cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3884192
For the purpose of miniature wargaming, I’m considering getting into 3D printing because there are tons of amazing sculpts I’d love to get my hands on.
A couple of questions, though
I’ll admit I know next to nothing about 3D printing, but I could spend up to 300 eurodollars (or a bit more) on a 3D printer. Are there any key things to consider when picking up a printer? I don’t need the cheapest model, as price isn’t the main reason I’m getting into 3D printing. I care quite a bit about the quality of the finished models.
I live in an apartment, so does this even work logistically? I’m aware there are some health hazards with resin/3D printing—how serious should my concerns be about that? (That’s why I’m asking here and not in a 3D printing subreddit, where folks might be biased.)
Are there any recommended communities or YouTube channels for 3D printing? As I mentioned, I’ll be using this primarily for gaming miniatures and possibly wargaming terrain, not for other 3D-printable items.
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I live in an apartment, so does this even work logistically? I’m aware there are some health hazards with resin/3D printing—how serious should my concerns be about that? (That’s why I’m asking here and not in a 3D printing subreddit, where folks might be biased.)
I live in a 2BR where the second BR is used mainly for storage. I have my printer set up in there. You will need a desk / tabletop to put it on, but it doesn’t need to take up much space - especially if you find / build a shelf to put the printer on with storage above and below.
I have never done resin printing, but from my understanding the resin is typically bad for you. Like it’s the kind of thing you’re not supposed to dispose of down the drain. For FDM, it all depends on what material you’re using. It is recommended to have ventilation when printing ABS (at the same time, ABS is very sensitive to drafts, which will cause warping and premature detachment from the bed). PLA (the easiest material to work with) is pretty benign. TPU will make your apartment smell like beach balls. Attempting to print materials like Nylon on a printer not designed for those temperatures can release toxic gases by burning the PTFE (Teflon) tube which guides the filament into the hot-end.
I started on a Creality Ender 3 v2 (I still use it, but it is barely recognizable). It is rather basic and required a lot of upgrades over time, but it is easy to flash custom firmware on it and there is an enormous aftermarket of replacement parts and upgrade kits. Personally, customization is what I’m interested in, but you may be interested in something with a bit more functionality built in
PETG has the strength of ABS with basically none of the drawbacks.
Yeah PET/PETG is good. It is UV resistant and can be used outdoors. I’ve used it to print parts for a hydroponic gardening system. It is a bit more complicated to work with than PLA, but way easier than ABS and like 95% close enough in durability. It is the material soda bottles are made of.
You do have to be a little more careful with print surface, I’ve had PETG ruin a buildtak sheet by sticking too well so now I print it on gluestick’d glass. It’s also less brittle than PLA, not sure if PET shares that property.
FDM is basically fine except for a few types of plastic like ABS. There might be some risk of microplastics but you’re already getting plenty of those just by existing in currentyear.
Resin does need to be air filtered or ventilated, plus you’d need an extra machine for washing/curing, but it is a lot better at the kinds of fine details and overhangs miniatures need.
Creality makes cheap, decent machines you will have to tinker with. Prusa makes nice and reliable but expensive machines. Bambu makes shiny traps with proprietary firmware and chips on the spools that they pinkie swear they won’t use to lock you in to their “ecosystem”.
Pretty much, also I’m pretty sure prusa are still all open hardware so you can do your own thing if you enjoy suffering.
I will say you should probably not run a fdm machine in the same room as you without filtration. I would recommend enclosing them for myriad reasons, and in the enclosure run a fan that forces air through a filter and activated carbon. No reason to increase exposure to VOCs and microplastics.
If you get a fdm that can dual material fiddly prints become a lot easier as you can use a support material you can dissolve off. That starts getting expensive.
Also consider material running cost. Resin is expensive (but minis don’t use much), plastic is cheaper but not that much cheaper buying quality, adding in supports, and dealing with failed prints.
Pretty much the entire FDM printer industry is built on the back of Prusa’s open hardware.
You’re probably not wrong about the microplastics, but worrying about microplastics from FDM in a world filled with cars kinda feels to me like using a paper straw when there are private jets.
well it’s all reprap although prusa’a i3 design has been the foundation of bedslingers since it. I was there when the old magic was written and we were trying to find ways to print wires for motors haha.
you don’t often have a car driving through your bedroom or whatever. I’m not saying you should put as much effort into filtering the exhaust from a 3d printer chamber as nation states should to removing car dependence. I’m saying if you’re spending 300 euros on a printer spend 10 on cleaning it’s pollutants.
Or not, take whatever risks you like it’s your body.
Resin printers mean extra post-processing (gotta wash the excess resin off in alcohol, trim the supports, then cure in a UV box. Then chemical disposal is complicated) but you get higher detail.
But! Fdm printers are getting much better at this too! A well tuned printer (tuning your printer is a whole-ass hobby, be warned) with a 0.2mm nozzle (or a Bambu* basically right out of the box) will work just fine for most cases.
*Look these things have proprietary firmware and that sucks, but it’s as close as we have ever gotten to “my printer is an appliance that just makes what I want with no fuss.” Don’t bother with their expensive filament, it’s no better than the cheap stuff and you can completely ignore their microchip system. An A1 mini is barely more expensive than an Ender 3 (which used to be the go-to cheap ass printer) and is the smoothest and fastest printer I have ever owned by a good deal.
