1 Topic by Ski52

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Topic: What to buy...

Need adivce.  Looks like I'm gonna give up of the old SD2.  I'm to the quit point of trying to make the BigTree 32bit board work.   I was a programmer in a past life, but I cannot grasp the Marlin/Arduino/M$ Visual Studio Code programs.  So I've been lookin' the past few days.  I originally wanted a Delta style printer, but that was assuming I could get the Doodle to work.  I have seen a multitude of printers in the 150 - 200 range.  I'm not cheep, but I really don't need to drop much more.  When we bought the Doodle in 2013 it cost almost 600 for the bare unit.  The heated bed was a almost 200 afterthought.  And it just went from there - E3D, power supply, etc.  All said - up over 1000...Rather not have to spend that much again. I have looked at a Longer LK2, a couple of Crealty Ender 3's and an AnyCubic Mega Zero and a Mega S.  I really don't know much about the quality of these things.  I know for my price I can't expect too much, but still... 
So any help greatly appreciated

Thanx
Ski

Ender 3 Pro

2 Reply by heartless

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Re: What to buy...

sorry, but you will not find anything worth having in that low a price range.

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

3 Reply by Tin Falcon

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Re: What to buy...

do you have a micro center near by? the ender 3 series would be a likely candidate. highly upgradeable well supported. I have heard reports that some of the Pro series are now shipped with a 32 bit board and marlin 2.0
several you tubers have these in print farms. These are entry level printers but seem to be a good bang for the buck. this is the printer that my local maker space purchased. I have not had my hands on one yet.
if i was looking for another one to purchase this would likely be it. IIrc the most popular budget printer an the market today.

If you want another printer not a bad choice.

That said do a bit more research on the marlin 2 setup and the skr board. there are plenty of you tube channels that have info and tutorials on the subject.
check out Teaching tech that is Mike Lawsey that was one of the founding members here.
The designer of the popular Lawsey carriage for the SDs
also the CHEP channel and Chris's basement. all good.

Take a breath and climb the learning curve.
Respectfully
Tin

Soliddoodle 4 stock w glass bed------Folger Tech Prusa 2020 upgraded to and titan /aero extruder mirror bed
FT5 with titan/ E3D Aero------MP mini select w glass bed
MP Utimate maker pro-W bondtech extruder
Marlin/Repetier Host/ Slic3r and Cura

4 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: What to buy...

Prusa i3 is the best bang for buck. Not cheap, but worth every penny.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

5 Reply by Tin Falcon (edited by Tin Falcon 2020-08-10 23:13:25)

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Re: What to buy...

Prusa i3 is the best bang for buck. Not cheap, but worth every penny.

Agreed but way above specified budget.
The fact is one can get a usable printer for $ 200 the ender 3 pro has been on sale . granted out of the box expect to print pla. the beauty of it is upgradeable granted do all the available upgrades and you are likely at a grand the price of a prusa. And it is designed for someone that likes to and has time to tinker. This unit comes with a meanwell 24 volt power supply and a 40 mm center rail really to too bad for the money .


at ski52 you really need to decide what you want and what you are doing with it.
remember no 3d printer will do it all out of the box. the other question is how long do you expect it to last. 7 years from a printer is not bad. I expect an ender 3 will need a rebuild in a couple years if used much .

Soliddoodle 4 stock w glass bed------Folger Tech Prusa 2020 upgraded to and titan /aero extruder mirror bed
FT5 with titan/ E3D Aero------MP mini select w glass bed
MP Utimate maker pro-W bondtech extruder
Marlin/Repetier Host/ Slic3r and Cura

6 Reply by heartless

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Re: What to buy...

again.. at that price point, there is nothing worth having.
if you want it to last, to actually use it, and don't want to have to spend more money fixing or upgrading in 6mos, a year.. then you are going to need to up your budget. Period.

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

7 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: What to buy...

heartless wrote:

again.. at that price point, there is nothing worth having.
if you want it to last, to actually use it, and don't want to have to spend more money fixing or upgrading in 6mos, a year.. then you are going to need to up your budget. Period.


Prusa i3 MK3. You can get the kit for $700 and some bones. We are getting one where I work and it will be my baby.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

8 Reply by heartless

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Re: What to buy...

carl_m1968 wrote:
heartless wrote:

again.. at that price point, there is nothing worth having.
if you want it to last, to actually use it, and don't want to have to spend more money fixing or upgrading in 6mos, a year.. then you are going to need to up your budget. Period.


Prusa i3 MK3. You can get the kit for $700 and some bones. We are getting one where I work and it will be my baby.

That is NOT in the $150-200 price range that he was asking about... that is 3.5 times (or better than) that price range.

Personally, I dont like the Prusa style, never have. but that is a personal choice. having the bed whipping back and forth  on the Y axis is just not my idea of stable.

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1