3D Printing Forum - Recent Threads

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

arvindsa — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 05:20:21 GMT

Aliexpress wont open in India without extra work

Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

HKPhysicist — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 19:04:36 GMT

Hello 3D Printer Experts,

Do you think that this mini 3D Printer machine is capable of printing rear and front panels of a plastic enclosure?
Can it print thin panel with small hole, narrow slot such as USB-C 9mm slot, microSD card slot, etc.
Are the printed panels strong enough against standard human handling and shipping?

This is my chosen enclosure. The size of the panel is about 9cm x 4cm x 2mm. The red-lined area is the target panel which is detachable. The factory quoted me US70 for customising a batch of 50 items of this enclosure. I am considering a 3D Printer for this extra money. [emoticon:c28b2e4cc20f4ba28d1befdba6bed29c]

Thanks for your opinions. [emoticon:4baf9c67c1b843c6b4ddedea33023652]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010359574353.html

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

arvindsa — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 05:19:37 GMT

Tranparent too. Clear case to show the electronics is all the rage

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

colporteur — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:50:45 GMT

I'm a bit pragmatic on topic such as this. What the limits in your lexicon of cheap?

DIY projects have both intrinsic and extrinsic value. How much of both do you have to invest to see the end?

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

obones — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:24:23 GMT

Yeah, me neither.

Thing is, when AliExpress tells me that the product is not available in my country, it sends a strong message that it's either a counterfeit or a product that blatantly doesn't respect EUs regulations. This, in turn, leads me to believe that this "cheap" 3D printer won't be up to any task...

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

embeddedguy — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 10:12:44 GMT

The link is not opening for me

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

michaelkellett — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:13:19 GMT

I found it any way - I don't think you'll get a decent 3D printer for £55 !

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

michaelkellett — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:11:23 GMT

The link doesn't work in the UK, how much does the printer cost ?

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

HKPhysicist — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 07:50:37 GMT

Yes, also many colours choices. 😍

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

arvindsa — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 01:20:33 GMT

These type of 3d printers aren't big on accuracy out of the box. And and others suggested , end panel can be a pcb. Cheaper and accurate and you'll have silk screen also. you can get many panel mount components also which will work well the pcb.

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

HKPhysicist — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 23:06:06 GMT

Big issue of reliability.

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

HKPhysicist — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 22:24:07 GMT

Your suggestion is a COOL option! I can order PCBs with silk screen for no extra cost! 😍 I am also able to design simple PCB with Kicad v10!

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

shabaz — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 20:59:00 GMT

Yes (I often specifically choose those types of enclosures with removable panels, so that I can replace with PCBs).

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

dougw — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 20:38:37 GMT

The two concerns I would have are bed leveling (this seems to require manual bed leveling) and It doesn't mention a heated bed which may make bed adhesion an issue.

3D printing loses its appeal if you have to print 3 times to get one good print.

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

ralphjy — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 20:38:02 GMT

Inexpensive 3D printers can be extremely useful tools, but I would pass on this particular one.

It is clear that the vendor does not know what he is selling and could not provide support if you needed it.

I don't like the way the filament feeds and in this picture, the holder on the left is shown mounted incorrectly.

And the speed is extremely slow.

I guess you could make it work, but I don't think it is worth it.

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

HKPhysicist — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 20:10:40 GMT

Did you suggest the front and read panels to be made by the PCB factory instead of a 3D printer? 🤔

RE: Please assess this cheap 3D Printer.

shabaz — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 19:42:46 GMT

The best thing about those types of enclosures is that the end panel can be a PCB.

RE: Open Source 3D Printing and its EcoSystem Now at Risk?

stanto — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 23:27:55 GMT

[quote userid="104335" url="~/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/57179/open-source-3d-printing-and-its-ecosystem-now-at-risk/237901"]very few people are deterred[/quote]

Ah, that's different from no people are deterred.

I'm sure it's greater than zero and more often than never.

Sadly many things can be true at once with regards to this.

Open Source 3D Printing and its EcoSystem Now at Risk?

stanto — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 01:00:53 GMT

A bill/law has now passed in California which means that anyone selling a 3D Printer in California now has to have detection in its software to prevent the attempts to 3D print a gun?

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaFvUdxVbE:640:360]

I'm not in California, but this sounds like it has consequences.

RE: Open Source 3D Printing and its EcoSystem Now at Risk?

DAB — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:19:00 GMT

Laws are passed and crime still occurs.

Clearly there is no correlation between a law and its ability to stop crime.

From my observation, very few people are deterred by the thought of breaking a law.

Some people fear the results of breaking the law and getting caught, but evil people just do not care.

RE: Open Source 3D Printing and its EcoSystem Now at Risk?

stanto — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:47:28 GMT

[quote userid="104335" url="~/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/57179/open-source-3d-printing-and-its-ecosystem-now-at-risk/237867"]One thing is clear, a law has NEVER prevented a crime![/quote]

How would you know?

RE: Open Source 3D Printing and its EcoSystem Now at Risk?

DAB — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 21:40:16 GMT

Sadly that is very true.

Some day, legislators will learn that you cannot legislate a problem away.

Making a law is useless without enforcement and penalties.

One thing is clear, a law has NEVER prevented a crime!

RE: Open Source 3D Printing and its EcoSystem Now at Risk?

michaelkellett — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:06:20 GMT

Remarkable - the folly of legislators never fails to exceed expectations !

RE: Open Source 3D Printing and its EcoSystem Now at Risk?

ralphjy — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 02:47:17 GMT

I might not be 3D printing anymore once my current hardware and/or software becomes non-functional. It’s a shame since it really has been an enabler for many of my projects. Not sure how this becomes effective at the state level. There must be a lot of guns being printed.

RE: It always amazes me when 'print in place' works in a 3D model

kmikemoo — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 03:35:35 GMT

NICE! Great job and good on you for helping out a friend. 👍🙌

It always amazes me when 'print in place' works in a 3D model

stanto — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 20:31:56 GMT

[View:https://players.brightcove.net/1362235890001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6401854219112:360:640]

A friend asked me to print a carry case for their medication, I was surprised how well it worked out with a print in place hinge because usually this sticks together for me.

The design suggests that it doesn't need magnets in the corners, and the original brown print didn't - but I had to reprint it. It was warping off the heatbed (bit of a shoddy CR2020 printer) and bent in the corners, besides the person wanted it in blue filament. Unfortunately what was meant to be a 2hr30min print took ... 9 hours. Ouch.

I printed it out again, but the tolerances weren't so tight and the hinge doesn't quite stay together as easily, despite it printing better. So in went a set of magnets. The notes said that super glue would come undone in the fridge (first I've yheard of that happening?) so I bought UV Resin Glue and a torch, it didn't set in the 5 seconds, that was a lie, it took somewhat longer, but a quick wipe with isopropyl cleaned off any uncured resin and it closes quite nicely.