The 3D Printer Thread

[Big Rig]

I’m waiting to order a Prusa. They emailed me, could be mid feb before they can take orders from the U.K. again

[Merry]

Big Rig said:

I’m waiting to order a Prusa. They emailed me, could be mid feb before they can take orders from the U.K. again

I'd consider an alternative in that case. I got a mk3 i3 with mmu2 for work and it was an absolute nightmare to put together. It's not all that reliable either, although that is more of an mmu issue. Saying that though sorting out the bed adhesion has been a bit of a toil.

On the other hand my ender 3 has just worked. I had to change a nozzle on it once as it was blocked. That's it, never had any issues with bed adhesion, even on glass.

I'd be a little bit upset if I'd spent my own money on the prusa.

[jimmyjimjim]

Big Rig said:

I’m waiting to order a Prusa. They emailed me, could be mid feb before they can take orders from the U.K. again

I happened to see that the other day when I was browsing for updates. What's the rationale, exchange rate concerns, customs?

[jimmyjimjim]

Merry said:

I'd consider an alternative in that case. I got a mk3 i3 with mmu2 for work and it was an absolute nightmare to put together. It's not all that reliable either, although that is more of an mmu issue. Saying that though sorting out the bed adhesion has been a bit of a toil.

On the other hand my ender 3 has just worked. I had to change a nozzle on it once as it was blocked. That's it, never had any issues with bed adhesion, even on glass.

I'd be a little bit upset if I'd spent my own money on the prusa.

I considered the MMU....looked at the manual and decided it was an enormous pain and likely not to be great.

Never had bed adhesion issues on the mk3/s. It was pretty easy to put together, and been rock solid - i can well imagine reliability issues being down to the MMU.

[Merry]

jimmyjimjim said:

I considered the MMU....looked at the manual and decided it was an enormous pain and likely not to be great.

Never had bed adhesion issues on the mk3/s. It was pretty easy to put together, and been rock solid - i can well imagine reliability issues being down to the MMU.

You're probably correct, unfortunately it was the only option that could do what I needed it to do. The bed adhesion has largely been cured by slowing the first layer speed down to 15m/s and making sure the bed is very clean using soapy water and alcohol wipes.

In terms of putting it together, well easy, perhaps as the instructions are fairly detailed, but it did take a couple of days, then another extra day for the mmu. So it's not exactly a 5 minute job.

I'm not sure what I was expecting over my ender 3 but for printing single colour parts in pla, I dont think I could chose between the two. Despite price difference.

Flexibles and other materials could well be a different matter, but I've not tested that out yet.

[Magnum 475]

jimmyjimjim said:

Big Rig said:

I’m waiting to order a Prusa. They emailed me, could be mid feb before they can take orders from the U.K. again

I happened to see that the other day when I was browsing for updates. What's the rationale, exchange rate concerns, customs?

1. Getting it through customs, the paperwork requirements are less than clear - lots of stuff is being turned back. I've had this with a couple of shipments from the EU now - mailed by the sender 'Courier has returned this from UK border due to paperwork issues'.

2. UK VAT - HMRC seem to be instructing EU companies to register for VAT if they want to sell in the UK, with the VAT liability on the EU company - they have to pay HMRC. So if you're buying from, for example, Greece, you'll pay Greek VAT + UK VAT.

Welcome to Brexit.

[paulrockliffe]

Magnum 475 said:

So if you're buying from, for example, Greece, you'll pay Greek VAT + UK VAT.

No you won't.

[Magnum 475]

paulrockliffe said:

Magnum 475 said:

So if you're buying from, for example, Greece, you'll pay Greek VAT + UK VAT.

No you won't.

Not what my supplier of Olive Oil is currently telling me. They're being told that they have to register for UK VAT to sell to me. Their local country also insists that they charge VAT locally. Right now, they don't know what's going on.

[markiii]

Magnum 475 said:

jimmyjimjim said:

Big Rig said:

I’m waiting to order a Prusa. They emailed me, could be mid feb before they can take orders from the U.K. again

I happened to see that the other day when I was browsing for updates. What's the rationale, exchange rate concerns, customs?

1. Getting it through customs, the paperwork requirements are less than clear - lots of stuff is being turned back. I've had this with a couple of shipments from the EU now - mailed by the sender 'Courier has returned this from UK border due to paperwork issues'.

2. UK VAT - HMRC seem to be instructing EU companies to register for VAT if they want to sell in the UK, with the VAT liability on the EU company - they have to pay HMRC. So if you're buying from, for example, Greece, you'll pay Greek VAT + UK VAT.

Welcome to Brexit.

its been implemented for all countries so buying from the US has the same issue

[Big Rig]

I purchased an Eryone ER-20 last week, arrived and it was faulty out the box. Sent it back for a replacement, that one was also faulty so got annoyed and started studying every review and joining every relevant FB group.

Then I was going to buy an artillery X1 till I saw that review last month on YouTube regarding the dangerous electronics inside.

Ender 3 V2 or pro (from what I’ve read) need a lot of upgrading to get decent prints.

The Prusa is loved by anyone who owns one, the community support is excellent also. It’s just I’ll be waiting a while to get one.

Unless anyone can suggest something else?

[Crafty_]

Big Rig said:

Ender 3 V2 or pro (from what I’ve read) need a lot of upgrading to get decent prints.

Nah, my E3V2 printed fine out of the box using the default profile in cura.

What you see with these are lots of people buying the printer, never running it but installing auto bed levellers, direct drive units or upgraded extruders and a whole bunch of other stuff - including custom firmwares, throwing it all together and then getting upset it doesn't work right away. The more you change the more you need to fiddle with cura settings.

The only problem I've had is getting PETG to stick to the bed, a gluestick solved that.

All I'd say is watch a couple of videos on building the thing first. I've seen several pics of incorrect construction causing problems. Its not hard but the videos will help as the provided instructions are ok but could be better.

[mph999]

I have both an Ender 3 pro and Prussia.

The Ender can manage very good prints but is not as consistent as the Prusa. Quality of the Prusa is higher.

I’ve just ordered a Prusa Mini (well back in Dec) as a kit.
They only start shipping these end of feb so hopefully shipping issues will be sorted by then.

[Big Rig]

Ok I might order a V2 Ender 3 later and give it a go.

[Merry]

Big Rig said:

Ok I might order a V2 Ender 3 later and give it a go.

I'd have a look at bigtree techs offerings. They do some pretty good upgrades for ender 3s and now do their own printers too. I've seen some pretty good reviews for the biqu b1 on YouTube.

Saying that I've been pretty happy with my ender 3. As I said earlier in the thread, for printing with pla there isn't much to choose between that and the Prusa I've got at work.

[Big Rig]

This comes highly recommended and a good price from gearbest but has anyone any experience of returning anything to them if there’s a problem?

[Bullett]

I'd honestly recommend getting a cheaper one with lots of support available. Although the principles are the same with all FDM printers being able to find articles with specific instructions and videos helps a lot with the learning. Once you know what you are doing then by all means go for it.

The Ender or Prusa both fit here.

What do you want to do with it?

[Big Rig]

Bullett said:

I'd honestly recommend getting a cheaper one with lots of support available. Although the principles are the same with all FDM printers being able to find articles with specific instructions and videos helps a lot with the learning. Once you know what you are doing then by all means go for it.

The Ender or Prusa both fit here.

What do you want to do with it?

That qidi will be slightly cheaper after vat than a Prusa. Would like to try printing in multiple materials. A few things off thingyverse, some drone parts, moulds so I can make bespoke silicon cake sponge moulds as well would be nice.

[Big Rig]

Will be here Monday

Creality Ender 3 V2 3D Printer with 32 Bit Silent Motherboard, Meanwell Power Supply, Carborundum Glass Platform and Resume Printing 220x220x250mm https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FFTHMMN/ref=cm_sw_r...

[Big Rig]

Ordered this, will be here monday.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creality-Upgraded-Motherb...

[Crafty_]

After a benchy (because its the law..) you might consider printing one of these https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4558045 - gets the reel off the top of the machine, the theory is that the weight up top makes it unstable - can't say I've seen much difference, but the side mount does make it a bit more compact, as you can swing the reel in to the side when not in use.

There are various designs, but fi you stick with the reel up top a filament guide will help a bit, this one works ok https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3315565

Warm the bed up and then do the paper alignment test thing. If you start having trouble with the filament sticking to the bed, just clean the glass with a bit of IPA or similar.