3D printer: types and what matters

Types of printers

They are divided by the material and the way it is joined. 3D printers that melt plastic filament in a nozzle (FDM) are the cheapest and the most common. Resin printers (SLA, MSLA, DLP) give fine detail. Powder (SLS, MJF) and metal printing (SLM) use industrial machines. You will find an overview of them all under additive manufacturing.

What decides a printer's quality

• Frame and motion. A stable frame and rigid guides reduce vibrations, which show up on the surface. On a CoreXY only the light print head moves, so it can go faster.
• Enclosure. It holds in heat and protects against draughts, so material warps less. See enclosure.
• Nozzle and extruder. An even feed of filament decides how clean the walls are.
• Calibration. A well-set bed and first layer decide whether a print succeeds.
• Slicer and profile. The machine is only half of the result.

What we print on

We print on Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2 printers. They are enclosed CoreXY machines with a 0.4 mm nozzle and an automatic filament changer for up to 4 colours. The materials are PLA and PETG, the standard layer height is 0.2 mm and the largest part is 246 × 246 × 256 mm. We run them together as a print farm and work out the delivery date from the real workload.

We do not sell filament, printers or spare parts, and we do not repair printers. If you are buying your own printer, first be clear about which materials you want to print, because that decides whether you need an enclosure or a hardened nozzle.

What you can and cannot expect

A printer is not a photocopier. The result depends on the material, the model and the settings, and in ordinary FDM printing you will see layers, small deviations in dimensions and occasionally strands of material between parts. A good machine reduces these but does not eliminate them. That is why it helps to know what you need the part for: whether it should look good, be strong, be accurate, or just be light and cheap.