cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3884192
For the purpose of miniature wargaming, I’m considering getting into 3D printing because there are tons of amazing sculpts I’d love to get my hands on.
A couple of questions, though
I’ll admit I know next to nothing about 3D printing, but I could spend up to 300 eurodollars (or a bit more) on a 3D printer. Are there any key things to consider when picking up a printer? I don’t need the cheapest model, as price isn’t the main reason I’m getting into 3D printing. I care quite a bit about the quality of the finished models.
I live in an apartment, so does this even work logistically? I’m aware there are some health hazards with resin/3D printing—how serious should my concerns be about that? (That’s why I’m asking here and not in a 3D printing subreddit, where folks might be biased.)
Are there any recommended communities or YouTube channels for 3D printing? As I mentioned, I’ll be using this primarily for gaming miniatures and possibly wargaming terrain, not for other 3D-printable items.
I live in a 2BR where the second BR is used mainly for storage. I have my printer set up in there. You will need a desk / tabletop to put it on, but it doesn’t need to take up much space - especially if you find / build a shelf to put the printer on with storage above and below.
I have never done resin printing, but from my understanding the resin is typically bad for you. Like it’s the kind of thing you’re not supposed to dispose of down the drain. For FDM, it all depends on what material you’re using. It is recommended to have ventilation when printing ABS (at the same time, ABS is very sensitive to drafts, which will cause warping and premature detachment from the bed). PLA (the easiest material to work with) is pretty benign. TPU will make your apartment smell like beach balls. Attempting to print materials like Nylon on a printer not designed for those temperatures can release toxic gases by burning the PTFE (Teflon) tube which guides the filament into the hot-end.
I started on a Creality Ender 3 v2 (I still use it, but it is barely recognizable). It is rather basic and required a lot of upgrades over time, but it is easy to flash custom firmware on it and there is an enormous aftermarket of replacement parts and upgrade kits. Personally, customization is what I’m interested in, but you may be interested in something with a bit more functionality built in
PETG has the strength of ABS with basically none of the drawbacks.
Yeah PET/PETG is good. It is UV resistant and can be used outdoors. I’ve used it to print parts for a hydroponic gardening system. It is a bit more complicated to work with than PLA, but way easier than ABS and like 95% close enough in durability. It is the material soda bottles are made of.
You do have to be a little more careful with print surface, I’ve had PETG ruin a buildtak sheet by sticking too well so now I print it on gluestick’d glass. It’s also less brittle than PLA, not sure if PET shares that property.