Hello! I have been on the fence about getting a printer for years. Now my wife is getting interested too, and I feel that now it’s the time.
What are the recommendations nowadays? I am trying to steer clear of Bambi Labs due to their controversies (I’m also a supporter of open source software).
I’ve seen a few mentions of Prusa in this community. Would that be a good start? I don’t want to get in at an extremely basic level and then need to upgrade in half a year.
My first printer was way back when Prusa was but a set of instructions and suggestions. Prusa did a lot of the research that caused other companies to succeed. And seeing what Bamboo is doing with it, it’s important for me to support prusa as I detest closed ecosystems.
So when it was time to get back into the hobby last year, I went for a Prusa Core One, and I’ve had no regrets.
It’s an excellent printer that is easy to use, and it’s very versatile, so that’s my suggestion.
The price tag is a bit higher than the competitors, but I don’t mind - they floated the R&D bill for the entire industry, and that carries an interest.
Interesting to hear the history. So Prusa was the original trail blazer?
The origin of the hobby 3D printer is the RepRap project, a community open hardware project. Josef Prusa was actively involved. The first printer the company actively sold - the Prusa i3 - is still on the RepRap website.
They got a bit more restrictive with their licencing terms in the recent past which is both understandable and a bit of a slap in the face to where they came from, but they’re still the most open 3D printer manufacturer.
(Not the most open 3d printer though, that award has to go to DIY only models like the Voron)
If you want to ease yourself into the Voron life, Sovol makes the SV-08 which is essentially a Voron clone. I think they’re alsonthe biggest manufacturer in the game that doesn’t try to do a branded slicer. They’ll just tell you to use Orca. I have the SV08 Max (500mm^3 bed monster) l, and I’m enjoying it.
The Bambu printers I started with (A1 mini and A1) definitely have more polished experiences and WAY more print profiles available. Bambu is hard to beat in the “it just works” category, and I actually still recommend the A1 mini for someone who wants to print little things here and there and isn’t interested in 3D printing itself as a hobby.