Best and Easiest 3D printer to start off

[SabreTroop]

I've mentioned in another post that I had a few 3d printers in the past. (A10 & A20 Geeetech ones).
I'm wanting to rekindle the hobby but by doing some research it seems these are not the ones to start back up with and should just get shut of them and start from scratch.
So, What would you recommend? I would say a budget of about £300 - £350. And I would classify myself as a newbie with minimal knowledge.

 

[nikvanorton]

Bambu is by far the easiest to start with - it's like the DJI or the Apple of 3d printers. They just work straight out of the box. You can get a P1S in the black Friday sale at the moment for about £320 or with an AMS (4 colour unit) for about £450.

Bambu Lab P1S | 3D Printer with Enclosure and Filter

Bambu Lab P1S is a fully enclosed 3D printer with fans and carbon filters for advanced filaments and odor reduction. Perfect for printing ABS and other high-temp filaments.

uk.store.bambulab.com

 

[SabreTroop]

Bambu is by far the easiest to start with - it's like the DJI or the Apple of 3d printers. They just work straight out of the box. You can get a P1S in the black Friday sale at the moment for about £320 or with an AMS (4 colour unit) for about £450.

Bambu Lab P1S | 3D Printer with Enclosure and Filter

Bambu Lab P1S is a fully enclosed 3D printer with fans and carbon filters for advanced filaments and odor reduction. Perfect for printing ABS and other high-temp filaments.

uk.store.bambulab.com

literally after posting this I opened a new tab and was looking on the Bambu website.

 

[nikvanorton]

I bought an A1 mini about 6 weeks ago which is brilliant and then bought a P1S with AMS in the sale a week ago.
The A1 mini, (which is about £139 at the moment) prints every bit as well as the dearer models, I just wanted multiple colours and a bigger bed for some stuff.

 

[phil_ferrett]

Bambu is by far the easiest to start with - it's like the DJI or the Apple of 3d printers. They just work straight out of the box. You can get a P1S in the black Friday sale at the moment for about £320 or with an AMS (4 colour unit) for about £450.

Bambu Lab P1S | 3D Printer with Enclosure and Filter

Bambu Lab P1S is a fully enclosed 3D printer with fans and carbon filters for advanced filaments and odor reduction. Perfect for printing ABS and other high-temp filaments.

uk.store.bambulab.com

I agree with @nikvanorton the Bamboo is easy. I had a Creality printer before which was cheap but a real faff to use, with manual bed levelling, and was slow.

 

[Si Titor]

For the money in the sale the P1S is a bargain, I have 2 of them but thinking of buying the updated version when its out. P2S

 

[Big Bob]

I have had several different printers now from Creality to Bambu and i believe the Bambu lab is so much easier to use self calibrating & bed leveling auto update the lot and i have only ever had one bad print on my P1S and i think it was my fault not wiping the bed before i started.

 

[Tylerjrb]

Agreed I have 2 P1S’s and they are pretty much ready to go straight out of the box. I’ve had other cheap printers and spent no end of hours manually bed levelling. Where the P1S does it automatically before each print. I have had a few failed prints but that’s just been down to bed being unclean which is generally a problem for any 3D printer.

You can mitigate this by keeping it clean and wearing silk type gloves when handling the bed.

The software and slicer is also very useful. If you design stuff like I do just the points you earn on Bambu makerworld has probably paid for one printer in gift cards (535 points is a £35 gift card you can use on their website for filament or anything else).

You can also print from the Bambu phone app and have access to millions of models. So say if you’re at work see something you like then you can print it even when you’re away.

There are better or upcoming better options in terms of multi-colour printing but these days I tend to print separately anyway as I think overall the finish is better.

The only downsides I would say is the camera is pretty crappy but you can upgrade it for about £20-30 with a Tapo camera and halo light which can be attached with already 3D printed designs.

If I was buying one today I would probably go for the P2S as it has a better camera and overall updated in every way over the P1S but for £300 or whatever the P1S is on Black Friday it’s well worth that.

Even tempted to buy a third lol.

 

[Easton81]

Bambu is by far the easiest to start with - it's like the DJI or the Apple of 3d printers. They just work straight out of the box. You can get a P1S in the black Friday sale at the moment for about £320 or with an AMS (4 colour unit) for about £450.

Bambu Lab P1S | 3D Printer with Enclosure and Filter

Bambu Lab P1S is a fully enclosed 3D printer with fans and carbon filters for advanced filaments and odor reduction. Perfect for printing ABS and other high-temp filaments.

uk.store.bambulab.com

I’m tempted to but this, but I have never used a 3D printer before, could you tell me what consumables/accessories would I need to buy for the base P1S please? I guess some filament, but I have no idea which one or how much.

 

[nikvanorton]

I’m tempted to but this, but I have never used a 3D printer before, could you tell me what consumables/accessories would I need to buy for the base P1S please? I guess some filament, but I have no idea which one or how much.

Stick to Bambu filament, the printer recognises it and it makes any necessary adjustments. Also stick with pla (the most basic filament). I find that matt gives a nicer finish. That's it for consumables.

If you're not going to get an AMS (multiple colour unit) I would invest in a dryer. Filament absorbs water and this affects the quality of print. I can't be bothered with storage bags and dessicant so with my A1 I dry the filament off thoroughly before I start.

SUNLU Official Filament Dryer S1 PLUS with Fan, Moisture-Free Filament Dryer Box for 3D Printer Filament, Easy to Use and Portable FilaDryer, PLA PETG ABS Nylon TPU 3D Filament Dryer SUNLU S1, (Black) : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

‎

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[nikvanorton]

I’m tempted to but this, but I have never used a 3D printer before, could you tell me what consumables/accessories would I need to buy for the base P1S please? I guess some filament, but I have no idea which one or how much.

Just do it. I knew absolutely nothing about 3d printing 2 months ago and now... I still know nothing!
No seriously, I've learned so much. Go with Bambu, it's really easy and instantly gratifying.

 

[Easton81]

Just do it. I knew absolutely nothing about 3d printing 2 months ago and now... I still know nothing!
No seriously, I've learned so much. Go with Bambu, it's really easy and instantly gratifying.

Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve always fancied one, but they used to be too expensive and complicated.

I’m just not sure if it’s something I’d play with for a couple of weeks and then it would just gather dust. What sort of things have you printed with yours?

 

[nikvanorton]

I’ve mainly printed other people’s designs, of which there are millions. Vases, things for the house, soap dish, sewing stuff for the Missus, also brackets, picatinny rails, silencers, spacers, grips, etc, etc. Have a look on makerwold, cults, yeggi, there’s some brilliant stuff. Tinkered is a great online program for making simple custom stuff.

 

[Easton81]

I’ve mainly printed other people’s designs, of which there are millions. Vases, things for the house, soap dish, sewing stuff for the Missus, also brackets, picatinny rails, silencers, spacers, grips, etc, etc. Have a look on makerwold, cults, yeggi, there’s some brilliant stuff. Tinkered is a great online program for making simple custom stuff.

Great thanks mate, now going to watch a few YouTube videos on the P1S, and then probably order one!

 

[nikvanorton]

That's Tinkercad - auto correct is a nuisance.

Tinkercad

Tinkercad is a free, easy-to-use app for 3D design, electronics, and coding.

www.tinkercad.com

 

[nikvanorton]

Agreed I have 2 P1S’s and they are pretty much ready to go straight out of the box. I’ve had other cheap printers and spent no end of hours manually bed levelling. Where the P1S does it automatically before each print. I have had a few failed prints but that’s just been down to bed being unclean which is generally a problem for any 3D printer.

You can mitigate this by keeping it clean and wearing silk type gloves when handling the bed.

The software and slicer is also very useful. If you design stuff like I do just the points you earn on Bambu makerworld has probably paid for one printer in gift cards (535 points is a £35 gift card you can use on their website for filament or anything else).

You can also print from the Bambu phone app and have access to millions of models. So say if you’re at work see something you like then you can print it even when you’re away.

There are better or upcoming better options in terms of multi-colour printing but these days I tend to print separately anyway as I think overall the finish is better.

The only downsides I would say is the camera is pretty crappy but you can upgrade it for about £20-30 with a Tapo camera and halo light which can be attached with already 3D printed designs.

If I was buying one today I would probably go for the P2S as it has a better camera and overall updated in every way over the P1S but for £300 or whatever the P1S is on Black Friday it’s well worth that.

Even tempted to buy a third lol.

I got the P1S combo (with AMS) at the beginning of the BF sales to go with my A1 mini. What I didn't realise is that the old AMS (which is the one you get in the combo) has no heating/drying facility, but I found the Sunlu AMS dryer acessory and it's worked out better, because it's hotter (if necessary) and will dry filament whilst the printer is in use unlike the Bambu AMS Pro

The Sunlu dryer is a great piece of kit.

SUNLU AMS Heater, Upgraded your Bambu AMS, Enables Drying while Printing | SUNLU Online Store

SUNLU AMS Heater, Upgraded your Bambu AMS, enables drying while printing, save you the cost of a dryer

sunlu.com

 

[Easton81]

I’ve mainly printed other people’s designs, of which there are millions. Vases, things for the house, soap dish, sewing stuff for the Missus, also brackets, picatinny rails, silencers, spacers, grips, etc, etc. Have a look on makerwold, cults, yeggi, there’s some brilliant stuff. Tinkered is a great online program for making simple custom stuff.

I’ve been looking into filament types, and it seems that PLA degrades when wet, so has yours been ok for the vases and soap dish?

Also doesn’t seem to be recommended for functional parts, so has yours been ok for the airgun parts?

 

[thispoison]

PLA isn’t that bad for moisture - I use it undried until the reels run out (weeks or months) and it’s fine.

For functional parts I use ABS on a P1S - dried in a Sunlu single reel dryer - not into any tougher materials so far.

 

[Tylerjrb]

I’ve been looking into filament types, and it seems that PLA degrades when wet, so has yours been ok for the vases and soap dish?

Also doesn’t seem to be recommended for functional parts, so has yours been ok for the airgun parts?

PLA is fine for most stuff but it will warp due to heat and UV so I wouldn’t personally use it for something that is permanently outdoors. It’s fine indoors though.

With regards to wet, pla is fine. I’ve got vases and soap dishes (even a dishwasher waste pipe). Made out of PLA and it’s still all perfectly fine.

IF you put it outdoors just give it a few coats of clear lacquer. However I just use PETG. The only issue is it needs to be setup to print at about 80-100mm/s. Something which at this time the Bambu profile for PETG is too fast IMO.

ABS is good but prone to warping and lets of fumes.

If you do order a P1S I’d recommend grabbing a few rolls of filament from Bambu (with spool). As if you purchase so many, you get a fairly hefty discount. 6 spools you get 40% off for example. 4 spools 30%.

A dryer is not 100% necessary, I’ve got spools over one year old that print fine BUT it does improve your prints in both accuracy and quality and certain types of filament are more prone to moisture.

 

[Easton81]

Thanks for the info! So it will be fine for gun handles and stocks then?