Several years ago I leapt enthusiastically into the realm of 3D printing by buying a massive, expensive delta-type printer. I had to put it together myself, which was fun, but after that I struggled to get it to print well. Even simply trying to get the prints to stick to the bed were difficult, leading me to add huge brims to all my parts which were a pain to cut off afterward. Eventually I gave up fiddling with it and it’s been gathering dust ever since.
I know that a lot of you treat the hobby as an opportunity for endless tinkering and optimization, which is great, but I think I’ve realized that what I’d prefer is something that just works out of the box with a minimum of adjustment.
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Bambu A1
Qidi X-Plus 3. If it’s anything like my Max 3, which is the bigger version, it ought to be plug in and use (after running the included calibration). It’s on “sale” right now for $500, but it’s always on sale. It’s also not made by Bambu, and if I were you or anyone else I would not give one rusty penny to Bambu for anything.
The draw with this thing is it comes with a fully enclosed chamber with a heater and PID to control it, and it’s the easiest time I’ve ever had printing ABS and PETG if that’s what you want to do. You can slap a 0.2mm nozzle on it easily enough if you want to print tiny stuff.
If you don’t care about high temperature materials you can get the X-Smart 3 which is based on the same system but is smaller and minus the heater, and is even cheaper.
What’s wrong with Bambu?
Low-cost and no-hassle kind of work against each other here. Which is more important?
I’d say no-hassle is more important, in that case. I just don’t want to go spending $1000 on a printer again
What kind of printing (material, use-case etc.) do you think you’ll be doing, and what size do you want to be able to print?
Mostly little gadgets, mechanical things, or small figures or terrain pieces for wargaming, so I’d like a high level of detail (I’m fully aware that it won’t be nearly as good as a resin printer). I’d like to be able to print with PLA, ABS, ASA, and PETG, and envelope doesn’t need to be huge, probably about 10” at most.
QIDI tech? I mean there will be minor issues but the printers seem perfectly usable with the flaw mostly being with perfection hopping. It’s a 3D printer and will print those fine and the Q1 pro is $400
Otherwise the P1S which is slightly more expensive and closed but slightly better.
Or you go for a bed slinger and give up on some of the complex filaments without tinkering again.
I will say for bed adhesion you should be getting a bed magnet and a textured PEI sheet which will fix a lot of issues. Even TPU can be printed on it and removed easily enough without the need for glue or release agent past isopropyl alcohol.
I’d personally look for a used Prusa i3 MK3[S[+]]. Part of that is personal bias, it’s what I still print with (specifically the MK3S variant, I haven’t bothered to upgrade it to +), but in all the years I’ve had it it’s been an absolute workhorse and has very much thrived on the copious amount of neglect I’ve given it. The only things I’ve ever done to it are install firmware updates and occasionally smear some grease on the smooth rods with a finger. Still, every time I print with it, it just works.
Prusa just announced a new printer so there might be a little wave of them being put up for sale.
Edit: You mentioned that you want to print ASA, which AFAIK requires an enclosure. The MK3 is annoying to put in an enclosure because you have to move the power supply outside the enclosure. Though the printer that Prusa just announced is enclosed and is < $1000 (just) if that puts it in the “low-cost” category for you. https://www.prusa3d.com/product/prusa-core-one-kit-2/
I’ll second Prusa. I suspect that no affordable entry level 3d printer is really hassle-free, but my Prusa felt more reliable than my level of experience probably deserved at each stage of my journey.
The P1S by Bambu Labs, while not the cheapest (on sale now for 550$ without an ams) pretty much just works.
I’ve done PLA and PETG (various brands) using default settings and the thing just works. I’ve also used polycarbonate but that required a small amount of tweaking.
I guess it also depends on what you’re trying to print. If you are going to be printing figurines that you will paint, you might be better off getting a resin printer, though I can’t speak much to those as I haven’t used them, but we do use anycubic at work and I’ve seen some pretty good looking models come out of them.
I’ve also heard good things about the A1/A1 mini (also Bambu) from coworkers.
We probably have 30 or so 3D printers at work including a nylon powder 3D printer which is amazing but I’m not sure of the brand, and it’s probably expensive because it stands about 4.5 ft tall.
With current sales, the AnkerMake line is quite inexpensive and my experience with the M5 has been incredible. No 3D printer is truly no-hassle, but I think this is as close as it comes. Tons of QoL features like auto bed leveling, magnetic PEI plate, streaming video, and so on. It’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen to plug in and go as far as 3D printers go (some very easy assembly required though).
+1 on M5, love mine!
I think Prusa is a good brand to go with
Not low-cost at all though
Second hand though would help, wouldn’t be surprised if we see a bunch of mk3s and maybe even some mk4 with their new printer coming out. I still use my mk3s pretty frequently, made a bunch of mods to it, still chugs along.
