I jumped on an Ender 3 Pro when they went on sale at Microcenter a couple of weeks ago. Technology and prices were where I wanted them to be to enter the market. I was originally leaning towards a pricier make/model but the massive community surrounding the Ender 3 sold me on it. I also bought my younger, poor nerdy engineer cousin one so he could be 'my guy' when I had issues. I implemented a Raspberry Pi 4b with a webcam and set up Octoprint. I'm in the process of printing upgrades. I think I'm going to move the motherboard to the back, convert it to direct drive and set up Klipper. Oh, and I'm setting up auto-bed leveling. Anyone else here have one or am I just talking to myself? Note: As of right now, Microcenter still has them in stock at the Houston store for $199.
In all seriousness, I almost bought one not too long ago just for giggles, but I could think of maybe 1 or 2 things I'd want to print with one, but could never justify any on-going need for it. That and they take forever to print anything. One of my co-workers at my last job bought one earlier this year. He printed Groot. I mean, it's neat, but ... lol. Another co-worker saw it and wanted one. He tried his best to justify it by saying he could print so many things he would need like a pen holder ... I laughed and quit the company. The former person did have a good idea to maybe mass-produce something and sell them, but it took forever to print anything, so I don't know. Like Groot took a day or two, I think (I forget). He also had some design skills and software to do more complex things and not just download the designs and print them.
Can I make loads of cash with it? I want to get into something like this, that I can make extra cash off of. Thought of going in on this years ago. 3d printing is the future, but the print mediums will be different. Think food and concrete...
You can. I have several ideas regarding 3D printing. None of them involve me actually doing the work, though. This thing is all for me to play with. The biggest selling point for me is the utility. I can make whatever I want. I have tons of hobbies that this could benefit. And if you can print something in a day, it's 'free' compared to spending money on it on Amazon. Granted, I won't be printing things that I can buy cheap. I was looking at shoe hooks for my Converse collection then doing the math....Then I just found some on Amazon super cheap and said screw it and bought them. But designing a niche item appeals to me. If you browse this site for a couple of hours you will see how much you can make. https://www.thingiverse.com/
Yeah, I've looked at the designs before, but nothing really swayed me because most of it was a bunch of figurines or stuff that I really didn't have a use for. Or it'd be something I'd buy once and maybe save $9. I almost bought one just to print this https://community.ui.com/stories/UniFi-Home-Setup/7522fee1-7e5d-49b2-ad2d-0c62a13ff0b0, but then I said "well, and then what?" It would probably just sit there. If people use it for a hobby or somehow can print stuff and sell it for profit, I don't have any issue with it, but for me, I'd print some random crap a few times and then it'd sit there 90% of the time, so it wasn't for me. I may think differently if I could design anything, though, but atm don't have much free time. As a matter of fact, if I could sell stuff I make and they don't take days to make, that could be one way I'd buy one.
Those are pretty cool and exactly what attracted me to this hobby. That and the miniatures. Looking at that file, ballpark, it's about $10 worth of material and 1-2 days worth of printing depending on how nice you want it to look to get enough of the brackets. I hear you on time. But once I have mine tuned in, I should be able to maybe spend 10 minutes getting a print going then it's just time.
Woot has the Ender 3 Pro with bonus parts for $180 today https://computers.woot.com/offers/s...1ea829c00750a1c0e11&utm_source=Slickdeals+LLC
Still a long road ahead no way I'm shooting that thing [boom no hand] -- I think I I'll just exercise my rights and buy a gun if I want. _____ Here's what we're told you need: ‣3d printer with 200x200x200mm build area. ‣Scrap or junk aluminum. At least one block 1inx.75inx1in. ‣Complete Glock 17 upper. ‣Complete Glock 17 lower parts kit. ‣Glock 17 3 pin locking block. ‣Basic hand tools + dremel tool. ‣A desire to exercise your rights.
Bingo. It's dangerous AF. My good friend and gun nut PhD has a permanent black powder tattoo on his palm from where it blew up when he was messing around with it as a teenager. No lessons learned other than be safer when you fiddle. When I met him he showed me his plans for an automated Gatling gun he wanted to put on top of our shared duplex. Last time I saw him he showed me his grenade launcher. Point is: they call them gun nuts for a reason. Not surprised. I'll keep deals I see in this thread.
In the category of "another thing I kind wish I had, but have no need for", I just saw an ad for the Glowforge : https://glowforge.com/
