How to Buy a 3d Printer

Buying your first 3d printer or adding to your machines, this video is for you. I own 13 FDM style 3d printers across 11 different models. Folks have left thousands of comments and questions here and at forum.drvax.com. In this video, I review the top 18 factors I think you should consider when purchasing a new 3d printer.
00:00 Introduction
02:15 3d Printer Architecture
04:04 Comparing 11 3d Printer Models
07:15 Summary of 18 Factors
07:47 Print Volume
11:39 Direct Extruder vs Bowden Tube
14:09 Hot End Design
16:44 Filament Out Sensors and Power Fail Recover
17:45 Bed Leveling Adjustments
19:08 Auto Bed Leveling
22:13 8 bit vs 32 bit
23:30 Control Screen Type
25:11 WIFI Support
27:51 Print Surface
30:28 Open Source vs Proprietary
32:12 Firmware Boot Loaders
33:50 Slicer Support
35:35 Dual vs Single Z-Axis
37:22 Bed Movement Architecture
38:47 Enclosed vs Open Frame
40:19 Selecting a 3d Printer
Let's continue to learn together. Irv
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The MakeWithTech channel teaches people how to use desktop technology to create, innovate and make things. If you are a "maker" and want to learn more about 3d Printing, 3d Printers, 3d Printing Slicers, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), or 3d Modeling, this is a place you should visit often. The channel includes additional content about using a wood lathe, woodworking, programming single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi and Python. Available reviews are about Prusa, Creality, Monoprice, ANET, JG Maker, and Flashforge 3d Printers. Slicers covered include MatterControl, Cura, PrusaSlicer, Flashprint, and IdeaMaker.

[@eyeguyful]

I just got an Ender 3 V2 last week as my first printer, after watching this video I think I made the right choice :D

[@MakeWithTech]

Excellent

[@thai9503]

You chose right, now connect octo

[@user-ns1cl8ir9l]

Definitely. I have older 3 Pro and with PLA it prints better than 1000 and 3000 $ models at my job )))

[@pizzablender]

Definitely a very nice printer for the money. Spend time on your slicer settings and dry your PETG filament wel and it is very enjoyable. When you are really experienced and know what you'd like to change, the Ender 3 is very hackable too. And lots and lots of knowledge on forums and boards.

[@alexchiosso221]

Hi DrVax. This is a remarkable video , the best introduction video on 3D printing I've ever seen.... Thx

[@stephan.scharf]

thumbs up for your overview, well explaining and amazing charts.

[@themountain59]

I got a vovelab aquila...basically a E3v2 with upgrades and I think its the best for the buck entry printer in the moment! That thing prints flawlessly right out of the box. Great video Dr.Vax...as usual!

[@johnkelley9877]

There is a lot of good information here! Thanks for sharing this.

[@miguelguevara891]

Stunning video, very professional, please keep doing your job, you are a master. (Pdt. I’ve seen tons of 3d.printers videos from others channels btw.)

[@Nick-ye5kk]

Excellent content, very useful

[@jamienightingale707]

Just got my first printer last month, an Ender 3 V2. Think I will upgrade my bed springs and replace my squealy fan for now and work on learning the settings. Thankyou for explaining everything so clearly for us older newbs.

[@0LoneTech]

Very good guide, thank you for taking the time to create and publish this. Regarding "all metal" vs teflon lined hot ends, it's not that metal is hard to cool. It's that it must be precisely manufactured and still doesn't get slippery like PTFE, so it's harder to push material through. With PTFE lined hot ends, it doesn't matter as much if the machining is rough, because it doesn't touch the moving plastic until it is in the hot zone. Regarding level, there are really two distinct issues: Firstly the nozzle and surface must move in a known manner, which usually means all axis at right angles. This is known as tramming. Secondly the nozzle must reach close enough to put plastic on the bed. The two are often conflated, and some machines can handle one but not he other. Some more exotic machines, like CR-30, use other angles than right angles. What does not matter, oddly, is actual level; FDM printers typically don't mind being turned around, including upside down. Regarding open source: My fridge has no software in it; it has a compressor and thermostat. Anyway, source doesn't usually matter in appliances, but see it as a level of documentation. Open source firmware means you have a recourse to get things repaired or improved (whether by you or some helpful friend). Open source printers mean you can print replacements without needing to redesign them. Open source software, such as CAD and slicer software, is even more important; it means you choose when to upgrade, and can archive the tool you used for your projects along with the project if you wish, including sharing it. This is a fraught issue particularly with "cloud" software, which runs on someone else's computer and can change at any time. Proprietary firmware has a similar problem in that if you update to a broken version (this is not an upgrade), they sometimes prevent you from going back to the working version. For instance, Apple phones have been known to be reprogrammed to be slower by updates. Sony have outright destroyed functions particularly on consoles. Thus, I think it is a good idea to check for "unbrickable" bootloader and some open firmware support, even if not installed originally. An example of a 3D printer issue open source support can help with: Ender 5 Plus comes with badly tuned automatic bed leveling, that thinks the sensor and nozzle are in the same place. This has been corrected in third party open source updates. Prusa printers actually use open source firmware and design but locked down firmware updates, but they have a method to enable your own updates. I think the idea was that the warranty covers their firmware but not arbitrary changes.

[@snax_4820]

All your videos are important ...!

[@esgberg3524]

Great video very informative you earned a new sub

[@Nitrious89]

Thanks @DrVax .. I have ordered a Pursa i3 MK3S+ !! I cannot wait for it to arrive so I can start my 3D printing journey :)

[@MakeWithTech]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@ericlauryssen1518]

great video,Thank you so much for this. I have a Ender5 and i still believe it's one of the best price/quality printers you can get.

[@ronm6585]

Fantastic info. Thank you.

[@kishorsoni2040]

Very nicely and easy to understand concept

[@jorg261]

Excellent overview

[@philnelson2364]

I have FLSUN QQ-S-PRO and it's truely amazing. 255 x 255 x 360mm, 69 point autolevel one time only, dual gear titan-like extruder, micro sd card/Wifi/usb connect (gcode sent to sdcard via wifi), all metal hot end, Glass bed instant release when cool - no glue required (except when humidity is over 55%, use glue a few times then remove it and the glass works without for a while), color lcd touch screen, semi assembled, 100mm/sec., Great service, every part available, 32bit robin board etc. etc. etc. - worth checking out, also the new sr racer… 412.00 canadian. Phil Nelson, Sr. Engineer, 67yrs old. I also had an ender 3 pro… Delta far better, more efficient

[@MakeWithTech]

I am hoping to review an FLSUN delta printer in the near future. Keep watching. :-)

[@ozzytheartist4780]

Thank yo so much for this!

[@DanJonesShow]

TH3D is the best!! #th3d Fantastic video! You have been such a huge help for me in my 3d printing journey. SO much so that I have started a 3d printing company. I have 4 printers. I told my wife you have 13 haha sooo maybe One day I'll catch up :) Two thumbs up from me and one for KZbin.

[@Otakunopodcast]

Filament runout sensors can be useful. Nothing sucks worse than starting a long print only to have underestimated how much filament it would take. Especially since on a lot of filament reels, it's hard to visually judge how much you have left. Also, not all filament sensors are created equal. The common microswitch/mechanical switch type indeed do not protect against jams or feed issues. However there are also so-called "smart" filament sensors that are becoming more common, that WILL protect against jams and other feed problems. Rather than using a microswitch, they use a wheel that the filament presses up against, coupled with an optical sensor, very similar to how old-school roller ball mice worked. If the filament stops/jams then wheel stops turning, which the printer can detect. And as for Open Source vs proprietary, I would be very wary of any printer running proprietary firmware. In some cases, it locks you in to using their own proprietary slicers (Flashforge, Cetus, etc.) which don't always work as well as Cura or PrusaSlicer and/or don't have all the features of the other slicers and/or are not available for your OS. And in some cases they also use their own proprietary boards, which means, unless someone has reverse engineered how it works, you are locked into their firmware and can't load Marlin on it.

[@pizzablender]

Nowadays I wiegh my rolls when they come in, and notice the full weight on them. So I can re-weigh and determine how much is left.

[@Otakunopodcast]

@@pizzablender OK now why didn't I think of that? Great idea! Thanks :)

[@solman93]

Great information.

[@pmflav]

Awww no Artillery Sidewinder X1. Has it's quirks but I love it.

[@iskandartaib]

Bed leveling wheels - one reason beds go out of adjustment is wheel creep due to vibration. On my Wanhao i3 Plus (bought in 2017) I fixed it by installing dual locking wheels and removing the springs. It's a Thingiverse project - the author suggests only using three corners to level the bed, leaving the fourth free-floating. So far once I've set it, it doesn't move or creep. I also like the fact that the wheels are bigger (the original wheels were tiny and hurt your fingers). I plan to do this on my second printer, which I shall be buying soon.

[@user-ns1cl8ir9l]

Considering print bed, filament material (i.e. expected bed temperature) matters: sometimes glass bed doesn't reach temperature of the bed sensor. The most drastic I've seen is 80C bed vs. 100C sensor). So if you upgrade bed of just have adhesion problems, check real bed temperature.

[@AndrewAHayes]

Irv a great printer that I recently bought is a Voxelab Aquila which is an Ender 3 V2 OS clone that has made improvements on the V2 and it is only $179 from Voxelab although I have heard of people getting them for $160, I hope you end up getting a review model of this printer as it is an awesome machine

[@MakeWithTech]

I’ll have to check it out

[@bigdogkmc]

I got one 2 weeks ago and this printer is absolutely amazing for the price, $170 on Amazon. Prints better than my Ender 3 Pro.

[@pieyed1302]

Just a clarification for folks getting their first printer. Dr. VAX mention ABL a couple of times. ABL is Auto Bed Lever, as he explained. Later in the video he refers to high temperature filament as ABL also. I'm pretty sure he meant ABS or ASA type filament.

[@MakeWithTech]

You are correct. Great catch. Thank.

[@jimberg98]

What is your experience with bed adhesion issues when you compare beds that shift on the Y-axis vs beds that only shift for the Z-axis? I'm new to 3d printing. I purchased an Ender 5 Plus. My prints kept failing until I realized how much it was shaking as a result of rapid direction shifts. I moved it to a table that is fixed to the wall and it's rock solid now. I'm really happy with it. I'm wondering how Newton's first law isn't a problem for those printers with moving beds if it was for mine just shaking a bit too much. Thoughts?

[@MakeWithTech]

I have found that bed adhesion on my Ender 5 is better than on my Ender 3. The 5 bed moves up and down instead of back and forth. You comment about the table is right on target. The best place for a 3d printer would be a concrete table.

[@merlingrim2843]

I bought an Ender 3 V2. From my experience, it’s unreliable, and requires constant adjustment/tinkering. I spend more time getting a print than designing the models. With that in mind, a valuable metric to consider is reliability, maintenance, and time required to achieve flawless execution. Before buying a printer, it might be better to use a printing service or consider paying a bit more to get a 4K resin printer.

[@senslm]

Me to experiencing the same in V2. More warping and sticking issues.

[@MakeWithTech]

I hear your pain. Let me point out that $250 3D Printers are not microwave ovens. They are Do It Yourself Tools. If you buy a table saw you will have to learn how to adjust it and maintain it. The same goes for 3d printers. If you are having trouble from one print to the next I would tighten all of the bolts and screws, verify the belts are tight, and then very carefully reset the bed level. Then to make things easier for yourself I would buy some MagiGoo and put it on the print bed before your print. Just a little. P.S. I have started a new discussion forum at forum.drvax.com where we can all have more elaborate discussions and share pictures on our prints and printers. Check it out. Irv

[@merlingrim2843]

@@MakeWithTech Yeah, I totally understand the concept of competency with tools. I’ve worked in construction, manufacturing, engineering my entire adult life. I developed CAD/CAM software for 15 years, to drive printers, plotters, CNC, etc, and used one of the very first resin based machines in the early 90’s. The issue I have with the present tech is that it’s not consistent from one moment to the next, and the Filaments perform significantly different depending on environmental conditions.

[@charlesmullen2425]

I also had trouble, I installed a BL touch. My printer is working good now.

[@philnelson2364]

I also had a bad experience. Turns out the connector to lead screw moved which caused the z-stepper to skip, causing hesd to run into print etc. Read my review (above) about FLSUN QQ-S-PRO delta. Absolutely beautiful. I am an engineer, programmer, developper since 1976. Old but wise.

[@warrenscorner]

Great video DrVax! I think I’m sold on the Creality Ender 3 v2. It’s a decent priced first printer. It has awesome reviews and I really don’t think I’ve seen a video that bashed it. I keep on asking myself though, what will I make with it? There’s always some jigs for my woodworking shop, some custom cases for my electronics hobby, and there’s always stuff breaking around the house that I might be able to repair if I can create a model for it. What would you think about creating a scoring system for printers. Most reviews give a good, better, and best score but in the end that doesn’t tell you which product is best. What if you gave them a number system and then added the numbers to give the printer a score. 1 for good, 2 for better, and 3 for best. If you had 10 categories the good printer might score a 10 and the best one a 30. Where would the Ender 3 v2 score? Love your motto, “Let’s learn something together”!

[@pizzablender]

It is something like "works out of the box", fast, accurate, can print big things, hackable/expandable and whatnot. Many parameters and there is not just a single "right one". But with my experience with Ender 3 v2, and some random expansion things from China, I know that the Ender has a lot of things done just about right. Especially given the price.

[@Rami7605]

@@pizzablender u still have the ender?

[@pizzablender]

@@Rami7605 Yes I still have it, but there are other good printers as well.

[@Rami7605]

@@pizzablender I have been thinking in buying 1st. But many people with extreme opinions (some love it and some hate it)

[@Rami7605]

@@pizzablender do you recommend another for a starter?

[@edcbabc]

I notice you never mention Sovol printers, is there a reason for that?

[@guhanlakshmanan4507]

Can u plz share some points on the best filament used for ender 3v2 . thanks

[@pizzablender]

I use PLA and PETG. PLA is easy, looks good. PETG can be stronger but but but you must store it dry in a closed box with oven dries silica gel.

[@iskandartaib]

Just about ready to pull the trigger (or push the button) on my second printer. The first one, I bought in 2017 and was a Wanhao i3 Plus (I believe the same printer was sold by Monoprice). It's worked pretty well, but I want a larger printer for my second one. Not necessarily for printing large objects, though I do want to try printing model airplanes, but mainly for printing multiple small ones on the larger bed. I actually made up my mind a month or two ago and I'll be buying an Artillery Sidewinder X2. It's got a 300x300x400 print volume, a direct drive extruder, auto bed leveling (as far as I can tell, a BL-Touch type), and a lot of the concerns people had about the mains voltage heated bed cable have been taken care of. The Sidewinder X1 has had a lot of really good reviews from people who've used them a long time, and a few reviews where people have had specific problems with their machines (mainly not-completely-flat beds and ribbon cable issues). One major guru seems to have developed a pathological dislike of it, but that's just him. One particular feature I didn't like was the fixed printing surface - that's easily fixed. I intend to try a sheet of G10 or garolite clipped to the bed. IKEA also sells cheap glass mirror panels that should also clip on. The two alternatives, in the same price, features and size range, were the Bluer Plus and the Sapphire Plus. Both also have gotten very good reviews. The Bluer Plus is, like the Sidewinder X2, almost fully assembled, while the Sapphire Plus is more like a kit. Both use Bowden Tube extruders. The Bluer is a bed-slinger, like the Sidewinder, while the Sapphire is a Core XY printer. One printer I rejected was the Ender 3 Max - it's a 300x300x400 printer with one Z axis screw, no auto bed leveling, and like most Ender 3s was a construction project. It does cost USD100 less. Thanks very much for this video, it pretty much jibes with all the stuff I've learned over the last few months, and covered some stuff that I hadn't considered. About enclosed printers - a friend of mine, in 2017, bought a Hobby King printer - it was a tiny thing, on sale for USD99. Well, he found out about the TINY bed levelling knobs. And back then everyone wanted to print ABS - he had bed adhesion problems, and when he tried a sheet of PEI the sheet peeled off the bed when the ABS shrank. The printer got put on the shelf after that. I got my Wanhao the next month, it was a great deal more usable.

[@thunderace7493]

Good video but I assume that when you say (and include on a slide) ABL you actually mean ABS.

[@bokusimondesu]

Nope ABL is automatic bed leveling? Haven't seen the vid yet, so I may be making a stupid comment 😉

[@toepunch001]

What do you think of the Voron and the X301?

[@MakeWithTech]

I have no experience with that printer

[@HvdHaghen]

No kossel 3d printer in the list. Why? Relative to the prise high precision and high speed.

[@nicholaswillcox]

I got a Ender 3 v2 Pro end of last year on a whim....oh boy. The rabbit hole is real. Upgrade this. Fix that. Replace the junky thing here and there. LMAO Worth it, but definitely not the best printer in the world.

[@pizzablender]

A v2 or a Pro? Those are different. Still, an Ender 3 v2 is a fine printer. Yes it can be upgraded in many ways, but it _does_ work out of the box.

[@nicholaswillcox]

@@pizzablender v2, sorry. thanks for the correction. and it did work out of the box...just not great...the more I learn the more short comings I see in it. But that is one of the fun parts - learning.

[@puretoronto]

Out of the printers you currently have… if you could only keep one, which one would it be?

[@MakeWithTech]

Fair question. Maybe my new JG Maker Artist. Big print area. Multiple extruders. Real Marlin so easy to upgrade. Growing community.

[@puretoronto]

@@MakeWithTech I’m on the fence on buying a Prusa, was literally just chatting with a rep at Prusa 10 min ago, inquiring about Canadian dealers. Totally hoping you’d say Prusa. I’ll have to do a lil research on this JG now.

[@lllpearlslll]

@@puretoronto I have a Prusa as my first and only 3D printer , I had it for almost 6 months now and I loooove it ! Never had any issue with it and all my prints comes out perfect . I really wish they introduce a new printer with larger print area .

[@user-ns1cl8ir9l]

Filament sensor and auto bed leveling are controversial features. At 30.000 $ industrial printer (IEMAI Magic HT-Max) they didn't work properly and/or reliably "out of the box". Ender 3 (I own Pro, for example) is a real AK: with PLA it prints as good as average people need.

[@sairamsai723]

Hi iam Rajesh from India i have interest in your all videos iam trying to buy a printer which one is the best iam poor guy

[@jeffdavid6152]

i Love your Videos but i have a project that is out of my capability i was wondering if you could do a video on it or at least can i send you it and give me your opinion thanks or if anyone else can give me a hand