3D Printing

Hello Everyone!

This is my first blog and perhaps the only one I plan to do. This is just something I have been thinking about and have wanted to type for a while. Over the course of a few years, I have posted pictures of some prints I made to various social media accounts. They get a lot of attention, and I've had a good amount of people message me about getting their own printer and what is a good brand.

This is not a post to advertise a certain brand or type of printer. This is also not to discourage anyone from buying a printer. I just want people to see the ugly side of 3D printing so they can make a proper decision. With Black Friday and Christmas fast approaching, I am sure you are going to see deals like "X printer for $100 off" or something similar. And if anyone reading this has teens/kids on social media, they might want a printer thanks to various posts.

Well, before you go spending anywhere from $150 to $1000, do your research. You can use this as a guide, or you can brave it all on your own. But do the research.

First off, my own experience, just so it doesn't seem like I'm just talking out of my butt. My first 3D printer was given to me two years ago. It was a Qidi X-One something or another. It was very loud and small, like 6" x 6" small. From there, I bought another brand, an Ender 3 Neo. That one is a 220mm x 220mm, so a little larger. And that's right, 3D printers use millimeters instead of inches. The Neo was cool, but I really wanted to print helmets and I did not want to piece together parts. So I bought an Ender 3 Max Neo with a bigger 320x320 bed. And that worked great for a while. But then, you guessed it, I wanted bigger. So I bought a Neptune 4 Max a few months ago.

In that time I replaced so many parts on the Ender 3 Max that I am pretty sure the only thing original is the frame itself. There is a ton of maintenance that goes into them. They are comprised of motors, belts, springs, and sensors. And all it takes is one catastrophic failure to test you. And it isn't just the bad failures. You have to maintain things like a clean nozzle, dry filament, a level bed, and a clean bed just for started. Nothing will ever be as upsetting as having a 2 or 3 day print going and it jams or clogs, or even the power goes out. Failed prints suck. I had one the other day, the motor just decided to seize up in the middle of a 24 hour print. So I lost the part and a good chunk of filament.

Some people would say that I have had to rebuild everything because I went with an Ender. Creality makes multiple lines of printers. They have the Ender 3, Ender 5, and the K series. I love the Ender 3 because it is a good cost effective printer and the support community is awesome.

The Elegoo Max 4 is very similar to the Ender, but has a few nicer attachments, such as wireless prints, a bigger fan, gantry supports, and a better OS. There are many other brands, such as Bambu, Prusa, and more.

I am going to wrap this up because I am rambling. I will end with pictures of my failures and accomplishments. A few good sources for 3D printing are 3D Printing on Reddit and FixMyPrint on Reddit. There are tons more, and those two sites have links to some.

I am always available for any questions or clarifications on the topic. There is so much more I could cover with these printers because it is not as simple as "Press print and Go" like some people advertise.

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