# M3D Printer for $300



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Saw a free bonus video on the Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine website, it's through their TMTV segment. 

Review about a 3D printer for under $300, called the M3D printer. Wondering about thoughts from those that all ready have a 3D printer. I'm thinking about getting into 3D printing. Advice/Tips on what to look for when purchasing a 3D printer?

Here's the video link http://trainmasters.tv/video-player/tmtv-2015-06-bonus


----------



## peter_m (Aug 10, 2014)

Looking at the specs it seems like quite a nice machine. It doesn't come with a heated bed but they say isn't necessary. it uses a different kind of bed than the other manufacturers which makes it possible to print ABS without a heated bed. I see that it is self leveling, this looks very nice. Resolution seems fine. For me a drawback would we the build space which is a bit small but if you are only looking to print smaller parts this shouldn't be an issue.


----------



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Looking to do G scale detail parts.

In the video the prints have a layered look. Author suggested using CA to fill gaps then sand, or a Sherwin Wlliams gap filling paint. Makes me wonder would investing more around the $1000 mark make a difference in the layered look?


----------



## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

Pretty much any FDM printer is going to show those lines. I'm not aware of any way to get around that in the actual printing process, because to avoid the appearance of lines the print head would have to return to _exactly_ the same position each time it returned "home" and the material would have to come out of the nozzle at a size too small for the human eye to make out individual layers. For that kind of printing, stereolithography is the way to go, but it's very, very expensive.

About 15 years ago, when 3d printing was almost unheard of, a friend brought a car printed using stereolithography over for me to look at. Out of the vat with no finishing steps, it looked amazing. The surfaces were smooth and glossy--essentially it looked like an injection molded model.

If you want a "cheap" 3D printer, that means FDM. If you're using FDM you'll have additional finishing steps after the printing to make it look smooth. You can see the lines in the thread Peter posted about printing his 3D locomotive--but once he finished it, it looked amazing.


----------



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Thanks for the info.

Was leaning towards a Flashforge Creator Printer on Amazon for $1200, but if the M3D at $300 can do about the same job then I lean towards that.


----------



## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

The $300 price was for apparently the initial Kickstarter round. It's now $349, still cheap however.


----------



## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Thanks for posting that Eric, it was very informative. It's exciting to see the machines dropping in price, almost like the large-screen TV's did. I'd not be ecstatic over the resolution I saw, but still for $300 or $350 it proves the trend is going in our favor.


----------



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

No problem Cliffy. I agree with ya, would like to see something with a little better resolution. Tough decisions this hobby brings; buy a 3D printer, a printer for making decals, more engines, or more rolling stock. Such tough desicions


----------



## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Eric,

That is a cute little printer, sadly IMO the resolution suffers greatly. Perhaps they'll get the resolution shortcoming worked out with the FDM equipment in the future. 

The resin based stereolithography equipment works nicely in my experience and the resin material is much more favorable to work with as well. Unfortunately you have 
spend a lot more money for said equipment. 

What kind of decal printer were you pondering?

Michael


----------



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Michael Glavin said:


> What kind of decal printer were you pondering?


Alps for when white, gold, silver is needed in a decal. Also have heard from some that office quality inkjet printers that use pigment ink work great. Pigment ink unlike dye ink won't run or fade.

As for 3D printer I think I'll play with Sketchup and print through Shapeways to make sure I like doing 3D designing and printing. Hopefully in the next few years prices will continue to drop and resolution will continue to increase for home printers.


----------



## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Eric,

I am familiar with the Alp's MD-5500 printer, an Alp's printer will do you proud. There is a learning curve like all things, including the program to draw decals within i.e., Corel, Illustrator, CAD and there is great wealth of information out there too.

If you're able to budget three thousand, there are very nice SLA 3D printers out there.

Michael


----------



## jmill24 (Jan 11, 2008)

*MakerGear 3D printer*

Did some research. This is the one I'm considering. 
This one does high resolution down to 20 microns............Jim

http://www.makergear.com/


----------



## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

If you're going to 3d print and want to fix the model before use or casting. Smooth-on products has a filler you use to fill in the lines. It's called XTC-3D.

http://www.smooth-on.com/search.php?q=xtc-3d


----------

