Personally I don’t think Prusa is really as far behind as some people claim. A lot of printers on the market are still single material bed slingers, and it’s not like Prusa doesn’t have a Core XY, it’s just a large and expensive machine (Prusa XL).
Considering they have been in the market a long time and their printers are known to be reliable workhorses, I went with the Mk4.
Another vote for the Mk4. I’m very happy with mine, and I think that some people who lash out against it need to consider that not everybody wants a speed demon. Some people want good support and high uptime.
Having samples makes it easier if you have a lot of filament, and in my case I have a bunch of cards in a box I can easily carry with if I get a request and want to show them their options.
I use this one. They’re cards, you can print a box to hold them, they have text easily editable with OpenSCAD.
Not really, I usually run a test print. But I have noticed that sometimes a different color will need different settings, even if it’s the same material and brand.
One thing that I do for every roll is to put an ID number on it and weigh it, and put that into a database. That way I have a good estimate of whether or not I have enough filament for a project.
It’s a trend, away from the plastic spools which were decidedly made from a non-recyclable plastic.
It’s always been curious to me that recyclable plastic was never even considered to be an option.
That said - cardboard is recyclable and biodegradable, so it’s good no matter how you dispose of it.
But - it does have environmental downsides. If not carefully sourced, the wood can come from places where deforestation is a problem. It’s also rather energy intensive to make, so depending on the energy source can contribute to CO2 emissions.
Nothing will be perfect, but cardboard is likely better than the alternatives.
I printed some tiny but detailed board game pieces recently, I don’t think I’d get the detail I wanted with a 0.8. I also have Revo installed so I’m okay with swapping nozzles frequently.
Been learning FreeCAD myself, recently switched to RealThunder’s Link branch. It’s not the easiest to learn, but I haven’t come across any major limitations either. It’s really nice to have software where you can do what you want and know you have full control over your documents.
I should never have to carefully read a EULA to know what I can and can’t do with my own designs, or whether or not other people can access my designs without permission.