3D Printing Need suggestions for a new FDM printer

[conneryc]

I currently have an Ender 5+ that I bought back in early 2020 and have made several upgrades/modifications to it and it prints really good. The very first thing I had to upgrade was the motherboard since I fried the original one. Little did I know at the time that moving the gantry manually with the printer turned on could actually generate feedback voltage. That is how I fried the original board. Replaced it with the standard Creality silent board (8 bit) and haven't had any issues since. I also have done all of the standard things like direct drive, all metal hot end, etc. But I also went with Exoslides, new meanwell power supply, and other things like a a RaspPI running Octoprint. I have it set up with a buck converter and smart plug so that I can turn on the PI remotely, and then turn on the printer with the PI. It all works great, prints great and I've had a lot of fun learning and upgrading it.

But I want to do more.....

So, since the 5+ is working well, I really don't want to mess with it. That means a new printer. I really like the idea of the Voron, but I don't need that kind of speed, nor do I want to put in that kind of money. So I'm looking for something below $600 that can do Klipper. I've been thinking of something like the Ender 6 or the Ender 5 S1. I like the specs on the Ender 6, but it isn't set up out of the box for direct drive and comes with the same glass plate as the 5+ which isn't good for printing materials like Nylon. The 5 S1 on the other hand looks like it has it all. The only real concern that I have with it is that its the same single Z-axis stepper and cantilever design like the original 5/5 Pro.

So anyone on here have/use the 6 and/or 5 S1? How do you like them? Would you recommend them? OR what other FDM printers would you recommend?

Thanks

 

[conneryc]

Wow, 40 views and not one single comment.

 

[cwbullet]

Today's best models are Prusa Mini, Prusa MK3S, Bambulab X1, and Bambulab P1P. If you want open source, go Prusa. If it does not matter to you, go Bambu.

 

[wsume99]

Also, as far as I know FDM is a term that Stratasys trademarked. None of those machines are going to come close to Stratasys quality or performance if that is what you are familiar with. They also won't come close to the cost either which is a good thing.

 

[Bravo52]

Wow, 40 views and not one single comment.

I only have a couple of FDM printers so I don't want to speak out of turn. I've read good things about many of the newer printers, but it really just depends on what you want the printer to do. One thing you should remember is you can print a small item on a big printer...not the other way round.

Most of my conversations about this goes like;

ANYONE: I'm thinking about a new 3D...[before the complete sentence is finished]
ME: PRUSA!
ANYONE: But what about the...
ME: PRUSA!

So, I'd recommend a Prusa XL. (No, I don't have one and no, it's not within the $600 range you offered). Barring any weirdness, it will be my next FDM printer.

 

[tHoagland]

It has arrived yet so I dont know I recommend it, but I just bought an Ender 3 Max Neo. It's not the top of any reviews and will never have the print quality or level of support as a Prusa but even after buying a direct drive to upgrade the extruder, I'm in for about $450 to get a printer with a 12"x12" print bed.

It'll take some time to tune (much like the Ender 3 V2 I already have) but I'm turning that over to my son as a learning experience. In the end, I'm (hoping) to trade ease of use and the best possible print quality in favor of value. We'll see if that works out.

The real issue is that I may have to reclaim an rPi 3 from an old prject for Octoprint since they're still not available at MSRP.

 

[RocketMan3D]

I don't have this one, but for Klipper under $600, what about the Sovol svo8?

 

[cwbullet]

I currently have an Ender 5+ that I bought back in early 2020 and have made several upgrades/modifications to it and it prints really good. The very first thing I had to upgrade was the motherboard since I fried the original one. Little did I know at the time that moving the gantry manually with the printer turned on could actually generate feedback voltage. That is how I fried the original board. Replaced it with the standard Creality silent board (8 bit) and haven't had any issues since. I also have done all of the standard things like direct drive, all metal hot end, etc. But I also went with Exoslides, new meanwell power supply, and other things like a a RaspPI running Octoprint. I have it set up with a buck converter and smart plug so that I can turn on the PI remotely, and then turn on the printer with the PI. It all works great, prints great and I've had a lot of fun learning and upgrading it.

But I want to do more.....

So, since the 5+ is working well, I really don't want to mess with it. That means a new printer. I really like the idea of the Voron, but I don't need that kind of speed, nor do I want to put in that kind of money. So I'm looking for something below $600 that can do Klipper. I've been thinking of something like the Ender 6 or the Ender 5 S1. I like the specs on the Ender 6, but it isn't set up out of the box for direct drive and comes with the same glass plate as the 5+ which isn't good for printing materials like Nylon. The 5 S1 on the other hand looks like it has it all. The only real concern that I have with it is that its the same single Z-axis stepper and cantilever design like the original 5/5 Pro.

So anyone on here have/use the 6 and/or 5 S1? How do you like them? Would you recommend them? OR what other FDM printers would you recommend?

Thanks

I would go with a Bambu P1S.