OT: 3D printer for my daughter

joosttx · #1 10-22-2021, 05:00 PM

My soon to be 9 year old daughter wants a 3D printer for her birthday. She works with one at school and the results are truly amazing. She is a natural tinker and builder so I think this is a great “toy” for her. I would love to hear some suggestions.

mtechnica · #2 10-22-2021, 05:02 PM

Enders are good machines. Ultimaker Cura for slicing software, tinkercad for free cad.

fika · #3 10-22-2021, 05:10 PM

I've been looking to buy one as well, there are a LOT of good options, unfortunately that makes picking one harder.

Best bet for her might be to figure out what she uses at school and get the same thing. Then when she grows out of it, she may know what she wants in an upgrade and you can go from there.

brewsmith · #4 10-22-2021, 05:11 PM

Following for myself (and 2-yr-old son....)

Spdntrxi · #5 10-22-2021, 05:14 PM

I got a Prusa a few years back.. we built it together. It's gets used occasionally still but not often.

prototoast · #6 10-22-2021, 06:21 PM

I've had a few cheap ones, and use them to mock up bike parts. I think it would be a great gift for a kid.

Right now I have a Monoprice Voxel, which is about as close to plug and play as these things get. That's the first thing you should think about. Do you want something that's ready to go out of the box, or do you want to make assembling the printer itself part of the learning experience.

Build size is definitely something you're going to want to figure out ahead of time. For example, if she wants to print accessories for her Legos, that's going to need much less print a hilt for a life-sized Excalibur replica (I'm kind of out of touch with what the kids are actually playing with these days).

While I wouldn't encourage being wasteful, I also wouldn't worry too much about durability. 3d printer technology is evolving so fast, that even if you buy the fanciest thing, it'll be outdated almost as quickly as the cheaper ones.

prototoast · #7 10-22-2021, 06:38 PM

A few random things I had on my desk that I've printed:

scoobydrew · #8 10-22-2021, 07:35 PM

Prusa Mk3s+ or Prusa Mini+ (smaller build volume)

In my experience, one of the better options in terms of quality prints out of the box.

auto_rock · #9 10-22-2021, 07:58 PM

I am fond of the Ultimaker - they are a little more pricey than some of the alternatives but they are pretty much plug and play, and as mentioned previously their Cura software is very good. The printing is nice but IMO the real skill is on the design side, and the less time you spend mucking around with plate leveling, filament feed, etc, the more time gets spent learning how to design.

I've recommended them to a couple of non-mechanical engineer friends who got up and running and had good results.

The one tip I have as you're starting out - PLA filament has a shelf life. If you try to use old stuff you'll have bad results.

For CAD software, TinkerCAD is a good place to start, and the more feature-rich and advanced Fusion360 is free for "hobbyist users".

ftf · #10 10-23-2021, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joosttx

My soon to be 9 year old daughter wants a 3D printer for her birthday. She works with one at school and the results are truly amazing. She is a natural tinker and builder so I think this is a great “toy” for her. I would love to hear some suggestions.

I would look at an Ender 3 pro, which is a good starter printer. imho.

sg8357 · #11 10-23-2021, 03:01 PM

Norsk, MERKE IV. really good rapid plasma deposition.
You can make your own crankset!
You may need a bigger garage.

crappygator · #12 10-23-2021, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewsmith

Following for myself (and 2-yr-old son....)

Same here and good advise from @Fika as well.

pasadena · #13 10-23-2021, 05:16 PM

Are there different types of PLA that you can use with the Ultimaker?
For example, something that withstands heat more or is more flexible, stiffer...etc
I'm new to this, but this looks promising

Quote:

Originally Posted by auto_rock

I am fond of the Ultimaker - they are a little more pricey than some of the alternatives but they are pretty much plug and play, and as mentioned previously their Cura software is very good. The printing is nice but IMO the real skill is on the design side, and the less time you spend mucking around with plate leveling, filament feed, etc, the more time gets spent learning how to design.

I've recommended them to a couple of non-mechanical engineer friends who got up and running and had good results.

The one tip I have as you're starting out - PLA filament has a shelf life. If you try to use old stuff you'll have bad results.

For CAD software, TinkerCAD is a good place to start, and the more feature-rich and advanced Fusion360 is free for "hobbyist users".

auto_rock · #14 10-24-2021, 10:44 AM

You can run different compositions of PLA, but also other plastics. As is typical, Ultimaker will only "guarantee" their parameters with their own-branded filament, but one of the reasons I suggest that particular brand is the breadth of filaments they offer and the relative ease and reliability of the prints when you choose those filaments in Cura.

Not endorsing this particular store, but putting it up because it's close to @joosttx's location.

https://www.dynamism.com/ultimaker/u...ament.html?p=1

PLA, "Tough" PLA, PC, Nylon, ABS... lots of options!

A note on color - I believe most "black" is done by doping the plastic with carbon particles, and I think in general black materials abrade the nozzles fastest. Nozzle replacement is easy, so this is no big deal, just something to keep in mind.

pasadena · #15 10-24-2021, 11:48 AM

thanks for the info!

Quote:

Originally Posted by auto_rock

You can run different compositions of PLA, but also other plastics. As is typical, Ultimaker will only "guarantee" their parameters with their own-branded filament, but one of the reasons I suggest that particular brand is the breadth of filaments they offer and the relative ease and reliability of the prints when you choose those filaments in Cura.

Not endorsing this particular store, but putting it up because it's close to @joosttx's location.

https://www.dynamism.com/ultimaker/u...ament.html?p=1

PLA, "Tough" PLA, PC, Nylon, ABS... lots of options!

A note on color - I believe most "black" is done by doping the plastic with carbon particles, and I think in general black materials abrade the nozzles fastest. Nozzle replacement is easy, so this is no big deal, just something to keep in mind.