So I’ve decided to get “back” into 3d printing. I was getting into it in 2012 and I started assembling a kit, but then life happened and I never had enough time or room to complete it.
However, now I’m in a much better place (both literally and figuratively), so I’ve decided to dive back in. However, last time around it seemed that almost everything was some variant of Prusa, and I think I want to go in a less DYI direction this time.
- Once calibrated, doesn’t need much fidgeting or maintenance.
- More or less prefabricated. Some assembly is fine, but I don’t want to sit there an dremmel a hobbled bolt again, or build a power supply.
- I prefer one of those enclosed printers, as it will be in a location with minimal climate control.
- Must not rely on any software that does not run on linux
- I’m not too worried about printing speed. Print quality matters more to me.
- Preferably one that is fixable if it breaks.
- Single filament is fine.
- Don’t need wifi
Any suggestions?
Oh, and I still have a spool of ABS around here somewhere… Is this still a reasonable material choice? Any other materials worth considering if I prefer the prints to be durable and not brittle?
This is where I could list a budget or preferred price range, but purchasing power parity and exchange rates probably complicates this, so let’s just say “reasonably priced”
UPDATE: I ordered a Prusa Core One. I went for the kit, as I will hopefully better understand how I can fix it later after assembly. I threw in a spool of PETG as well, as I’m curious about the material.
W.r.t your spool question, ABS is still a great material choice for a lot of applications since it has pretty well rounded properties. Reasonably strong, reasonably rigid (but not brittle), reasonably creep resistant, and fairly temperature resistant (probably the cheapest filament that can withstand a hot car). It’s generally a bit tricky to print though. You need an enclosed printer for good results (much better layer adhesion and less risk of warping and cracking) and it’ll emit styrene fumes which you don’t want to be breathing. I always put my printer outdoors if I’m printing ABS or its replacement in ASA.
If you don’t care about that high temperature resistance and just want decent impact strength, then PETG is an acceptable alternative. It’s pretty cheap, easy to print, but is a little more flexible than ABS. It has decent creep resistance as well, unlike PLA.
How do the physical properties of PETG compare to ABS?
And the fumes and such from ABS was something I was aware of, but one thing that always irked me was that I needed to use rafts floating on abs-juice to make a print.
PETG is tougher and in certain situations stronger than ABS. PETG also has better chemical and UV resistance. But PETG has a lower glass transition temperature, about 80C vs 100C.
Both PETG and ABS/ASA benefit from enclosed and heated chamber printers but PETG is a lot easier to print with an open bed. Both of my printers are open bed and PETG is very easy to print.
PETG is somewhat hygroscopic and will absorb moisture from the environment. Making the filament a pain to print and prone to nasty stringing. So it should be stored sealed in a dry bag/box. Having a way to dry filament is a good idea. You can do so with a cheap food dehydrator or a dedicated filament dry for the purpose.
PETG has pretty much supplanted ABS in FDM printing. It’s often cheaper than ABS these days too. Between PLA, PETG, and TPU, those 3 filaments should cover 90%+ of all your printing needs.
My favorite way is an air fryer, as it can actually hit the temperatures needed for certain engineering filaments (ASA-CF, PET-CF, PPS-CF) and the forced air combined with the fact that they aren’t sealed tends to be more effective than the spoolholding dryers. I then print from a dry box made from cereal boxes with molecular sieves. This is overkill if you are just printing standard filaments though (PLA, PETG, TPU, etc.)
I’ll add that there are still fairly common situations when you’ll want ABS/ASA: If you’re building something with stepper motors (say parts for a printer), ABS/ASA’s higher temperature resistance means you can push more current through your motors without deforming the print where the motor is mounted. This is of course especially helpful if you’re putting parts into a heated chamber, where PETG will likely start to deform under prolonged use at 60C+ temperatures. ABS/ASA are also more rigid, so they’re better for high speed printer parts. Finally, if you’re putting something in a car in a hot environment, PETG will not really hold up, but ASA will.