Mastodawn

lucideng Sep 15, 2025

Ask HN: What's a good 3D Printer for sub $1000?

At least a 256x256x256mm print volume. Needs to be enclosed or enclosable. Need to be able to print with more durable, temperature/chemical resistant materials such as PC/Nylon/ABS or infused materials. I do not need to print multi material models. I would prefer something that doesn't phone home and can work offline. Opensource firmware/software and repairability are important.

I am ok assembling the machine and learning how to dial it in. I can do CAD work and make models by hand; I was a machinist in a past life. But, I am not very familiar with 'slicer' software yet.

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skhameneh Sep 16, 2025

If you don't care about business practices and general privacy concerns, Bambu.

If you want a large printer that's decent for tinkering, Sovol SV08.

If you want relatively good support and to support a company that has a history of giving back, Prusa.

If you want something cheap with a lot of features that tend to be more high end, Elegoo Centuri Carbon.

If you just want something cheap that's arguably incredible value with an active community, Creality Ender 3 V3 KE.

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chakintosh

> If you don't care about business practices and general privacy concerns, Bambu.

While I agree, I think it's heavily underselling Bambulab printers in terms of UX and print quality, they are the absolute best in the market and by a mile.

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bb88 Sep 17, 2025

> UX and print quality

GUI and UX are not the same. Prusa has pretty good print quality too but not as good a GUI as the Bambu.

UX would include the ability to easily tear down a hot end, replace a nozzle, tighten any belts, and anything else that would affect your ability to print high quality prints.

For prusa, since that's the printer I have experience with the most. Replacing the nozzle and clearing filament jams are pretty easy. But tearing down the hot end to remove debris wrapped around the extruder gear was not.

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antirez Sep 17, 2025

What bambulab printers that have the "A1" series nozzle, replacing one is a matter of 3 seconds, just by naked hands. 10x times faster than in the Prusa world (Nextruder included). Being this the single most important thing a printer need from the POV of servicing, this is a huge difference.