I need to get one. Main use will be cases and frames and possibly scale
parts. Probably polylactic acid only.

Would like a pretty fine resolution.

Probably a £500 limit on the grounds that I will not make the best
choice first time...

What are the salient issues?

Anyone had any good or bad experiences with them?

Anything else?

--
"In our post-modern world, climate science is not powerful because it is
true: it is true because it is powerful."

Lucas Bergkamp

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> I need to get one.  Main use will be cases and frames and possibly scale
> parts. Probably polylactic acid only.
Might as well get 300°C hot end, then you have some other materials as
an option later.
> Would like a pretty fine resolution.
Standard nozzle diameter for most printers is 0.4mm, and printing with a
0.2mmm layer height. I've bought a handful of different nozzles but not
used them so far.
> Probably a £500 limit on the grounds that I will not make the best
> choice first time...
>
> What are the salient issues?
Get one with Klipper firmware (which means it has a rPI-class processor,
rather than an Arduino-class microcontroller) so in turn will mean you
get ethernet or wifi connectivity with a web GUI and decent LCD screen,
rather than USB/SD card for file transfers and a 2x20 character based
LCD screen.
> Anyone had any good   or bad experiences with them?
I have an Elegoo Neptune4 Pro ... if I was buying today I'd probably go
for an Creality Ender3-V3 KE, kind-of similar but just because it'll
become a more widely owned/used device ...
If you generally don't like Apple products, then Bambu printers are
probably not for you either ...

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
> > I need to get one.  Main use will be cases and frames and possibly scale
> > parts. Probably polylactic acid only.
>
> Might as well get 300°C hot end, then you have some other materials as
> an option later.

Depends where it's going to go - if it's somewhere well ventilated then ABS
or other materials can be a good option if you have an enclosure. If you
have to run it in your dining room then you probably don't want to deal with
the fumes.

Be prepared for every item you print taking hours, and days for longer
parts.

> > Would like a pretty fine resolution.
>
> Standard nozzle diameter for most printers is 0.4mm, and printing with a
> 0.2mmm layer height. I've bought a handful of different nozzles but not
> used them so far.

I tend to print in 0.6mm because it is quicker for larger volume parts (by
which I mean more than 5cm on a side), at the expense of resolution (doesn't
bother me since they're functional).

(I have a 400x400x300mm print volume but dread to think how long it would
take to print anything that size)

> > Probably a £500 limit on the grounds that I will not make the best
> > choice first time...
> >
> > What are the salient issues?
>
> Get one with Klipper firmware (which means it has a rPI-class processor,
> rather than an Arduino-class microcontroller) so in turn will mean you
> get ethernet or wifi connectivity with a web GUI and decent LCD screen,
> rather than USB/SD card for file transfers and a 2x20 character based
> LCD screen.

+1. I'm upgrading my Creality CR10S-Pro v1 to Klipper, just made a new PCB
to replace the original display with a Pi and touch LCD.

> > Anyone had any good   or bad experiences with them?

Things have moved on a lot since 2021 when I bought a secondhand 2019
printer. That said, you may be able to pick up a used older model for not
much, and many of them are eminently hackable.

> I have an Elegoo Neptune4 Pro ... if I was buying today I'd probably go
> for an Creality Ender3-V3 KE, kind-of similar but just because it'll
> become a more widely owned/used device ...

Definitely helps to have something mass market, there's more info and mods
available. Although some of them are clones of others, so less risky to buy
a clone of a popular model (although the cost cutting isn't always good).

> If you generally don't like Apple products, then Bambu printers are
> probably not for you either ...

Most of them are like bicycles, in that you can change out parts to
customise however you like. It would be sad to lose that ability, but I can
see the appeal of 'just works'. Although many of them 'just work' in recent
years.

Theo

On 28/03/2024 12:17, Andy Burns wrote:
> I have an Elegoo Neptune4 Pro ... if I was buying today I'd probably go
> for an Creality Ender3-V3 KE, kind-of similar but just because it'll
> become a more widely owned/used device ...

What about this one?

https://www.crealityofficial.co.uk/products/creality-k1-speedy-3d-printer-creality-uk-official-store-sale

--
“But what a weak barrier is truth when it stands in the way of an
hypothesis!”

Mary Wollstonecraft

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> What about this one?
>
> https://www.crealityofficial.co.uk/products/creality-k1-speedy-3d-printer-creality-uk-official-store-sale

That's the one I was looking at before the Neptune came out, but when K1
first arrived there were a couple of issues with them, probably all
corrected by now though (and early versions of many printers do have
issues).

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> I need to get one.
> Probably a £500 limit
New kid in town ... a Voron2.4 based printer, that's been tweaked to
suit factory pre-assembly rather than a month on your dining-room table.
<https://youtu.be/NZsbpZ0Z_yQ>

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
> > I need to get one.
> > Probably a £500 limit
> New kid in town ... a Voron2.4 based printer, that's been tweaked to
> suit factory pre-assembly rather than a month on your dining-room table.
>
> <https://youtu.be/NZsbpZ0Z_yQ>

Now $499 not $9999 (the pre-launch placeholder).

I'd get the touch screen too ($90), as KlipperScreen is much nicer to use
than the click wheel interface.

Theo

On 18/04/2024 12:52, Andy Burns wrote:
> The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> I need to get one. Probably a £500 limit
> New kid in town ... a Voron2.4 based printer, that's been tweaked to
> suit factory pre-assembly rather than a month on your dining-room table.
>
> <https://youtu.be/NZsbpZ0Z_yQ>

I got it some tine ago. Creality K1

Odd the machine plus a camera cost less than the machine supplied with a
camera
Its pretty good, except the slicer software on linux crashes, so I set
up Orca slicer instead. That is where all the real magic happens.

But its all highly networkable and although I have made every mistake in
the book i have made them only once..

--
"And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch".

Gospel of St. Mathew 15:14

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> I set up Orca slicer instead.

I've just installed Orca v2.0

On 18/04/2024 21:15, Andy Burns wrote:
> The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
>> I set up Orca slicer instead.
>
> I've just installed Orca v2.0
>

I cant tell what I have. There is no start up splash screen nor 'about'
tab that I could find :-)

Oh. Apparently I downloaded version 2.0 a few days ago. (in browsing
history)

Its RAM gobbler though. Since my CAD is in a windows virtual machine
the gobbles 3G, orca takes up most of what's left of the 8GB.

So I ordered another 16GB off an ebay seller

I also rooted the printer and installed mainsail/moonraker, but the only
thing it does really is allow orca to upload and print directly. The
moonraker web screen on the printer is total shit and the camera
doesn't work, whereas creality's own port 80 web server is fine for
almost everything.

I might buy Simplify3D in due course...

--
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the
other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

—Soren Kierkegaard

The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> On 18/04/2024 21:15, Andy Burns wrote:
> > The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> >
> >> I set up Orca slicer instead.
> >
> > I've just installed Orca v2.0
> >
>
> I cant tell what I have. There is no start up splash screen nor 'about'
> tab that I could find :-)
>
> Oh. Apparently I downloaded version 2.0 a few days ago. (in browsing
> history)
>
> Its RAM gobbler though. Since my CAD is in a windows virtual machine
> the gobbles 3G, orca takes up most of what's left of the 8GB.

I'd not heard of it, but I just installed it. I normally use Cura, but it
looks like Orca integrates better with Klipper. It looks like it's really a
browser running a web app, which would explain the memory.

Unfortunately the 'generic Klipper' option only has a setup for a 0.4mm
nozzle. I tweaked it for 0.6mm (there are a lot of settings). Tried a
calibration run and the layers were offset by centimetres, so I think it'll
require quite some messing with the settings...

Theo