3D Printer recommendation / advice?

[GDN]

Looking at 3D printers – no hurry, will probably buy on Black Friday. Anyone care to share pros and cons? The rotary shifter thread has a lot of good advice and everyone seems to like their brand printer. Mayber there aren’t many differences.

• The Bambu A1 has come highly recommended, however, after reviews I’m thinking I’d go with the P1S with a feeder for just a couple hundred more and maybe more versatile.
• The Crealty K1 Max gets positive feedback from owners and has turned out nice prints.
• The Elegoo Centauri Carbon just popped up in the thread (I’d not even found or heard of them in my research) and turned out a great print and prices look to be cheaper than the other two brands.

For a newbie about to jump in – anyone have swaying advice for one brand over another? Or what to look out for. I’ve got a couple months unless someone drops a killer sale before Black Friday.

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[GarageMahal]

I have not printed the shifter mod (yet) but have the Elegoo Centauri Carbon and have been very happy with it. It is much easier to use than my prior entry level unit and I think it has unmatched value at 300ish dollars, it easily compares to others at $500+. Its so easy to use and everything I have tried comes out great.

 

[GDN]

I have not printed the shifter mod (yet) but have the Elegoo Centauri Carbon and have been very happy with it. It is much easier to use than my prior entry level unit and I think it has unmatched value at 300ish dollars, it easily compares to others at $500+. Its so easy to use and everything I have tried comes out great.

Its print bed size/build volume is the same as the A1 and both of those are a bit smaller than the K1 Max. I also don't see a multi-feed available for it. Any other issues you've found. That price is what caught my attention.

 

[GarageMahal]

Its print bed size/build volume is the same as the A1 and both of those are a bit smaller than the K1 Max. I also don't see a multi-feed available for it. Any other issues you've found. That price is what caught my attention.

I was looking at bigger build volumes too but ultimately the price for a fully enclosed printer won me over when the local MicroCenter got a few in stock last spring. Rumor has it there will be a multi-color add on later this year. It has been trouble free so far after a couple dozen print jobs of various sizes.

 

[sotek2345]

I personally have a Creality CR-6E which has treated me well, and I had an Ender 3 before that. I tend to stay at the lower end of the market. I am not as familiar with your options for comparison, but don't see any issues with any of them.

My biggest suggestion is to get something with some form of self leveling bed. That was why I upgraded to the CR-6E and it has made my prints much more reliable!

 

[Computermedic78]

Looking at 3D printers – no hurry, will probably buy on Black Friday. Anyone care to share pros and cons? The rotary shifter thread has a lot of good advice and everyone seems to like their brand printer. Mayber there aren’t many differences.

• The Bambu A1 has come highly recommended, however, after reviews I’m thinking I’d go with the P1S with a feeder for just a couple hundred more and maybe more versatile.
• The Crealty K1 Max gets positive feedback from owners and has turned out nice prints.
• The Elegoo Centauri Carbon just popped up in the thread (I’d not even found or heard of them in my research) and turned out a great print and prices look to be cheaper than the other two brands.

For a newbie about to jump in – anyone have swaying advice for one brand over another? Or what to look out for. I’ve got a couple months unless someone drops a killer sale before Black Friday.

Each of them are going to have advantages and disadvantages.

The A1 will be the easiest to use, but will be limited by the motion system and the fact that it doesnt have an enclosure. Bambu Lab had previously stated not to put it in any kind of enclosure, but I've seen plenty of people do it.

The Creality K1 Max will give you the largest build volume, and has an enclosure. Quality is, well, eh. Creality QC isnt great, reviews I've seen are roughly 50/50. I have stopped buying Creality after having two bad K1s.

The Centauri Carbon is the new kid on the block, and in my opinion the most reasonably priced. Everyone I know that has one loves it, and the print quality looks great. It hasnt been around long enough to notice a pattern of common problems. Thinking about it, I can't say I've seen any problems at all.

In addition to these, I would say watch the used market as well. Bambu Lab now has the H2D and H2S available and have lowered the price of the X1C. I dont know if that is permanent, but I suspect you will see more P1/X1 machines popping up on the used market very soon. You can also look at Qidi. The Plus 4 has been exceptional for me, and the printer they just released as entry level, the Q2, looks very promising. In addition to having an enclosure, the latest Qidi machines also include an actively heated chamber which will make printing ABS/ASA/Nylon a significantly better experience.

Ultimately, it's about the experience that you want. If you only plan to print PLA or PETG, an open printer will be fine. If you plan to print ABS/ASA you will need the enclosed printers. Bambu is a fairly closed ecosystem but significantly more user friendly. The others are running Klipper, which is an open source firmware. It make take some tuning to get everything looking good, or it may not. If you want to do PLA/PETG now, with the option to upgrade later check out the Bambu Lab P1P. It's open, but there is an upgrade path to the fully enclosed P1S should you want to.

Source: I work for Polymaker™. If you have any questions let me know or join our Discord. There are tons of helpful people over there.

 

[Zprime29]

I have some oooold rigs. I'm rocking a Monoprice Mini Select V2 and a Creality CR-10 V1 (have added BLTouch w/ Marlin FW and a second Z axis lead screw). My biggest hang up is a warped bed. Despite the BLTouch and using painters tape under print surface to try and even it out I still struggle to get a good first layer. Print quality above that is decent. Definitely slower, but I'm okay with that. I've been debating if it's worth swapping out the main board for something with more capability. For the time being, I'm sticking with PLA or PETG.

My brother bought a Prusa MK3 and that thing is fantastic. Pricey, but his prints are amazing.

 

[Firn]

After buying an ender 3, and then extensively modifying an ender 3, I bought a Bambu X1C and am absolutely in love.

Right now I would buy a H2D with AMS.

 

[GDN]

Each of them are going to have advantages and disadvantages.

The A1 will be the easiest to use, but will be limited by the motion system and the fact that it doesnt have an enclosure. Bambu Lab had previously stated not to put it in any kind of enclosure, but I've seen plenty of people do it.

The Creality K1 Max will give you the largest build volume, and has an enclosure. Quality is, well, eh. Creality QC isnt great, reviews I've seen are roughly 50/50. I have stopped buying Creality after having two bad K1s.

The Centauri Carbon is the new kid on the block, and in my opinion the most reasonably priced. Everyone I know that has one loves it, and the print quality looks great. It hasnt been around long enough to notice a pattern of common problems. Thinking about it, I can't say I've seen any problems at all.

In addition to these, I would say watch the used market as well. Bambu Lab now has the H2D and H2S available and have lowered the price of the X1C. I dont know if that is permanent, but I suspect you will see more P1/X1 machines popping up on the used market very soon. You can also look at Qidi. The Plus 4 has been exceptional for me, and the printer they just released as entry level, the Q2, looks very promising. In addition to having an enclosure, the latest Qidi machines also include an actively heated chamber which will make printing ABS/ASA/Nylon a significantly better experience.

Ultimately, it's about the experience that you want. If you only plan to print PLA or PETG, an open printer will be fine. If you plan to print ABS/ASA you will need the enclosed printers. Bambu is a fairly closed ecosystem but significantly more user friendly. The others are running Klipper, which is an open source firmware. It make take some tuning to get everything looking good, or it may not. If you want to do PLA/PETG now, with the option to upgrade later check out the Bambu Lab P1P. It's open, but there is an upgrade path to the fully enclosed P1S should you want to.

Source: I work for Polymaker™. If you have any questions let me know or join our Discord. There are tons of helpful people over there.

Thank you for the details and to the others for weighing in too. I'm not ready to drop $1500, but I do likely want an enclosed printer - I think that is the starting place these days. I don't want to regret not being able to print ABS or other harder filament. From what I've learned so far, my initial target was and is the P1S with feeder. Then the Centauri Carbon popped up. It sounds like they have an upgrade or add on coming soon for multi color. I might consider used if the right deals are out there, but don't want troubles from a used piece of gear, prefer buying new.

 

[evowner]

I had a Neat 3D for many years. They are big industrial expensive units. Mine had only one extruder. I decided I wanted to print in two colors and went with the Bambu X1C Carbon. So far it is printing wonderfully. The first thing I printed is some speaker covers, in PETG, for the exposed speakers on my boat in two colors. I have printed many other covers and gadgets too. I would recommend this printer.

 

[Rice_classic]

Thank you for the details and to the others for weighing in too. I'm not ready to drop $1500, but I do likely want an enclosed printer - I think that is the starting place these days. I don't want to regret not being able to print ABS or other harder filament. From what I've learned so far, my initial target was and is the P1S with feeder. Then the Centauri Carbon popped up. It sounds like they have an upgrade or add on coming soon for multi color. I might consider used if the right deals are out there, but don't want troubles from a used piece of gear, prefer buying new.

Buy new.

I've had a great time with my K1 Max and they have a couple combo deals <$800 - I like the one that comes with the dryer. I may have gone with a K2 if doing it again based on CFS (Multi color) but I'm still not sure I need it anyway. As I look through a lot of the posts on r/creality, it seems most of the QC issues are on the K1C, then K2 and it seems the K1 Max has the least issues

With all printers, it's not hard to get a print setting wrong have a bad day (Plugged nozzle, jammed gears, stringing etc). Like when I switch to PETG, I followed online guidance and it was a disaster, so I used the pre-baked settings in Creality Print for PETG and had a flawless print.

 

[GDN]

I should give a quick update. I continue to watch videos and think through what I might want/need from a printer. I found the Snapmaker U1 on Kickstarter - 4 Toolheads - $799, enclosed, add a top for $149 a dryer for $119. I've jumped on that for now with delivery next year. The kickstarter has a week yet before they take funding. I may get back out of that..

I really like the concept of multiple tool heads, but I don't know how much multi-color I'd really do. It looks liKe Bambu has quietly announced their H2C (no price yet) with the Vortec system - 6 heads swappable - due before the end of the year. It is likely a $2000+ printer, more than I ever thought about as a beginner.

If I back out on the Snapmaker U1 on Kickstarter I'm thinking being in the Bambu eco system is really where I want to be, so I'm probably back to the P1S or X1C (those prices have dropped and its on sale) with a feeder and go old school for multi-color.

Thanks for all the advice still rolling in.

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