The 3d printer I ordered arrived on Tuesday. After 3 hours I had maybe half assembled. 
Fun times. I'm going to use it to build blind motor gearboxes for automation, so it's somewhat topical.
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LOL Hurry up!
Also ordered a 3D printer, want to get a webcam aswell to get it integrated into hubitat. Want to be able to turn it off when i see its going wrong remotely
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Nearly finished it last night. Didn't come with enough spiral wire wrap to keep the print head cables organized, so I Amazoned some more. I'm putting everything together temporarily to calibrate and then I'll print a box for all the electronics and wiring.
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I powered it on to make sure everything started up as expected. Seems to work ok. I need to install the firmware for auto leveling sensor and then I can give it a test run.
It's happily printing a spool holder (since my kit was sadly lacking one)
Managed to cram all the wiring and control board and power supply into an 8x8x4" junction box. It's... too tight though. I'll probably replace it with a 10x10x4" at some point.
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Well, this has been an eye-opening experience. Several weeks of frustration later, I discovered my filament feed was happening at about 40% of what it should be. Also my print head thermistor and/or heater were garbage. A $25 replacement head fixed a large amount of problems I was having.
Next I'm going to rebuilt it with printed parts... Relocate the Z motors to the bottom, replace the Y axis carrier with steel bars, and maybe get rid of the slightly-too-tight box I crammed everything into.
I got my printer also running, just need to tweak some small things but its working great. It's a delta printer though, so its a bit different.
I ordered the hardware I needed: new 8mm rods for Y and Z axis, longer lead screws for Z, reinforced fiberglass belts for X and Y, boxes of metric screws, washers, T nuts etc. This should be fun.
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Found out the hard way that an enclosure for ABS isn't optional. I was hoping to print all the upgraded parts before reassembly. Now my plan is to build an enclosure and move the controller and power supply outside. I'm going to need to figure out some way to install a disconnecting means between the controller board and printer, or just vent the power supply and controller through the enclosure. Enclosure is two layers of corrugated plastic sheeting, and aluminum C channel. I have a piece of acrylic for the door... Just need to find some hinges.
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Well be glad you didnt buy a delta printer because they are nasty to configure. Still busy configuring it but its getting better and better. I'm also planning to build an enclosure because i also want to start printing abs. Good luck mate
I just started looking into and researching 3d printers
liking the Creality brand but hard to justify (to the wife)
Hard to believe that there are so many different types out there and not really a lot of demand.
Which brand/models did you buy and why?
I have an off-brand Prusa Reprap clone. If I knew then what I know now, I’d have bought a genuine Prusa MK3. Prusa seems to have a huge following and the company is always innovating both hardware and software.
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i had 9 3d printers so far, i still have 6 of them at home. and i second @ogiewon's statement.
i won't go into details of which printer you should buy and why (there are a lot of web sites for it)
but considering a 3d print takes hours (sometimes days), you need a stable one.
and in my case a silent one (for printing at night)
so i can recommend original prusa mk3 (worth the price) and raise 3d n2/pro2 (not cheap)
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Mine is a Flsun Prusa I3 clone. It's been a fun project but I've really spent the cost of the printer again on upgrades and repairs getting it working. I enjoy a project though.
Enclosure complete!
A few things I've learned from my first 3D printer adventure:
If you want to print ABS, you HAVE to have an enclosure. Either buy a printer that's already enclosed, or build one yourself.
Overhangs and bridges are a pain. If you can afford it right away, buy a dual-extruder system. That way you can print supports from a water soluble filament like PVA.
Check all your settings! Tighten belts, level your bed, confirm extrusion speed is accurate. Some filaments are more forgiving than others. I find there's only a 5C range that my ABS will print properly in. Too hot, and it blobs and too cold and it cracks. (in this case, 225C)
From what I've read, 24V power supplies and heaters (bed and hot end) are more efficient, heat up and hold heat better, and tax your controller board significantly less. Also, using mosfets for bed heater and head heater should prolong that as well.
Also, don't try untested techniques on several items at the same time. I tried an oven heating method of hardening abs and it warped them beyond usability. Doh.
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I also got an enclosure now. (now need to wait for more PLA/ABS) And probably going to buy a I3 or something more expensive if i like 3d printing after a few months.
Starting my shopping for printers and from what I can tell, the Prusa MK3S is the way to go. It’s fairly expensive, but when I weigh the lower cost options with upgrades, time, and troubleshooting, it seems like the way to go. I don’t want to spend my time trying to get it to work, I want to spend the time creating. Also going to get the mmu2S for multi color and dissolvable support material. Why not, right?!?
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