Been thinking about buying a 3D printer but no idea what to buy

Sorry I forgot to update this. It was just being down to the bed not being level. I was levelling the bed while the hot end was cold and a blob of pla had gathered on it and was causing it to be a lot further away from the bed than I had thought. Heated it up, wiped it off and relieve led the bed and getting some good prints now.
 
It's always recommended to level with the hotend and bed and your normal printing temperatures. As things expand with heat you want the level to be based off that and not a cold start.
 
I am also looking at buying my first 3D printer.

I have been impressed by the reviews of the Artillery printers, namely the Genius and the Sidewinder X1.

Does anyone here own either of these ?
 
@ChrisLX200 has a Sidewinder, looks like a solid machine to me but he will know better than most.

I'm still torn between Ender 3, Homers Tarantula pro and just going for a Sidewinder X1 even though it is more expensive. I kind of want to dip my toe in but then if I like it I dont want to have to start again on a new machine. So many times i have hovered on the buy button on these machines.....still not bought one though lol.
 
BeeP said:
@ChrisLX200 has a Sidewinder, looks like a solid machine to me but he will know better than most.

I'm still torn between Ender 3, Homers Tarantula pro and just going for a Sidewinder X1 even though it is more expensive. I kind of want to dip my toe in but then if I like it I dont want to have to start again on a new machine. So many times i have hovered on the buy button on these machines.....still not bought one though lol.
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Thanks. @ChrisLX200 your opinion on the Sidewinder would be great.

@BeeP have you looked at the Sidewinder's smaller brother, the Genius ?
I am wondering if that will be a better choice over the Ender 3 Pro or v2.

If it is a choice between the Tarantula and the Ender 3, I would go for the Ender as the Tarantula does not really give you anything more and the Ender has a better support network.

The Genius though is Direct Drive and Volcano style hot end so brings something different compared to the Ender. On the downside, it does not have the rich support network the Ender has.

The only difference with the Sidewinder is the height you can print.
 
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Yes definitely calibrate E-Steps in all instances, there are 2 main reasons why stepper will skip
Its not been calibrated, so your either pushing too much to Hotend or not enough
Or your nozzle is partly blocked or too close to bed...

Also if you have swapped the hotted , always PID Tune it, its also easy to do, otherwise on large prints your print may stop with a Thermal runaway error...

To do all the above, try download Pronterface and connect it your printer, ( make sure your slicer is closed or it may not connect ) once it connects there are a few sites that tell you how to do it, takes about 15mins all in...
 
It's important to note you should calibrate e-steps when you change filament as well.

Unlikely to need to between same brand, but changing brands might be worth checking and definitely required for changing between material type.
 
Super-Spy said:
I am also looking at buying my first 3D printer.

I have been impressed by the reviews of the Artillery printers, namely the Genius and the Sidewinder X1.

Does anyone here own either of these ?
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The X1 is a fire waiting to happen.

I had 2 friends that bought one each.
The one friend had it confiscated at customs and the company is on the black list.
The other one caught fire. The heated bed had come away, so it heated up to fast and there was nothing to cool it=FIRE :)
 
Joe Jones said:
It's important to note you should calibrate e-steps when you change filament as well.

Unlikely to need to between same brand, but changing brands might be worth checking and definitely required for changing between material type.
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WHAT?

If you need to do that then your extruder is the problem.

Once calibrated, it shouldn't need to be touched. Only cleaned every week and adjusted.
 
deuse said:
The X1 is a fire waiting to happen.

I had 2 friends that bought one each.
The one friend had it confiscated at customs and the company is on the black list.
The other one caught fire. The heated bed had come away, so it heated up to fast and there was nothing to cool it=FIRE :)
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And no thermal runaway? - What are these manufacturers doing? It was the same with my cheap Chinese printer so I added thermal runaway. I have also added it in with the corexy. Why is such a critical safety feature always overlooked?
 
Vince said:
And no thermal runaway? - What are these manufacturers doing? It was the same with my cheap Chinese printer so I added thermal runaway. I have also added it in with the corexy. Why is such a critical safety feature always overlooked?
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I asked my mate again and he sent me a link to a video, and he had the very same problem.
And mentions another person that has there printer stopped at the border.


8 mins in
 
deuse said:
I asked my mate again and he sent me a link to a video, and he had the very same problem.
And mentions another person that has there printer stopped at the border.


8 mins in
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Yea I wouldn't touch it. done properly it would probably be fairly good but it doesn't look to be done properly.
 
Vince said:
Yea I wouldn't touch it. done properly it would probably be fairly good but it doesn't look to be done properly.
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My printer needed Kapton tape under the bed holders, as the voltage was 24V :eek: before.
But now reads 0 on the bed and micro usb port.

I always cut the red wire on any USB lead that is going to be used with a printer.
 
deuse said:
WHAT?

If you need to do that then your extruder is the problem.

Once calibrated, it shouldn't need to be touched. Only cleaned every week and adjusted.
Click to expand...


You shouldn't need to adjust the extruder at all...if you do then you've got an issue.

If you can print PETG just as you do with PLA using the same e-steps then good for you. Carry on. I've just tweaked my e-steps for SPLA and the top surface almost looks polished now.
 
Joe Jones said:
You shouldn't need to adjust the extruder at all...if you do then you've got an issue.

If you can print PETG just as you do with PLA using the same e-steps then good for you. Carry on. I've just tweaked my e-steps for SPLA and the top surface almost looks polished now.
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But you said you do :confused:

It's all about how good your extruder is and if you have the right temps at the nozzle\retraction ECT.
I can print flexi\PLA\PETG\ASA

What printer you got and is it stock?
 
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