I’m partial to OVVO, I tend to be pretty hard on frames (-8 prescription, I can’t not wear glasses), but the two pairs I’ve had have been nigh indestructible- deceptively sturdy especially given how thin and light they are. (Bonus points for not being part of the eyeglass cartel too)
So… A Chromebook?
Ender’s 3 price point is tricky, because the initial machine is so cheap there isn’t a whole lot else in the same sub-$200 bracket that’s particularly great. Realistically, if you can step up to $300 (which you’d probably spend in upgrades for the ender anyway), you’ve got the Bambu A1 and Elegoo Centauri Carbon. I’m not personally a fan of Bambu, but they are very set and forget folks that don’t mind being in an ecosystem seem to love them. Centauri is on the newer side, but from everything I’ve seen, it seems to be a very strong contender for best budget printer (also worth noting that there’s rumblings of a version 2 coming out early year, so you might be able to snag a clearance sale or some shiny new features).
Aww schist, here we go again!
Oh, my employer already can and does track compliance via badge-ins, so they definitely know when they’re getting a return on investment from the corporate real estate.
I hadn’t thought about the connecting IP address though, that would absolutely be logged.
I’d view it as more of the opposite: a tool built into the Teams suite to tattle on who isn’t complying with Return to Office policies.
VPNs would depend a bit on configuration. I know my ubiqiti router will let me dump VPN traffic into its own vlan (with dedicated IP range), so it would absolutely be possible to tell it apart from local traffic. At the same time, I’m pretty sure my workplace has all site network traffic VPN’d to the home office, so I’m not if the same logic would apply…
I wouldn’t let multicolor be a barrier for entry for you. It’s something that can technically be added later*, but it is much more difficult to convert a printer to be able to work with engineering materials. Personally speaking, I also wouldn’t mix multicolor and engineering materials ABS is pretty cheap but anything that would need a hardened nozzle (like glass or carbon fiber reinforced filaments) is almost too expensive to waste purging. Plus, if I’m remembering correctly, color swapped prints aren’t quite as strong structurally as monofilament prints.
* technically speaking as long as your printer can run Klipper, there are community projects like Box Turtle or Enraged Rabbit that are meant for more general use (if you’re okay tinkering with things) if Elegoo never gets around to releasing their multicolor unit.
Heads up, PEI sheets are great because you can take them off and flex them a bit to pop parts off, but it is worth noting that PETG (and TPU) can also bond too well to PEI. It depends a bit on the kind and quality of the PEI, but you may still want to use a release layer (I’m partial to washable glue sticks, but everyone has their own personal preferences) just to keep your plate safe.
I’ve been rocking a Framework 16 for about a year now and would happily recommend it. It’s a bit more upfront, but I love knowing that I can fix or replace just about anything on it (pretty affordably too). It’s just so refreshing to not have to worry about dumb shit like an obscure power adapter or port forcing my laptop into an early retirement.
It’s not the lightest laptop I’ve ever had, but realistically not all that much different from my last gaming laptop. Now that I’m not a full time student anymore I could probably get away with one of the smaller models, but the form factor is pretty nice.
Overall, no major complaints!
Agreed. Not to burst OPs bubble, but I highly doubt they’re hitting a flow rate that high.
If I had to guess, Orca is capping their extrusion move speeds at whatever speed the filament_max_volumetric_speed of their filament profile is set to. In other words, if the profile is set to 12 (default for Creality Generic PLA) the actual speed is probably something like 150mm/s (flow / (nozzle diameter * layer height), so 12 / (0.4 * 0.2)), regardless of what the speed value is set to.
The blue/ silver is very striking, I’m excited!
That or a wall wipe distance maybe? It’s been ages since I’ve used cura though…
I mainly use my printer as a tool to solve problems, so my decision process is very much grounded in arriving at a solution as opposed to just finding something to keep the machine busy.
My usual approach is to cast a wide net and go through all the models* that might do what I’m looking for. If I’m lucky, I’ll find something that I like enough to print. If not I’ll use it as a brainstorming session and either pick out a model or two that I can adapt (or at the very least pull critical dimensions) or get a feel for what I’d like to do differently. From there, it’s off to CAD where I’ll fire off slivers and prototypes until I’m happy with the fit and function of my part.
*printables is my go-to, but sometimes I’ll wander over to thingiverse if I want more options (and know I’m not working on something bespoke)
Got a PineTime for Christmas and so far been very pleased with it. I found the PineTimeStyle watchface and it’s been a bit like coming home to Pebble, but I do miss the wide array of watchface choices and effortless customization.
Also a 2.4 owner, I bought the 350 LDO kit from Fabreeko and it was delivered back in August. Getting it assembled and dialed in was certainly a process, but aside from that it’s been an absolute workhorse (I think I’ve got something like 200+ hours of print time in; completely blows my Thessian Ender out of the water in terms of both speed and reliability). You certainly can tinker with it and make it a project printer, but they print really well stock. The only mod I’d say is anywhere near required is swapping out the magnetic bed meshing sensor, only because the sensor readings tend to drift as the sensor gets hot. You can totally work around it, by waiting for the printer to warm all the way up or cool down to ambient before printing, but I’m impatient plus the mouse switch mod (Klicky) tends to be more reliable and accurate (plus it’s temperature agnostic).
Don’t get me wrong I’ve totally modded mine: swapped out some of the plastic parts for metal ones, added a brush to clean the nozzle before my print (makes for more consistent Z heights), replaced the panel clips with snap latches, but none of it was required to make the printer print better (mostly just to make maintenance easier and partly because it looks cool).
The new hotness in the open source MMU space is ArmoredTurtle’s BoxTurtle project, which seeks to be an open source equivalent of the Bambu AMS. I’m still working on the parts for mine, but from everything I’ve seen the build is way less fiddly (and as a result more reliable) than the ERCF.
Seconding kit Vorons. While they certainly aren’t the cheapest option, they aren’t that much more expensive than other higher end core XY machines. Fabreeko* has the 250/300mm Trident kit at 1.2k and 350mm 2.4 at 1.4k + an extra $150 or so for printed parts. Compared to the new Core One at between 950 - 1.2k or the X1C also at 1.2k you’re looking at an extra $150 to 350, but that also comes with build volume increases (both the Prusa and Bambu are at roughly 250 mm³). Definitely wouldn’t recommend them as a first printer, but Vorons are shining examples of what’s possible with open source (and they’re absolute workhorses too).
* Highly recommend them with glowing praise for being all around fantastic (they also run sales on the regular, though kit deals are usually reserved for special occasions like black Friday, or Clee day)
E3D makes pretty decent stuff and is based out of the UK- it’s just annoying and expensive to get ahold of everywhere else (insert generic grumbles about Revo nozzles). Otherwise, I’ve had good luck with Phaetus nozzles, but I’m not sure that pricing/ availability looks like in the UK.
If it helps, I like Ellis’ guide for tuning my printers.