I am looking to buy a 3D printer which will be used in my small business size of about 20 people. We sometimes need little parts made for holding littles pieces of equipment and after seeing a similar lab to us use 3D Printing to make little holders for their antennas, we are looking at buying one ourselves.
What can you guys recommend? So far I have seen this video which suggests the Bambulab P1P, or the Prusa mk3S+ Kit.
I think we will most likely buy the Bambulab P1P as this guy suggests. However he did say that its not great for fixing. “Fixing or replacing parts does not appear to be anywhere near as user friendly or even possible in some cases”
How hard is it to build the Prusa mk3S+ Kit yourself in case we decide we want to have the Prusa given it is more easily fixable? We would prefer the Bambulab as it prints faster and is slightly larger, but might not get it due to the fact its not as easy to fix stuff.
I’d recommend the prusa. Easy to get help official or otherwise, generally just works, easily fixable with easily acquired parts in most parts of the world.
Bambu is excellent until you have any problem then it’s about as annoying as constantly modifying and never actually using an ender 3
Yeah the fact you can’t fix it as easily makes me a bit worried about Bambu but others have said they are pretty reliable
I have have had a Bambu X1C since probably February or so and I have printed hundreds of prints at this point and it has been really reliable, basically set it and forget it at this point. I have printed PLA, Nylon, PETG, TPU, wood and metal fill, carbon nylon and PLA and all of the prints are excellent quality, no complaints.
For what it’s worth, it’s actually easy to fix and take apart, they have an excellent wiki as well. They also sell most of the parts so you can just buy them if needed, I have purchased probably 5 or 6 hot end assemblies over the time I have had the printer and they are really easy to swap. I have only had one fan die and they replaced it no questions asked and it took like 10 min to install only because I didn’t ready the directions haha.
I also have a modified Prusa mk3s+ that I use sometimes but these days it’s half as fast and I spent twice the time messing with it over the Bambu, it just works and cranks out prints. The hotnends are really easy to swap on the Bambu too, way easier than the Prusa, even with a revo hotend.
No matter which you choose though, definitely recommend OrcaSlicer for the Bambu and the Mk3s.
ETA: to sum it up I guess I would say if your interest in the hobby is in the things you want to make, get a Bambu. If it is more about tuning and modding and optimizing a printer get a Prusa. That’s my 2c at least.
Thanks. I think we will go for the Bambu P1S looks like. What is an orcaslicer? Also do you know can you print metal on the Bambu?
I would go with an Ender 3 variant as they are very popular and community support for them will be plentiful. Also, spare parts will be easy to get. Then once you get past the beginner stage you can spring for a P1P or Prusa.
Prusa so far is uncontested when it comes to the whole package. Also, if you need only small parts, I recommend Prusa Mini, it’s inexpensive and great. And you can buy 2 for the price of the mk3. Unless you see yourself printing parts larger than 18 cm (in any dimension), Prusa Mini might be the one for you.
Bambulab might depend on proprietary/custom parts if you need to repair it, but as far as I’ve seen these are fairly priced. There’s of course no guarantee that prices won’t go up in the future. Hopefully you won’t have to fix it very often though. Unless you have a cheap 3d printer that self-destructs, I think the most common thing you have to “fix” is replacing the nozzle when those wear out. But it sounds like you’re only going to use the printer occasionally so this shouldn’t happen very often unless you’re printing abrasive filaments. Based on what I’ve seen it appears to be somewhat of an advanced procedure to swap nozzles on the P1P so maybe it’s more cost effective for you to replace the entire hotend when it’s time for that.
Prusa has exceptionally good support, with 24/7 chat available in multiple languages, which might be extra valuable to a business. I believe the MK3S uses standard nozzles which are easy to change, though it is possible to screw it up and clog the printer so don’t let untrained employees do it :)
Any particular reason you’re looking at MK3S+ rather than an MK4 btw? And since I mentioned nozzles for the other options, the MK4 is using non-standard nozzles just like the P1P. The Prusa nozzles are almost as expensive but look easier to change, and unlike the standard nozzles the MK3 (and most other printers) use they should be close to idiot proof.
“Any particular reason you’re looking at MK3S+ rather than an MK4 btw?”
MK4 is 1200 and MK3S+ is 700 I believe.
Thanks for the advice. My dad wants to get the Bambulab P1P as its faster than the Prusa so might get that
Pre-assembled they’re €1200 and €1000, kits cost €890 and €720 respectively.
CoreXY (i.e. the P1P) is definitely sexier than a bedslinger, and if I was going to get either of these two for home use I would definitely go with Bambu Labs. Was just thinking that for a business reliability and support might be worth more, but that totally depends on your use case.
I think we might go with the Bambulab. I have seen quite a few say they are pretty reliable. As opposed to something like the Ender 3 which I have heard people say are a bit unreliable and you have to spend time tweaking.
Some parts of the Bambulab apparently you can’t buy. Here is a youtube comment i saw “yes, they do, but as he alluded to, some of them are not replaceable, or even serviceable, like the carbon rails …”
Hopefully the carbon rails (whatever they are) wont break though lol
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