3D Printer Recommendation

LowRider CNC Advice
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Hi everyone. I’ve been reading (lurking) the forums for a while, and I think I’m ready to start my LowRider journey. I’ve been looking at 3D printers recently and was about to pull the trigger on the Bambulab A1 Mini until I saw in the Status on Lowrider 4 thread that it might not have the calibration needed to print the parts accurately. Now I feel like I’m back at square one. Does anyone have any 3D printer recommendations?

I’m a newbie to all of this, so any info you can send my way would be great!

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That is a loaded question lol. So many things we need to know. First off do you have a budget in mind? That might change what people suggest.

Also the mini is too small to print the LR4 parts, would need the larger A1

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The flashforge? A couple have those. Vorons. Enders. Mp3dp v5 is my favorite these days. Really, a 200x200 mm or larger bed and good calibration is critical. And I’ll add that it is very very much worth the trouble to get it right.

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Flashforge has a thread here by @DougJoseph .

This is an exceptionally good value for the money.

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I got the FlashForge AD5M based on Doug’s post about it.

I love it, I’ve done the DIY enclosure, Klipper modded it, done like half of Doug’s mods for it. Even if you don’t do any of the extra stuff its a really good machine.

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And even though the Amazon snippet embedded above says $379, the price currently on Amazon for it is $295.00.

I have two of these, and they are great value for the price.

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Based on the “Mini” in the name, my concern would be that its print bed is not big enough to do a LowRider. How big is its print bed? Ryan designs everything with a minimum 200x200 mm print bed in mind.

The print bed on the FLASHFORGE Adventurer 5M is 220x220 mm.

I used the FLASHFORGE Adventurer 5M to make all my LowRider version 4 parts — three times (Beta, RC2, RC3) and then also used it to print parts for final LR4 for my full size table.

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I agree with what has been said, I own the flashforge 5m and a bambulab a1 (without ams) I can recommend both.

Flashforge is more customizable and upgradable.

Bambulab a1 is very easy to set up and use.

Both result in excellent print quality and are great value for money.

If your are new to 3d printing and are not looking to learn much about the printing itself, or wanting to upgrade and customize your machine. Go for the a1.

If you want to learn more about 3d printing and are considering customizing your machine. And don’t want to be stuck in the closed source bambulab eco, go for the flashforge 5m

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@vSeccelen Good assessment and good summary.

I probably should have given more detail by saying, the print volume on the FLASHFORGE Adventurer 5M is 220x220x220 mm³.

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According to a quick Google, the print volume of the Bambu Lab A1 mini is only 180x180x180 mm³.

I’m pretty sure that’s not enough room to print parts for a LowRider!

Bambu Lab A1 mini - Technical Specifications

https://bambulab.com › a1-mini › tech-specs

Build Volume: 180 x 180 x 180 mm³

@Travis1 — since you want to print parts to make a LowRider, you’d need to switch to a larger printer. Either a larger one by Bambu Lab, or some other manufacturer.

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Welcome @Travis1 You will find a crackerjack bunch here who are quite knowledgeable and willing to offer support! Great to have you and don’t be shy!

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I am, as usual, suggesting the Prusa MK4S. :smile:

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Wow! thanks everyone. I’m looking to stay under $300-$400.

I’ll look into the Flashforge 5M!

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I printed the LR3 on an Ender 3 Neo. It is fairly basic, very inexpensive, and I learned a lot by assembling and tuning it. It has a lot of goof features, including glass bed, metal extruder, and improved bed springs. Although I’m not sure if that model is still available.

They have the upgraded Ender 3 KE with a direct extruder, and can print higher temperature material. It is MUCH faster (up to 500mm/s) than earlier models, and has an automatic bed leveling system. Currently $299 on Amazon

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I printed the parts for my mpcnc on an ender 3.
I printed the parts for LR3 on an ender 3 v2.
I finally got tired of constantly tweaking settings to get consistant results from my ender, and just took delivery of a A1 Combo.
No real world experience yet, but from what I have read, the Bambu printers just plain work…

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Stay away from all enders and ender clones. There are cheap prusa mk3s on marketplace. Its not the best bang for buck printer out there if you buy new. But some people have gone crazy and act like its trash now that bambu printers are out. Having said that the bambu printers are great choice. I dont know if the new core fits on the smaller bed…

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My ender 3 pro is AWESOME! Now i have microswiss dd, that was a necessity. Klipper, dual z. It is still not fast but, it is 100 percent reliable. I just need that filament sensor from Ryan.

Best part is it was 99 bucks

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Mine is also excellent. Bmg dual drive extruder, all metal hotend, high flow nozzle, inductive levelling probe, silent fans. Custom marlin with input shaper and linear advance. All of which requires a decent amount of experience to install and configure. And a well tuned printer to actually get going. I will say this the new ender 3 v3 line is actually decent.

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Enders can be awesome little workhorses for sure. My first 3d printer was a CR10S Pro, which is just the big brother to the ender 3. I printed many V1 machines on that printer. I still have it and do plan to finish upgrading the hotend/extruder on it and most likely put it back in service lol

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I worried about the Bambulab because Ryan said in another thread that “Bambu prints can only currently be XY skew calibrated, XZ an YZ are not enabled yet. They are decently square on arrival but no they are not as close as they can be. Hopefully bambu adds Z skew soon.”

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