Creality Ender 3

So I just ordered my first 3d printer a Ender 3 after doing some research and I was wondering if anyone here already owned one? I am curious on any gotchas or things to look out for when using it to get the most out of it. My only experience with 3d printing has been a mini select from monoprice a friend had on hand. Once I get it up and running I am happy to answer any questions anyone has as well.

Hey Spun I just bought one as well how is your's holding up?

It is holding up just fine. I haven't had to replace any parts at all. The heated bed is a bit scratched up from print removal although some of the bad spots were my own fault from being new to 3d printing. I have had to unclog the nozzle a few times with the pin needles but overall it has been well worth the money. I think really my only complaint at this point is the want for a bigger bed size and a self leveling bed. I have sorta branched off more into metal working now as my hobby but I use the 3d printer to make prints for metal casting parts. I then clean the parts up on my metal lathe and vertical mill. So basically the printer is now the rough sketching device for my metal work and also good for fit and finish testing before making the metal piece I need by testing with plastic first.

Spun Ducky That's great to hear. I just placed an order for the Ender 3 also as my first foray into 3D printing (at home).

I have a buddy who has been working with 3d printers since they dropped under a grand for the cruddy ones and he also picked up an ender 3. The price for what you get can't currently be beat on the market. The metal frame, common parts, and very high print quality for the price makes it still my top pick. I may eventually grab another ender 3 just to dual print at once. I got mine from ebay with one of those 15% coupons so that is something to consider if you want to pick one up as I got mine sub 200.

i will say though that more than likely quite a few of your first prints will fail. It more than likely isn't the machine but just growing pains of learning a new tech. The things I wish I had known would be to level the bed with a piece of printer paper at the corners where it has just light tension between the print head and bed when pulling on it. THe other is to make sure you have your temps correctly for the bed/nozzle. Quality plastic is important too. The last thing that caused me a few failures was incorrect slicing of the model I was printing and print speed too high.

Just bought a Ender 3 Pro for $229.99. First time ever messing around with 3D Printing, looking forward to this tinkering.

Ok may be hooked. Did a quick assembly of the Ender 3, made sure no binding. Aligned the bed with papermethod...and did my first print. Turned out awesome.

Was a little intimidating on the lack of hand holding on where and how to begin, but once you understand the concept and how the programming works it really is pretty straightforward.

How's the noise and print time?


Woot had them for dirt cheap but I missed them a few months back.

Someone recommended octoprint if you want to run it wirelessly.

https://octoprint.org/

Also was recommended for jamming:

I too have an ender 3. It is a great little work horse!

I also have a CR-X and the ender is much more reliable and easy/simpler to use and get good prints. Honestly I wish I had 2-3 more

Viper16 said:

Ok may be hooked. Did a quick assembly of the Ender 3, made sure no binding. Aligned the bed with papermethod...and did my first print. Turned out awesome.

Was a little intimidating on the lack of hand holding on where and how to begin, but once you understand the concept and how the programming works it really is pretty straightforward.

Click to expand...

Damn, that's a really clean first print for a Creality machine. I've seen some really good stuff out of the Ender 3 and walked a friend through printing start to "flawless" on his over the internet so there must be something to the design. They're adjusting as they go though his Ender 3 came with press-fit pulleys on all the steppers which means you can't add dampers or anything else unless you replace them.

Just purchased a Duet 2 Maestro mainboard...haven't installed it yet. Looking for All Metal Extruder and BLtouch later down the road, and of course the 7" touchscreen Panel for the Duet.....*sigh* why do I have to take all my hobbies to the maximum!

Haven't stopped printing since I go it running on Jan 29th. I feel like I gotta keep feeding the machine!

Viper16 said:

Just purchased a Duet 2 Maestro mainboard...haven't installed it yet. Looking for All Metal Extruder and BLtouch later down the road, and of course the 7" touchscreen Panel for the Duet.....*sigh* why do I have to take all my hobbies to the maximum!

Haven't stopped printing since I go it running on Jan 29th. I feel like I gotta keep feeding the machine!

Click to expand...

I currently have a MKS Gen L and Gen 1.4 with tmc2130s and 2208s ready for my Anet E12 and my friends' new Ender 3. I'm excited to hopefully not hear the stepper motors after I get stealthchop going.

Got the Duet 2 Maestro installed...and holy smokes this sucka is quiet! On top of that, love the web interface for control and start/stop prints, got real tired, real quick of the SD swap game. Overall it was not a bad deal...got the OE display working on it as well..took some tinkering but well worth it. Now I just need to print a case for the controller to be mounted somewhere on the Ender 3.

Next on purchase list: BL Touch, Duet3D Optical Filament Sensor, and All Metal Extruder.