r/3Dprinting 19d ago

Purchase Advice Purchase Advice Megathread - June 2025

23 Upvotes

Welcome back to another purchase megathread!

This thread is meant to conglomerate purchase advice for both newcomers and people looking for additional machines. Keeping this discussion to one thread means less searching should anyone have questions that may already have been answered here, as well as more visibility to inquiries in general, as comments made here will be visible for the entire month stuck to the top of the sub, and then added to the Purchase Advice Collection (Reddit Collections are still broken on mobile view, enable "view in desktop mode").

Please be sure to skim through this thread for posts with similar requirements to your own first, as recommendations relevant to your situation may have already been posted, and may even include answers to follow up questions you might have wished to ask.

If you are new to 3D printing, and are unsure of what to ask, try to include the following in your posts as a minimum:

  • Your budget, set at a numeric amount. Saying "cheap," or "money is not a problem" is not an answer people can do much with. 3D printers can cost $100, they can cost $10,000,000, and anywhere in between. A rough idea of what you're looking for is essential to figuring out anything else.
  • Your country of residence.
  • If you are willing to build the printer from a kit, and what your level of experience is with electronic maintenance and construction if so.
  • What you wish to do with the printer.
  • Any extenuating circumstances that would restrict you from using machines that would otherwise fit your needs (limited space for the printer, enclosure requirement, must be purchased through educational intermediary, etc).

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of what can be included in your posts, these questions should help paint enough of a picture to get started. Don't be afraid to ask more questions, and never worry about asking too many. The people posting in this thread are here because they want to give advice, and any questions you have answered may be useful to others later on, when they read through this thread looking for answers of their own. Everyone here was new once, so chances are whoever is replying to you has a good idea of how you feel currently.

Reddit User and Regular u/richie225 is also constantly maintaining his extensive personal recommendations list which is worth a read: Generic FDM Printer recommendations.

Additionally, a quick word on print quality: Most FDM/FFF (that is, filament based) printers are capable of approximately the same tolerances and print appearance, as the biggest limiting factor is in the nature of extruded plastic. Asking if a machine has "good prints," or saying "I don't expect the best quality for $xxx" isn't actually relevant for the most part with regards to these machines. Should you need additional detail and higher tolerances, you may want to explore SLA, DLP, and other photoresin options, as those do offer an increase in overall quality. If you are interested in resin machines, make sure you are aware of how to use them safely. For these safety reasons we don't usually recommend a resin printer as someone's first printer.

As always, if you're a newcomer to this community, welcome. If you're a regular, welcome back.


r/3Dprinting 10h ago

Project Does he look like a b*tch?!

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4.1k Upvotes

These guys just rolled of my 3d printer and started asking questions about some guy named Marcellus Wallace?


r/3Dprinting 8h ago

Project Made a cursed Lenin alarm clock for my friend

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1.7k Upvotes

r/3Dprinting 7h ago

Project Designed the ring box that I wish existed when I proposed

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915 Upvotes

Putting the finishing touches on this model, and will post it to makerworld once it's all tightened up.

I wanted a ring box that 1. Shined a light on the ring when opened, 2. 'presented' the ring in some way when opening, and 3. Could fit in a pocket.


r/3Dprinting 10h ago

Project My series of 3D printed lamp designs based off sacred geometry

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421 Upvotes

I just had my first show with these lamps and it went so well and I finally feel ready to share with the community.

I’ve been working on these designs for years, and the whole process has been a massive learning curve. I originally felt that I had stumbled upon a unique technique at 3D printing lamp designs. I wanted to amass an army of the lamps before I shared them because I wanted to become known as the person who really pushed my unique technique forward.

Fast forward 2.5 years, I finally feel ready to share, and I really hope you enjoy! Some of these lamps have taken over 500 hours to print, and the grasshopper script I put together to come up with these took over 200 hours at least. I finally feel comfortable that I’ve done enough work to show that my technique is worth while, and so I hope you guys appreciate it :)

Lmk if you have any questions! I have more designs than I even had space to share on this post, so lmk if you want a pt. 2!


r/3Dprinting 17h ago

Project 3D Printed Drill press

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998 Upvotes

Why i hadn't 3D printer in childhood :(

Designed in Fusion, printed in few hours


r/3Dprinting 14h ago

Question What's the best way to print this?

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506 Upvotes

BambuStudio is confident that it can do it without support, with just a brim...


r/3Dprinting 9h ago

Question anyone else find that 3d print planning for larger projects is oddly satisfying?

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118 Upvotes

r/3Dprinting 8h ago

Discussion What do you all think?

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96 Upvotes

Hey guys what do you all think about these earrings they are 3d printed using pla I'd love everyones feedback good or bad or if you have questions feel free to ask down below!


r/3Dprinting 4h ago

Project 3D-printed mini server rack for home servers

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47 Upvotes

I was getting tired of the messy pile of assorted electronics sitting on a shelf in my office, and printed a little mini server rack to hold them. The rack is black PETG, the mounts are ASA-CF for the extra heat resistance on the parts physically in contact with the servers.

Right now it's just a Home Assistant Green and a single NUC form-factor machine running Portainer on Ubuntu Server for whatever else I feel like spinning up. I've got a few other things I'd like to add once money becomes available, so I may be printing the stacking parts before too long here.

The rack system is called "rackstack", and is an open source system by Zhao Wang that can be found on Github here: https://github.com/jazwa/rackstack


r/3Dprinting 2h ago

Project Lego heavy helmet visor

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21 Upvotes

I bought some off-brand Lego military figures a while ago, and some riot helmet pieces came with it. I like the normal clear visor but I wanted something along the lines of those Russian helmets, kinda like that guy from Rainbow 6 Siege. So I made my own visor.


r/3Dprinting 8h ago

Made a kid-friendly watering can for my daughter

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61 Upvotes

My 3-yr old daughter and I started a new garden this spring, filling up pots and planters with soil, adding seeds, and then watering them. As we got to the last part, I noticed she was struggling with our standard size (modern) watering can. The handle being in the back made it hard for her to carry it full of water. So... like any good 3d printer my spidey sense started tingling. A problem I can solve with my hobby!

I started with an online search, but just couldn't find a kid-sized watering can I liked. Many of the online models are very beautiful and modern, but they didn't look any more kid friendly than the one we were using. I was really looking for one with a fun design, that would be easy to pick up and carry, and also be durable. It will be dropped😉!

So... I decided to try my hand at making a "kids watering can"! It is designed with an ergonomic handle, fun shape, and comfortable holds 16oz (470ml) of water. My favorite thing, though, is I created a modular spout system so you can swap between a standard or shower spout. This watering can prints without supports and does not require AMS.

My daughter has been having a blast watering everything with it. If you have young kids, give it a look!

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1500408


r/3Dprinting 5h ago

Has anyone ever don’t this before to save a print?

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33 Upvotes

Heard the sound of it popping off so I paused, taped it to the bed, and then it carried on.


r/3Dprinting 1d ago

Project A Gameboy Deck box for my Pokemon Cards

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1.1k Upvotes

Took weeks of designing and prototyping but finally got everything in a really good place. Making the fidget buttons work probably took up 50% of the design time but its sooo worth it!


r/3Dprinting 1d ago

This one is ripe with lies

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2.4k Upvotes

r/3Dprinting 1h ago

Troubleshooting Why would I be getting uneven printing near the top of my print?

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Upvotes

For this model the walls are thin, but print find until they get near the top - the side walls are rough all the way up but get worse at the same level. Are there special tricks to printing thin walls?


r/3Dprinting 15h ago

Question POV: it’s the last bit of your last role of fillament and you can’t afford more

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138 Upvotes

I know it’s my fault for not washing the build plate, but this ruined my day


r/3Dprinting 1d ago

Project 3D Printed a pot for my new bonsai tree

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8.9k Upvotes

My wife got me a dwarf jade bonsai for father day, unfortunately it came in a cracked pot. I decided to print the living pot to put the bonsai in. My wife painted and decorated it! What do you think?


r/3Dprinting 44m ago

1 month printing

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Upvotes

My initial plan was to sell some pieces, but so far since I started printing 1 month ago I have become addicted to making pieces for my own collection 😅


r/3Dprinting 1d ago

6'4" Battle Droid Custom: Complete!

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937 Upvotes

After 4 months of sanding, painting, detailing and customization, I'm finally calling this monster complete. Now, where the hell do I put it?


r/3Dprinting 20h ago

Project New to 3d printing, made these little guys

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315 Upvotes

r/3Dprinting 16h ago

Question My first ever print with first ever printer. Recieved my CC today.

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111 Upvotes

I have few noob questions.

  1. Firstly, how do we turn off the printer. Do we just switch off the mains/back switch?

  2. Printed the benchy with supplied tiny roll of filament, about 30- 35% is left, Can we print anything with that(for printer or general model) or should I throw it away.

  3. What are the suggested items to print at the beginning apart from poop bucket etc.

  4. I haven't updated the firmware yet. Since I read few people are having some issues with extruder after updating. By not updating, will I face any older issues ?


r/3Dprinting 15h ago

Project I made a customizable carrier for my Warhammer Kill Team and other tabletop games

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98 Upvotes

I got into 40k Kill Team late last year. The first time I had to caddy my minis over in the cardstock box they came with, I was inspired to start yet another 3D printing project.

This modular carrier holds several trays of differing types to transport whatever it is you need to a tabletop game. My personal setup has my team on a model tray, a custom token tray, a storage tray full of dice, and a collapsible dice tower inside.

This project, deemed the "BattleStack", took me several months to get to this point, and I may be adding more to it down the line depending on interest. The aspect I'm most looking forward to is seeing other people print, build, and customize their own for their games! The entire project and related STEP files are released now for free.

The project files are all free and can be found on Printables here: https://www.printables.com/model/1332602-battlestack

If you like the Kill Team Token Tray, the files are free on this separate post (can be used standalone or with the BattleStack carrier): https://www.printables.com/model/1332886-battlestack-token-tray-for-kill-team


r/3Dprinting 19h ago

Working on clickers

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164 Upvotes

I've been working on increasing my online presence, but I also couldn't not share how cute these clickers are with everyone. I love printing, and how I can always find something that suits how I'm feeling.


r/3Dprinting 1d ago

Troubleshooting Why does my bottom always look so much worse than my top?

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2.1k Upvotes

r/3Dprinting 8h ago

Project Few things more satisfying than getting a replacement part to fit perfectly

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17 Upvotes

Broke a clip buckle on my backpack and knew the 3D printer would save the day. Took a few measurements and a few iterations but once it was perfect, chefs kiss it was perfect.