3D Printers and Printing

[darkfader]

I'm pretty sure I want to get into printing. I can't find the front bumper I want and think I could design a copy of my 1:1 for my SCX and make one. I've also just ordered the SSD trail king kit and am looking at using the RC4WD blazer hard body and converting it to the pickup body using Mod19 prints. With that said, I have a couple questions...

Would you choose the Prusa MK3S+ or the Creality CR-10 Smart Pro? I feel like I will want the larger work volume area for other stuff eventually. Do you guys find yourselves wishing you had more work area? I have a CNC router and elected to go with the largest I could afford and I definitely don't regret that choice, even for the additional cost. Looking at reviews just makes the decision on which manufacturer to go with more difficult.

If I am making hard body parts, is PETG the preferred material? Is it easily painted with model paints? It appears both of those machines are also capable of printing with NylonX or other carbon infused nylons which seems like a great material for bumpers and sliders and other things that need strength and some flex, but apparently trying to paint that material sounds like a no-go.

Thanks for any insights, I hate to drop a grand just to get started and be disappointed.

The other attractive thing is Prusa is offering a back to school special right now and including 5kg of PLA and PETG with the MK3S+ right now, so for $800 plus shipping, There's plenty to get started learning how to use the machine. Obviously, there's only the sample PLA included with the CR.

 

[HumboldtEF]

I've been extemely happy with my Prusa MK3S, its very much plug and play where I have a friend who went the Creality route. He has spent literal years fixing and tweaking it to overcome printing issues. Sure the creality just needs 5-10 mods to make it work good but how much do you value your time? Personally I think it was worth the price of the Prusa in order to be able to focus on learning design instead of frequently troubleshooting the printer.

My friend with the creality knows way more about 3D printing and tweaking settings but only because he's had to delve into it where as I know only the basics because the defaults for my Prusa just works well.

Build volume is fine for me but I dont print many large things like bodies. You can always segment things to fit as well as print better (due to orientation).

I dont use and carbon fiber filament so I cant speak to being able to paint it or not, PETG accepts paint just fine. When I need something truly strong I send it off to Jawstec to get printed on a fancy MJF printer.

You mention wanting to design a bumper. I would recommend designing it to be strong and ditching the front crossmenber and bumper post system as its patheticaly weak. Design the front crossmember into the bumper itself.

Like so:

 

[tigris99]

I'd say my Creality Ender 3 Pros do just fine. Other than issues due to learning new filament type (PETG) I have minimal issues. And I don't have insane time into sorting it out. Comes down to knowledge and understanding of a basics. Making sure things are square, moving correctly and so on during assembly. Taking a bit of time to watch some videos, do a bit of reading.

Thing is Prusa is nice and easier to start out, longer lasting parts but they don't require you to learn how to properly 3d print. How to address issues, set ups and adjustments. Creality and similar require things to be learned which then carries over if one upgrades to Prusa or similar later.

Creality printers are vastly different now than they were years ago. Prusa is nicer still, but for simplicity of getting started. But you pay 5 -10× the price to save at most a few hours of learning and a couple hours of careful assembly.

Attached pics:

First 3 are current build thread I have going, details on how much of it is printed. Spoiler, except base enduro gatekeeper frame, IFS kit etc, not much isn't printed by me on my Ender 3 pros.

Last pic, last pic taken so far of scale "garage" shelf for my rigs. The 4 post, the balcony beams, tire racks, tool boxes etc, except the rigs, tires and axle are 3d printed. The black body printed but that wasn't me. However EVERYTHING in the pictures is printed on Ender 3 Pro, just started learning to print in April.


So don't rule out Creality. Plug and play quality Prusa wins hands down. Print quality, gain nothing with Prusa as it's all in knowing settings and materials.

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[darkfader]

Thanks for the tips and replies. I’ll spend a few more days researching before making a decision. Tigris, your garage is awesome!

Both you and Humboldt make good cases for both printers which seems to be the consensus all over the internet. I guess I just need to figure out which machine suits my needs.

 

[tigris99]

Thanks for the tips and replies. I’ll spend a few more days researching before making a decision. Tigris, your garage is awesome!

Thanks, work in progress. Still have guard rails to print for the upper deck, not sure if I'm gonna buy the rc4wd 2 post or just print one, and print some figures that I found files for that I thought would be perfect.

Both you and Humboldt make good cases for both printers which seems to be the consensus all over the internet. I guess I just need to figure out which machine suits my needs.

Both will print well. Simply comes down to 2 things. Do you like DIY? Is added expense worth practically plug and play? Can't go wrong either way.

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[themountain]

One more bragging about Prusa and I will fu.... loose it...seriously.
That printer is technically two years behind, expensive and not that "easy" to set up .
Guys....dont get fooled !

 

[Greatscott]

One more bragging about Prusa and I will fu.... loose it...seriously.
That printer is technically two years behind, expensive and not that "easy" to set up .
Guys....dont get fooled !

I bought a mini a little while back, and I am not overly impressed with it. My old CR-10 out-prints it, and is a lot more reliable.

 

[tigris99]

One more bragging about Prusa and I will fu.... loose it...seriously.

That printer is technically two years behind, expensive and not that "easy" to set up .

Guys....dont get fooled !

Simmer down turbo lol. I give credit where it's do but wouldn't trade my C3Ps for one.

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[HumboldtEF]

The Prusa mini did have some issues, I dont know that they've addressed them all by this point. At least Prusa puts out updates and fixes for their machines I dont think many other companies do the same.

EDIT: It looks like theres an upgrade kit to go from the Mini to the Mini+ ($26) for anyone with the original Mini.

 

[tigris99]

Ender 3 pro prints that finished while I was at work.

FYI creality uses open source firmware so customized and fixes (or self fixing if you know how) are constantly available. But if one sticks with previous version firmware that's already de-bugged, nothing needed besides maintenance.

Pic 1, pla on printer 1, pic 2 petg on printer 2.

That's the other thing I love about creality, it's so popular there is a million things to print, customize and change to your liking or for your tasks.

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[darkfader]

I’m pretty sure I’m going with the CR-10 Smart Pro. I don’t really care about printing from their app, I mainly wanted the larger build area and the all metal direct drive hot end. $700 plus some filament will get me started. My SSD Trail King chassis was just delivered this morning and I’ve got a lot of fun plans for it. I’m looking forward to learning some skills on this machine. I’ve tried fusion 360 multiple times and I suck but maybe with some practice I’ll get the hang of it eventually. I’ll definitely be purchasing files for a while. Lol

 

[tigris99]

Use tinkercad, can do a lot with it. Lots of stuff on my build I designed or took files and modified the hell out of them on tinker cad.

FYI the bigger the printer, the bigger the pain in the ass to get dialed in and the more finicky it is.

I'm likely going to sell one of my ender 3s or convert it to ABS only and move to the garage and get a CR for the bigger print space.

Also for prints you need a slicer program, can't run a printer from CAD. Prusa slicer is a bit easier to start out but Cura is far superior in many ways. Creality slicer you refer to is a old version of Cura.

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[darkfader]

I was referring to their cloud based printing through an app that had pretty poor reviews. I’m assuming I can skip that altogether and move files to an SD card and use the slot on the machine to load jobs?

It sounds like Cura is the go-to slicer for most and I’ll give that a go for the slicer software.

Are you recommending against the 300x300x400, or just cautioning me that there may be more involved? My CNC machine which is an Openbuilds machine that I assembled, is 1500x1500 and it’s required quite a bit of fiddling to get things dialed, so I’m ok with some trial and error and adjustments.

Again, I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thank you very much.

 

[tigris99]

Ya don't mess with weird apps and crap. Use Cura and SD card set up unless you're going to network a raspberry pi set up.

As for the larger size, ya just a friendly heads up so you know going in since you're brand new to this, don't throw in the towel and hate the machine when it fights back.

You probably don't have a microcenter near you, if you did, you can get and ender 3 pro for $100. Got my son one too that way, his is bone stock and runs perfect since I helped him put it together. Well more so explained things, gave him my squares then helped only as needed. It's running pretty sweet already without finishing calibrations or me tuning CURA settings for him.

I mention it only because $100 printer, $20 for the metal extruder arm and be a cheap way to learn. Then you know how to assemble, set up and dial in (and problems) on a small and cheaper scale before going to the big one. And get that money back, maybe a tad more on FB marketplace if you want after you upgrade.

3d printing gets insanely addictive when your into scale stuff. Once set up, tuned and going, save TONS of money vs buying the same things for scale builds and so in.

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[tigris99]

Oh one other thing, anyone talking about printing fast and so on, ya I have yet to figure out how they print as fast as claimed with finish quality they claim. And you'll find that you will get different print quality depending on how a 3d model was rendered prior to conversion. Some things for me print like they look injection molded with the faint layer lines, beautifully smooth. Same settings, filament everything, the next file I'm like "wtf that doesn't look like the last part". Used to think it was me, filament or printer. Sometimes it can be, but many times it was the inefficient and overly complicated 3d model creation that causes the issues. Knight Customs stuff is like that in some cases. But I have learned enough in Fusion to uncomplicate ones that need it.

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[themountain]

Oh one other thing, anyone talking about printing fast and so on,

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. There are certain materials/filaments you cant print fast...that is a simple fact. And @ darkfader. The creality cr10 pro is a very capable printer! https://3dprintbeginner.com/creality-cr-10-smart-pro-review/ As a slicer you should have a look at supersclicer or ideamaker too. Very good software.

 

[tigris99]

. There are certain materials/filaments you cant print fast...that is a simple fact. And @ darkfader. The creality cr10 pro is a very capable printer! https://3dprintbeginner.com/creality-cr-10-smart-pro-review/ As a slicer you should have a look at supersclicer or ideamaker too. Very good software.

I know some exist that can print fast and have good quality if the printer is dialed in well. Some of the stuff I see on Facebook groups my exact thoughts are "not a chance in hell".

I wish creality would offer parts to widen/lengthen the ender 3s for the bigger build space only because the CR series especially bigger ones is a bit pricey for my cheap ass lol. Though I may end up buying one at some point, being able to print a body and such in one piece would be amazing.

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[darkfader]

I pulled the trigger on the CR10 smart pro. It should be delivered Wednesday or Thursday. I also ordered a pile of filament from Hatchbox to experiment with. I guess I need to build a stand for it. I’m going to set it up in the spare bedroom rather than the garage because the climate is more controlled in the house obviously. The spare bedroom is quickly becoming the RC shop anyway. Hahahahha

 

[tigris99]

I pulled the trigger on the CR10 smart pro. It should be delivered Wednesday or Thursday. I also ordered a pile of filament from Hatchbox to experiment with. I guess I need to build a stand for it. I’m going to set it up in the spare bedroom rather than the garage because the climate is more controlled in the house obviously. The spare bedroom is quickly becoming the RC shop anyway. Hahahahha

Congrats.

Honestly you can get filament from Amazon for most things. I have tried hatchbox yet but supposed to be good filament.

I like inland, especially their tough pla and pla pro.

This is my latest print, just finished painting it. Should have gone down to a .2 nozzle but oh well. She's helping me with tuning the new rig. FYI, matte finish pla is a pain in the rear lol. Took 3 tries to get her to print satisfactory.

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[darkfader]

Haha, that’s awesome. She looks like she likes to party. Lol.

I’ve been messing with this printer. Still not too sure if my Z offset is correct, it seems like a job has to be running while making the adjustments. I feel like I should be able to use a feeler gauge while the machine is just warm, but not actually running.

I did a few test pieces and a whole lot of consulting various 3d printer websites for tips and tricks and I’m currently working on this guy. I got the files off of cults3d. Looking pretty good so far. This is with PETG, 240/70, .28 initial layer height, .1 resolution, initial speed of 15mm and remaining speed at 42mm, fan off until layer #4, 40% infill, cubic supports at 45*, and using a brim on the advice of the file maker. I’ve had a couple failures, mostly due to small parts getting touched by the nozzle and knocking loose so I added some Z-hop to the jobs and that’s helped.

I’m impressed and this is clearly going to be a fun machine to have.

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