# 3D Printers - Home Use



## crussell (Mar 12, 2018)

I couldn't remember if I had seen a thread on this, but did a quick search and not much came up. Apologies if I missed it.

I'm willing to guess in a group of hobbyist such as ourselves that there are a few home 3D Printer owners out there. I'm trying to talk myself into purchasing one, but was hoping for some input before I pulled the trigger.

I was looking at the Creality Ender 3 V2 off of Amazon. It appears to be a budget friendly starter with good reviews. I'm sure there are bigger, better options depending on how wide you want to open your wallet, but I'm really just wanting to tinker around and see where it leads me.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=creality...ix=creality,aps,259&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_8

I'm savy in CAD, and have used modeling software since High School. I really think these printers have practical uses for custom applications.

I remember seeing @slammed68 made some brackets for his Jake mower, I think this is a really cool example of things I can see myself doing.
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14298&p=225398&hilit=3d+printer#p225398

But, I'm completely new to this and open to any advise from those who can offer me some guidance!


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## nichord (Jul 9, 2020)

I have not used that particular machine, but I know Winston Moy (Shapeoko Guru) 



 just added some additive manufacturing to his mostly subtractive process. He bought the Ender Pro 5 https://www.amazon.com/Creality-3D-Printer-Ender-Pro/dp/B082K77PMJ and I can guarantee he did his research. I started out with a Lulzbot Mini and now do my printing on a Lulzbot Taz 6, but spent some time buying, refurbing, and selling returned Taz 6 from Amazon returns to purchase mine. There are a lot of great machines out now and in the early days some of the lower end machines were nothing but trouble. I also use Simplify3d as a slicer, but started out with a free version of Cura in the beginning. I know Fusion 360 can do some slicing, but never used it as a slicer. You will want to start out with a decent PLA filament as ABS and PETG are much harder to print with. I use eSUN PLA+ and have had decent results. There is a learning curve and setting up profiles in whatever slicer to match your printer/material can be trying at first. Once you sit and watch a 3d printer singing while adding those tiny layers, you can lose hours. I have been 3d printing for around 7 years now. If you have any specific questions, I will see if I can answer.


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## testwerke (Apr 4, 2019)

I was gifted an Ender 3, and I am constantly surprised by its abilities. For tinkering, you really can't go wrong with it.

It's mostly been used for printing toys and trinkets for my little one (which he absolutely loved at age 1).


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## cavince79 (Jun 18, 2019)

My wife got an Ender 3 Pro for Christmas. Our usage falls in line with @testwerke but mine are a bit older and they still tickled by the output.
Check Thingiverse and a couple other sites to get ideas for plans. We've used the printer to print add ons that actually enhance the printer itself.
The Cura slicer had been called the best free Slicer.

I was in the same boat and went with a budget friendly model from Microcenter.com just tomsee if we'd use it enough.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I guess I didn't realize how relatively inexpensive these things have become. Pretty cool.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

At work we use stratasys printers. It is amazing what you can do with 3D printers now.


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## massgrass (Aug 17, 2017)

We have a Prusa Mini. Very impressive machine for the money IMO.


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## slammed68 (Oct 18, 2019)

The technology has really come along way and with that , affordability. Probably the first consideration would be material choice. Decide what material would be best for your application and then look into printers. I wish I could offer more insight but I'm really only familiar with mark forged printers.

You could also consider using a printing service to print sample parts in different material to help you decide.

BTW, the brackets I printed in your original post are still going strong, they've gone through and entire season without an issue.


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