4 ms·

3d printers are getting cheap and it’s a really fun hobby and just a generally useful item for random repairs and cheap items.

typest 5y ago
Any in particular you recommend? I played around with them in college, we had to spend months building one. I would love to get back into it, preferably without all the hard work of building the printer this time :)
- mrfusion 5y ago
  I got the ender 5 kit. It took about two hours to put together. Just bolting the pieces together really. Not too technical. I’ve heard the cheaper ender 3 is basically just as good plus there are more resources online for any issues.
linsomniac 5y ago
This is what I came here to say. I got one for my son a year ago, and I've been surprised at how much use I've gotten out of it. Things I've used it for: - It's currently germinating seeds for the garden. Some people use Instant Pots, but ours doesn't have the Yogurt setting. The printer bed is our best way to keep the seeds at 31C for a week. - Custom Christmas ornaments for the extended family. - Hangers for ethernet cables in the crawl space and drywall grommets for passing through walls. - Headphone hangers. Could have bought on Amazon, but found a design on Thingiverse that I liked and 3 hours later I had it on my desk. - Extension to the hopper on my coffee grinder. It would hold around 3/4 of a 12oz bag, and I was like: I just want to empty the whole bag into the hopper. - Little coasters and trinkets for birthdays and Valentines. Next thing is: My son got a Stirling Engine kit but lost a couple of the gaskets. We can model some molds and create replacement gaskets, they're fairly specialized, not sure if I can just buy them. Plus, it's been kind of fun modifying the printer. Also kind of maddening at times. But it reminds me of the car mod scene when I was 18. I got an Ender 3 Pro, upgraded the motherboard, added a bed leveling sensor, added OctoPrint and a camera, upgraded the extruder, trying out glass beds...

typest 5y ago

Any in particular you recommend? I played around with them in college, we had to spend months building one. I would love to get back into it, preferably without all the hard work of building the printer this time :)

mrfusion 5y ago
I got the ender 5 kit. It took about two hours to put together. Just bolting the pieces together really. Not too technical. I’ve heard the cheaper ender 3 is basically just as good plus there are more resources online for any issues.

linsomniac 5y ago

This is what I came here to say. I got one for my son a year ago, and I've been surprised at how much use I've gotten out of it. Things I've used it for: - It's currently germinating seeds for the garden. Some people use Instant Pots, but ours doesn't have the Yogurt setting. The printer bed is our best way to keep the seeds at 31C for a week. - Custom Christmas ornaments for the extended family. - Hangers for ethernet cables in the crawl space and drywall grommets for passing through walls. - Headphone hangers. Could have bought on Amazon, but found a design on Thingiverse that I liked and 3 hours later I had it on my desk. - Extension to the hopper on my coffee grinder. It would hold around 3/4 of a 12oz bag, and I was like: I just want to empty the whole bag into the hopper. - Little coasters and trinkets for birthdays and Valentines. Next thing is: My son got a Stirling Engine kit but lost a couple of the gaskets. We can model some molds and create replacement gaskets, they're fairly specialized, not sure if I can just buy them. Plus, it's been kind of fun modifying the printer. Also kind of maddening at times. But it reminds me of the car mod scene when I was 18. I got an Ender 3 Pro, upgraded the motherboard, added a bed leveling sensor, added OctoPrint and a camera, upgraded the extruder, trying out glass beds...