Hot take: I used to chase tenths with my 3D printer, now I just want it to hold tolerance

I spent 2 years dialing in my Prusa MK3 to print perfect benchies, but for production parts I still had to sand and bondo every piece. Last month a customer rejected a batch because the holes were 0.3mm off over 12 inches, and I realized I was in the wrong machine class. Why are we pretending hobby printers can replace a Haas Mini Mill for actual work?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonmoore12d ago

The 0.3mm over 12 inches is the exact moment I stopped pretending my Ender 3 was a real tool. Those hobby machines just move too sloppy over distance no matter how much you upgrade them. You can chase perfect z-offset and first layer squish forever but it won't fix the basic physics problem. People get mad when you say it but a $200 printer and a $50,000 mill are not the same thing for a reason.

grace_fox312d ago

Start treating your hobby printer like what it is - a roughing tool. I blew through a whole spool of PETG making fixture blocks for a jig once, only to find the holes were all 0.2mm off because my Z-brace was loose. Now I just use my printer to knock out quick prototypes and test fits (checking critical dimensions with calipers before I even think about sending them to a customer). For production stuff, I'm either paying for a local shop's CNC time or designing around the printer's limits from the start. You can get away with a lot if you plan for the slop instead of fighting it.