Follow-up On My FDM Purchase Advice Post

In my previous post titled Low End FDM for Miniatures, Hobby Parts, and Messing Around? I received a ton of fantastic recommendations, but ultimately went with the A1 mini due to its price at the time, ease of use, and several other factors. It came in today, and I've already made 10 different prints on it. The Benchy came out wonderfully, and so has everything else so far.

Thank all of you for your help, and I look forward to continuing to be a part of the community.

papalonian ,

I'm glad you got something that is meeting your needs so far! Lots of people going the bambu route as of late. If you want a tool that just works, it's a brilliant machine, and if later down the line you do get more interested in the hobby side of things, you'll a. already have basic maintenance and use experience, b. have a bulletproof backup printer when things on your project inevitability hiccup and stop working, and c. be able to print your own parts if you decide to go a self built route.

MisshapenDeviate OP ,

I have a tendency to get into hobbies for a month or so and then drop them, too, so it being easy to set up and use should help me stick with it a bit more. The relatively low initial investment should soften the blow if I do drop it, too.

papalonian ,

relatively low initial investment

How much did you get it for? Bambus are not normally the "relatively cheap" options haha

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

Well, they're MSRP'ing for $199 at the moment if you don't spring for the AMS Lite filament changer thingamadoo. To be fair that's less than several pocket knives I own are worth. I'm not a fan of Bambu at all, but I think you could wind up with far worse for not much less money...

papalonian ,

Hey, that's a pretty good price. I'm not a fan of bambu either, but for someone who just wants to print stuff I don't think it's a bad deal at all. That's less than my stock Neptune 3 and probably a hell of a lot more reliable

MisshapenDeviate OP ,

I went with the A1 mini while it was (actually still is) $200 on their website. That's about as much as we spent on our sewing machine gathering dust, a bit more than our vinyl cutter doing the same, and around the same as I've invested so far in mini painting.

To be fair to me, I have so far kept up with the miniature painting.

papalonian ,

That's lower than I expected. When I was last shopping for a new potential printer, bambus were starting at around $400. Good piece of hardware for that price, if you're not crazy into the hobby aspect of printing and just need it to aid your other hobbies. Have fun with it!

roofuskit ,

If you haven't found him already. https://youtube.com/@tombof3dprintedhorrors

His videos are great, he recently fell in love with the Bambu bed slingers. His minis are designed for FDM which is something you're going to have to look for.

MisshapenDeviate OP ,

Just downloaded all of his sample models and bought another 5 on top of that. I wish that sand worm came with assembly instructions, but he's getting built one way or another.

mihnt ,
@mihnt@lemmy.ca avatar

Hopefully someone recommended for you to grab the .2mm nozzle since you're interested in minis.

It's here.

MisshapenDeviate OP ,

They did. The nozzle actually arrived days before the printer, which was somewhat funny. I plan on trying it out a bit tomorrow.

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