@cengland0 Same here. Can anyone loan me $650.00 (to cover the $594 + tax).
[wonder why Meh didn’t just make it $600, or the deceptive $599?]
I pinky-swear I will put it to good use.
@djslack
I never get irk’s as usual.
But anywho the christmas light community uses 3d printers like theyre going out of style! And the ones they mostly recomend are about half this price.
@Superllama7 why does everyone keep saying it’s a big max size? It isn’t. For $340 you can get a new Monoprice MP10 with 300x300x400 mm (Dremel is 230x150x140 mm).
Not totally in love with MP, just happened to be on their site looking at prices for another comment.
@mrchristian true! And that’s a huger max size… In my mind I was visualizing fully enclosed printers, but if you look across MPs lineup I think most are significantly smaller than that one. I don’t own a 3D printer, though, I just casually window shop them, so grain of salt.
One thing I noticed with that, though, is the Dremel seems to only do PLA filament, while others in this price range (and cheaper) offer compatibility with other materials
@Superllama7 Well, the thing is that the only determining factor* in what type of filament material a printer can handle is heat.
The Dremel says it goes up to 230º, which the the lowest temp recommended for most ABS,PETG, or TPUs. It’s not impossible that the Dremel could print these materials, but it’s extremely unlikely.
This could be a soft limitation in the software as a safety feature or something else, so there is an outside chance that the Dremel can go up to higher temps, but for this money it’s not even worth finding out.
@n2o my first was a wanhao duplicator 6 (which MP rebadged as the MP Ultimate, I believe). Upgraded the bejesus out of it. Then I got an MK3s to tide me over while I build my new printer. Also planning on retrofitting the Wanhao with an eensy Rambo board, just haven’t had time.
So 100% with you! MP for cheap, Prusa for cost/performance out of the box, DIY for cost/performance/frustration.
Why would you think this would be in an irk? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it on here and it’s posted today which is after the mehrathon. If something is in your irk, it’s probably been exhaustively tried to be sold on here that even us mehahokics didn’t buy it or there’s not enough of a product left to hold a daily sale. I mean, I’d be extremely surprised if it did happen.
I was ready to come in here and make fun of the deal, since I’m used to seeing new 3D printers from monoprice being cheaper than this. But looking at reviews ( https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-3d-printers ) it looks like the Dremel (provided you trust refurbished) is a very good deal.
I don’t think I’m ready to pull the $600 trigger, but I’m sure others will.
@Superllama7 I think they updated the map years ago to use population. So the color is a ratio of # sold in that state and the population of that state. Utah’s population being significantly lower than California might have only 1 sold and be a darker color whereas California might have 2 sold and still be light.
Maybe if you guys were selling a good resin printer at this price I’d bite.
For anyone seeing this and are now interested in 3D printing, two things:
3D printing is super awesome and actually can be useful in your life with functional and gift prints for birthdays/holiday’s.
Buy an Ender 3. They are 180 new on eBay, and they are also available at Amazon. It has a bigger build area than this one. After buying and printing upgrades, you’re looking at 250 max. Don’t buy what they have here unless you need an enclosure and are too lazy to build your own
@koolaidbeans Elegoo Mars resin printer on Amazon right now is $229. The Elegoo Mars Pro (slight upgrade) will be released within the next couple weeks for $299.
So I’m interested in a good entry unit - I’m fairly tech-savvy and have a natural affinity for these things, but have avoided 3D printers for lack of time and $ and didn’t want another expensive thing sitting around that I don’t have the time to get into.
But I would like to do this now - comments above indicate a range of opinions about this and other units, and I’d love to read them. If nothing else, I’d appreciate a link to a good non-biased primer on getting in, including use of different materials and their (dis)advantages.
@stolicat While I don’t know of any one “good” resource for what you seek, here is my advice:
Figure out what your budget is for getting in to this as a casual hobbyist is. Shop for well reviewed printers in that price range. Buy one.
No matter what you buy you’re going to discover that you didn’t buy the right thing. But the process of arriving at that conclusion is going to help determine what you really want.
Questions you will need to answer (but probably can’t right now) are things like:
What build volume do I really need?
What materials am I working with? Most people are more than happy with just PLA. Maybe you have projects where TPU or ABS might be more useful.
Do I care about speed because I’m printing functional pieces at rapid prototyping? This could dictate hotend/nozzle choices
Do I care about quality because I’m printing highly detailed pieces or display work and want limited post-processing? Maybe a resin/SLA system is more accurate
While you’re learning about 3D printing and figuring out what kind of equipment you really want, you will invariably find things to tweak on your system. My first printer looks nothing like it did when I got it. It’s been upgraded and tweaked extensively along the way (many with parts I designed or found and printed). Today it performs exponentially better than the day I got it, but I hit the limitations. Then I got a printer that met those needs (and didn’t have the same limitations). Now I’m building my own printer (it’s easier than you might think).
My focus, aside from making goofy little things for around the house and cat toys, will probably be functional pieces, tool extensions, specialized fittings for structures and plumbing, repair parts for machinery and furniture, etc., so I’ll be eventually focused on workable layout software and material characteristics.
I’ve been 3D printing for a couple of years now, I’m by no means an expert, but I’d say I’m pretty familiar with the basics.
I agree with the above linked PCMag review’s assessment that this printer’s best application would be in a classroom. It’s designed to be as easy as possible to setup and use, provided you stick with the proprietary (expensive) filaments.
The fact that it has an enclosure means virtually nothing as it lacks a heated bed. Its only purpose really is to (possibly) keep small, curious fingers away from a moving part which happens to be extremely hot.
I haven’t printed with anything but PLA, but I still prefer to heat the bed for better adhesion. However I can easily see myself wanting to try using TPU for things which need a little flex such as phone cases. If I needed a 3D printed part for use outdoors, then printing in ABS is a good idea, etc. There’s no path to any of that with this printer.
In short this will help you learn the basics, and can produce decent prints. However, you can easily do the same for under $200 new with some minor trade-offs.
I talked extensively about the Ender 3 in the linked thread. But it can do everything this printer can and far more for about 1/3rd the price here, but you have to do a bit of assembly and tinkering to get it going.
If you want to avoid any assembly, and only minimal tinkering (bed leveling), the MonoPrice Select Mini II is a great option as well. The build volume will be a bit smaller, and it won’t come with a removable build plate, but again, about 1/3rd the price.
However, I strongly doubt the Dremel printer or any 3D printer on the market now or in the next few years will ever only require that you load filament and print a file without any further user intervention or maintenance. Nozzles get clogged, belts loosen, etc.
Learning how a 3D printer operates and how to fix it will be an essential part of 3D printing for a while. Which is why I still believe the Ender 3 remains the best entry point, with the MPSMII a close second.
When you’re ready for as few more bells and whistles (provided you hadn’t modded your Ender 3 to add them to begin with) A Prusa I3 is a good next step up, which depending on variations or whether you buy a kit or an assembled unit will cost somewhere between half to slightly more expensive than the current offering. Alternatively, you might want to get an entry level resin printer such as the Elegoo Mars.
Fact is, you can buy a new Ender 3, MPSMII, and Elegoo for about the same total investment as this refurb printer. You’d be printing within 10 minutes with the MP, while you assembled your Ender, and got that going, and then you could glove up and get going with the Elegoo too and in that span of time learned far more about 3D printing than the Dremel will ever teach you.
@ciabelle@narfcake@stolicat There’s this case for the ender 3 if you are worried about cats. It’s also highly recommended if you want to print with ABS.
I wouldn’t buy this Dremel. they’re way overpriced. For just a couple hundred more you can get the gold standard of home printers a a kit, the Prusa MK3S ($750 as a kit), that’s brand new. I suggest the kit over the fully assembled model ($1000), not just because it’s cheaper but because you’ll learn a lot of stuff you need to do in doing the assembly itself. You’ll be needing that knowledge when something breaks, and something WILL break no matter how much you spend on a unit.
If you just want to get into the hobby and try it out, you can do that for just $200-$300 with a cheaper printer. The link has good suggestions for all price points, plus the community is really helpful when you hit stumbling blocks.
@ciabelle@stolicat My cat also has no interest in the printers. I don’t know if it’s the heat, smell or what, but beyond cursory glances has never demonstrated any interest.
@alacrity@compunaut@UncleVinny oh yeah, that’s pretty close. I want that little hand held job they use on The Expanse for cutting through spaceship hulls …
As others have alluded, this is a terrible deal, even by Meh standards.
Please, don’t buy this.
Build volume isn’t impressive for the cost
Doesn’t use standard filament spools, wtf
Uses weirdo proprietary Flashforge software- won’t work with common “must haves” like octoprint
it’s a refurb
other technical things that 3d printer nerds expect at this price point (trinamic drivers, heated bed, etc)
weird bed size means PITA with PEI sheets, glass, what have you
For a few hundred bucks less, you could get yourself in to the Prusa Mini, which in this size/build volume is a luxury model.
For $400+ less you could get a Monoprice Select Mini. The build volume isn’t as large as this or the Prusa, but for $190 it’s a very cheap and very solid beginner printer.
@mrchristian The only thing you’re buying here is the Dremel branding. Even if this was half the price and not refurbished I’d pass. I hope Meh didn’t get stuck with a lot of these.
This Dremel printer was bad from the start. Now they are dumping them. Do not buy.
I got my LulzBot TAZ years ago at their Black Friday sale. It’s expensive but built like a tank and has good support; I have no regrets. Plus it’s open source and uses standard parts and filament. It’s printing some Nano Leaf lights right now.
I have the cash just itching to be blown on something, but this is a bit much for an impulse buy. (I remember my first digital camera at $700. First one I had ever seen, first one anyone at my work had ever seen, and it had a documented design flaw that made it incredibly easy to turn it into a brick, with no remedy from the manufacturer. I have tended to avoid high-dollar impulse buys since then.) But this thread and the links herein are a good starting point for researching which 3D printer to eventually buy.
Remember that before you can do much beyond using files from outside sources that you will need to learn some sort of 3D CAD. The more intricate and precise your ideas, the more knowledge you will need of 3D CAD. I can’t recall anyone stating that 3D CAD is easy for a beginner.
So I’ve been itching to purchase a 3D printer now for years. What stops from blowing money on one is when I think about what I could make with it… & come up empty. What would I print?!
@Joedetroit That was what kept me from buying one as well. Last year I got one as a gift and after about 2 months of playing around with it, I ran out of things that I wanted to print. I’ve had it nearly a year now and still use it from time to time to make a few parts here and there for something broken or to make a custom widget or two. If you have kids, it also comes in handy for some school projects but overall it is a toy (and also a fun hobby).
Edit - If you are considering it, I would recommend an Ender 3 Pro over this one.
How many crappy plastic elephants and baby Yoda plastic figurines does one person need. WTF would I make with this - a new toothbrush handle? A replacement screw top for my 2-Litre bottle of Diet Coke? I mean seriously. This may have industrial applications but WTF are you people making with these that you can’t buy cheaper?
what felt like a zillion tiaras and wands (with swappable “crystals”) for my Ex’s nieces
painters pyramids, dust collectors, various jigs for my home workshop
pieces to upgrade my printer as part of the vicious cycle
electronics enclosures for various projects
To your point though…
A really good friend who is even deeper down the 3D printing rabbit hole than I compared it to whittling. Sure, you can make some useful or interesting things. But ultimately the point of whittling is the pleasure in whittling. There is definitely some utility in 3D printing, but ultimately the joy is the journey (for me at least).
@adwaller I have an Ender 3 Pro as well, and I am into flying quadcopters/drones, so a lot of what I print is various parts and add-ons for those. Plenty of other novelties and trinkets, but for me it’s less a hobby than an enabler of other hobbies.
And I will just echo what others have said: if you want a pricier machine that Just Works (to the extent they exist) there are better choices than this Dremel, but a cheaper unit would be better to just try and see if you like it. The Ender would still be my choice despite its shortcomings, because there are so many other people out there and you can always get help/experience from someone.
I print a lot in TPU, which the Dremel won’t do, but the Ender will after a lot of tinkering with settings. As we speak I have a set of propeller ducts printing for one of these:
Wow, I think Meh is going to be hosed on this. I don’t know what Meh paid for these but I think they overpaid - and getting anyone to pay $594 - I think that’s pretty ludicrous.
For $210, you get with the Ender-3 Pro:
Raspberry Pi support
double the print volume
Expandable in every way and not tied to a little enclosed box
Huge community of users (Facebook, Reddit, etc.)
quieter and faster print controllers (motherboards) Ender 3 Pro
I would recommend buying the kit you assemble yourself. Why? Its cheaper and building it helps you repair it in the future.
Other bonuses:
-Huge community for both the printer and the software
-Prints many different materials and brands
-Huge mod community of parts and upgrades
-Prints pretty large prints before jumping in to the gigantic printer sizes
-Open Source!
@sippinndippin Uh, whoa there. Ignoring that this comment even exists (like…whhhy?) a 3d printed penis would be terrible for that. It would be decidedly not body safe, and definitely uncomfortable for a recipient.
@therealjrn lol, worked in an “Adult Bookstore” some 20 years ago, spend enough time around 3D printed parts now… can spot a bad idea without having to experience it
@mrchristian@therealjrn
It maybe body safe… there are many types of 3D printers including the food ones. I would bet you could find one that would be. (Why the hate about my comment?). Ignoring that it even exists was the wrong thing to put there imo. It was an obvious joke that showed how useless I thought this product is/was? Considering they are 3D printing a neighborhood in Mexico it’s likely safe.
If you must know (and not be a jerk) the comment was inspired by the show Almost Human. In which the protagonist finds all these dead bodies only to discover that they were dolls printed with flat feet (a defect in early human printing, long since corrected).
My wife’s library has this printer, and it’s been nothing but awful. Extruder always getting clogged, and the FIRST one was exhibiting lots of weird behaviors that even Dremel support couldn’t figure out. They ended up sending them another one but even that one still has lots of extruder problems.
Also, Dremel support was kind of hit or miss when they did contact about issues.
@pyroguy7 This explains to me why these are refurbs. They probably have lots of them because they suck. I think the first thing I bought on Woot was a refurbished Zune. It never worked, they sent me my money back. I’ve avoided refurbs every since.
@fairchild521 but think of the joy on their little faces as you explain that they won’t be getting christmas presents for the next few years, but hey, they can design and print all of their own toys, learning valuable and marketable skills?
@mrchristian The 4 (12" cutting width) and the 4 plus (15" cutting width) are out now.
The pro (20" cutting width) is supposed to be released in April or May. The base price for that is supposed to be around $500.
I’m keeping my Silhouette SD and my two Cameo 3s. The 4 does things that the 3 does not, but the 3 does things the 4 does not. I like using a cutting blade and sketch pen or two cutting blades, one set to cut, one set to score, on the same pass.
I think, for me, at least at this point, the 4 would be comparable to my use of my Curio. So far, I’ve just used that for etching. It does a pretty good job on that.
I wasn’t even serious about getting one until I thought about that 20" cutting width.
Interesting thought (Sorry if someone else mentioned this, I read no replies). Temps max at 230, which means PLA only. Though it’s “enclosed”, which really only is needed for ABS. For the price, I’d strongly recommend a CR-10s. Cheaper, and a very solid printer which can do ABS, PETG, PLA, TPE, etc. as well. If you want to print ABS, build your own enclosure, or just print in PETG which is all around better material anyway.
Unblame Because tomorrow starts the NHL All-Star festivities in the Lou! I am so very excited and have plans to attend as much as possible. 🥳
Blame because I could not afford tickets the the actual game. Crazy expensive
Blame because we are suppose to get freezing rain tonight and SNOW thru Sunday. Travel and parking is going to be a fucking bitch. Also, I am going to freeze my ass off at the 5k on Saturday.
@tinamarie1974 this is not the blame thread, so I cannot officially take any blame for the above situations. But in the spirit of the NHL All-Star festivities, you can have this one penalty shot.
In the future please submit your blames at the designated facility. We will require photo-documentation if indeed you do “freeze your ass off”.
@stolicat@tinamarie1974
Nooooo!!! I’ve seen an ass that has fallen off before. Everything ends up at the back knees (yes, that was on purpose). I would prefer only frozen off ass photos. That sounds more like just gone instead of gravity accelerated…
@Karpadm76 are you familiar with woot and their BoC’s? If so that’s basically what an IRK is.
They started out here at Meh as Fukubukuro’s or good luck bags, they then changed to Fukobukuro’s or unlucky bags, and their current form is the IRK or Instant Regret Kit (Irk also happens to be the troll mascot of sorts for the site)
@compunaut It’s a good price, and identical to the one on the mothership for $256. Comment at woot bring up the supposed $159 prices on Black Friday, but sounds like a good buy if you want one now. I may just pop for it.
@compunaut I noticed! I was very tempted but want to learn more about them first. Plus I am accumulating quite a collection of online purchases I have yet to use.
@compunaut Thanks. Unfortunately, it was sold out by time I read Meh’s email about your message. Maybe next time, they will be even cheaper and then I will have the time to fool with it, anyway.
@compunaut Remember this? And my husband told me to go for it?
I just finished assembling it! Now it’s in the bedroom on an end table covered in a big trashbag with a towel over it (cats).
The worst part? The spool holder on the top with those stupid T-nuts that wanted to keep going the wrong way so the holder would pop right out. The very last part of the assembly.
I have an incredible sense of accomplishment right now.
I just bought some filament, it came with a small amount and I have no idea how much it will make. My husband has no idea how these things work. You know, by melting stuff.
@lisaviolet@stolicat I should get a small commission from Woot!; I think I earned it
Good luck with your purchase, and please share your results - we want to see the baby Yodas LOL
@compunaut@stolicat Now that I’m not on my tablet, I can actually type. Geez, the keyboards on those things are tiny.
Actually, my husband wants it for doing prototypes of things one of our supplier has one of their Chinese factories build for us. I asked him what it was and he tried to explain to me, then just said “stuff for our supplier”.
I guess it’s above my paygrade. lol.
But guess who’ll be setting it up and programming it and running it?
Yeah. Me.
In all honesty? I’d make a baby Groot. I’ve only seen one Star Wars movie and that was when it first came out a long, long time ago. (Since we got Disney+, the Star Wars franchise is on our to watch list; right now we’re making our way through the Marvel universe.)
Specs
What’s in the Box?
1x Dremel DigiLab 3D40 3D Printer
1x Instruction Manual
1x Quick Start Guide
1x USB Flash Drive
1x Spool of Filament
1x Power Cable
1x USB Cable
1x Build Sheet
1x Build Plate
2x Build Tape
1x Object Removal Tool
1x Unclog Tool
Price Comparison
$1,299.00 (for new) at Amazon
Warranty
1 Year Factory
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, July 9th - Monday, July 13th
I want, but no money for it.
@cengland0 Same here. Can anyone loan me $650.00 (to cover the $594 + tax).
[wonder why Meh didn’t just make it $600, or the deceptive $599?]
I pinky-swear I will put it to good use.
@cengland0 @phendrick Because everybody knows $599 is just $600. $594 is better.
@cengland0 @phendrick Ha ha!.. “tax”
@cengland0 yeah me too. If anyone wants to gift me one that would be great.
Please be in my IRK…
I got 3D40 dreams on more of a WD-40 budget.
@djslack OMG please be in mine too!
@djslack
Oh, please, meh. Put one of these in a random IRK, just to have heads explode during the great unveiling…
(I missed out on all the IRKS the other day so it wouldn’t be me, but still…)
@djslack
I never get irk’s as usual.
But anywho the christmas light community uses 3d printers like theyre going out of style! And the ones they mostly recomend are about half this price.
@djslack Uh, bath?
(No IRK for me anywho.)
well…its not a bluetooth speaker…but maybe you could make one with it.
That’s a huge maximum size, but who among us can afford the price of entry?
@Superllama7 We’ll see shortly!
@Superllama7 why does everyone keep saying it’s a big max size? It isn’t. For $340 you can get a new Monoprice MP10 with 300x300x400 mm (Dremel is 230x150x140 mm).
Not totally in love with MP, just happened to be on their site looking at prices for another comment.
@mrchristian You had the build volume wrong, it’s 254mmx154mmx170mm, which is bigger. But still not that big.
@mrchristian true! And that’s a huger max size…
In my mind I was visualizing fully enclosed printers, but if you look across MPs lineup I think most are significantly smaller than that one. I don’t own a 3D printer, though, I just casually window shop them, so grain of salt.
One thing I noticed with that, though, is the Dremel seems to only do PLA filament, while others in this price range (and cheaper) offer compatibility with other materials
@mrchristian ps I can see from your (excellent) advice below that you’re an expert… I’d say most people who mentioned the size are dopes like me
@Superllama7 Well, the thing is that the only determining factor* in what type of filament material a printer can handle is heat.
The Dremel says it goes up to 230º, which the the lowest temp recommended for most ABS,PETG, or TPUs. It’s not impossible that the Dremel could print these materials, but it’s extremely unlikely.
This could be a soft limitation in the software as a safety feature or something else, so there is an outside chance that the Dremel can go up to higher temps, but for this money it’s not even worth finding out.
This is the sound of one hand clapping.
@therealjrn
/giphy turn it down man
Let’s see now…checking the couch cushions…scrabbling around in mah jeans…looking under these potatoes I been keepin in a mound near the kitchen…
Nope. Don’t have $600 lying around waiting to be spent on a 3D gizmo.
KuoH
@UncleVinny I feel like if we did, we would not be lurking around on Meh
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@tinamarie1974 @UncleVinny I just spent 3 nights building my $750 + tax + shipping 3D printer kit. Hoping it is better than this Dremel.
@Fduch Prusa?
@FsFalcon Spot on!
item coolness factor: 10/10
item price for refurb: ehh… you can often find new ones (of this brand and model) for less on ebay but without the warranty I suppose
I will refrain from putting a link to a better value brand/product here due to the cool nature of the item.
If any of these do land in I.R.K.s I will actually be upset I didn’t get an I.R.K. this time… maybe.
PLA only
https://www.prusa3d.com/
or https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15365
@username Ya, too dear a price for a PLA-only refurbished printer.
@username Seconding these. MPSM was my first printer, currently daily driving a mk3s.
Go MP if you want cheap
Go Prusa if you want the best cost/performance
@n2o my first was a wanhao duplicator 6 (which MP rebadged as the MP Ultimate, I believe). Upgraded the bejesus out of it. Then I got an MK3s to tide me over while I build my new printer. Also planning on retrofitting the Wanhao with an eensy Rambo board, just haven’t had time.
So 100% with you! MP for cheap, Prusa for cost/performance out of the box, DIY for cost/performance/frustration.
Can I print socks and pixel trackers with this? Asking for a friendly website.
Do you accept cold, hard cash? Don’t mind the paper. You know, that kind of paper is really expensive.
My brain: We could make money with this!
Also my brain: “we have no money for this!
@calebnmoore Are there online plans for using one of these to print more of these? (So it would pay for itself.)
Also can you give it to me for free and I can print you money to pay for it
Why would you think this would be in an irk? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it on here and it’s posted today which is after the mehrathon. If something is in your irk, it’s probably been exhaustively tried to be sold on here that even us mehahokics didn’t buy it or there’s not enough of a product left to hold a daily sale. I mean, I’d be extremely surprised if it did happen.
@Drunkenalien Maybe all but 2 of them sell today, so they stick them in our IRKs to be nice.
@Drunkenalien
I see what you did there.
I want this but I’m not prepared to spend that much.
But I want this!
@kubiak You don’t want this.
I was ready to come in here and make fun of the deal, since I’m used to seeing new 3D printers from monoprice being cheaper than this. But looking at reviews ( https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-3d-printers ) it looks like the Dremel (provided you trust refurbished) is a very good deal.
I don’t think I’m ready to pull the $600 trigger, but I’m sure others will.
Utah! Winnah winnah chicken dinnah!
@therealjrn Washington State now, also. 3 sold! There’s still some left.
@stolicat THERE’S STILL SOME LEFT!
@therealjrn Impeachment hearing has ended, so Texas and California have piled on - 5 sold!
still some left!
@stolicat STILL SOME LEFT!!
@therealjrn ok, now the map shows 3 light states and 2 dark states with 6 sold. I can’t decide which thing is more confusing
@therealjrn New York, New York - 6!
(there’s still some left!)
@Superllama7 I think they updated the map years ago to use population. So the color is a ratio of # sold in that state and the population of that state. Utah’s population being significantly lower than California might have only 1 sold and be a darker color whereas California might have 2 sold and still be light.
That’s about twice what I’d pay for an entry level 3d printer these days. Those things got cheap FAST.
Maybe if you guys were selling a good resin printer at this price I’d bite.
For anyone seeing this and are now interested in 3D printing, two things:
3D printing is super awesome and actually can be useful in your life with functional and gift prints for birthdays/holiday’s.
Buy an Ender 3. They are 180 new on eBay, and they are also available at Amazon. It has a bigger build area than this one. After buying and printing upgrades, you’re looking at 250 max. Don’t buy what they have here unless you need an enclosure and are too lazy to build your own
@koolaidbeans you can even grab a ender 3 pro (better psu and some slight design improvements) for 200 on sale at the 'zon quite often.
@koolaidbeans Not to mention that any advantage from the enclosure is nullified by the lack of a heated bed and limited hotend temps.
@koolaidbeans @mrchristian The enclosure still has the advantage of keeping it dust/debris free.
Of course a cheap photo tent accomplishes the same thing.
@koolaidbeans Elegoo Mars resin printer on Amazon right now is $229. The Elegoo Mars Pro (slight upgrade) will be released within the next couple weeks for $299.
@koolaidbeans @Tin_Foil I’ve been eyeballing the Elegoo Mars for a while, glad you mentioned the upcoming Pro.
Crafsman (one of the best parts of YouTube, IMO) did a pretty good video reviewing (in a pretty non-technical way) the Mars and the Anycubic Photon
So I’m interested in a good entry unit - I’m fairly tech-savvy and have a natural affinity for these things, but have avoided 3D printers for lack of time and $ and didn’t want another expensive thing sitting around that I don’t have the time to get into.
But I would like to do this now - comments above indicate a range of opinions about this and other units, and I’d love to read them. If nothing else, I’d appreciate a link to a good non-biased primer on getting in, including use of different materials and their (dis)advantages.
@stolicat it’s platform specific so not neutral, but there’s a lot of info about the ender 3 starting here.
It’s a very common and well recommended entry point into 3d printing for not much money.
@stolicat While I don’t know of any one “good” resource for what you seek, here is my advice:
Figure out what your budget is for getting in to this as a casual hobbyist is. Shop for well reviewed printers in that price range. Buy one.
No matter what you buy you’re going to discover that you didn’t buy the right thing. But the process of arriving at that conclusion is going to help determine what you really want.
Questions you will need to answer (but probably can’t right now) are things like:
While you’re learning about 3D printing and figuring out what kind of equipment you really want, you will invariably find things to tweak on your system. My first printer looks nothing like it did when I got it. It’s been upgraded and tweaked extensively along the way (many with parts I designed or found and printed). Today it performs exponentially better than the day I got it, but I hit the limitations. Then I got a printer that met those needs (and didn’t have the same limitations). Now I’m building my own printer (it’s easier than you might think).
@mrchristian @djslack That’s some great advice - thank you!
My focus, aside from making goofy little things for around the house and cat toys, will probably be functional pieces, tool extensions, specialized fittings for structures and plumbing, repair parts for machinery and furniture, etc., so I’ll be eventually focused on workable layout software and material characteristics.
@djslack @stolicat Hey I recognize that thread…
I’ve been 3D printing for a couple of years now, I’m by no means an expert, but I’d say I’m pretty familiar with the basics.
I agree with the above linked PCMag review’s assessment that this printer’s best application would be in a classroom. It’s designed to be as easy as possible to setup and use, provided you stick with the proprietary (expensive) filaments.
The fact that it has an enclosure means virtually nothing as it lacks a heated bed. Its only purpose really is to (possibly) keep small, curious fingers away from a moving part which happens to be extremely hot.
I haven’t printed with anything but PLA, but I still prefer to heat the bed for better adhesion. However I can easily see myself wanting to try using TPU for things which need a little flex such as phone cases. If I needed a 3D printed part for use outdoors, then printing in ABS is a good idea, etc. There’s no path to any of that with this printer.
In short this will help you learn the basics, and can produce decent prints. However, you can easily do the same for under $200 new with some minor trade-offs.
I talked extensively about the Ender 3 in the linked thread. But it can do everything this printer can and far more for about 1/3rd the price here, but you have to do a bit of assembly and tinkering to get it going.
If you want to avoid any assembly, and only minimal tinkering (bed leveling), the MonoPrice Select Mini II is a great option as well. The build volume will be a bit smaller, and it won’t come with a removable build plate, but again, about 1/3rd the price.
However, I strongly doubt the Dremel printer or any 3D printer on the market now or in the next few years will ever only require that you load filament and print a file without any further user intervention or maintenance. Nozzles get clogged, belts loosen, etc.
Learning how a 3D printer operates and how to fix it will be an essential part of 3D printing for a while. Which is why I still believe the Ender 3 remains the best entry point, with the MPSMII a close second.
When you’re ready for as few more bells and whistles (provided you hadn’t modded your Ender 3 to add them to begin with) A Prusa I3 is a good next step up, which depending on variations or whether you buy a kit or an assembled unit will cost somewhere between half to slightly more expensive than the current offering. Alternatively, you might want to get an entry level resin printer such as the Elegoo Mars.
Fact is, you can buy a new Ender 3, MPSMII, and Elegoo for about the same total investment as this refurb printer. You’d be printing within 10 minutes with the MP, while you assembled your Ender, and got that going, and then you could glove up and get going with the Elegoo too and in that span of time learned far more about 3D printing than the Dremel will ever teach you.
@ciabelle @djslack @mrchristian - more great advice - thank you!
Now, any issues with cats crawling into it while it’s running? The movements of some of those mechanisms look awfully tempting for inquisitive paws …
@stolicat With a sample size of 1, my cat has not shown any interest in the printer while it’s operating.
@ciabelle @stolicat This one was inquisitive and seemed wanting to attack on a few different moments:
@ciabelle @narfcake @stolicat There’s this case for the ender 3 if you are worried about cats. It’s also highly recommended if you want to print with ABS.
@stolicat
I wouldn’t buy this Dremel. they’re way overpriced. For just a couple hundred more you can get the gold standard of home printers a a kit, the Prusa MK3S ($750 as a kit), that’s brand new. I suggest the kit over the fully assembled model ($1000), not just because it’s cheaper but because you’ll learn a lot of stuff you need to do in doing the assembly itself. You’ll be needing that knowledge when something breaks, and something WILL break no matter how much you spend on a unit.
If you just want to get into the hobby and try it out, you can do that for just $200-$300 with a cheaper printer. The link has good suggestions for all price points, plus the community is really helpful when you hit stumbling blocks.
@ciabelle @stolicat My cat also has no interest in the printers. I don’t know if it’s the heat, smell or what, but beyond cursory glances has never demonstrated any interest.
nuh-uh.
I’m holding out for the CNC machine.
@alacrity Meh should sell the occasional lathe or bandsaw, just to keep it spicy.
This printer is new and exciting! So kudos to the buyers for their hard work.
KuoH
@UncleVinny I would be stoked to see lathes and bandsaws show up. Provided they weren’t as bad as this deal.
@alacrity @UncleVinny I’m holding out for the robotic plasma torch cutter …
@alacrity @stolicat @UncleVinny
/youtube AvE Portable Plasma prototype
@alacrity @compunaut @UncleVinny oh yeah, that’s pretty close. I want that little hand held job they use on The Expanse for cutting through spaceship hulls …
As others have alluded, this is a terrible deal, even by Meh standards.
Please, don’t buy this.
For a few hundred bucks less, you could get yourself in to the Prusa Mini, which in this size/build volume is a luxury model.
For $400+ less you could get a Monoprice Select Mini. The build volume isn’t as large as this or the Prusa, but for $190 it’s a very cheap and very solid beginner printer.
@mrchristian The only thing you’re buying here is the Dremel branding. Even if this was half the price and not refurbished I’d pass. I hope Meh didn’t get stuck with a lot of these.
@mrchristian @Tin_Foil Is 300,000 of them a lot?
@mrchristian SAD!
@moofi @Tin_Foil 300,000 could be a Lot. I think any quantity can be correctly referred to as a Lot.
In this case though, any lot would be a lot of these.
I’m gonna wait for a 2d dot matrix printer.
@carl669 then you can make music with it.
@carl669 @RiotDemon Is it Floppotron time!?
@carl669 @mrchristian @RiotDemon It’s always Floppotron time!!
Well, I couldn’t afford today’s deal, but at least I could afford to do today’s poll.
This Dremel printer was bad from the start. Now they are dumping them. Do not buy.
I got my LulzBot TAZ years ago at their Black Friday sale. It’s expensive but built like a tank and has good support; I have no regrets. Plus it’s open source and uses standard parts and filament. It’s printing some Nano Leaf lights right now.
@uwacn What are you doing for diffusion? I’ve been experimenting with different filaments, vellum, etc but haven’t found anything I like yet.
@uwacn I love that company name LulzBot. That’s just awesome.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
This is not the Dremel tool you are looking for. (It cost too much)
my wallet is SOOO happy!
that I don’t know what the fuck to do with this here fancy looking machine. loll
@mick
I have the cash just itching to be blown on something, but this is a bit much for an impulse buy. (I remember my first digital camera at $700. First one I had ever seen, first one anyone at my work had ever seen, and it had a documented design flaw that made it incredibly easy to turn it into a brick, with no remedy from the manufacturer. I have tended to avoid high-dollar impulse buys since then.) But this thread and the links herein are a good starting point for researching which 3D printer to eventually buy.
Remember that before you can do much beyond using files from outside sources that you will need to learn some sort of 3D CAD. The more intricate and precise your ideas, the more knowledge you will need of 3D CAD. I can’t recall anyone stating that 3D CAD is easy for a beginner.
@Lighter well, you can download files off thingiverse and stuff. But go get a Prusa brand printer to that, not this Dremel one.
So I’ve been itching to purchase a 3D printer now for years. What stops from blowing money on one is when I think about what I could make with it… & come up empty. What would I print?!
@Joedetroit This…
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/miniatures/figurines/zuul-the-gatekeeper
@Joedetroit That was what kept me from buying one as well. Last year I got one as a gift and after about 2 months of playing around with it, I ran out of things that I wanted to print. I’ve had it nearly a year now and still use it from time to time to make a few parts here and there for something broken or to make a custom widget or two. If you have kids, it also comes in handy for some school projects but overall it is a toy (and also a fun hobby).
Edit - If you are considering it, I would recommend an Ender 3 Pro over this one.
@Joedetroit @rtstock81 YES!
@glubash Yep, I can just see a 3D printer sitting on our lower level, near my computer (not that there is room for one) & me not using it.
@Joedetroit Here you will surely find tons of models to 3D print (and can’t get enough!): https://top3dshop.com/3d-model-finder/
How many crappy plastic elephants and baby Yoda plastic figurines does one person need. WTF would I make with this - a new toothbrush handle? A replacement screw top for my 2-Litre bottle of Diet Coke? I mean seriously. This may have industrial applications but WTF are you people making with these that you can’t buy cheaper?
@adwaller Do you not know how many Pokemon there are?
@adwaller A sampling of things I’ve printed, since you asked:
To your point though…
A really good friend who is even deeper down the 3D printing rabbit hole than I compared it to whittling. Sure, you can make some useful or interesting things. But ultimately the point of whittling is the pleasure in whittling. There is definitely some utility in 3D printing, but ultimately the joy is the journey (for me at least).
@adwaller wait, who has the baby yodas?!?!??!?!
@adwaller @tinamarie1974 everyone and their mother
All the babies
@mrchristian
Shower drinking is the best drinking.
@adwaller @mrchristian OMG
/giphy cuteness overload
@adwaller I have an Ender 3 Pro as well, and I am into flying quadcopters/drones, so a lot of what I print is various parts and add-ons for those. Plenty of other novelties and trinkets, but for me it’s less a hobby than an enabler of other hobbies.
And I will just echo what others have said: if you want a pricier machine that Just Works (to the extent they exist) there are better choices than this Dremel, but a cheaper unit would be better to just try and see if you like it. The Ender would still be my choice despite its shortcomings, because there are so many other people out there and you can always get help/experience from someone.
I print a lot in TPU, which the Dremel won’t do, but the Ender will after a lot of tinkering with settings. As we speak I have a set of propeller ducts printing for one of these:
Wow, I think Meh is going to be hosed on this. I don’t know what Meh paid for these but I think they overpaid - and getting anyone to pay $594 - I think that’s pretty ludicrous.
For $210, you get with the Ender-3 Pro:
Ender 3 Pro
/giphy hosed
I am also going to chime in and recommend a different printer if you have that type of budget: The Prusa i3 mk3
https://www.prusa3d.com/original-prusa-i3-mk3/
I would recommend buying the kit you assemble yourself. Why? Its cheaper and building it helps you repair it in the future.
Other bonuses:
-Huge community for both the printer and the software
-Prints many different materials and brands
-Huge mod community of parts and upgrades
-Prints pretty large prints before jumping in to the gigantic printer sizes
-Open Source!
Wow what a deal – 600 bucks to make a thirty-nine cent plastic elephant for your desk!! Woo!!!Woo!!!
@arfdawg well you could make an Irk or Glen. That would be priceless. Right?
@arfdawg @Kidsandliz
You could print a penis so you could DP your GF! Money well spent I’d say
@sippinndippin Uh, whoa there. Ignoring that this comment even exists (like…whhhy?) a 3d printed penis would be terrible for that. It would be decidedly not body safe, and definitely uncomfortable for a recipient.
@sippinndippin
Had a bad experience huh, @mrchristian. : (
@therealjrn lol, worked in an “Adult Bookstore” some 20 years ago, spend enough time around 3D printed parts now… can spot a bad idea without having to experience it
@mrchristian @therealjrn
It maybe body safe… there are many types of 3D printers including the food ones. I would bet you could find one that would be. (Why the hate about my comment?). Ignoring that it even exists was the wrong thing to put there imo. It was an obvious joke that showed how useless I thought this product is/was? Considering they are 3D printing a neighborhood in Mexico it’s likely safe.
If you must know (and not be a jerk) the comment was inspired by the show Almost Human. In which the protagonist finds all these dead bodies only to discover that they were dolls printed with flat feet (a defect in early human printing, long since corrected).
My wife’s library has this printer, and it’s been nothing but awful. Extruder always getting clogged, and the FIRST one was exhibiting lots of weird behaviors that even Dremel support couldn’t figure out. They ended up sending them another one but even that one still has lots of extruder problems.
Also, Dremel support was kind of hit or miss when they did contact about issues.
So yeah, no thanks.
@pyroguy7 This explains to me why these are refurbs. They probably have lots of them because they suck. I think the first thing I bought on Woot was a refurbished Zune. It never worked, they sent me my money back. I’ve avoided refurbs every since.
Cool, but nah.
Meh want but meh can’t buy —meh
@AttyVette Damn captcha again?
As a fellow robot, I understand your pain.
@sammydog01 no meh no money -all going to help child getting a divorce
Cool wish I had the extra cash laying around but since I’ve been given custody of my three grandkids there is no such thing as extra cash
@fairchild521 but think of the joy on their little faces as you explain that they won’t be getting christmas presents for the next few years, but hey, they can design and print all of their own toys, learning valuable and marketable skills?
I’d love to have something like this, but I’m saving up for a Cameo 4 Pro that isn’t out until April/May.
@lisaviolet I’ve been on the fence with the 4, I’d really like that heavier downward force, but I have this 3 that really works just fine.
The width on the Pro might be what puts me over the edge… is there an MSRP on it yet?
@mrchristian The 4 (12" cutting width) and the 4 plus (15" cutting width) are out now.
The pro (20" cutting width) is supposed to be released in April or May. The base price for that is supposed to be around $500.
I’m keeping my Silhouette SD and my two Cameo 3s. The 4 does things that the 3 does not, but the 3 does things the 4 does not. I like using a cutting blade and sketch pen or two cutting blades, one set to cut, one set to score, on the same pass.
I think, for me, at least at this point, the 4 would be comparable to my use of my Curio. So far, I’ve just used that for etching. It does a pretty good job on that.
I wasn’t even serious about getting one until I thought about that 20" cutting width.
https://www.silhouetteschoolblog.com/2019/05/silhouette-cameo-3-vs-cameo-4-do-i-need.html
Interesting thought (Sorry if someone else mentioned this, I read no replies). Temps max at 230, which means PLA only. Though it’s “enclosed”, which really only is needed for ABS. For the price, I’d strongly recommend a CR-10s. Cheaper, and a very solid printer which can do ABS, PETG, PLA, TPE, etc. as well. If you want to print ABS, build your own enclosure, or just print in PETG which is all around better material anyway.
Just my two cents.
@Bogie wow that sounded complicated I must be getting old but I can program a VCR
Aw man. I should have finished my Irk model a long time ago.
Unblame Because tomorrow starts the NHL All-Star festivities in the Lou! I am so very excited and have plans to attend as much as possible. 🥳
Blame because I could not afford tickets the the actual game. Crazy expensive
Blame because we are suppose to get freezing rain tonight and SNOW thru Sunday. Travel and parking is going to be a fucking bitch. Also, I am going to freeze my ass off at the 5k on Saturday.
So blame + blame - unblame = BLAME.
@tinamarie1974 this is not the blame thread, so I cannot officially take any blame for the above situations. But in the spirit of the NHL All-Star festivities, you can have this one penalty shot.
In the future please submit your blames at the designated facility. We will require photo-documentation if indeed you do “freeze your ass off”.
@stolicat well son of a bitch! Must have hit the wrong link on my phone!
Click, click…moving to blame thread
And I will happily send a photo if my ass actually falls off!
@stolicat @tinamarie1974
Nooooo!!! I’ve seen an ass that has fallen off before. Everything ends up at the back knees (yes, that was on purpose). I would prefer only frozen off ass photos. That sounds more like just gone instead of gravity accelerated…
@Karpadm76 @stolicat yes. My assumption was just gone, falls right off. My goal is to avoid gravity as I age
@stolicat @tinamarie1974
Sweet, I want to see what my dream ass looks like.
@stolicat @tinamarie1974
On a different note, what are IRK’s? Im new here, kinda, message stalker, one time buyer…
@Karpadm76 are you familiar with woot and their BoC’s? If so that’s basically what an IRK is.
They started out here at Meh as Fukubukuro’s or good luck bags, they then changed to Fukobukuro’s or unlucky bags, and their current form is the IRK or Instant Regret Kit (Irk also happens to be the troll mascot of sorts for the site)
Yeah, Meh, how about putting a few in some of the IRK’s! Wouldn’t THAT be cool!!
@phonorad I’ll take one in mine, thanks
@phonorad @vinuash Yes, if I get one in an IRK, I promise to use it to, uh, better humanity. And print an IRK for the meh staff.
@cengland0 @phendrick @OnionSoup @djslack @ChompyGator @UncleVinny @kubiak @mrchristian @koolaidbeans @stolicat @ciabelle @uwacn @ThunderChicken @Joedetroit @glubash @blandoon @TheMonkeyKing @darkzrobe @lisaviolet @Bogie
Woot has the Ender 3 Pro available today, new, for $199
/image Ender 3 Pro
@compunaut I’d love to jump on this. If I could justify it in my head, I certainly would.
@compunaut It’s a good price, and identical to the one on the mothership for $256. Comment at woot bring up the supposed $159 prices on Black Friday, but sounds like a good buy if you want one now. I may just pop for it.
@stolicat There’s a pretty good assembly video link in the Woot! forum/comments…
@compunaut I noticed! I was very tempted but want to learn more about them first. Plus I am accumulating quite a collection of online purchases I have yet to use.
@compunaut Thanks. Unfortunately, it was sold out by time I read Meh’s email about your message. Maybe next time, they will be even cheaper and then I will have the time to fool with it, anyway.
@compunaut Remember this? And my husband told me to go for it?
I just finished assembling it! Now it’s in the bedroom on an end table covered in a big trashbag with a towel over it (cats).
The worst part? The spool holder on the top with those stupid T-nuts that wanted to keep going the wrong way so the holder would pop right out. The very last part of the assembly.
I have an incredible sense of accomplishment right now.
@compunaut @lisaviolet now that it is assembled, whatcha gonna make?
@compunaut @tinamarie1974 I have no idea.
I just bought some filament, it came with a small amount and I have no idea how much it will make. My husband has no idea how these things work. You know, by melting stuff.
I’m on my own. Eh, it’ll keep me out of trouble.
@compunaut @lisaviolet oohhh baby groot, baby yoda? The possibility are endless!!
@compunaut @tinamarie1974 I know.
More stuff. lol
@compunaut @lisaviolet @tinamarie1974 hey I made one of those.
@compunaut @Ignorant @tinamarie1974 Nice!
@compunaut @Ignorant @lisaviolet adorable!!
I’ll be damned. I mentioned this to my husband. After I read the size it can make, he wanted one.
Ordered!
@compunaut We got the woot one.
@compunaut @lisaviolet I ordered one also for the price, even though it’ll probably sit there for a couple weeks before I get to it.
@lisaviolet @stolicat I should get a small commission from Woot!; I think I earned it
Good luck with your purchase, and please share your results - we want to see the baby Yodas LOL
@compunaut @lisaviolet if I did one of those it would be the cheesehead baby yoda …
@compunaut @stolicat Now that I’m not on my tablet, I can actually type. Geez, the keyboards on those things are tiny.
Actually, my husband wants it for doing prototypes of things one of our supplier has one of their Chinese factories build for us. I asked him what it was and he tried to explain to me, then just said “stuff for our supplier”.
I guess it’s above my paygrade. lol.
But guess who’ll be setting it up and programming it and running it?
Yeah. Me.
In all honesty? I’d make a baby Groot. I’ve only seen one Star Wars movie and that was when it first came out a long, long time ago. (Since we got Disney+, the Star Wars franchise is on our to watch list; right now we’re making our way through the Marvel universe.)