So the Bambu labs A1 looks like the perfect starting point.
One problem, it uses proprietary firmware and software, I’m a big advocate for owning the things you buy, and not supporting companies that don’t allow you to do that as much as I reasonably can. So yea I can’t buy Bambu.
The Creality SparkX i7 seems nice, it looks like a straight up clone of the A1
https://store.creality.com/eu/products/sparkx-i7-3d-printer
I’ve heard a lot of people complain about Creality though, so unsure. I’m a bit stuck and getting decision fatigue.
My budget is ~500 Euro.
Help.
I live in a tiny apartment, so it might end up in my living room, so ascetics is also a factor, I really like the A1, but yea fuck Bambu
In any space where you spend a lot of time, I’d recommend an enclosed printer and an air filter or outside ventilation. While the fumes of PLA and PETG are not proven to be harmful, they do contain microplastics that you’ll breathe in.
This is also good advice for ABS/ASA and filled plastics. Honestly, I’m way less concerned about PLA fumes than I am styrene or potential airborne microscopic carbon fibers.
so does every plastic packaging of your food.
@SaveTheTuaHawk hence it’s not recommended to melt your food containers while eating.
@PonyOfWar
That’s no reason to willingly add even more to your diet/environment
we have a prusa mini for several years at work. i am printing quite a lot and had zero issues so far. if you buy the mini: order the wifi module.
Prusa is ran by Zionists so I’d definitely avoid that.
i never heard about that. is that something prusa said?
They recently partnered with Israeli company Fillament2
sad to hear, prusa looked pretty good.
Yeah very sad development from Prusa indeed, but it is what it is. Chinese companies like Sovol and Qidi provide good open-source alternatives.
You can put custom firmware on the x1c and use whatever the hell you want. Make sure you put it somewhere you can vent outside, so not in the living room.
bambu x1c ?
I don’t want to support companies that lock down their firmware. The more Open-Source the better.
The are also printers that are inspired by the voron project, while not fully being a voron, but more pre-assembled. I think sovol has some, and formbot has the troodon series, including a smaller 250mm version.
I haven’t used either, but it might be worth looking into. I did but a voron kit by formbot and honestly that was great. Firmware is just klipper, so fully open source, of course.
can’t vorons be bought prebuilt these days?
Sovol sv08 is basically a prebuilt voron
They aren’t vorons then. There are printers, including some that I listed, that are very closer to this conceptually, but they aren’t allowed to be called vorons (and you won’t get an official serial number for them).
One core point of a voron is the fact that it’s built, from scratch, by you. A pre-assembled printer can never be a Voron.
Note that anyone is free to use the parts and designs, that’s the point of them being open-source. The Voron name is intentionally protected so you can’t sell a commercial 3d printer product called Voron.
i mean, as long as you get the excellent functionality of a voron.
you won’t get the prestige or the customization, but it’d be fine as a first printer i suppose.
If you don’t want to go down the e.g. “Voron route” nor that I could recommend for the first 3D-Printer, Prusa or partially Sovol Printers would be good. For what I can say Prusa MK4S would be a solid option, although more costly than the Mini.