Why you should NOT get a 3D printer

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Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
0:27 Sponsor PIA
1:42 It's Overwhelming
3:18 "Community"
4:20 Plastic waste
5:51 Limitations

[daimhinm]

Idea to help recycle 3D prints better: Maybe slicer folks can add an option to automatically place a recycling symbol on the base layer of prints derived from the material sliced.

[borjamax]

To be be honest I enjoy every process related to 3d printing so much that these 4 things sound like very minor inconveniences rather than problems.

[xntumrfoivrnwf]

Maybe I can add another one: you might not have much to print / it might not be used much after the initial excitement wears off.
I definitely don't regret getting a printer, and I still use it from time to time, but for some reason it feels like I had an endless list of ideas to print before I bought it (but not after).

[overvoltagestudio]

For the plastic waste parts, there are filament manufacturers, like AddNorth, which i buy most of my filaments from, who will gladly ship your empty spools and plastic waste back to them for free to reuse and be recycled into new filament that they sell. Pretty cool.

[jseger]

As someone who purchased his first 3d printer in December of 2022, spot on. When starting out, often one perceived problem is caused by several things going on, which is a bit overwhelming until you figure it out. Without videos like yours and others, along with some helpful advice from printer-specific community support groups, there would be a lot more used 3d printers on ebay for sure! Keep up the good work!

[MaxVulpes]

When i first started 3d printing i knew what i was getting into, but i had a burning passion for being creative and designing and making stuff, and for some reason i enjoy tinkering with stuff, so det downsides mentioned weren't much of a problem for me, and i also reasercched alot on the start to make sure i knew what i was doing and have minimal struggles and haven't broken my one and only creality 3 v2, which i hqve had for many years now without breakdown, very happy with my purchase.

Glad you are making this video to help people think twice before getting into it, not everyone is made for this and might make hasty decisions on the spot of inspiration but, might struggle and regret ever touching a 3d printer, you need to have patience with this kind of hobby.

[boostaddict_]

I'm a mechanical engineering student who's used to working on things constantly since I grew up on a farm, I'm looking at building a Voron 2.4 this year. I want a project I can get to a point where I'm satisfied with the performance so I can use it to build other things, like maybe a second printer. It will wind up being a project but I hope to see more uptime than repair time.

[barrag]

A double whammy today! Honestly I get why you made these two contradictory videos; while I am enthusiastic about and neck deep in the technology myself, when I get asked about buying one from people who know me I feel that I have a responsibility to point out the fact that every machine will require some amount of time troubleshooting, even the ones made to be "hands off." The point about knowing to CAD is another point I hit on (a printer is way more useful if you know how to truly make things yourself), and I feel resin machines while they've come very far from the first "hobby" SLA machines are never going to really be desktop machines because of all the other things necessary to use them.
The issue of plastic waste is an issue that I'd like a solution to if the machines to grind and melt it back into filament weren't either projects or thousands.

[webx]

I got mine partially for creating custom parts. But I also got it as a robotics project. I grew up with LEGO robotics, and once you want to go further, things get out of hand quickly. I got an Ender 3 V2 for $100 and have probably spent more than that on upgrades, because I've wanted to learn it from a foundational level rather than everything being done for me. That made it easy to get or recommend 3D printers for friends, because I know what isn't worth the hassle and can recognize deals better.

If the novelty wears off and I just need parts printed, this will probably work fine, but if it doesn't, I'd probably just go with something from Bambu and call it a day.

[Nobodycares]

I got a 3d printer 2 years ago and never had problems with printing just not sticking to bed but fixed it thanks to Tom I got it down

[Paul_Bearden]

3d printing is very difficult. It involves many specialized skills including machine operator, maintenance, graphic design in the form of CAD software, slicer programs and the difficulties of 3d printing itself like leveling the bed, bed adhesion, clogging, temperature settings, extrusion rate, and edge compensation for the squished material, which for a 0.4mm nozzle at 0.24mm layer height, is almost exactly 0.15mm for each side. This compensation allows for sub-millimeter (micron) accuracy of print.

[rudolfherwig]

Thomas, I agree with every sentence you say. I also took all these steps, but I have no regrets. It's still a great hobby.

[nytrouz_original]

nice video I have should watched some years ago when i bhought my first printer because i wanted to print some parts for my car. now i have my 3. 3d printer up and running and pretty good in mashing recktangengles dogether in fushion 360

[kokkerrot]

I've accumulated 3 fdm and 1resin printer, 6 years later and each and every print still amases me, yeah they can be frustrating but when you get a flawless print its oh so worth it

[doro]

Bought a Tevo tarantula when they were all teh rage and did soo many upgrades, i could have just bought a prusa BUT I learned so much tinkering with that machine.

[eslmatt]

I will be concerned about my minor amount of plastic waste when the climate people stop flying private jets to talk about the climate.

[Franckie.G]

This kind of honest pragmatic well informed and carefully explained point of view is the main reason i love your channel, this kind of content will help for the grow of a better 3d printing and maker community in the future.
Thank you .

[pkpotate]

The first reason, its overwhelming is 100% true. I've had friends who are very capable people get overwhelmed by 3D printing sometimes and they are people who are engineers and other jobs that also require a lot of skill. So this is definitely not a "hobby" that anyone can just jump into. Its a fun hobby but it takes some real dedication to it to really get into it.

[theglowcloud]

If you print PEEK-CF, you can get somewhat close to the strength of metal (aluminum 6061, for instance). PPSU-CF is also great. Other than that, yeah, plastic is quite limiting for functional parts that have a harsh duty cycle.

[lucsegers]

The 5th negative aspect: printing takes time, even after watching all the videos it still surprised me how long it took. I'm definitely more in designing small parts which I could then print, not really being interested in tweaking the printer. Thanks to you I went for a Prusa Mark i3 Mk3 some years ago. Still happy printing on it. Using fusion 360 to design some stuff...