Hey guys, I’ve got little to no knowledge on 3D printing and even less experience, so go easy on me. I will most likely be using words I don’t understand.

I live in a hot and humid country in the EU, and given my circumstances and the aforementioned lack of knowledge, I’m considering a closed enclosure model from the company everyone hates because it’s cheap, available, and famed for its ease of use.

I’m no stranger to tinkering with everything, but I do want to get started with something that’s just plug and play (or close enough to it). And even after I jailbreak it (which I assume is possible?), I really don’t want the tinkering to be part of the hobby itself.

My questions are: Size: Would I regret getting a 256x256x256 mm^3 sized one? Most prints I’ve seen fit easily, but there are a few that require more space.

Filaments: Where to buy, how to store, are all of them compatible with extruder-type printers? How do I check?

Accessories: I’ve seen nozzles and accessory packs being sold but I have no idea what they’re for. Can I print upgrades? Also what the heck does the Combo printer add-on do?

Alternatives: I’m not married to the P2S. Feel free to suggest alternatives. Thanks!

  • Remy Rose@piefed.socialEnglish
    3·
    1 day ago

    The bigger the print volume, usually the more finicky fine-tuning is. It’s just because there’s a lot more weight/belt path/etc for things to go wonky. But my makerspace’s 350mm³ machines have definitely come in clutch on occasion, even if the vast majority of our patrons’ requests are smaller.

    For filaments, they’re MOSTLY all compatible everywhere, with just a couple exceptions:

    • The defacto standard diameter is 1.75mm, but 2.85mm is still being made (mostly because of Ultimaker), so make sure you get the right size for your machine.
    • If the material needs to be printed at higher than ~250C, you’ll need an all-metal hotend. The cheaper kind of hotend uses PTFE inside and that’ll start offgassing toxins above 250C.
    • Some 3d printer brands have started putting RFID chips in their own line of filament, and making it difficult-to-impossible for the machine to accept anything but those. Bambulabs wants to do this SO BAD lol.
    • If the filament itself offgases toxins, you’ll want an enclosed printer with some kind of filtration.

    Also, I would say that the reputation Bambulabs has for being easy/plug-and-play is overblown. Not that other printers are any more plug-and-play, just that Bambulabs are no better. And when things inevitably DO go wrong with one, they’re harder and more expensive to fix. You wouldn’t believe how many of our 3d printing patrons sheepishly admit “actually I have a printer at home but it’s broken right now” or “I couldn’t get it to do this print”. One guess which printer they usually have.