3D Printer for home

[Deleted member 65149]

Any experience here of 3D printers? I’m thinking about buying one as a Christmas present for my son (an IT professional) and his family. They’re all very practical: my daughter-in-law has a pottery business and the kids (10 and 11) are always building things and very much into coding.

I have zero knowledge of 3D printers but on a whim thought that one could be a good family present. Any advice, from whether or not it sounds like a good idea to what model to look for, would be useful. Thanks.

 

[flying haggis]

it would have to be a big big printer to make a home................


fetching coat

 

[st13phil]

Any experience here of 3D printers?

No experience of home equipment, but have used them commercially. One thing to remember (unless you are only going to print things that someone else has designed) is that you will also need software for the design process.

There's a useful guide / review piece here:

The Best 3D Printers for 2024

More affordable than ever, 3D printers are booming for personal, professional, and educational use. Here's everything to know before you buy one, along with the top models from our hands-on testing.

uk.pcmag.com

 

[clk320x]

budget?

 

[Deleted member 65149]

budget?

I don’t know what sort of price I should pay for something reasonable, but I’m guessing at around £300 - £600

 

[ChrisEdu]

I keep toying with the idea of a 3D printer, as I can see many practical uses for it. However, I haven't the foggiest idea how you go about designing things to print, although I know you can download files, and suspect it would end up being another of my flash-in-the-pan purchases.

 

[Steveml63]

Hi
My best friend has one from this company - and he has made some awesome things with it.

E-book Basics of 3D printing - Prusa3D - 3D Printers from Josef Průša







Cheers
Steve

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I’ll be following this thread with interest because - as mentioned earlier - it seems to be the programming of the printing that’s a bit tricky to master when I’ve looked at 3D printers.

 

[Darrell]

My brother is a product designer and has been using 3D printers for a number of years. They normally use them for scaled mock-ups of the intended designs.
They email the designs to a company in Holland that has some very hi-tech pieces of kit and then the company ships the finished products to the U.K.

 

[Darrell]

Actually, wouldn’t this be better in the IT section?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Like others it’s designing in 3D which puts me off. I was taught to use CAD many years ago, but never really used it professionally, but even so I don’t fancy getting up to speed with creating the necessary 3D models.

 

[Darrell]

Like others it’s designing in 3D which puts me off. I was taught to use CAD many years ago, but never really used it professionally, but even so I don’t fancy getting up to speed with creating the necessary 3D models.

My brother also has a 3D mouse.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Like others it’s designing in 3D which puts me off. I was taught to use CAD many years ago, but never really used it professionally, but even so I don’t fancy getting up to speed with creating the necessary 3D models.

Like me Rob, you’re too old. My 10 year old grandson would love that aspect of it.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

My brother is a product designer and has been using 3D printers for a number of years. They normally use them for scaled mock-ups of the intended designs.
They email the designs to a company in Holland that has some very hi-tech pieces of kit and then the company ships the finished products to the U.K.

Sounds a lot faster than when I was a development engineer and used product designers for some items. Most were ok to interpret from drawings, but getting models hand made before committing to tooling costs took forever.

 

[Darrell]

Sounds a lot faster than when I was a development engineer and used product designers for some items. Most were ok to interpret from drawings, but getting models hand made before committing to tooling costs took forever

It’s all very swish these days.
The 3D mouse is a trick piece of kit.

If I recall, he uses it in conjunction with a normal mouse and he reckons it’s like flying a chopper!!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Like me Rob, you’re too old. My 10 year old grandson would love that aspect of it.

Brutal. But fair

 

[gaz_l]

It’s all very swish these days.
The 3D mouse is a trick piece of kit.

If I recall, he uses it in conjunction with a normal mouse and he reckons it’s like flying a chopper!!

Sounds like a Logitech Space Navigator.. I use one too. Regular mouse in right hand and the 6 axis one in the left. Brilliant piece of kit, it’s the only way to draw.

Cheers,

Gaz