3D printer, did I make the right call? (1 Viewer)

[snellman]

My son is a freshman in high school and is on the robotics team. He has been doing a lot of designing parts in autoCAD for their robot and printing on the 3D printer at school. His older sister is an engineer and was into robotics competitions in college so it has been enjoyable watching those two discuss different designs and her helping him with autoCAD. He asked for one for Christmas so we decided that was the direction we would go for his gift. I am so far behind in technology anymore that I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn't even think to come here until after I made the purchase of course. We ended up going with this one. Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro 3D Printer It was a highly rated printer and had good reviews. Curious of thoughts on this and the next question is what is the best material to buy for it? I understand there are different materials depending on what you are working on, but I have a lot of learning yet to do.

 

[NutterButter]

I know nothing about 3d printing, but I've found the facebook groups to be very helpful if you have an account. https://www.facebook.com/groups/3dprintingfornoobs

 

[Wooderson]

On the look out fora beginner 3D printer for my kids as well. Following.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Also interested in this thread. I do a lot of projects that it would be super handy to be able to make small parts.

 

[Galileo]

My son is a freshman in high school and is on the robotics team. He has been doing a lot of designing parts in autoCAD for their robot and printing on the 3D printer at school. His older sister is an engineer and was into robotics competitions in college so it has been enjoyable watching those two discuss different designs and her helping him with autoCAD. He asked for one for Christmas so we decided that was the direction we would go for his gift. I am so far behind in technology anymore that I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn't even think to come here until after I made the purchase of course. We ended up going with this one. Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro 3D Printer It was a highly rated printer and had good reviews. Curious of thoughts on this and the next question is what is the best material to buy for it? I understand there are different materials depending on what you are working on, but I have a lot of learning yet to do.

I do not have familiarity with that particular printer and the industry is a fast changing one in terms of materials to choose from. From my limited knowledge, the most common materials to print with are PLA (polylactic Acid) and ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene). The PLA is lower in cost, but these prints are more brittle. This is good material for easy prototypes and proof of concept type stuff. Good for just tinkering around. The ABS is stronger and and more structurally sound. If he is printing parts to be used on his robots, this is a better option as it can take a little abuse. HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) is an option similar in many ways to ABS with good structural integrity, but if you use this, you will want some good ventilation in your print area.

 

[Tick]

https://forums.footballguys.com/threads/3d-printer-chronicles.764383/ That was my thread. I read it now with mixed emotions - my boy stopped tinkering, quit the robotics team, barely graduated, and isn't really acting on any plans for the future. He was so eager and enjoyed these projects, I hate that he doesn't have that joy right now. Maybe he will again someday...

 

[Tick]

My son is a freshman in high school and is on the robotics team. He has been doing a lot of designing parts in autoCAD for their robot and printing on the 3D printer at school. His older sister is an engineer and was into robotics competitions in college so it has been enjoyable watching those two discuss different designs and her helping him with autoCAD. He asked for one for Christmas so we decided that was the direction we would go for his gift. I am so far behind in technology anymore that I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn't even think to come here until after I made the purchase of course. We ended up going with this one. Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro 3D Printer It was a highly rated printer and had good reviews. Curious of thoughts on this and the next question is what is the best material to buy for it? I understand there are different materials depending on what you are working on, but I have a lot of learning yet to do.

I do not have familiarity with that particular printer and the industry is a fast changing one in terms of materials to choose from. From my limited knowledge, the most common materials to print with are PLA (polylactic Acid) and ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene). The PLA is lower in cost, but these prints are more brittle. This is good material for easy prototypes and proof of concept type stuff. Good for just tinkering around. The ABS is stronger and and more structurally sound. If he is printing parts to be used on his robots, this is a better option as it can take a little abuse. HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) is an option similar in many ways to ABS with good structural integrity, but if you use this, you will want some good ventilation in your print area.

As I recall, many of the hobby-level printers aren't built with a head that can really handle the slightly higher temperature that ABS needed, so PLA was all they could do unless you swapped out the head.