Back to 3d Printing A number of years ago, I built a Mendel and then upgraded it to a Prusa Mendel. I had the time of my life ordering parts from all over the world and learned a lot.. It was is a bit clunky with all the PLA parts and so I upgraded many of the gears and such to metal and replaced the electronics to Ramp4 and Arduino. Recently I blew the dust off the old thing and after a bit (lot) of tinkering now have it running again. Here's my question. If I want to build a new machine what's the best choice?. Where should I begin? I haven't been involved for quite a while. Where are things at now? Am I better off just buying one...many seem quite cheap now? As always on this site, I look forward to any suggestions. https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888067#msg-888067 Mon, 11 May 2026 17:31:58 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888176#msg-888176 Re: Back to 3d Printing https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888176#msg-888176
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HereIgoAgain
Where are things at now? Am I better off just buying one...many seem quite cheap now? As always on this site, I look forward to any suggestions.

Ender 3 very popular as a kit for newcomers. It's a very slick Prusa i3 derivative, a little limited in terms of parts used. But very well thought out to get a working printer.

Creality do a number of models. One thing you might want to try is a CoreXY conversion from an Ender 5 kit.

[www.thingiverse.com]

In terms of DIY builds, quite a bit of friendly rivalry between Voron and Ratrig builders. Again, CoreXY style.

Deltas still problematic for accuracy but keeping highest speed for movement and printing.

Firmware wise, Klipper doing very well at improving existing printers with a Raspi Pi host. Very fiddly to install but a great improvement on Marlin in terms of speed of processing. Fluidd front end permits config changes on the fly from a GUI. No more compiling to test something.

All metal hotends very trendy, for exotic filament use. Teflon now avoided in hotends.]]> DragonFire General Thu, 03 Feb 2022 21:58:13 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888079#msg-888079 Re: Back to 3d Printing https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888079#msg-888079 Carl runs a Monday night class on Fusion360 that you might want to check out. I think they do it virtually.
Maybe I'll see you around the space soon.]]> the_digital_dentist General Wed, 26 Jan 2022 14:03:01 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888078#msg-888078 Re: Back to 3d Printing https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888078#msg-888078
thanks for responding to this post]]> HereIgoAgain General Wed, 26 Jan 2022 12:56:56 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888071#msg-888071 Re: Back to 3d Printing https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888071#msg-888071 the_digital_dentist General Tue, 25 Jan 2022 22:04:43 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888069#msg-888069 Re: Back to 3d Printing https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888069#msg-888069 HereIgoAgain General Tue, 25 Jan 2022 16:38:24 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888068#msg-888068 Re: Back to 3d Printing https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888068#msg-888068 What do you want to do and what do you want to print- size, material, etc.?]]> the_digital_dentist General Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:05:33 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888067#msg-888067 Back to 3d Printing https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,888067,888067#msg-888067 HereIgoAgain General Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:33:01 -0500