Anyone have good #3dprinter recommendations? I'm not looking to spend too much on it. I suspect I won't use it very much, and I'll mostly use it for fabricating little disposable toys for my kids, and parts for small "maker" projects.
Has to work well with linux as I don't have any other kind of computer.
@pganssle
For cad i would suggest either #SolveSpace or #OpenSCAD (programming tho)
@RustyStriker I'm inclined towards things where I can do it some kind of programming, honestly, though as the kids get old enough to do their own builds they will probably want a GUI interface...
@pganssle FreeCAD is a very different workflow. It is very similar to CATIA. The thing that helps is knowing that tools can be duplicated in different workbenches. A single workbench can encapsulate the entire process for that effort, or it could be as "simple" as a sketching workbench.
@pganssle I've bought a chinese all metal Anycubic I3 Mega S #3dprinter and it is working quite well. I use #OpenSCAD to create my own or customize models from #Thingiverse, Ultimaker Cura for slicing and still a SD card instead of a print server like Octoprint.
@matths Looks like that one is all sold out. Do you know if any of the other Anycubic printers are good?
Do any of them do multiple colors?
@pganssle didn't know that, I bought mine in August. And #3dprinting is not all that new anymore, so teething is over, I guess. No experience with multicolor, sorry.
@pganssle Sovol printers are supposed to be pretty good, though I don’t have direct experience with them myself. The SV06 is new and gets good reviews (seems to be aimed as a Prusa clone). The SV04 I’ve been looking at myself for the independent dual extrusion. The SV02 supports multicolor printing through a single print head. You might take a look at one of those.
@pganssle
I'd suggest one can use 3d printing services or find a local friend who has a printer for the occasional prints and 'getting started' stuff. There is a (different and steep) learning curve to assemble a kit !
If one can afford it get an orginal Prusa or Ultimaker. Then there are the others like Creality Ender 3 etc. 1/
@pganssle
to share an experience, I bought an early kit spent 2 weeks full time assembling and it failed, left as a sculpture of motors.
Then I got an Ender 3 and tried again, 2nd time lucky, I got it working.
But the lesson is with the 'better' printers makes, you are likely to get more 'support' and less likely to be left in the cold and failed miserably trying to assemble it and making it work.
@pganssle the expert @linux_mclinuxface might have a recommendation :)
@softinio @pganssle thanks friend!
I would start out with a small printer. Ender 2 Pro if cash is tight, Prusa Mini if you’re looking for something with good support and high quality. (Linux is no problem with either - almost everything is multi platform / OSS.)
Chuck breaks it down nicely here:
https://youtu.be/jxdXlKHnnrE
@pganssle I have an Ender 3 Pro that's been serving me well. Cura runs just fine on Linux. I used it on a Raspberry Pi for a while. You can also set up OctoPrint on a Pi to control your printer remotely. :)
@pganssle Also... FreeCAD is a mess. Unfortunately Fusion360 is what most people seem to use these days.
Also in the market for 3D modelling programs, preferably FOSS, but definitely need to be Linux-compatible.
I was very good at AutoCAD and SolidWorks back in the day, but I've found FreeCAD very difficult to use for some reason.