SainSmart x Creality Ender-3 3D Printer @ WOOT 2/26/2019 - $179 & Free Ship

**AJR214** · 03-22-2019, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by Protege94

Mine didnt say no, she said "you know you would just print junk that you dont need" haha

Thats why I havent bought one yet, I have no idea what I would print. Which means, I dont know what useful things I would print.

I want it.. my wife would kill me right now though if I got it! If I get it I would have to forego the Christmas Expo this year in Daytona... which would actually save me money ($210 for the weekend pass, stuff I'd buy, gas there and back... at least a $400-$500 weekend).

I already have things I want to print for pixel holders/mounts for globes, hanging lanterns, landscape lights. I could also print the brackets for my P5 sign. So many possibilities with our hobby since we have to fabricate or become McGyver and show some creative ingenuity to make things fit and work! Here are some pre-made prints you can get from Thingiverse for 12mm pixels: https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q...65c9473666a4fc

**beeiilll** · 03-22-2019, 07:44 AM

I just wanted to check in here and say that I got my Ender 3 Pro printer and have it working now! It is actually sitting here on the table in front of me printing up some things to use with the printer like cable clips, filament guide, and other "goodies" to help make it a bit easier to work with the thing!
Getting it to print "right" for the first time was a bit of a pain and learning curve but now it is a lot of fun to see what turns from a spool of plastic "wire" into a usable object right in front of your eyes!

I have wanted one of these for a few years now and had bought a Tevo Tarantula one back almost two years ago but with health, surgery, and other life things, I couldn't get it working so gave it to another younger person who had to spend some time and money on it but uses it all the time now. The printers have come a long way very quickly and are easier to get running but still do require you to "tinker" with them to get good results but that is all part of the fun to me.

I can see many new things to make with it although now I will have to get to work learning some form of CADD to use to design the actual parts with to print. And maybe if I can get it going, I will make up some items for the "display world" and sell them if I can! Certainly does open up a world of possibility with one of these right next to you! I only wish is that I had worked harder on getting one of these to work a few years ago!

**kev** · 03-22-2019, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by Protege94

Mine didnt say no, she said "you know you would just print junk that you dont need" haha

Thats why I havent bought one yet, I have no idea what I would print. Which means, I don't know what useful things I would print.

I want to believe that some of the things I have made are useful/practical. Check out some of my things at https://www.thingiverse.com/u04601/designs

I have made a whole bunch more 'stuff' that I have not shared on Thingiverse.

Also for me, since I have health issues that limit my standing time, this hobby helps to keep my mind busy with stuff other than watching the boob tube.

**worksopian** · 03-26-2019, 11:33 AM

Deal is still on at Gearbest, just ordered mine.

**AJR214** · 03-26-2019, 09:59 PM

I was originally only posting the deal, but I ended up buying one on Saturday from Banggood.com. Gearbest pissed me off with a coupon code they posted on my Half Off Deals and showed the Ender 3 for $159 with a specific code. It wouldn't work. I went through chat CSR, Web Ticket, and another CSR. No one wanted to budge with my screenshots and coupon code, or even meet me halfway. Anyway, BG was $179.99, code for $10.83 off, and shipping was $15, so it was $184.

I'm excited and yet stressed... can't wait to use it, but it's now another "hobby" on top of the lighting hobby. It's new programs to learn, more money to spend (though it may save money on custom prints for props/mounts that I don't have to jerry rig), add-ons (I want to build a IKEA Lack table box for it), and just all around more of my time! But at least I have my wife on board with the purchase

**beeiilll** · 03-27-2019, 03:59 AM

It certainly is a fun "toy" to tinker with and watch it make "something out of nothing"!
The only thing I would throw in is to take your time when you receive it and go through the machine carefully as you assemble it. Look over ALL the screws and connections to make sure that it is "right". I found that a couple of the electrical terminals in the electronics box were just snug and not tight yesterday when I went over the machine after having it run for a week as a "shakedown" (I had not opened the electronics box up when I first assembled the machine but saw a couple of different videos where they suggested checking it). A lot of great videos on Youtube on doing the assembly of these if you need help and they will give you hints at things that you may not think about, especially the checking the square and alignment of the frame pieces as you assemble it.

It does take a bit of patience doing the assembly and especially the bed trammeling (leveling) part. It is a fine line between the hot end being too close and too far from the bed to get the filament to "stick" correctly. Also, my bed has a slight dip in the middle that I had to cut a sheet of paper under the magnetic base sheet in the center to get it flat, so check it good. I am using the magnetic sheet now but many suggest to get a glass bed plate to keep it flat and help with the filament sticking well for prints.

Once you get it all set up, it is very easy to use the SD card to print out something on the machine. Thingiverse has so many things to print! I would also recommend that you look into some of the recommended "mods" for the Ender 3 (and the Pro) that will "help" with wiring management and some other things although the extruder mod to get a better one is the biggest one I have seen so far and did it to my Pro first thing.

So far I have a bunch of rather funny and interesting plastic "things" sitting on my desk that I have printed out with the machine. Now I am learning the software end of things with TinkerCad and the CURA slicer program and that will take the biggest amount of time.

There are a lot of great folks on here and on Youtube for information and help with these things so you can always find help if you get stuck. Just keep in mind that it is a machine that requires patience and a bit of a "loving touch" to get it to work for you and not against you and you will get great prints on it.

**beeiilll** · 03-27-2019, 04:21 AM

Oops! Double post so deleted this one!

**DrNeutron** · 03-27-2019, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by beeiilll

It certainly is a fun "toy" to tinker with and watch it make "something out of nothing"!
The only thing I would throw in is to take your time when you receive it and go through the machine carefully as you assemble it. Look over ALL the screws and connections to make sure that it is "right". I found that a couple of the electrical terminals in the electronics box were just snug and not tight yesterday when I went over the machine after having it run for a week as a "shakedown" (I had not opened the electronics box up when I first assembled the machine but saw a couple of different videos where they suggested checking it). A lot of great videos on Youtube on doing the assembly of these if you need help and they will give you hints at things that you may not think about, especially the checking the square and alignment of the frame pieces as you assemble it.

It does take a bit of patience doing the assembly and especially the bed trammeling (leveling) part. It is a fine line between the hot end being too close and too far from the bed to get the filament to "stick" correctly. Also, my bed has a slight dip in the middle that I had to cut a sheet of paper under the magnetic base sheet in the center to get it flat, so check it good. I am using the magnetic sheet now but many suggest to get a glass bed plate to keep it flat and help with the filament sticking well for prints.

Once you get it all set up, it is very easy to use the SD card to print out something on the machine. Thingiverse has so many things to print! I would also recommend that you look into some of the recommended "mods" for the Ender 3 (and the Pro) that will "help" with wiring management and some other things although the extruder mod to get a better one is the biggest one I have seen so far and did it to my Pro first thing.

So far I have a bunch of rather funny and interesting plastic "things" sitting on my desk that I have printed out with the machine. Now I am learning the software end of things with TinkerCad and the CURA slicer program and that will take the biggest amount of time.

There are a lot of great folks on here and on Youtube for information and help with these things so you can always find help if you get stuck. Just keep in mind that it is a machine that requires patience and a bit of a "loving touch" to get it to work for you and not against you and you will get great prints on it.

Glad to see you are having fun with it Bill!
Just wait till you add a BLTOUCH and a Bondtech BMG extruder. It becomes a set it and forget it printer.....