buying advise 3D printer

The Hat

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
15,991
Reaction score
8,978
Points
453
Location
Residing in Wicklow Ireland
Printer Model
Canon/3D, CR-10, CR-10S, KP-3
Crealtity is really bottom of the barrel stuff. I think they are regarded as decent because of good marketing, and low prices.
I’ve got a different view on Creality printers...!

I got one back in 2017, and another in 2019, and have printed the be jasus out of them, some of my prints went for 60 hours straight for months and to be honest, if I was to get another printer I’d stick with Creality, because they’ve got quality built into them..
 

pharmacist

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
May 29, 2007
Messages
2,804
Reaction score
1,609
Points
313
Location
Ghent, Belgium
Printer Model
SC-900 ET-8550 WF-7840 TS705
Finger crossed: i have just bought the Creality K1 Max printer with the filament drier, the K1 Max build plate and 2 rolls of Hyper PLA filament to give it a try. Everybody seems to have a different opinion about this or that printer, and after reading alot about some several 3D printer brands and no brand seems to really excel that I could say: I will choose a particular brand. So I have to experience myself and @The Hat seems to have good experience with this brand.
 
Last edited:

The Hat

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
15,991
Reaction score
8,978
Points
453
Location
Residing in Wicklow Ireland
Printer Model
Canon/3D, CR-10, CR-10S, KP-3

roncromberge

Getting Fingers Dirty
Joined
Jul 1, 2025
Messages
28
Reaction score
18
Points
28
Location
The Netherlands
Printer Model
Epson SC-P900
Congratulations on your purchased, I hope it lives up to your expectations..

I am surprised no one has mentioned https://www.123inkt.nl/
For filament, https://www.123-3d.nl///
I’m from the Netherlands. And yes I bought a lot of stuff from them. But on filament are they not the cheapest. Compared sunlu and the Chinese shops on ali or via there own sites. Only when I need filament fast. Then comes 123 in the picture.

@parmacist now you have to learn 3d modeling. A whole other world beside (3d) and (inkt) printing. 😁
Open source FreeCad.
Free fusion360 after signed in. Or payed Solidworks. They have a special maker bundle around €40 per year. And you get an almost complete package only rendering is not included and some very special features. And there many others. Payed or free with loss of privacy.
 

pharmacist

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
May 29, 2007
Messages
2,804
Reaction score
1,609
Points
313
Location
Ghent, Belgium
Printer Model
SC-900 ET-8550 WF-7840 TS705
Hi Ron,

I have already read alot about 3D printing, but the proof is in the eating.....I will try to print something easy to get used to the 3D printer and hopefully I will succeed.
 

Redbrickman

Printer Master
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
1,179
Reaction score
1,300
Points
293
Location
UK
Printer Model
Brother MFC-L8690-CDW
@pharmacist - Congrats on your purchase. You may find that time telescopes as you get deep into the printing process :)

On the CAD side I would advise try many of the popular prgrammes out and decide what feels the most natural user interface and go with it. The other thing is to pick one with lots of tutorials and help to get you going.

I settled on Fusion 360. It's a massive learning curve but has many courses and tutorials on the internet which can really get you started.
 

Redbrickman

Printer Master
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
1,179
Reaction score
1,300
Points
293
Location
UK
Printer Model
Brother MFC-L8690-CDW
Oh I forgot to mention, also try various slicers as they all feel quite different. I'm biased but having tried many over the last few years I recommend giving Orca a try. Once installed you can select the K1 Max as your printer and away you go.
 

roncromberge

Getting Fingers Dirty
Joined
Jul 1, 2025
Messages
28
Reaction score
18
Points
28
Location
The Netherlands
Printer Model
Epson SC-P900
@Redbrickman agree.

Orca slicer is the one to go now a days. And now the only one for my X1c. In lan only mode.
Fusion 360 is a mixed feeling. On windows works ok I presume. But on my Mac I had many issues. And the fact that it is cloud based. And the many outages lately. Makes it less trustworthy. And always after starting the message that the new updates going to installed. And startup is also slow. (And I’m running on a wired 1Gb fiber connection!) I’m started years ago with FreeCad. I think v.18 and when you learn the quirks it is a good tool. And now with 1.x its a good open source tool!
 

Redbrickman

Printer Master
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
1,179
Reaction score
1,300
Points
293
Location
UK
Printer Model
Brother MFC-L8690-CDW
F360 was not great running on my Mac either but due to some other hobbies requiring Windows software I bought a mini PC and have been running F360 on it for two years with no issues. Although it's cloud based I simply export my designs and can work off line with them if there is any problem.

Its the one I like using so I guess I can live with its quirks :)
 

Nifty

Printer VIP
Administrator
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
3,101
Reaction score
1,474
Points
337
Location
Bay Area CA
Printer Model
CR-10, i560 ,MFC-7440N
Finger crossed: i have just bought the Creality K1 Max printer with the filament drier,
Keep us posted on how things go! I really like the print-volume of that printer and it's on my short-list of considerations.
 
Top