M3D

[hazcoper]

Is there any better beginners printer for a cheap price like the m3d? Any that is shipped from inside EU?

[Teachkidztech]

I’m pretty sure you can get the Up Mini in the EU. But it’s a little expensive.

[hazcoper]

is it better than the m3d?

[Teachkidztech]

The Up! brand and printers have been around for a few years now and are pretty good. It’s in the top 4 of 3D Hubs 2016 print guide for bugdet printers. Check out the whole guide. It will allow you to make a more informed decision. https://www.3dhubs.com/best-3D-printer-guide#budget

[Wilco]

Hi,

Well the opinions on the M3D are quite diverse if you read the forums.

I’m having a very good time printing all kind of things with it and results are pretty good. From Colorfabb wood, ABS to PLA it does all work, but there is some calibration needed. (printed a full set of chess pieces, a digital sundial and alot of toys and testprints or stuff for the printer itself)

It is a printer that says its all for beginners, but printing out-of-the box is not aways the case. (you do need to put some time in it to understand 3d printing, but for me there is the fun)

Had to pay 80 euros for it to ship to the Netherlands.

After about half a year i might be looking for a bigger printer though, but it is great to learn the basics!

[MarkWheadon]

I doubt that you would have much luck with Ninja Flex but yes, you can use filament other than M3D’s. I’ve used RigidInk PLA and Colorfabb PLA, and it’s fine with the Micro. I’ve moved on to a Kossel Mini now but the Micro worked well for me – it’s just very slow, with a very limited print volume and no heated bed, but great value for money.

[reidij]

I have one and it’s a great printer for beginners!

[hazcoper]

did you pay any customs taxes?

[hazcoper]

the up 3d can only print with its filament, no custom filaments right?

[Cheese3DPrints]

Ok, so a bit of a rant:

I originally bought my M3D Micro as a kickstarter backer back in 2014. I was pretty new to 3D printing at the time, and I liked the idea of a printer which I could by and use for only $300 ($90 for shipping to Australia FYI). The whole industry seemed a little daunting to me, with tons of different options, and most of them pretty expensive.

So, I decided to get it, and after 16 months, it turned up. Being my first 3D printer I was pretty starstruck to start off with. After I started using it I really began getting into 3D printing and the whole community, and I learned a lot more about what this whole thing is about.

Now as a printer, the Micro isn’t very impressive. It has a tiny print volume, meaning that you will struggle with what others would normally call a standard print. While it does do pretty high resolution, it is incredibly slow, often taking up to 35 hours to complete a large print. The software is pretty to look at but very limited in it’s functionality, in that while it is easy to use it offers very little customization of your prints. ABS and anything that would normally use a heated bed will struggle to print anything much larger than your thumb and exotics, while possible, are for now mostly out of the question.

But, it does have a redeeming feature. It’s nice. I guess that’s a bit of an arbitrary word for a 3D printer, but it’s what comes to mind when I think of my suave little green cube.

It looks pretty and finished, and the light up logo adds a nice touch. It’s very Plug-and-Play, in that you simple download the software, plug it in, and after a auto-calibration you’re ready to start printing. It’s quite smooth and nice to watch. It’s quiet and discreet. You don’t need to be a 3D printing expert, or even to know that much about 3D printing to use and run it. It’s just an enjoyable experience to use.

So, in conclusion, (in my opinion at least) if you are a beginner, or if you want a 3D printer to just taste what this world wide explosion is about, and if you want something were you don’t need to know how to enable micro-stepping on your RAMPs board just to get it moving, or if you like the idea of just being able to drag and drop a file and then press print, then THIS IS A GOOD PRINTER FOR YOU. If you have previous experience with 3D printing, or you like to be able to fiddle with the hardware and play around with the software, or if you like to be able to control the fine points of your print with open source software, the THIS IS NOT THE PRINTER FOR YOU.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy whatever printer you buy

[Teachkidztech]

No I don’t think so. It does use a smaller custom 700g spool. You could print a spool that fits the spool chamber and wind on the filament you want.

[Franklydude]

Yes, it’s a good beginners printer!

[fritztoch]

I own a Kickstarter version of this printer, and I say it is NOT a good beginner printer. The device itself is small and convenient, but the software is terrible and getting good prints from it is very difficult. There is a reason it is so cheap.

[MarkWheadon]

Nicely put – I couldn’t agree more. Mine served me very well – it bootstrapped me into the world of 3D printing and I still have a lot of affection for it. It’s a neat little beast, especially for the money, and a great introduction to 3D printing.

[StephenC]

Ok. I’ll chime in and try without using the word “good” or “bad”. I’m a backer and got it March this year with zero knowledge of 3d printing. I have since moved on to prusa i3 which I built from kit. Now my M3D is collecting dust displayed prominently in my shelf where I put all my tools and spare part to maintain the i3. My M3D can still print. Slow but it gets the job done quietly with questionable accuracy. I’m mostly confused with this little machine when it comes to improvement / maintenance, I don’t know if the problem I’m facing is software or hardware… And so it has become an unenjoyable experience for me to try to get the machine to produce print that is correct in dimension ands free of artifact. I can’t say M3D is open source. Well if they are, it certainly doesn’t feel like it I think I have enjoyed building the i3 better than tinkering with M3D. I didn’t regret buying the M3D, I just simply need to move on to another machine that is more reliable Stephen

[hazcoper]

Any of you guys heard about the hello beprusa from beeverycreative? Is it any good for beginners? It has a good price and seems to be full of features.

[Quimera]

Well, I´m a kickstarter backer and have mine since this summer. For me was the first step in 3D printing world.

And althoug i´m happy enough with mine (you could see in my hub the quality of the prints) i would not recommend it to anyone until M3D company releases an official versión of their software that is not a Beta.

I read a lot of troubles in the M3D forum from other backers and suffer some of them on my on ( y shifting, prints not sticking to the bed, print unseparable from the raft, calibration issues, and others…)

So in my opinion, could be a lottery get good prints (or a single print) from this printer, unless you don´t mind to play with it and spend a few days until you find:

A: Correct manual calibratión, and B: The versión of the Beta software (are a lot of them) that works for you.

[3DPinte]

Hi Where do you live exactly?

[hazcoper]

In Portugal

[3DPinte]

Hi Jose,

Just an advice to be careful with the opinions shared all over the web about any printer, and put them into context. It’s all a matter of what you expect from a printer and how you intend to use it.
I personally use The Micro on a regular basis and also have a larger A4 printer available. However it’s hard to compare both and rate them as ‘bad’ and ‘good’. For example, the need for repairs, nozzle replacement, maintenance cost… was much higher with the larger printer in the last year. The Micro has proven to be a reliable printer for me and caused me less frustration.

Anyway if you are interested to buy a Micro from within Europe, just send me a mail. I don’t want to use this forum for publicity so I prefer to have a personal communication about this and tell you what you need to know.

Ok? E-mail: muyllefrederik[at]gmail.com