I’m thinking about buying a 3D printer for creating cosplay props like helmets and armor pieces (only once I figure things out, I’ll start small of course) among other things and since there is a sale on the Ender 3 V3 series and they seem to be well received I figured that it would make sense to buy one. Having done some research, it seems like the regular V3 with it’s 220x220x250mm build volume is too small for what I’m planning to do. Though splitting some parts will of course still be required, from what I could gather the V3 Plus better matches the recommended build volume having one of 300x300x330mm. The sale puts it at about the original price of the regular V3 which works for my budget.

I’d love to hear some thoughts on this, since my knowledge is limited as well as theoretical and the quality of internet sources varies quite heavily.

  • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    Best upgrades for me was the following in order of overall impact

    Klipper
    BTT Skr mini e3v3 board
    Silicon bed spacers
    Klackender mod by KevinAkaSam
    G10 build plate
    Orbiter extruder and dragonfly hotend for direct drive
    Belted Z mod by KevinAkaSam

    More recent EBB36 canbus for the tool head mainly because it frees up some ports on the control board for other things like my Nevermore.

    For overall quality and reliability the following have the biggest impact.

    Ensuring the physical frame is as square as possible. As well as adjusting and shimming things such as folded aluminum foil under the Z extrusions to get them square with the base.

    The board and Klipper are huge since it makes it easier to use the klack probe (Klicky for ender) and the silicone spacers allow me to dial in the screws with adjust_screws.

    And skew correction because my X gantry is twisted (tested that on granite counter top) and after I’ve done everything else to ensure it’s physically right i still had to work around some of it with software.

    Now I can just fire it up and print PLA, ABS (it’s in a grow tent enclosure), PETG and TPU without any issue.

    The g10 plate works great with all of them, Klipper can compensate for any warping, build offset as long as the screws are properly adjusted (which I test every couple of months or after I’ve had a print that really didn’t want to come off.

    I’m building a trident myself right now and I’m using the “Frankender” to do it with really great quality results.

    • rudyharrelson@lemmy.radioEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      Thanks a lot! I’ll look into the upgrades you mentioned and try my luck. Here’s hoping I can get it back up and running without too much work