I have one of the Ender 3 models. It cost me $200 and has worked flawlessly since I got it. That doesn't mean that I have not had issues, but they are self-inflicted. For me, one of the biggest hurdles was the 3D CAD stuff. I learned draft in junior high school I yes, that dates me) whish was helpful but 3D drawing coupled with FDM printing means you need to draw things in such a way that the printer can actually print it properly. The only major modification that I made was to go from the stock controller 8-bit board to a better, faster 32-bit one. That is probably not a requirement today as most printers come with 32-bit controllers. I buy $20/roll filament from microcenter. I do use Autodesk Inventor because I get it for free through the robotics club I help at. The club uses Fusion and OnShape which are also free.

My uses are making parts for things around the house and many things for the RV. For the RV, I have clips for mounting things to the wall holders for WD-40, and brackets for mounting electronics. Happy send the STL files your way when you get up and running.

Overall, the best advice I can give is that you don't have to spend a lot of money and just be patient.

My son is a mechical engineer and he bought one when he was in college and has used them in his work. I asked him and he said: "The creality ender 3 is a good starter option, but also it depends on what he wants to do." He went on to say there are so many options because there are so many applications. So this is probably a good place to start.
Dave

There are a couple of technologies out there. Filament printing and resin bath printing. Resin Bath is focusing more on speed of prototyping. Plus the resin polymers are pretty strong.

Same here with my oldest. Joe uses a Prusa MK3S+ with good results. He operates a larger model from this brand at Fluke.



A couple of projects he did for me include a 3rd brake light camera mount for my F350, and an entry door magnet spacer on the RV.

I also have a Creality Ender 3 neo that I got off an auction last October to just play around with and get experience in 3D printing. I have been fairly impressed with it so far. There is a learning curve to get all the settings right but once it's fine tuned it's pretty easy to use. You can find loads of models online that you can download and print. I use Autocad Fusion 360 to design some of my own stuff. It is fairly complex but I've been using it for years with my CNC.router so using it to Design 3D prints wasn't much of a change.

I have really enjoyed having the printer. It's been fun and also useful. Our robo vacuum lost a part and I was able to print a replacement, printed a snitch (from Harry Potter) for the grandkids, an enclosure for an electronic project, and a lot more.

There is also a lot of specialized filament out there for rainbow effects, shiny metallic, etc.

I’m back where rtrainer started with paper and pencil drafting knowledge, LOL. But, I also have sons who are engineers . . . I will be leveraging them to teach Dad. I will be following this thread for advice . . .

As to that magnet spacer to clear the door handle . . . I milled mine out of aluminum . . . a tool and a skill that I do have .

Rob

Milled aluminum would be nice, but I just grabbed a piece of ABS that I had extra from another project and proceeded to drill 2 holes, saw cut to about the right size, then file fit the 2 pcs together.

3d printer is on a list, just no where to put it and run it.

Any other thoughts on this topic?

I have been researching the Ender 3, 3 different models to choose from though. I have been looking at the Ender 3 S1 Plus for the larger table size.

Brian

Any of them will work for you. Don't need to spend a lot of money