Best 3d printer under 500

3D printers

A good Best 3d printer under 500 is a device that allows you to create real objects, and from a variety of materials. A towel hook, a gas turbine compressor, a smartphone case can all be printed.

What does a 3D printer print

Consumables (filaments) for 3D printers are plastic filaments wound on spools. Consumables come in a variety of types and properties. All types of materials can be read in the encyclopedia.

A kilogram of the cheapest plastic can be bought for as little as $10, although more interesting options (for example, wood or sandstone imitations with real wood or stone fillers) can already cost several times more.

How to program a 3D printer to print

To start working (printing) on ​​a 3D printer, the future object must be drawn, and in all three dimensions. This is done with the help of special programs called CAD editors or CAD (“Computer-aided design systems”). At the same time, it is completely optional to draw models yourself - ready-made versions of all kinds of hooks, covers or even quadrocopters can simply be downloaded from various Internet sites. In extreme cases, if the soul does not lie in the design, and the necessary model is not available on the Internet, you can always order it from professionals.

When it comes to 3D printing, such models are “sliced”, that is, they are broken into separate layers using special programs, the so-called slicers. Imagine that you want to print a vase: first of all, the vase must be conditionally cut into thin, thin layers, and each of them, again, conditionally photographed. The stack of resulting images can be given to the printer, and it will make a copy of each image, one on top of the other, until the original vase is recreated layer by layer. That's just "draw" printers in different ways and with different materials: Wiki.

The slicer generates a special program for a 3D printer. In this program, the printer is told how to print a model - where to move the extruder, at what speed to extrude plastic, what layer thickness the model will have, and other parameters. The entire printer program is saved in a file called g-code. Then, through a flash card or USB cable, the program is loaded into the 3D printer and printing starts.

The bar is fed into the print head, where it melts and is extruded through a thin nozzle. The head moves in two planes, drawing a whole layer with a thread - one of the slices of that very “apple”. After finishing one layer, the printer raises the head or lowers the platform, and then starts printing a new layer on top of the one just applied. So, layer by layer, slice by slice, a copy of the original object is grown.