid, and building a wooden enclosure for it). I've had it a year so far and it's broken down several times - the heater in the hotend failed, the hotend jammed up with burnt plastic, and I've spent countless hours messing with the printbed to make it flat. When it prints, it's pretty good, when it's broken I get to learn another thing about fixing 3D printers (and that's the thing, it's fixable with cheap parts off eBay).
If my aim wasn't to learn about 3D printers, I'd also save up more money and buy one from a known brand - and I'd make sure it had a self-levelling bed system and dual extruders so I can print using dissolvable support filament. I've wasted so much plastic and time with failed prints because the first layer wasn't right.
Yeah that's a total bummer. An auto leveling system would be great. My Lulzbot has that feature and it's wonderful.
Get out of my head......! All I've been thinking about the last few weeks is getting a 3d printer for my prop making. Like you said, you can use it just to simplify hanging a light! Thanks for the great advice as always..
Do iiiiiiiit! =D
Punished Props what are your thoughts on the Tornado? Research and budget so far points me towards it.
Punished Props I did it. 80% done putting my Anycubic Kossel delta together.....getting excited...!!!!
Punished Props I did it...what a learning experience! The building was fine...but all the computer, firmware crap kicked my butt! I ended up with an Anycubic Kossel Delta....still working the ugly out of my prints...but I'm printing! Keep making!
Foam for the large part and 3D for detaining
...details....stupid autocorrect
If you have the money and don't want to spend time tinkering, just get yourself a mk3.
Me? I built the AM8 extruded aluminum mod and over time ended up swapping out nearly everything for upgrades. The only original parts are the nema 17 steppers, board, and LCD, and they're going to be replaced after the next paycheck.
I love my machine now, but it cost ~$450 (including the A8 purchase) and a bunch of time printing parts/troubleshooting/assembling to get there. To top it off, the old parts can be put back together into an A8 again.
HA! It's like the Ship of Theseus! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
Hah! That's totally where I'm at. On the cusp of having 2 working printers, but then I'll want to upgrade the A8 all over again. When will this madness stop?
Next season please try cr 10 for cheap printer
this was the last season...
Yeah sorry I don't think I'll be doing another series like that. I already have enough 3D printers. I would rather focus more on 3D modeling custom work and finishing techniques.
Punished Props dude your good I posted this in the beginning of the video.... I get it trust me.
For $1,000, you can buy a lot of very good vacuum molded pieces for cosplaying. As someone who has 3-4 costumes, it is cheaper than buying a printer and doing it all yourself.
But that's no fun
Cheaper in the short term, but it you're gonna 3D print a dozen costumes in the next few years, a 3D printed can be an amazing investment! Also it's way more fun.
Make more.upgrade for the a8 printer
Sorry, but I'm all done with the A8. I gave it to a friend.
Yep, the Anet A8 results are really inconsistent even in the same machine, each try gives different results. Now I'm printing 28mm miniatures, mostly from thingiverse to paint those and have some fun, and some of them look amazing, I barely believe how good those were printed, others... even taking my time cleaning the nozzle, tunning up the heat bed, the X axis and so, were horrible, delaminations, details gone, support material stuck on the mini...
Well, for the price was ok as your first 3D printer (as it was to me), but now there are much better options, for the same, or a bit more money, also, now I'm priting the parts to make a hypercube in PETG (from Tech2C) with the anet, and it takes some try and error, but it does the job, so when you understand the basics of 3D (I had no idea about how it would run, desing 3D things or even having experience with anything more complex than an angle grinder, a drill press and regular home shop tools) you can make good upgrades and enjoy, or printing yourself an open source 3D printer on the budget you want, from 200 bucks to 1000 dollars.
To me, it was a good invest as it was, only for learning, having some fun and being amazed staring the machine working and printing things, I enjoy working on it, I feel like a child learning something new.
0:16 That awkward moment when you have annotations disabled
4:29 Granted, some people like tinkering. I mean, I learned how to repair computers because I got a ultra cheap laptop that fell apart and needed a bunch of fixing and I couldn't afford a repairman or a new machine. I kept fixing it and it lasted me two years (I consider that to be terrible, and I consider 4 years to be acceptable). I learned a lot, and now I'm pretty good at diagnosing laptop issues. So now, family always ask me to fix their machines...
I never wanted to be a tinkerer, but I went from no knowledge to having a pretty solid understanding of how a computer worked.
In all fairness, the machine itself is still operational, but the network card has died, and that is an integrated chip, which means I need to replace the motherboard to fix it. That machine tied me over until I could afford my current machine, which is a lot more solid.
Bill, if someone can find 200$ they can surly wait and save up another 100$ and source out parts motors,power supply .... and end up with something not as good as the newly announced Prusa I3 mk3 but defiantly equivalent to the MK2 and a hell of a lot better then that Beeping A8 and Cr-10.
One would think so, but people get impatient.
For $320 you can get a Monoprice voxel I love that thing
Well, unless you buy a 3d printer that can print in really fine layers (and even so you still see the layers...) sanding, primer, sanding, more primer, more sanding is pretty much standard in FDM printers...
The only printers you might avoid lots of sanding are the resin ones, that the surface comes out smooth. But those are way more expensive (not only the printer, but also the material) and the printing area is smaller. So not an option (for me, especially because of the price).
I love building repraps. Around $500 you could build a D-Bot and blow all of these out of the water.
Friggin sweet. =)
The tevo tarantula is waaaay better, no upgrades needed you should try it out
Sanding is so Sisyphean that your calculated hourly wage should be doubled. Thanks for the video, you've saved me a lot of aggravation!
I'll put in a reminder to pay myself more! =D
Haha, I know, right? And since cosplay and prop building pays in FUN, pay yourself more...fun?
If you really expect a 3d machine to make something perfect,youre nuts.
I make custom prop guns,and working around the factory parts in the gun is just crazy.
A rough shape is good enough for me.I just need to file and refine It further.
Now it just needs weathered
no one compares horse with the ferrari ;-)
I had 2 prusa mk2, and those things are crap..if you run them a few hrs a week..ok, but for running long hrs, no way...i spent more time fixing them and changing parts then printing.....sold them and got 2 ultimaker 2+ and in 10 months..NO ISSUE..and they run 24/7
Interesting insight. I love the crap out of my Ultimaker.
I've only had 1 failure on my Mk2 in the 10 months I've had it, which was a pinched fan cable. Maybe design error maybe builder error but support sent me a new one that day. That said I run mine maybe 2-3 days a month, I have no doubt that if you were to run them hard some of the design decisions may well start to show.
What sort of failures did you see?
Christopher Pearson i ran my 7 days a week, which the prusa can not handle...i replaced every components more then onces. 5 beds in total,
Great video but, are you cosplaying as Frank Ippolito? ;)
You know it. Every day!
can share the file to me pls~=D
Here’s why I don’t usually share my 3D files: ua-cam.com/video/e8HQBYvp_uA/v-deo.html
You know what I want to know ? Why is it there is no step by step actual Diy videos or info on building 3D printers ?
I mean if someone is on a budget.... buying quality pieces a bit at a time is the way to Go !! 3D printer companies really have that big of a Monopoly ?
ua-cam.com/video/nN38JqulCzQ/v-deo.html
Tom does a great step by step building a clone of a Prusa i3
You gone too low end. Cr10 or anycubic mega i3 would be more appropriate
I agree.
the Prusa doesn't have great service! Once they ship your order they can give to %^&* about anything that happens. My Prusa burnt out in the first month due to faulty assembly from Prusa.
I'll never use one I'll keep with my Eva foam for cosplay
Never is an awfully long time. =)
Good Bye Prop 3D...you'll be missed. =[
Hey if the anet is such junk ill take it.. :)
It has already found a new home. =)
If you want a 3D printer that works out of the box with no fiddling you shouldn't buy a kit. Also, complaining about the extra time it takes to do the safety mods doesn't really make sense to me. If people know that those upgrades are must-haves from the very start installing them isn't extra effort, it's just part of building the thing to begin with. You also did some stuff in this series that seriously had me scratching my head. Any particular reason you printed everything with a raft? Those are a case by case thing, using them for every print is just a waste of plastic. And good LORD, you leveled the bed after EVERY print!? Do you hate yourself or something? As long as you don't physically move the printer itself between prints you can really just calibrate it once, tighten everything up, and be good for a while. Sure, I wouldn't recommend the A8 to someone expecting to have a user experience similar to a regular inkjet printer, but I feel you made getting the thing to work properly look more insurmountable than it really is because you made decisions that needlessly made it harder on yourself.
*Laughs in Ender 3*
It was..... an experience.
Darn lol