Would be so kind as to suggest a printer for me? I have no experience at all with 3D printers or 3D modeling. But I am super interested and have electronics and coding knowledge. I would like to print things like brackets, enclosures for custom circuit boards, organizers, keyboard plates, etc. Ideally I would like to spend around $300USD, but I am open to going as high as $500USD if it would save me headaches and make the experience more enjoyable and streamlined.
Please suggest something for me and let me know if I didn’t provide enough information. One final note, I live in range of a microcenter if that is a factor.
I like the look of the A1 and the P1P. They claim to run right out of the box, is that not common for a 3D printer?
Not uncommon but lots of printers on the market (especially hobbyist ones) are kits that you need to assemble. Bambu printers are pretty much remove the printer from the box, remove some brackets, tape and protective packaging before installing the build plate and spool holder and turning it on.
I’d recommend going for the P1S if you can swing it over the P1P for the enclosure.
Most will work right out of the box (after assembly) but the cheaper printers like the Ender will require periodic tinkering and upgrades to keep it working and make it perform better. I just retired my Artillery Sidewinder X2 (which is similar to the Ender CR10) for the Bambu X1C and don’t regret it one bit. Prints just work all the time now and I haven’t had to tinker with anything. My X2 has been upgraded quite a bit and yet still frequently gave me (solvable) issues that would be so frustrating when I just wanted to get something printed out.
I would also recommend the A1 mini if you’re not looking to tinker and can deal with the bed size. Bambu Labs has done a great job on their lineup, MakerWorld, and by offering filament as well. They’ve really simplified the whole process.
There’s a rabbit hole of things that can go wrong and things that need to be calibrated and upgraded. I had to assemble the Ender 3 and ensure that everything was perfectly straight, level, and 90 degrees. Calibrate the z-offset so it knows where the nozzle is.
I added an auto bed leveling sensor to my Ender 3, and that required custom firmware, and I replaced the bed springs because it wasn’t staying level.
I calibrated the e-steps because it wasn’t extruding consistently, then ended up replacing the extruder because it was cheap and unreliable.
Humidity was ruining my filament on the spools and making it brittle and snapping so I built a dry box that could feed the printer, similar to the clear boxes on some Bambu models.
The Bambu really was as simple as unboxing and turning it on. It comes pre-assembled and includes a lot more sensors that are able to keep it working smoothly.
The P1P, on the sales page, lists the hot end as an accessory? Is that the nozzle where the plastic comes out and is that usually sold separately?
Yes the hotend heats up and has molten plastic inside it and it gets pushed out the nozzle. I’m honestly not sure why they offer all those different versions as accessories. It includes a hotend and 0.4mm nozzle.
If you have a catastrophic issue it’s possible for the hotend to be clogged completely, but that’s never happened to me. It comes with a declogging tool which is just a long pokey wire to push up through the nozzle while it’s hot to clear it.
The nozzle itself can unscrew from the hot end and be replaced because it wears out over time from filament chipping away at it.
Also, you might want different nozzle diameters depending on what you’re printing. You can just buy spare nozzles without an entire hotend.
It comes with 0.4mm and they offer a range from like 0.2-1.0mm. The smaller nozzles print slower and more detailed while the larger nozzles are faster with lower resolution.