I am looking to buy a 3D printer which will be used in my small business size of about 20 people. We sometimes need little parts made for holding littles pieces of equipment and after seeing a similar lab to us use 3D Printing to make little holders for their antennas, we are looking at buying one ourselves.
What can you guys recommend? So far I have seen this video which suggests the Bambulab P1P, or the Prusa mk3S+ Kit.
I think we will most likely buy the Bambulab P1P as this guy suggests. However he did say that its not great for fixing. “Fixing or replacing parts does not appear to be anywhere near as user friendly or even possible in some cases”
How hard is it to build the Prusa mk3S+ Kit yourself in case we decide we want to have the Prusa given it is more easily fixable? We would prefer the Bambulab as it prints faster and is slightly larger, but might not get it due to the fact its not as easy to fix stuff.
I’d recommend the prusa. Easy to get help official or otherwise, generally just works, easily fixable with easily acquired parts in most parts of the world.
Bambu is excellent until you have any problem then it’s about as annoying as constantly modifying and never actually using an ender 3
Yeah the fact you can’t fix it as easily makes me a bit worried about Bambu but others have said they are pretty reliable
I have have had a Bambu X1C since probably February or so and I have printed hundreds of prints at this point and it has been really reliable, basically set it and forget it at this point. I have printed PLA, Nylon, PETG, TPU, wood and metal fill, carbon nylon and PLA and all of the prints are excellent quality, no complaints.
For what it’s worth, it’s actually easy to fix and take apart, they have an excellent wiki as well. They also sell most of the parts so you can just buy them if needed, I have purchased probably 5 or 6 hot end assemblies over the time I have had the printer and they are really easy to swap. I have only had one fan die and they replaced it no questions asked and it took like 10 min to install only because I didn’t ready the directions haha.
I also have a modified Prusa mk3s+ that I use sometimes but these days it’s half as fast and I spent twice the time messing with it over the Bambu, it just works and cranks out prints. The hotnends are really easy to swap on the Bambu too, way easier than the Prusa, even with a revo hotend.
No matter which you choose though, definitely recommend OrcaSlicer for the Bambu and the Mk3s.
ETA: to sum it up I guess I would say if your interest in the hobby is in the things you want to make, get a Bambu. If it is more about tuning and modding and optimizing a printer get a Prusa. That’s my 2c at least.
Thanks. I think we will go for the Bambu P1S looks like. What is an orcaslicer? Also do you know can you print metal on the Bambu?
That looks like a really sweet printer, if I were getting another printer right now that’s probably what I would get. The only thing Bambu needs now is a reverse AMS hub so you can share a set of AMS with two printers haha.
As for metal, you can’t really print metal directly on any hobby printers yet but there are a ton of metal impregnated plastics that work well. I have tried a few of them and the Protopasta metal filaments probably has the highest metal content. I haven’t tried heat treating it yet but just the regular prints are noticeably heavier and you can polish them so they are pretty neat, the iron filled one is magnetic and even rusts! They have samples on their site too if you want to test them. Make sure you get a hardened steel hotend for the P1S though as they are very abrasive.
OrcaSlicer is just another slicer app. OrcaSlicer is a fork of BambuSlicer which is a fork of PrusaSlicer which is a fork of Slic3r and some others if I remember right. BambuSlicer is good but OrcaSlicer is better, they added a bunch of other printer support and it even has calibration prints built in! This is a video with information on all 3, there are other videos as well. The biggest thing for me is the UI in Bambu/Orca is much better organized and easier to use I think.
Happy printing!
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OrcaSlicer is a slicer program: a piece of software that turns a 3D model into a series of commands for the printer. Its main competition would be PrusaSlicer (which is not limited to Prusa printers) and Cura.
As for metal printing, it looks like Bambu makes a special faux-metal filament (looks like but isn’t metal). Other than that, it can probably print the same metal-infused PLA filaments as any other 3D printer.
So to run the Bambulab I have to use my own 3d modelling and then a slicer?
Also I dont really get metal filament. People say you can get a metal-plastic filament and after you’ve modelled it you melt away all the plastic. Wouldnt that require the metal to be melted ? (2000+ degrees celsius)
Well, you can also download models from a number of websites rather than creating them yourself (Thingiverse is probably the largest and most mature site; there’s also Printables, Cults3D, MyMiniFactory, and a few others). A slicer is kind of required, yes; my printer shipped with get-started software that included a slicer, but it isn’t a Bambu and I have no idea what that company might provide.
As for the plastic/metal filaments, It’s Complicated. I’ve seen one variety that invites you to send the printed pieces back to the filament’s manufacturer, who will then anneal it for you in an industrial furnace that can probably get hot enough to melt bronze, copper, or iron (~1200C for iron, ~1000C for the other two—very few metals need a full 2000C!). Tin should melt, or at least soften, in an ordinary stove (<250C melting point), so you could successfully melt a tin-filled filament at home. And melting most of the plastic out while leaving behind just enough to act as glue can be done in theory. However, many metal-filled filaments are not intended to be annealed ( Here’s a product page for FormFutura copper-filled filament—you’ll note that the post-processing suggestions do not include melting out the plastic). These types are more “for the looks”.
If you’re looking to print physically strong parts, you may be better off working with PC or nylon than trying to get metal out of an additive printer. Full-strength metal parts are best produced by a subtractive process, for example on a CNC machine.
Thanks for the info. Yeah I dont think we will be printing anything with metal. I just heard theres some process that does that but I am not sure how that would work
I would go with an Ender 3 variant as they are very popular and community support for them will be plentiful. Also, spare parts will be easy to get. Then once you get past the beginner stage you can spring for a P1P or Prusa.
Prusa so far is uncontested when it comes to the whole package. Also, if you need only small parts, I recommend Prusa Mini, it’s inexpensive and great. And you can buy 2 for the price of the mk3. Unless you see yourself printing parts larger than 18 cm (in any dimension), Prusa Mini might be the one for you.
Bambulab might depend on proprietary/custom parts if you need to repair it, but as far as I’ve seen these are fairly priced. There’s of course no guarantee that prices won’t go up in the future. Hopefully you won’t have to fix it very often though. Unless you have a cheap 3d printer that self-destructs, I think the most common thing you have to “fix” is replacing the nozzle when those wear out. But it sounds like you’re only going to use the printer occasionally so this shouldn’t happen very often unless you’re printing abrasive filaments. Based on what I’ve seen it appears to be somewhat of an advanced procedure to swap nozzles on the P1P so maybe it’s more cost effective for you to replace the entire hotend when it’s time for that.
Prusa has exceptionally good support, with 24/7 chat available in multiple languages, which might be extra valuable to a business. I believe the MK3S uses standard nozzles which are easy to change, though it is possible to screw it up and clog the printer so don’t let untrained employees do it :)
Any particular reason you’re looking at MK3S+ rather than an MK4 btw? And since I mentioned nozzles for the other options, the MK4 is using non-standard nozzles just like the P1P. The Prusa nozzles are almost as expensive but look easier to change, and unlike the standard nozzles the MK3 (and most other printers) use they should be close to idiot proof.
“Any particular reason you’re looking at MK3S+ rather than an MK4 btw?”
MK4 is 1200 and MK3S+ is 700 I believe.
Thanks for the advice. My dad wants to get the Bambulab P1P as its faster than the Prusa so might get that
Pre-assembled they’re €1200 and €1000, kits cost €890 and €720 respectively.
CoreXY (i.e. the P1P) is definitely sexier than a bedslinger, and if I was going to get either of these two for home use I would definitely go with Bambu Labs. Was just thinking that for a business reliability and support might be worth more, but that totally depends on your use case.
I think we might go with the Bambulab. I have seen quite a few say they are pretty reliable. As opposed to something like the Ender 3 which I have heard people say are a bit unreliable and you have to spend time tweaking.
Some parts of the Bambulab apparently you can’t buy. Here is a youtube comment i saw “yes, they do, but as he alluded to, some of them are not replaceable, or even serviceable, like the carbon rails …”
Hopefully the carbon rails (whatever they are) wont break though lol
So… I just bought a p1p and it’s just about the best decision I could have made when it came to this hobby. The thing just freaking works, and it works well. I don’t think I have a single complaint about mine.
That being said, they just released a p1s model. This is basically the p1p but enclosed so you can print more difficult materials like ABS. It also allows you to buy a combo with the AMS system that will let you print 4 colors at once for much cheaper than if you bought them both separately.
I really wanted to go with the open source prusa printer, but honestly at the price point I just could not justify it. The p1p is just as fast if not faster. Just as reliable. And actually shipped fully featured, for cheaper than even a mk3s+ kit. It’s really the no brainer option at that price point if you can get over it being closed source.
Think we might go with the p1p. The Prusa MK3S+ is 949 euros for pre built and the kit is 719 euros. But im not entirely sure we want to build it ourselves. The P1S is a few hundred more expensive than the P1P, so will have to check if its really worth it. I dont think we want to spend that much on it but if i feel the material available with the P1P is not as good as P1S, it might justidy it but probably not. Thanks for the info
Not sure what you mean by the material available. Are you saying the material available that you’ll be able to print?
If so, I can expand on this a bit. You can print PLA, PETG, and TPU absolutely flawlessly on the p1p. Far better than I was ever able to do on any of my previous printers. And unless you are going to be making parts that are going to see exposure to a lot of heat or pressure, that really should cover most of your bases.
To print stuff like ABS, ASA, or PC you’ll really want an enclosure, and that goes for just about any 3D printer you get. If you do go the route of the p1p, you can actually print yourself an enclosure for fairly cheap. Look up arc or vision enclosures. That being said though, the enclose kit to convert your p1p to a p1s is only $150 which is very competitive with any self made closure when you factor in acrylic costs.
So, my recommendation, if you think you don’t really need ABS or ASA, buy the p1p. It will work great for you. If you decide down the road you want to enclose it, buy the kit directly from bambulabs or print one yourself.
Correction the P1S is actually 100 euros more expensive over the P1P so not quite as expensive as I thought
I think we might go with the P1S. Its 749 euros compared to 649 for the P1P. And the P1P is not a complete machine it seems, theres panels missing on the top front and sides. While that would be okay, if we ever wanted to upgrade it it would be better off just getting the P1S for the extra hundred euro now and save the hassle
Hey, just saw this post. You can ignore my other long winded reply. I think the p1s is a great choice. I didn’t realize the cost was so close either.
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Ender 3 V2 Neo. Low cost, good quality, easy to put together, and includes most of the “upgrades” you would usually end up buying separately anyway (auto-leveling, etc.). Good entry-level printer that performs very well and will handle most anything you throw at it (large bulky parts, or small detailed miniatures). May be all you need for a good long while. I’ve had mine printing 2-3 things a week for a year and a half without any issue.
I don’t own one myself (yet, I’ve got a MK4 on order), but I’d recommend Prusa as well.
The lab I work at has two filament printers and one resin. Both filament printer are Prusa printers (one MK3 and one MK3S). The two Prusas have a collective run-time of 2000 days of printing and only now are we really experiencing problems with one of them (need to order a new hot end).
They’re pretty bullet-proof from what I’ve seen so far, enough so that I ordered the MK4 and patiently waiting for that to eventually get shipped out.
