Basically title, but I can provide some information.

I’m looking to spend no more than $300 or so. I’m not well versed in different filaments (I’ll be honest, I know nothing) or really anything about 3d printing, but I want to be able to print cup holders for someone I know whose vehicle has none, I imagine heat resistance and strength would be important there. I also do robotics now and would like to be able to make my own small robot chassis and parts. I’m also a Linux user and like FOSS, which I believe is fairly compatible with 3d printing, so I would like to find a printer that doesn’t make me use proprietary software and that I can use with Fedora Linux without too much hassle. I know I’m new to this, and I know I’m in other hobbies where people post things like: “I want to spend no more than 6 dollars to get artificial superintelligence running on an Arduino Nano,” so I hope this isn’t that, and sorry if it is. Thanks in advance.

  • AtHeartEngineer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    102·
    7 days ago

    **Get a Bambu printer. Do not get an ender. **

    I own quite a few 3d printers and got into it in the late 2000s with MakerBot. I have learned a lot, and have tried to drag friends into the hobby, and most of them have been highly frustrated until Bambu came along.

    Please, just get a Bambu printer, right now nothing else compares. Bambu isn’t fully FOSS (firmware isn’t) but people are working on open source firmware. Their slicer software is open source.

    For printing anything for a car, don’t use PLA, I’d suggest PETG, ABS, ASA, or Nylon if you get a printer that can handle that (prob more than $300). PLA will warp in a car from heat/sunlight.

    A Bambu A1 is $340 without the AMS lite. If you get that and like it, I’d recommend getting the AMS lite so you can do multi color and multi material prints. It can handle PLA and PETG which should meet most hobby needs. If you want to get into actually doing robotics stuff with it more seriously, sell the A1 and get a P1P.