this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
28 points (100.0% liked)

3DPrinting

19685 readers
94 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

So I've decided to get "back" into 3d printing. I was getting into it in 2012 and I started assembling a kit, but then life happened and I never had enough time or room to complete it.

However, now I'm in a much better place (both literally and figuratively), so I've decided to dive back in. However, last time around it seemed that almost everything was some variant of Prusa, and I think I want to go in a less DYI direction this time.

  • Once calibrated, doesn't need much fidgeting or maintenance.
  • More or less prefabricated. Some assembly is fine, but I don't want to sit there an dremmel a hobbled bolt again, or build a power supply.
  • I prefer one of those enclosed printers, as it will be in a location with minimal climate control.
  • Must not rely on any software that does not run on linux
  • I'm not too worried about printing speed. Print quality matters more to me.
  • Preferably one that is fixable if it breaks.
  • Single filament is fine.
  • Don't need wifi

Any suggestions?

Oh, and I still have a spool of ABS around here somewhere.. Is this still a reasonable material choice? Any other materials worth considering if I prefer the prints to be durable and not brittle?

This is where I could list a budget or preferred price range, but purchasing power parity and exchange rates probably complicates this, so let's just say "reasonably priced"

UPDATE: I ordered a Prusa Core One. I went for the kit, as I will hopefully better understand how I can fix it later after assembly. I threw in a spool of PETG as well, as I'm curious about the material.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

For your PETG trials, few things to know: it likes to bond with glass buildsheets permanently, so if you use one, always use a layer of gluestick. Also good in general with PETG, it often has trouble sticking to the buildplate.
And it absorbs moisture - though really slowly compared to actually moisture critical materials like nylon or tpu - and prints really stringy when wet, so getting a food dehydrator or a filament dryer is probably a good idea.

And the "replacement" for ABS is ASA - similar material properties (actually superior UV resistance) while being easier to print.

Each material has specific strengths and weaknesses, but a good start is to have PLA, PETG, ASA and TPU. That way you can print most of anything reasonable, except living hinges (nylon) or really strong parts (PLA+, and filaments with carbon fibre).