Can anyone recommend printers? The previous recommendations are several years old. Good mid level that will do most anything one would want?
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I’m not an expert, I have a few but they’re all a couple years old or more. I use my Creality printers for modeling/testing designs, but if you plan to paint your part or otherwise keep it out of the sun, then a simple PLA(+) printer could be all you need. I have a Qidi X-Plus that’s been great for printing more durable parts, it handles nylon really well. But I haven’t put a lot of hours on that one, so I can’t speak to longevity. I think they still come standard with two heads- one for lower temp materials, and one for high temp, so you could use the same machine for modeling with PLA which is cheap and easy to use, then swap heads for nylon and not gunk up the head. On the other hand, Creality printers are so mass produced that you’ll never have trouble finding replacement parts, instruction/troubleshooting videos, etc(huge help when I started out).
I think the market has gotten pretty competitive and the options are all competitively priced for their features(though you might still want to shop best price after deciding on a model).
It’s probably best to identify what materials you want to print.
If just PLA, you can get away with any of them as long as the build space is sufficient… Ender 3 or CR-10 fill that gap well. PLA is very easy to print and very rigid/strong, but brittle and low abrasion resistance and degrades in sunlight.
If you want to print nylon or other higher temp materials you want an enclosed (ideally heated) build chamber, heated bed, a hot end that can maintain 280C+ and a direct drive extruder. For nylon specifically you want to have a way to dry and store the filament(it absorbs moisture from the air).
Automatic bed leveling is a nice feature to have, as is heated bed, no matter what you’re printing.
If it’s your first, the CR-6 SE is a great one to start with. I got mine over 3 years ago and it’s still my go-to. This one is a steal, might be worth the gamble… it’s easy to get printing right out of the box, and their carborundum glass is still my favorite build surface. Plus most of the wear parts are the same as the ender 3, so cheap/easy to find.
The CR-6 SE printer is equipped with advanced features that make it easy to use, and it is the perfect tool for designers, engineers, and hobbyists alike. So why wait?.
www.ebay.com
When I got my CR-6 SE it was my first printer, I unboxed it and assembled in 20 min and picked one of the files on the included SD card as a test print. After waiting a day for it to finish it turned out to be this stool, modeled by my 3yo
cults3d.com
