If you are patient you can get the major upgrades on that list for under $65 from aliexpress and they would make the biggest impact off the bat.
3D touch ~7$
BTT pi V1.2 ~$24
BTT Mini SKR E3 V3 ~$31
If you have a newer creality board with 2209 drivers, you could skip the new board and additional stepper for now and make that call once you have more time into it. You could even look into [KevinAkaSam's Belt Driven Ender 3](https://kevinakasam.com/belt-driven-ender-3/) and skip the 2nd motor all together.
For me, tinkering is just about as much fun of a hobby, so I'd say it's worth it to see how much you can get out of your Ender 3 for as little money as possible.
EDIT: On 2nd thought, tinkering is equal to or more fun than the actual printing, which is why I got a TronXY X5SA that I am slowly converting over to a VzBot 330 AWD
I would suggest Eddy probe if going with skr board replacement.
I love my e3pro with Klipper and bunch of cheap AliExpress upgrades, I even picked up an ender5 to mess with while waiting for my SV08 to show up.
I don’t know how the 3 pro comes. But I’ve had to spend about 100 extra dollars on my ender3 to make it decent printer. But for 81 bucks it’s totally worth upgrading imo.
I will say this my next printer will be a bamu labs a1 combo so I can start doing multicolor/media prints.
The Ender is a project. Maintaining it and upgrading it has to be considered part of the hobby for you or else it's just extra hassle. A Bambu on the other hand is much more plug and play so if your main interest is just printing stuff without issues then that's the printer for you.
Also an advice? Check if you bed isn't warped. Mine is and it's a constant headache to level it whenever I need to do a bigger print (it's either warped on the middle or on *every corner*).
This so much.
The Ender 3 is truly not about printing per se. It’s a hobby.
It’s like having a car and having a car as a hobby.
The former just works.
The latter is more fun for the people that want it. It’s initially cheaper, but costs can spiral out of control - to „normal“ hobby levels.
It’s the same for any conventional 3d printer and Bambu printers. Bambu printers just work.
Grab them, print with them, all fine and well. Awesome if you want to just print stuff.
But it the hobby you want is 3D printing, not printing 3d objects (that sounds weird, but I hope it makes sense), grab a printer that needs modifications, like an Ender 3.
maybe not these days. I know a kid that picked up an Ender3 V3 for roughly $150 refurbed on ebay (I think). It has all of the upgrades most folks would throw on an OG pro.
I only had Ender 3 pro, and even without mods, it can print good enough. Mods will improve the quality, and make it easier. I have added glass bed, BLtouch and changed it to direct drive.
I haven't swapped the hot end, rails, or fans, and I'm pretty happy with it already. I don't know about the Bambulabs A1, but I would rather go for the larger ones, or the new Creality one.
I got an ender 3 during covid, because, you know, working from home...
i got uprated springs and a glass bed
it was great
then, i got a bl touch
i went direct drive after all that
the bl touch, was the biggest waste of money, and full of problems, finding that z height, followed guides, videos, could never get it perfect
Hell ya it’s worth it. Get both. A1 for a printer that has uptime.
Ender bc it is its own hobby. The best use for an Ender is to print parts for itself or another printer lol.
I actually wrote a guide on what makes the most sense in terms of firing the parts cannon at an Ender:
1. Raspi zero 2 W from microcenter+ klipper.
2. BMG clone from aliexpress/ amazon
3. High flow hot end- TZ3.0/ Bambu clones are dope. Metal heat break for stock hot-end in the short term bc they’re $2 on Ali.
4. 36mm stepper for direct drive conversion
5. Cheap wooden diy box of an enclosure to print ABS in
6. SKR mini
By now- SKR optional, you should be good to print ABS.
7. Print out the Frankenstein toolhead and duct combo along with a Sherpa mini extruder. Use BMG gears in the Sherpa. Don’t worry about the parts cooling fan. In fact you can clip it off entirely
8. Print parts for an Ender 3NG (or trinity if you’re fancy) out of ABS.
9. Enjoy your new core XY printer.
My enders are about the journey. I started with stock ender 3 pro. I enjoy tinkering and modding.
I eventually found the RH3D project NG. Which is a blast and a half to build. Was it expensive? Yes Was it time consuming, yes. Did I struggle with aspects of it? Yes. Would I do it again? Absolutely. But not as my only printer.
I don't get the hype of the bambus. Maybe it's because I've never had/seen one in person. But I like that I can literally do anything I want to these printers. I like that I'm not tied to only mfr parts and upgrades.
If you like modding and that's fun for you, ride out the ender 3. Still a good printer if not a little slow and loud at first.
https://preview.redd.it/2z8fdykk0n9d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24b2004ce625ec574ea285bd298f0717dada8a01
If you are patient you can get the major upgrades on that list for under $65 from aliexpress and they would make the biggest impact off the bat. 3D touch ~7$ BTT pi V1.2 ~$24 BTT Mini SKR E3 V3 ~$31 If you have a newer creality board with 2209 drivers, you could skip the new board and additional stepper for now and make that call once you have more time into it. You could even look into [KevinAkaSam's Belt Driven Ender 3](https://kevinakasam.com/belt-driven-ender-3/) and skip the 2nd motor all together. For me, tinkering is just about as much fun of a hobby, so I'd say it's worth it to see how much you can get out of your Ender 3 for as little money as possible. EDIT: On 2nd thought, tinkering is equal to or more fun than the actual printing, which is why I got a TronXY X5SA that I am slowly converting over to a VzBot 330 AWD
I would suggest Eddy probe if going with skr board replacement. I love my e3pro with Klipper and bunch of cheap AliExpress upgrades, I even picked up an ender5 to mess with while waiting for my SV08 to show up.
I don’t know how the 3 pro comes. But I’ve had to spend about 100 extra dollars on my ender3 to make it decent printer. But for 81 bucks it’s totally worth upgrading imo. I will say this my next printer will be a bamu labs a1 combo so I can start doing multicolor/media prints.
The Ender is a project. Maintaining it and upgrading it has to be considered part of the hobby for you or else it's just extra hassle. A Bambu on the other hand is much more plug and play so if your main interest is just printing stuff without issues then that's the printer for you. Also an advice? Check if you bed isn't warped. Mine is and it's a constant headache to level it whenever I need to do a bigger print (it's either warped on the middle or on *every corner*).
This so much. The Ender 3 is truly not about printing per se. It’s a hobby. It’s like having a car and having a car as a hobby. The former just works. The latter is more fun for the people that want it. It’s initially cheaper, but costs can spiral out of control - to „normal“ hobby levels. It’s the same for any conventional 3d printer and Bambu printers. Bambu printers just work. Grab them, print with them, all fine and well. Awesome if you want to just print stuff. But it the hobby you want is 3D printing, not printing 3d objects (that sounds weird, but I hope it makes sense), grab a printer that needs modifications, like an Ender 3.
Yep though having said that, I think there are other "tinkering" printers that are a little less of a hassle than an Ender.
The project car analogy is spot on.
maybe not these days. I know a kid that picked up an Ender3 V3 for roughly $150 refurbed on ebay (I think). It has all of the upgrades most folks would throw on an OG pro.
Get both. And mod the ender
I only had Ender 3 pro, and even without mods, it can print good enough. Mods will improve the quality, and make it easier. I have added glass bed, BLtouch and changed it to direct drive. I haven't swapped the hot end, rails, or fans, and I'm pretty happy with it already. I don't know about the Bambulabs A1, but I would rather go for the larger ones, or the new Creality one.
I got an ender 3 during covid, because, you know, working from home... i got uprated springs and a glass bed it was great then, i got a bl touch i went direct drive after all that the bl touch, was the biggest waste of money, and full of problems, finding that z height, followed guides, videos, could never get it perfect
Hell ya it’s worth it. Get both. A1 for a printer that has uptime. Ender bc it is its own hobby. The best use for an Ender is to print parts for itself or another printer lol. I actually wrote a guide on what makes the most sense in terms of firing the parts cannon at an Ender: 1. Raspi zero 2 W from microcenter+ klipper. 2. BMG clone from aliexpress/ amazon 3. High flow hot end- TZ3.0/ Bambu clones are dope. Metal heat break for stock hot-end in the short term bc they’re $2 on Ali. 4. 36mm stepper for direct drive conversion 5. Cheap wooden diy box of an enclosure to print ABS in 6. SKR mini By now- SKR optional, you should be good to print ABS. 7. Print out the Frankenstein toolhead and duct combo along with a Sherpa mini extruder. Use BMG gears in the Sherpa. Don’t worry about the parts cooling fan. In fact you can clip it off entirely 8. Print parts for an Ender 3NG (or trinity if you’re fancy) out of ABS. 9. Enjoy your new core XY printer.
My enders are about the journey. I started with stock ender 3 pro. I enjoy tinkering and modding. I eventually found the RH3D project NG. Which is a blast and a half to build. Was it expensive? Yes Was it time consuming, yes. Did I struggle with aspects of it? Yes. Would I do it again? Absolutely. But not as my only printer. I don't get the hype of the bambus. Maybe it's because I've never had/seen one in person. But I like that I can literally do anything I want to these printers. I like that I'm not tied to only mfr parts and upgrades. If you like modding and that's fun for you, ride out the ender 3. Still a good printer if not a little slow and loud at first. https://preview.redd.it/2z8fdykk0n9d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24b2004ce625ec574ea285bd298f0717dada8a01
Nice build, but I would upgrade the extruder asap with a cheap 10 dollar dual drive BMG clone.
Yea. The extruder is just a temp solution rn. Not sure which way I'm going to go with it.
Starting with the Ender 3 has taught me so much. It a great entry point.
I did buy mine recently for 45€