Entry level 3d Printer

Special Interest Groups 3D Printing
#1

Just finished up the 3D printer intro class last weekend and Rex did an awesome job.

Looking for some feedback from the group on a good entry level printer for somebody wanting to experiment with the hobby. I know the shop uses the Prusa and Rex mentioned some sound logic for getting a printer that’s widely used by the community. That would make it easier to share knowledge, etc.

Trouble is I really don’t want to drop $800+ until I see if the hobby is something more long-term.

Does anybody have any recommendations for an entry level model that would still be functional across a variety of different print types?

Thanks in advance.

#2

Greg,
Give us the specs on the da Vinci you found on line.
Maybe someone has info on it.
Thanks,
Rex

#3

That particular printer is gone from Craigslist, so making it a more open ended question. Either models folks used previously that were good ‘starter’ models. Maybe they still have something they would like to sell?

This one has received a lot of positive commentary on Youtube, although it’s included just as an example:

Creality Ender 3

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#4

I have an Ender 3 and you will notice it’s the classic i3 design. Prusa created the original i3 design and there are probably hundreds of variations on it. In the i3, the X axis goes up with Z axis and the Y axis is the bed moving forwards and backwards.

The Creality Ender 3 I bought in 2018 works well, was cheap and has settings for Prusa’s Slicer software which is a very nice Slic3r. Hint, Prusa Slicer is a forked version of the open source Slic3r software which I’ve loved for years after trying Cura, Simplify3D and some others.

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