Read the FAQ and that looks like the suggestion. I'm looking to spend around 1K.

I'm new to this, been reading a lot, and right now I'm spending a lot of time on FreeCAD trying to figure that shit out. I've been so focused on how to do it that I haven't really looked at what to do it on. I have a real gear queer streak so I can easily see getting out of control once I start looking. Basically, I'm looking for a few suggestions with which to frame my search.


My reason for wanting the thing is to print crap in the event of supply chain shortages once things fall apart.

The latest generation of the Mk3, now the Mk4s, is solid.  We ran four at work making parts.  Printing mostly PCCF.

I think there are petter options out there. P1S. X1C is a little more but worth the upgrade in my opinion.

What I tell everyone is if you think you'll be serious the cost of the printer becomes inconsequential.

I have ran over $10k in filament throughy printers in the past three years. The cost of the printer itself is practically rounding.

Ok, this is where I'm leaning. The X1C looks better in a lot of ways, but you know.... fuck China, I'd rather pay a few hundred more.

I mean. If that's how you feel then okay.

But having owned several Prusa products and a Bambu, there is zero reason to go Prusa. It's an older technology with worse specs for far less value.

Prusa will be out of business in five years. They pulled a Surefire and sat on their hands too long and let the industry pass them up.

I started with an ender, pos, made me almost lose interest in the hobby. Then I got an mk3s, awesome machine. I liked it so much I dropped the coin to upgrade it to an mk3.9. Now I'll probably throw down the cash to upgrade it to an s. My advice? Get the mk4s kit, learn how everything works while you build it (several hour process, but teaches you a ton), and enjoy. I'm no fan of Bambu due to everything being locked down. Either way, happy printing.

Bambu is currently the reigning champ.
I have an X1C with AMS at home. We have a P1S with AMS at work.

FYI, you can run them in non-China (LAN-only) mode. The P1S is air-gapped, meaning no network connection. SD card file transfer only.
At home I usually run LAN-only because it's faster to transfer a file (3 seconds vs 10 seconds... noticeable, but not a game-changer. YMMV).
The Bambu are WiFI only, and limited to a 2.4 GHz network as far as I know.

We also have a Mk 4, which runs and runs. It's quiet and reliable with excellent print quality. It sits on a guy's desk and is constantly printing something. He won't give it up.

The QIDI offerings are solid, with some rough edges. We have 3 at work. They run and run, but the quality of the print isn't on par with the Mk 4 and Bambu and I don't have time to calibrate and tune to get them there. They're working dogs.
QIDI has an ethernet port, if that's important to you.

If I were spending my own money again, I'd go Bambu P1S or X1C. The X1C is much nicer, and is already outfitted for glass- and carbon-filled filaments. The P1S needs minor upgrades... which we didn't do on the machine at work. I'll let you know if we ever wear out the extruder or nozzle.

These days I wouldn't buy a printer that didn't have a built-in enclosure. "Engineering" filaments like ABS and Nylon are much easier with an enclosure.

Man, I've been hearing that for 10 years. I'll believe it when I see it.







I was thinking about the kit, I can definitely see the value in knowing the equipment thoroughly. No soldering involved, correct? I'm just looking to screw shit together.

I saw Prusa has an optional enclosure. Will that suffice for ABS?

Yes, but the factory Prusa one is expensive.
Google the Lack enclosure mod. Rat and Obsessed I believe both use that instead of the factory enclosure.

The bed-slinger design is not space-efficient when you add an enclosure.
A Mk4 by itself is a tiny thing, but you have to account for the bed moving back and forth.