In this Article it will be my pleasure to discuss 3 amazing and affordable 3D printers that can be used and home whether you are a hobbyist, artist, or just want a 3D printer for all its useful applications. 3D printers are now more affordable and available to consumers than ever. Whether you want to print tabletop miniatures for game night with your friends or print out a prototype for a CAD project you have been working on, the possibilities are endless.
The Monoprice Select mini v2 3D printer.
The Monoprice Select mini v2 is a very affordable compact Fused defamation modeling (FDM) printer that is very ideal for a beginner getting into the hobby. Its ready to go out of the box, no need to calibrate it. It comes pre-calibrated with a test print loaded on its SD card. As it is a FDM printer it uses common plastic PLA (polylactic acid) and ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) type plastics which tend to be easy to use and very affordable. It has a print resolution of 100 micron point which is good quality for an FDM printer.
Now what makes the Monoprice select mini v2 even better is that the average price is around $200. So its good for someone that wants to give 3D printing a try without spending a fortune. It also has a very small compact size that allows it to easily fit on top of a desk.
A Few of the cons:
Now we must go into the few drawbacks this printer has. Its very small which may be good for space, but that also means the maximum size of your prints are limited. It is able to print within a 5-inch cube. This can be a drawback for certain applications, but for a hobbyist who would print miniatures or other small assesories it is one of the best 3D printers.
3D Creality Ender 5R Pro
This Next Printer is also a FDM printer but with a larger printing space of 8.6in by 8,6in by 9.8in. The 3D Creality Ender 5R Pro is another beginner friendly printer that comes pre-calibrated and ready to use with minimal assembly. It has a lot of customization options so upgrading after buying is a simple task. Its aluminum bowden-style extruder makes for faster a faster filament feed and faster printing times are possible.
The 3D Creality Ender 5R Pro is also capable of 100 micron point resolution prints, and thanks to its large open printing space, can print much larger projects. It is a bit more expensive averaging around $350 dollars, however that is still relatively cheap for a 3D printer, especially one capable of printing larger objects.
A Few of the cons:
One of the cons however is that The 3D Creality Ender Pro can experience some problems with bed adhesion. This can be easily minimized with lowering the bed temperature and waiting for the bed and print to cool down to room temperature before removing your print.
3D Creative Photon 3 Pro
Now the last two printers discussed earlier were both FDM printers meaning they use plastic filament that gets melted into the desired print. The 3D Creative Photon 3 Pro is a DLP printer. It uses a concentrated Ultra-violet beam that shines into a pool of UV sensitive resin. These type of 3D printers offer the highest print quality on the market. They can reach resolutions a less that 10 microns per print layer. Essentially this means the 3D Creative Photon 3 Pro can print 10x higher quality prints.
With that being said DLP printers tend to be much more expensive, usually over a grand. The Creative Photon 3 Pro does cost around 500 USD. That is a very reasonable price for a DLP printer that can offer some of the highest quality prints. This printer is a bit on the smaller end with a printing bay of 4.5in by 2,6in by 6.1in. If your main use for the printer is to print out game pieces for games or other hobbies this printer is a great choice.
It comes with an easy to use Touch screen and its small compact size make so it can easily fit on top of a deck or other work space. The instructions are very easy to understand and set up is easy. It is the best practice to make sure you have everything lined up correctly so that it can be more accurately calibrated through the touch screen.
A few of the cons:
The only real con I can think of is the fact that it doesn’t have an automatic resin filler like some other higher end DLP printers have but having to manually fill the resin pool is not really that big of an issue considering its much lower cost compared to many other DLP printers.
To Sum, it up
There are many 3D printer out there on the market and they come in many shapes and sizes.
All three of these 3D printers are excellent for beginners wanting to get into 3D printing from home. Whether you’re a hobbyist or professional the FDM printers that use plastic filament or a DLP resin printer can easily become available to you with realtivly low cost. These printer have a lot of bang for their buck. Thank you for reading through this article if you have any queastions or want to mention any othe really good 3D printers feel free to comment below.
