I’m a total noob when it comes to 3D printing and am frankly bewildered by all the options for machines. I don’t want to buy a printer and find out it won’t smoothly handle ASA. In fact my first print will almost certainly be a custom mount so that I can put my Tempest PWS on a 5"x5" vinyl fence post.

I’d like to keep it under $800 but if I will spend more to get a better machine and a better experience if I need to.

  • philpo@feddit.orgEnglish
    0·
    26 days ago

    If you just want to print ASA and no multicolour the Centauri Carbon is actually not a bad choice - it brings everything to print ASA and works relatively reliable. And it goes pretty cheap at the moment.

    Not quite in your price range but the current hot shit (would need a improvised top cover and maybe even a external chamber heater) is the Snapmaker U1,but while it seems a decent machine so far it is clearly meant for PLA/PETG/PCTG. Nevertheless I am also using my P1S (Bambu) as a very sucessful ASA printer which in theory shouldn’t be possible (it is,just needs more time and preparation).

    BUT: please, for the love of god,the spaghetti monster and everyone else: Still get a proper ventilation/filter solution. While ASA is less toxic than ABS it is still far from healthy.

    And stay away from Bambu,imho. Not only is their whole environment becoming more and more walled garden like, their support and spare part availability is simply shit.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.todayOPEnglish
      0·
      25 days ago

      The Centauri Carbon is surprisingly inexpensive, almost suspiciously so. I don’t need multi-color so that won’t be a problem. I’ll look into this one more.

      The Snapmaker U1 looks interesting and it’s currently on sale for $849 so it’s in my budget -but- were back to the “I want a guarantee the thing will print ASA without 100 hours of frustration and faffing about.” thing.

      BUT: please, for the love of god,the spaghetti monster and everyone else…

      🤣

      I appreciate your warning about ASA and its toxic fumes. The machine will live in my 3 car garage where I can put an externally vented hood over it or enclose it completely.

      And stay away from Bambu,imho.

      That’s a bummer to hear as they’re one of the few manufacturer names that I actually recognize!

      • philpo@feddit.orgEnglish
        2·
        14 days ago

        Sooo…as promised a feedback about the U1:

        • it did print a small (10x10x5mm) test cube without issues even without a hood. (Black Forest Filament ASA HF)

        • with a improvised hood that was anything but airtight I achieved 57° degrees inside the hood (measured with a temp probe 10cm above the plate). (I literally just chucked my kids toy basket on it)

        So. With a proper hood it should be no issue to print ASA in larger prints. But there are two downsides, well,one. The other one might be helpful.

        • There is very little room inside the build chamber that is not used, very different from the P1S for example. That will make it hard to just chuck a heater in - it very likely would need to go in the top cover or somewhere else. I have ordered the Panda Breath,but that will take another month to arrive.

        • The printer is very open in the bottom.(Literally jusf grated metal) On one hand this might be an issue if too much cold(or dusty) air comes in through that or too much air goes out through that that is then unfiltered.

        So my current idea is to actually use the space below the printer for heating or to remix the hood from srinn to have space for the Panda Breath.