[0:00] hey there i'm danny the 3d printing dm
[0:02] and welcome to 3d printed tabletop a
[0:04] channel where we cover all things 3d
[0:05] printing for your tabletop games today's
[0:07] video is meant to be a resource for
[0:09] newer 3d printers or for folks who are
[0:10] thinking about getting into the hobby
[0:12] it's a guide where i assume no prior
[0:13] knowledge of 3d printing and instead of
[0:15] doing a normal step-by-step guide this
[0:16] would be more like a conversation where
[0:18] we talk about how to research and choose
[0:20] the right 3d printer for you and then
[0:22] how and where to buy it
[0:24] [Music]
[0:27] i want this to feel as if your friend at
[0:29] the local game store who knows i30 print
[0:32] and says hey danny i'm thinking about
[0:34] maybe getting a 3d printer could i ask
[0:36] you a couple of questions
[0:38] big mistake buddy of course you can ask
[0:40] me questions and 30 minutes later you've
[0:43] received the contents of this video in
[0:45] discussion format and i get to have this
[0:47] conversation again today because i've
[0:48] got a friend here with me today come say
[0:50] hi aj
[0:53] aj's here helping me film and edit this
[0:55] video so he'll be right behind the
[0:57] camera and i'm going to talk to him
[0:59] while we film this so if we go off
[1:01] script that's why
[1:03] okay
[1:06] sorry man all right you're stuck with me
[1:08] next half hour bud
[1:10] it's gonna be great i don't know
[1:12] much of anything about 3d printers so
[1:14] what exactly can i 3d print it can make
[1:17] a lot more than just minis in terrain so
[1:19] 3d printing goes so well with so many
[1:20] tabletop games and hobbies and the
[1:22] variety of things that you can print is
[1:24] is awesome uh so here's some examples
[1:27] small minis big minis small terrain big
[1:29] terrain airships boats dungeon tiles
[1:32] collectible statues props buildings
[1:34] paint handles paint racks
[1:37] see what i mean the fun part is 3d
[1:39] printing feels like magic like a real
[1:41] life replicator after a while you get
[1:42] used to it but then you show a print to
[1:44] a friend and they say
[1:45] that is so cool and you remember what it
[1:47] felt like when you just started all over
[1:49] again great so like what do i need to
[1:52] actually get started and start printing
[1:54] stuff yeah you don't need a lot in fact
[1:56] most 3d printers come with everything
[1:58] you need to get started so you just need
[2:00] to be able to follow instructions really
[2:01] well and use an allen wrench that's
[2:04] basically it you don't need a dedicated
[2:05] workbench your fancy tools as long as
[2:08] you have a place where you can keep and
[2:09] use your printer you'll be okay what
[2:11] specific kind of furniture do i buy
[2:14] so you know normally when we're thinking
[2:15] about buying a printer we go to amazon
[2:17] and you take out your phone and search
[2:19] for the highest rated thing with the
[2:20] best reviews uh you know don't do that
[2:23] with the 3d printer because buying a 3d
[2:25] printer is kind of like buying a car
[2:27] you're going to hear me reference that a
[2:28] lot today actually because
[2:29] most of us can relate to this
[2:31] you might need a truck because you need
[2:33] to haul stuff or because you know you
[2:35] live in texas maybe uh you'll need a
[2:37] hatchback because you live in a tightly
[2:38] packed city or a minivan because you
[2:40] need space for a growing family
[2:42] and just like with cars there's a
[2:44] million different 3d printer brands you
[2:45] can choose from but what's more
[2:46] important than the brand and the model
[2:48] is to first know the type of car that
[2:50] you need and it's kind of the same way
[2:52] with 3d printers okay so what are the
[2:55] types of videos
[2:56] there are
[2:57] two main types of 3d printers but it'll
[2:59] be easier if i show you so let me just
[3:03] bring my printers over and take it from
[3:05] there
[3:06] okay so there are a bunch of types of
[3:08] printers but these are the most common
[3:10] ones that we use for printing things for
[3:12] tabletop games so this is a creality
[3:14] ender 3v2 and this is an elegant mars
[3:17] pro 2
[3:18] and they're pretty common printers right
[3:20] now but i don't want you to focus on the
[3:22] brand i want you to understand how they
[3:23] work so you can start to think about
[3:25] what type of printer you're going to
[3:26] need fdm printers work similar to a hot
[3:29] glue gun you push plastic and 3d
[3:31] printing lingo this is called filament
[3:33] into a tube called a ptfe tube or
[3:35] sometimes directly into the nozzle and
[3:38] then the nozzle heats up and then this
[3:39] motor pushes the filament in little by
[3:41] little while other motors move the
[3:43] nozzle and the bed where they need to go
[3:44] based on what the 3d printing software
[3:46] tells it to do what ends up happening is
[3:48] the printer creates these layers that
[3:49] stack on one another and voila you get
[3:52] prints like this
[3:54] so if you see people talking about layer
[3:55] lines from up close it's because of the
[3:56] way this printer works and how thick the
[3:58] layers usually are resin printers work a
[4:01] bit differently instead of plastic on a
[4:02] spool they use resin which without
[4:04] getting too technical is a liquid that
[4:06] can harden into plastic
[4:08] so please don't drink it even if it's a
[4:09] nice bubble gum color okay
[4:12] i wanted to
[4:14] these resin printers they have lcd
[4:16] screens like the ones in our cell phones
[4:17] google gang baby and they'll flash uv
[4:20] light for each layer hardening those
[4:22] specific parts of each layer so the
[4:24] printer still builds layer on layer of
[4:26] hardened plastic on a build plate but it
[4:28] uses a screen instead of a moving nozzle
[4:31] this sounds kind of complicated but it
[4:33] isn't as difficult as it sounds and
[4:35] you'll see what i mean later once we
[4:36] start printing things
[4:38] okay so we got fdm yeah and we got resin
[4:42] so which one's probably best for me okay
[4:45] that's a good question it depends on
[4:46] what you want to print other factors
[4:48] that might be important to you so both
[4:50] of these types of printers they have
[4:51] different strengths and weaknesses so
[4:53] for looking at printers within the same
[4:54] price range like 200 to 400
[4:56] which is usually the range people start
[4:58] with right so fdm printers usually have
[5:00] much larger build volume which means you
[5:03] can print much bigger things on them
[5:05] making them a really good choice for
[5:06] like terrain pieces or props cosplay
[5:08] items the flip side is that fdm printers
[5:11] print with thicker layer lines and resin
[5:13] printers so layer lines are definitely
[5:15] more visible and if you're doing things
[5:17] like painting it can be a lot of work to
[5:19] kind of cover the layer line so it isn't
[5:21] as obvious
[5:22] which really bothers some people to be
[5:24] honest and the prints can also take
[5:25] longer but that's partially because
[5:27] you're printing larger things in general
[5:29] now resin printers on the other hand
[5:31] they're made for smaller
[5:33] more intricate things with a lot of
[5:34] detail like jewelry and minis small
[5:37] scatter
[5:38] and even though resin prints are
[5:39] generally better with detail it doesn't
[5:41] mean no layers it just means the layers
[5:43] are much smaller you've really got to
[5:44] look super close to see them 99 of the
[5:46] time so from here not noticeable but
[5:49] under a macro lens you can make some of
[5:51] those layer lines out it's really great
[5:53] for small details but that catch they
[5:55] are a lot smaller so they don't have as
[5:57] much space to print on and with that 200
[5:59] to 400 price range the difference is
[6:01] really noticeable a lot of terrain won't
[6:03] fit on them but most minion small
[6:05] scatter does usually fit on their build
[6:07] plates and if you want a resin printer
[6:09] that has a bigger build volume they're
[6:11] becoming cheaper every year you're just
[6:12] going to have to pay more than that 200
[6:14] to 400 range i brought up earlier now
[6:16] most mid-size printers they'll start
[6:17] around the 600 range but i wouldn't be
[6:19] surprised in the next few years we see
[6:21] that price go down so aj give me a
[6:24] summary man okay so fdm is typically for
[6:27] like larger drain
[6:29] pieces
[6:30] and resin is better for
[6:33] kind of smaller miniatures because of
[6:35] the line difference that's basically it
[6:37] i'm nailing it
[6:38] [Music]
[6:40] i do want to add one thing
[6:42] i think it's important so
[6:44] there's potential risks and smell when
[6:46] dealing with resin resin's famous for
[6:48] being stinky needing additional safety
[6:50] precautions glasses and nice raw gloves
[6:52] usually cover it and sometimes i bring
[6:54] in the heavy hitters
[6:56] i've tried a bunch of different resin
[6:58] brands and colors and some are stinkier
[6:59] than others and some people are more
[7:01] sensitive to the smells than others so
[7:02] come here come closer man on a scale of
[7:08] disgusting fart
[7:10] axe body odor and no smell at all how
[7:13] stinky
[7:15] [Music]
[7:19] it's not that bad
[7:21] it's
[7:22] it's kind of like old and old nike you
[7:24] know it's like it's like very rubbery
[7:26] it's very rubbery there you have it
[7:29] very rubbery
[7:31] let me put this back on like i don't
[7:33] know if you've ever ever uh
[7:35] smelled like an electrical fire but it
[7:37] smells a little not like that i'm sorry
[7:39] aj i've never smelled it i'm not like a
[7:41] fire i surrendered as many as
[7:43] no i haven't i'm sorry
[7:47] all right let's focus on we'll we will
[7:49] get there
[7:50] there you go everybody
[7:52] resin also gets everywhere you know i
[7:54] try my best to keep my garage clean but
[7:55] you know i'm simply saying that resin
[7:58] finds a way
[8:00] okay so what if i want to
[8:02] print terrain and minis as well it's
[8:04] always a follow-up always
[8:06] and i wish it was a clear answer
[8:09] but i don't think there is
[8:11] ideally you might have one of each
[8:13] printer you know for different
[8:14] situations like having a minivan for
[8:16] when you need to take the family out and
[8:17] having a truck for when you need to haul
[8:18] something big and if you have to choose
[8:20] one to start with maybe budget is a real
[8:22] limitation or you just want to ease into
[8:24] the hobby we can narrow it down with
[8:26] some follow-up questions so what do you
[8:28] want to print the most of it's minis
[8:30] then i'd lean towards the resin printer
[8:32] and more and more companies are making
[8:33] smaller terrain for us and printers
[8:34] these days too so
[8:36] you still can get a little bit of both
[8:38] if it's terrain i'd lead towards an fdm
[8:40] printer since most terrain pieces are
[8:41] made for fdm and it's just easier to
[8:43] print the larger pieces on them honestly
[8:45] now fdn printers aren't necessarily bad
[8:47] for minis either i don't want to sell
[8:49] them short here i've printed a lot of
[8:50] minis on fdm printers and i'm actually
[8:52] really happy with a lot of them but
[8:54] they're definitely below the quality and
[8:55] smoothness expectations of some people
[8:57] so buying an fdm printer ends up being
[9:00] an acceptable compromise for a lot of
[9:01] people what are you thinking aj
[9:04] so
[9:05] i like the idea of resin it sounds kind
[9:07] of more detail-oriented and finer
[9:10] details but also like i have a cat and a
[9:13] positive she's just gonna want to
[9:15] slurp up the resin yeah so
[9:18] i'm kind of worried about it yeah some
[9:20] people don't want to deal with it
[9:21] because of the smell or the safety
[9:23] things and that's fine you know if
[9:25] you're willing to consider it i just
[9:26] look at your situation honestly and see
[9:28] if it works and maybe consider fdm
[9:30] printer if that's the case but also i'd
[9:33] never work with resin until i got my
[9:35] first resin printer and i learned as
[9:36] long as you're wearing the protective
[9:38] gear and clean up and consider
[9:39] ventilation it's not too bad so i
[9:41] wouldn't necessarily be afraid of it
[9:42] either so how do i know which specific
[9:45] printer i should get so that's like
[9:47] asking which car you should buy right
[9:48] the toyota honda ford hyundai sedans
[9:51] they're very similar in price all the
[9:52] time and they're probably going to work
[9:53] very similar so it's the same with 3d
[9:55] printers there's a lot of vendor 3
[9:56] clones for example and most of them work
[9:58] pretty similarly so it depends on how
[10:00] particular you are about the exact brand
[10:02] you want or the exact features you want
[10:03] your printer have okay so it doesn't
[10:05] really matter what printer i have then
[10:07] as long as i buy the type i want fdm
[10:09] versus resin yeah that's uh
[10:12] kind of not really
[10:14] okay wait what yeah so i want to make
[10:17] the section future-proof and share like
[10:19] how you can find the right printer
[10:20] regardless of whether it's this year
[10:22] 2023.
[10:23] so a lot of times 3d printing tech
[10:25] doesn't um stay the same forever right
[10:27] it doesn't stay the best choice for too
[10:29] long for example the under 3 the
[10:31] original from 2018 uh it's three years
[10:34] old but
[10:35] now there's another three pro and ender
[10:37] 3v2 you know under five under five plus
[10:40] and i could actually go on right so it
[10:42] doesn't mean that the printer is not
[10:43] going to be good anymore for a few years
[10:45] but if you enjoy it you'll probably want
[10:47] to upgrade over time kind of like people
[10:49] do with their computers or how they buy
[10:51] the new video game systems every couple
[10:52] of years
[10:54] so
[10:54] what i'd suggest is instead of getting
[10:56] too bogged down with analysis paralysis
[10:58] you join a couple of 3d printing
[10:59] communities between facebook discord
[11:01] instagram reddit just be there take it
[11:04] in hang out for a few days at least and
[11:07] when you see one or two prints you like
[11:09] take note of what it was printed on and
[11:11] what settings they used if you start
[11:12] seeing the same printer come up like
[11:14] this over and over and over again that's
[11:16] worth something right a big community of
[11:18] users is generally a good sign
[11:21] you mentioned instagram and read it and
[11:22] all that stuff why not why not youtube i
[11:25] mean whenever i go to buy something big
[11:26] that's like the first place i do when i
[11:28] look at a million reviews
[11:30] i would i would wait for youtube
[11:32] i really would um and
[11:35] partially and i say that as a youtube as
[11:37] a youtuber
[11:39] um because if you just start on youtube
[11:40] and you type in 3d printer reviews
[11:42] you're going to find so many different
[11:44] printers
[11:45] some brands are going to be smaller some
[11:46] will be more popular and it can get
[11:48] really overwhelming very quickly so i'd
[11:50] wait to look at those until you're a bit
[11:52] more familiar with some of the more
[11:53] popular brands
[11:54] printers you know and that comes with
[11:56] time so i wouldn't worry about watching
[11:58] every review
[11:59] and ids into it and i say that again
[12:01] someone who does reviews so
[12:04] little by little what's gonna happen is
[12:05] you're gonna build confidence in a
[12:07] specific printer and then i'd buy it on
[12:09] amazon
[12:11] you just told me not to buy things on
[12:12] amazon
[12:13] i know i know i did and i'm sorry about
[12:15] that but
[12:16] the thing is amazon usually has
[12:19] they have really fast shipping and it's
[12:21] the safest option in case something
[12:23] happens for whatever reason you get a
[12:25] faulty printer you know if your printer
[12:26] has a warped bed or the screen doesn't
[12:28] work any of the things you just happen
[12:29] with bad luck you can return it you
[12:31] don't have to worry about paying for
[12:33] shipping costs and exchange costing
[12:34] extra money or anything like that and
[12:36] even though buying through amazon's
[12:38] usually more expensive than on the
[12:39] company's website i consider it like a
[12:40] form of peace of mind insurance that
[12:43] extra 20 40 it costs on amazon is
[12:46] usually worth it to me in case things
[12:47] don't work out
[12:49] and yeah there's sometimes we live in
[12:50] another country or something where
[12:51] amazon's not really an option
[12:54] and i'd look for a local 3d printing
[12:55] store first you know printers are
[12:57] usually more expensive there too but
[12:59] local stores tend to make up for it in
[13:00] service they're more than willing to
[13:02] answer questions and that's really nice
[13:05] as a beginner and it's good to support
[13:07] your local 3d printing community too
[13:09] the last option i'd consider are
[13:11] websites like aliexpress banggood even
[13:13] local stores like aldi in australia for
[13:15] example
[13:16] you can usually get printers cheaper on
[13:18] these sites but the return process is
[13:20] not always the best in my experience and
[13:22] that peace of mind is pretty important
[13:23] to me
[13:24] okay it's a different question
[13:26] we're in your garage
[13:28] there's a ton of tools in here
[13:30] um
[13:31] do i need any of these
[13:33] like do i need a bunch of stuff to get
[13:35] started
[13:36] it's been three four years of me
[13:38] collecting this stuff
[13:40] and like i mentioned most printers come
[13:41] with everything you need in the box so
[13:44] you know that includes things like allen
[13:45] wrenches and spatulas to remove prints
[13:48] so i suggest getting comfortable with
[13:49] the base printer before moving on to new
[13:51] accessories or upgrades i definitely do
[13:53] think that there are some nice things
[13:54] you can buy like like i mentioned a nice
[13:56] allen wrench set but
[13:58] i don't have a nice allen wrench set and
[14:00] it's been four years so
[14:03] i think you'll be okay to start off
[14:05] now there's there is two exceptions a
[14:07] metal spatula like
[14:09] this one if you buy a resin printer
[14:11] because most of them don't come with it
[14:13] and this is much better for a moving
[14:14] prints than the plastic one that does
[14:16] come with them usually and number two is
[14:18] some kind of cleaning agent for the
[14:19] resin prints
[14:21] the most common is ipa
[14:23] okay so you mentioned upgrades um
[14:27] what do you mean by that upgrades are
[14:28] kind of like with cars right you might
[14:30] want a spoiler you might want rims right
[14:33] um
[14:34] they're optional you might you know in
[14:36] 3d printing world you might get a metal
[14:37] extruder so if i don't have a gold a
[14:39] gold plate
[14:41] a gold grill for mine my 3d printer i
[14:44] could just put that on there but it's
[14:45] really aesthetic it's not
[14:47] it's not neat there are quality of life
[14:49] upgrades the that metal extruder is one
[14:51] of them but yes i guarantee that
[14:53] somebody's put some type of uh gold
[14:55] grill on their 3d printer
[14:58] yeah there's a bunch of videos that are
[15:00] on youtube honestly these days entry
[15:02] level printers they come with a lot of
[15:04] those quality of life printers that
[15:05] folks used to print ad themselves every
[15:07] new generation of printers seems to add
[15:10] more of those features so
[15:11] i wouldn't worry as much about upgrades
[15:13] they can be nice to have but i'd start
[15:15] with following the base instructions
[15:17] carefully and getting comfortable
[15:18] printing a few things first
[15:20] you an instruction follower aj
[15:22] i'm more of a trial by fire kind of guy
[15:24] me too baby that's what i'm talking
[15:26] about
[15:27] uh and i've learned to be a little more
[15:29] instruction oriented uh the hard way you
[15:32] know some people want to start upgrading
[15:33] their printer immediately and that can
[15:34] cause other problems that you might not
[15:36] even realize since you needed 3d
[15:38] printing in general and for reference
[15:40] i've only added two upgrades to my base
[15:42] under threes after three years and i
[15:43] haven't added any to my under 3v2 so i
[15:46] mean it when i say
[15:48] i don't think you need to go overboard
[15:49] most of the time okay so let's stop
[15:52] talking about it
[15:53] we set one up and like get going yeah
[15:56] actually before we get these set up
[15:59] why don't you get started today can be
[16:01] the first day where you embark on your
[16:03] own 3d printing adventure and find the
[16:05] printer that's right for you
[16:06] if you have any follow-up questions i'd
[16:08] love to hear from you so please leave a
[16:10] comment below i do read them all and if
[16:12] i get a lot of the same question i'll do
[16:14] my best to make a follow-up video
[16:16] answering it
[16:17] if you enjoy the content i make and want
[16:19] to support the channel the best way to
[16:20] do so is to pick up a late pledge on our
[16:22] website lostadventures.com
[16:24] our lost adventures volume one
[16:26] collection was made for brand new 3d
[16:27] printing dms just like you
[16:29] if you're not quite ready to pick up
[16:30] some models liking this video and
[16:32] sharing it goes a long ways too thanks
[16:34] again for watching happy printing and
[16:36] happy gaming
[16:39] [Music]
[16:39] [Applause]
[16:40] [Music]
[17:00] you