Hello, I’m a total beginner in 3d printing and I want to get into 3d printing for the sake of building small engineering projects. Considering this I probably won’t need a printer with alot of fine detail like for example small sized textures (I think). So would it make sense for me to just go for the cheapest one that somehow prints ok (I thought of an ender 3 or something like that) or should I spend some more money on a Presa mini (+) or a somewhat similar model. What experiences do you have with low budget printers (250€-400€) for my specific although not very unique use case? I’m very thankful for every answer I get.
My Anet A8 lacked the aluminum bracket to which the extruder is mounted. Luckily I got refunded in total, got a friend to print me an E3dv6 carriage and went with bowden setup. I haven’t had but problems with that printer, I spent more time fixing it rather than using it in the past two/three years. There is always something not working, something about to break, something to be repaired. The board and the heated bed are an heat hazard, I’ve personally seen a friend’s a8 coming with an extruder which would cloggle every couple minutes. The frame is not stiff and vibrates a lot, the stock carriage is barely held up by the two z axis motors, weighs a ton and often unalligns itself during the print. Different extruders would randomly clog even with esteps and flow calibrated and no heat creep.
I got mine for 100€ and got refunded in total because a crucial piece was missing, but for 200€ you’re better off waiting for a nice offer on a ender 3
Disclaimer: Don’t buy an Anet A8 as a beginner!
Once the Anet A8 is fixed it’s a respectable machine. I am always surprised to see their print quality (800mm^2/s acceleration). What made a major difference for me was bolting the A8 down to wood.