Which 3D Printer Should You Get? A COMPLETE Beginner's Guide

[00:00] hey there i'm danny the 3d printing dm

[00:02] and welcome to 3d printed tabletop a

[00:04] channel where we cover all things 3d

[00:05] printing for your tabletop games today's

[00:07] video is meant to be a resource for

[00:09] newer 3d printers or for folks who are

[00:10] thinking about getting into the hobby

[00:12] it's a guide where i assume no prior

[00:13] knowledge of 3d printing and instead of

[00:15] doing a normal step-by-step guide this

[00:16] would be more like a conversation where

[00:18] we talk about how to research and choose

[00:20] the right 3d printer for you and then

[00:22] how and where to buy it

[00:24] [Music]

[00:27] i want this to feel as if your friend at

[00:29] the local game store who knows i30 print

[00:32] and says hey danny i'm thinking about

[00:34] maybe getting a 3d printer could i ask

[00:36] you a couple of questions

[00:38] big mistake buddy of course you can ask

[00:40] me questions and 30 minutes later you've

[00:43] received the contents of this video in

[00:45] discussion format and i get to have this

[00:47] conversation again today because i've

[00:48] got a friend here with me today come say

[00:50] hi aj

[00:53] aj's here helping me film and edit this

[00:55] video so he'll be right behind the

[00:57] camera and i'm going to talk to him

[00:59] while we film this so if we go off

[01:01] script that's why

[01:03] okay

[01:06] sorry man all right you're stuck with me

[01:08] next half hour bud

[01:10] it's gonna be great i don't know

[01:12] much of anything about 3d printers so

[01:14] what exactly can i 3d print it can make

[01:17] a lot more than just minis in terrain so

[01:19] 3d printing goes so well with so many

[01:20] tabletop games and hobbies and the

[01:22] variety of things that you can print is

[01:24] is awesome uh so here's some examples

[01:27] small minis big minis small terrain big

[01:29] terrain airships boats dungeon tiles

[01:32] collectible statues props buildings

[01:34] paint handles paint racks

[01:37] see what i mean the fun part is 3d

[01:39] printing feels like magic like a real

[01:41] life replicator after a while you get

[01:42] used to it but then you show a print to

[01:44] a friend and they say

[01:45] that is so cool and you remember what it

[01:47] felt like when you just started all over

[01:49] again great so like what do i need to

[01:52] actually get started and start printing

[01:54] stuff yeah you don't need a lot in fact

[01:56] most 3d printers come with everything

[01:58] you need to get started so you just need

[02:00] to be able to follow instructions really

[02:01] well and use an allen wrench that's

[02:04] basically it you don't need a dedicated

[02:05] workbench your fancy tools as long as

[02:08] you have a place where you can keep and

[02:09] use your printer you'll be okay what

[02:11] specific kind of furniture do i buy

[02:14] so you know normally when we're thinking

[02:15] about buying a printer we go to amazon

[02:17] and you take out your phone and search

[02:19] for the highest rated thing with the

[02:20] best reviews uh you know don't do that

[02:23] with the 3d printer because buying a 3d

[02:25] printer is kind of like buying a car

[02:27] you're going to hear me reference that a

[02:28] lot today actually because

[02:29] most of us can relate to this

[02:31] you might need a truck because you need

[02:33] to haul stuff or because you know you

[02:35] live in texas maybe uh you'll need a

[02:37] hatchback because you live in a tightly

[02:38] packed city or a minivan because you

[02:40] need space for a growing family

[02:42] and just like with cars there's a

[02:44] million different 3d printer brands you

[02:45] can choose from but what's more

[02:46] important than the brand and the model

[02:48] is to first know the type of car that

[02:50] you need and it's kind of the same way

[02:52] with 3d printers okay so what are the

[02:55] types of videos

[02:56] there are

[02:57] two main types of 3d printers but it'll

[02:59] be easier if i show you so let me just

[03:03] bring my printers over and take it from

[03:05] there

[03:06] okay so there are a bunch of types of

[03:08] printers but these are the most common

[03:10] ones that we use for printing things for

[03:12] tabletop games so this is a creality

[03:14] ender 3v2 and this is an elegant mars

[03:17] pro 2

[03:18] and they're pretty common printers right

[03:20] now but i don't want you to focus on the

[03:22] brand i want you to understand how they

[03:23] work so you can start to think about

[03:25] what type of printer you're going to

[03:26] need fdm printers work similar to a hot

[03:29] glue gun you push plastic and 3d

[03:31] printing lingo this is called filament

[03:33] into a tube called a ptfe tube or

[03:35] sometimes directly into the nozzle and

[03:38] then the nozzle heats up and then this

[03:39] motor pushes the filament in little by

[03:41] little while other motors move the

[03:43] nozzle and the bed where they need to go

[03:44] based on what the 3d printing software

[03:46] tells it to do what ends up happening is

[03:48] the printer creates these layers that

[03:49] stack on one another and voila you get

[03:52] prints like this

[03:54] so if you see people talking about layer

[03:55] lines from up close it's because of the

[03:56] way this printer works and how thick the

[03:58] layers usually are resin printers work a

[04:01] bit differently instead of plastic on a

[04:02] spool they use resin which without

[04:04] getting too technical is a liquid that

[04:06] can harden into plastic

[04:08] so please don't drink it even if it's a

[04:09] nice bubble gum color okay

[04:12] i wanted to

[04:14] these resin printers they have lcd

[04:16] screens like the ones in our cell phones

[04:17] google gang baby and they'll flash uv

[04:20] light for each layer hardening those

[04:22] specific parts of each layer so the

[04:24] printer still builds layer on layer of

[04:26] hardened plastic on a build plate but it

[04:28] uses a screen instead of a moving nozzle

[04:31] this sounds kind of complicated but it

[04:33] isn't as difficult as it sounds and

[04:35] you'll see what i mean later once we

[04:36] start printing things

[04:38] okay so we got fdm yeah and we got resin

[04:42] so which one's probably best for me okay

[04:45] that's a good question it depends on

[04:46] what you want to print other factors

[04:48] that might be important to you so both

[04:50] of these types of printers they have

[04:51] different strengths and weaknesses so

[04:53] for looking at printers within the same

[04:54] price range like 200 to 400

[04:56] which is usually the range people start

[04:58] with right so fdm printers usually have

[05:00] much larger build volume which means you

[05:03] can print much bigger things on them

[05:05] making them a really good choice for

[05:06] like terrain pieces or props cosplay

[05:08] items the flip side is that fdm printers

[05:11] print with thicker layer lines and resin

[05:13] printers so layer lines are definitely

[05:15] more visible and if you're doing things

[05:17] like painting it can be a lot of work to

[05:19] kind of cover the layer line so it isn't

[05:21] as obvious

[05:22] which really bothers some people to be

[05:24] honest and the prints can also take

[05:25] longer but that's partially because

[05:27] you're printing larger things in general

[05:29] now resin printers on the other hand

[05:31] they're made for smaller

[05:33] more intricate things with a lot of

[05:34] detail like jewelry and minis small

[05:37] scatter

[05:38] and even though resin prints are

[05:39] generally better with detail it doesn't

[05:41] mean no layers it just means the layers

[05:43] are much smaller you've really got to

[05:44] look super close to see them 99 of the

[05:46] time so from here not noticeable but

[05:49] under a macro lens you can make some of

[05:51] those layer lines out it's really great

[05:53] for small details but that catch they

[05:55] are a lot smaller so they don't have as

[05:57] much space to print on and with that 200

[05:59] to 400 price range the difference is

[06:01] really noticeable a lot of terrain won't

[06:03] fit on them but most minion small

[06:05] scatter does usually fit on their build

[06:07] plates and if you want a resin printer

[06:09] that has a bigger build volume they're

[06:11] becoming cheaper every year you're just

[06:12] going to have to pay more than that 200

[06:14] to 400 range i brought up earlier now

[06:16] most mid-size printers they'll start

[06:17] around the 600 range but i wouldn't be

[06:19] surprised in the next few years we see

[06:21] that price go down so aj give me a

[06:24] summary man okay so fdm is typically for

[06:27] like larger drain

[06:29] pieces

[06:30] and resin is better for

[06:33] kind of smaller miniatures because of

[06:35] the line difference that's basically it

[06:37] i'm nailing it

[06:38] [Music]

[06:40] i do want to add one thing

[06:42] i think it's important so

[06:44] there's potential risks and smell when

[06:46] dealing with resin resin's famous for

[06:48] being stinky needing additional safety

[06:50] precautions glasses and nice raw gloves

[06:52] usually cover it and sometimes i bring

[06:54] in the heavy hitters

[06:56] i've tried a bunch of different resin

[06:58] brands and colors and some are stinkier

[06:59] than others and some people are more

[07:01] sensitive to the smells than others so

[07:02] come here come closer man on a scale of

[07:08] disgusting fart

[07:10] axe body odor and no smell at all how

[07:13] stinky

[07:15] [Music]

[07:19] it's not that bad

[07:21] it's

[07:22] it's kind of like old and old nike you

[07:24] know it's like it's like very rubbery

[07:26] it's very rubbery there you have it

[07:29] very rubbery

[07:31] let me put this back on like i don't

[07:33] know if you've ever ever uh

[07:35] smelled like an electrical fire but it

[07:37] smells a little not like that i'm sorry

[07:39] aj i've never smelled it i'm not like a

[07:41] fire i surrendered as many as

[07:43] no i haven't i'm sorry

[07:47] all right let's focus on we'll we will

[07:49] get there

[07:50] there you go everybody

[07:52] resin also gets everywhere you know i

[07:54] try my best to keep my garage clean but

[07:55] you know i'm simply saying that resin

[07:58] finds a way

[08:00] okay so what if i want to

[08:02] print terrain and minis as well it's

[08:04] always a follow-up always

[08:06] and i wish it was a clear answer

[08:09] but i don't think there is

[08:11] ideally you might have one of each

[08:13] printer you know for different

[08:14] situations like having a minivan for

[08:16] when you need to take the family out and

[08:17] having a truck for when you need to haul

[08:18] something big and if you have to choose

[08:20] one to start with maybe budget is a real

[08:22] limitation or you just want to ease into

[08:24] the hobby we can narrow it down with

[08:26] some follow-up questions so what do you

[08:28] want to print the most of it's minis

[08:30] then i'd lean towards the resin printer

[08:32] and more and more companies are making

[08:33] smaller terrain for us and printers

[08:34] these days too so

[08:36] you still can get a little bit of both

[08:38] if it's terrain i'd lead towards an fdm

[08:40] printer since most terrain pieces are

[08:41] made for fdm and it's just easier to

[08:43] print the larger pieces on them honestly

[08:45] now fdn printers aren't necessarily bad

[08:47] for minis either i don't want to sell

[08:49] them short here i've printed a lot of

[08:50] minis on fdm printers and i'm actually

[08:52] really happy with a lot of them but

[08:54] they're definitely below the quality and

[08:55] smoothness expectations of some people

[08:57] so buying an fdm printer ends up being

[09:00] an acceptable compromise for a lot of

[09:01] people what are you thinking aj

[09:04] so

[09:05] i like the idea of resin it sounds kind

[09:07] of more detail-oriented and finer

[09:10] details but also like i have a cat and a

[09:13] positive she's just gonna want to

[09:15] slurp up the resin yeah so

[09:18] i'm kind of worried about it yeah some

[09:20] people don't want to deal with it

[09:21] because of the smell or the safety

[09:23] things and that's fine you know if

[09:25] you're willing to consider it i just

[09:26] look at your situation honestly and see

[09:28] if it works and maybe consider fdm

[09:30] printer if that's the case but also i'd

[09:33] never work with resin until i got my

[09:35] first resin printer and i learned as

[09:36] long as you're wearing the protective

[09:38] gear and clean up and consider

[09:39] ventilation it's not too bad so i

[09:41] wouldn't necessarily be afraid of it

[09:42] either so how do i know which specific

[09:45] printer i should get so that's like

[09:47] asking which car you should buy right

[09:48] the toyota honda ford hyundai sedans

[09:51] they're very similar in price all the

[09:52] time and they're probably going to work

[09:53] very similar so it's the same with 3d

[09:55] printers there's a lot of vendor 3

[09:56] clones for example and most of them work

[09:58] 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