I want to get into 3D printing but I'm not sure about spending money on a 3D printer. Is there a online service in Canada for 3D printing I can try instead? If I need a 3D printer what should I get? What is the price range of a 3D printer? Can you get one on a budged $100 or a little higher? Do 3D printing work on both Mac and PC or just one? Can 3D printers be user friendly for beginners? I want to prompt a model using meshy.ai or some other prompting site and 3D printed.
There are some services in Canada, but for what your spending on the pieces youre getting printed, you'd be better off getting your own printer. Print services are generally better price wise if your getting bulk parts printed.
You might be able to find some printers on marketplace or Kijiji for $100 or so but likely they won't be in fully working condition.
Printers sort of fall into two categories, either cheap but they require a lot of hands on attention. Or expensive and they almost run like a paper printer, press start and wait a few hours.
If your willing to get your hands dirty and do a bunch of research, you can get something like a Ender 3 and learn your way through printing for relatively cheap. But the sort of base amount you're going to pay is going to be in the 3-500$ range.
As far as computers go, the printer is independent to the computer. You will need a slicing program, but they work on Mac or PC.
As far as user friendly, generally speaking, the more you spend, the more user friendly it becomes.
Hope that helps a bit.
-Blaine
i want to get into it as well, theres tons of online services that will print and mail stuff to you but theyre really expensive, some offer free quotes , you just upload your model and it will tell you the cost. Then i looked at reviews for cheap printers on amazon and its kinda the same with all the cheap ones they work really good at first and then break down after 6 months. Im going to save for a Prusa Mini, seems like the best choice.
Jojo they don't so much break down as require constant maintenance. Even with the Prusa's. 3D printers are not like paper printers where you just buy filament and print. They're more like an old 1930's car. They require constant upkeep and troubleshooting. Unless your looking at a Bambu printer, most all other printers require you to replace the nozzle. Sometimes the auto-bed leveling can get out of whack so it requires you to calibrate it. Or just simple fine tuning of the Z height (distance from nozzle to bed). Different materials require different circumstances. ABS needs an enclosure, and good ventilation. PLA does not. Etc etc etc. It's really sort of pandoras box.
I don't want to discourage anyone as it's a great hobby, and potentially business. But it's more than just buying a printer and printing and lots of people have that idea not realizing the work that needs to go into it. The cheaper you go, the more hands on you need to be with the printer. Printers like Bambu are pretty user friendly when it comes to just pressing print but your also looking around the 2k range (some of their lineup is cheaper but you also lose build size and some features.)
I've been printing for 5 years for fun and for the last 2 years as a business so I can definitely point people in the direction they may want to go.
-Blaine
When I'm going into something new and I'm not sure, I always start small. For example if I want to start sculpting in 3D and I want a tablet, I got for the entry level one. Since I don't know if I am going to continue sculpting, I don't want to spend on the most expensive tablet only to then see that I didn't like sculpting that much. Same would go for a 3D printer, I'd start small, just to see if it's something that I like and go from there. And also if you start simple, as you invest in better and better models, you can really appreciate what the expensive ones do that are worth the price, since you come from the cheap ones and now you have a base to compare to.
I remember my cousin tried Paintball once and he liked it, the next day he was doing investigations to buy all sorts of guns and expensive equipment, I told him dude don't do that, you don't know if it's a hobby your going to keep up with. He was like of course I'm going to continue playing Paintball, it's too cool. I'm like yeah but you only played it once, you don't go marry a girl right after the first date. Well, he bought all the equipment, spent tons of money, played it two more times and got tired of the sport and it all went to waste. Morale of the story, don't marry a girl after only one date.