I’ve been wanting to get a 3d printer for a while and now I’m starting to finally look at getting one. It seems like in general though finding clear reviews and knowledge on printers is much harder than other things but maybe that’s because I’m not in the hobby yet. Bambu is a no from me but I’m open to other options. I was kinda looking at he centauri carbon but I’ve heard it’s pretty loud and I live in a small apartment. The Prusa Core One seems like a decent option but it’s all quite expensive so I don’t wanna save up for that unless it really is the best option and there’s nothing reasonable cheaper. What’s everyone’s thoughts? Absolute max budget is $1k but I would strongly prefer to spend something ~$500 or less
I ended up going with the Flashforge Adventurer 5M for ~$175 https://slickdeals.net/f/18590524-flashforge-adventurer-5m-wi-fi-3d-printer-w-auto-leveling-167-20-free-shipping (You can get 20-60% back from certain cashback websites like TopCashback or Capital One Shopping if you are comfortable with using them.)
You can 3D print an enclosure for the 5M after purchasing an enclosure kit for ~$40 online.
There’s also the 5M Pro model for ~$100 more that comes pre-built with an enclosure for sound dampening and printing with materials like ABS. It also comes with a camera and an extra nozzle. I didn’t go for it cause of the higher upfront cost, plus I don’t expect to print outside of PLA and PETG.
I’ve got an Anycubic S1
It’s half open. It doesn’t run Klipper but you can install it if you want. It has cloud features but you don’t have to use them. It comes with a proprietary Orca fork but you can run regular Orca or whatever slicer you want.
If you can wait, I’d get a Snapmaker U1.
This just looks like the voron v0.2, but shittier
That’s a pretty reductive take, the Rook 2020 is very similar in print capabilities to a v0.2 with the same build volume, similar print speeds and quality, but is intended to be an open-frame PLA printer while the v0.2 is intended to be an enclosed ABS printer. Which is better really comes down to what you want to print with it. My self-sourced Rook 2020 Mk1 has been a reliable workhorse for PLA, PETG and TPU for over 2 years now with minimal maintenance.
https://www.sovol3d.com/products/sovol-sv08-3d-printer
This one is awesome. Open source everything. Based on the Boron and a pretty good price too.
It’s also been on a few really good sales on AliExpress over the past few months, and it’s taken a lot of self-control not to buy myself an entirely unnecessary second SV08 given how impressed I’ve been with mine and the sales taking a third off the cost of the printer.
That said, I have replaced the bed on mine with a graphite one because the stock one’s pretty thin and can warp. Particularly annoyingly, after being hot for about 40 minutes, it’d ping from being warped in one direction to being warped in the other direction, so prints either had to be finished before that or wait until after before they started. It’s not strictly necessary, but it was worth upgrading the bed when there was a price cut to save myself some annoyance and let me fit bed fans so printing ABS was less warp-prone.
Super interested in the graphite bed, could you share some links ? I would love to avoid heat soaking mine for half an hour before each print ;)
I got it from here. I don’t think anyone else makes one for the SV08.
https://r3men.com/products/graphite-heated-bed-upgrade-kit-for-sovol-sv08
Thanks !
If you’re up for making it a hobby and you like tinkering, have you thought of building a Voron? After using a few off-the-shelf units, I’ve come to appreciate using an open source project because upgrading components is so easy and second nature. You can incrementally upgrade specific aspects when your wallet and desires dictate it.
I like the idea but I’m not sure that it’s there for value. Maybe my second printer? Plus idk where to source the 3d printed bits
Many kits come with the printed parts nowadys. Alternatively you could look around on the Voron Discord, maybe someone in your part of the world would be willing to print the parts for you.
