Please recommend if there's anything I should buy with a new printer

I’ve decided to buy an SV06 ACE from Amazon UK. This would be my first printer. I can’t see anything in the listings that says what comes in the box with the printer. Is there anything I should get that would be useful in the first few weeks after purchase?

Buy some PLA filament, other than that everything’s in the box.

Great! Thanks for replying.
In your opinion, would eSUN basic PLA be a reasonable choice at this point?

As for spare parts:

A selection of nozzles is good to have
A spare hotend will most likely be valuable within the first 3 or 4 months
Build plates tend to take a beating as you learn to run your printer

NOTE: The Ace nozzle is specific to the machine. Many users find they get good results with “volcano” nozzles. I’d recommend you stay stock until you have run 5 or 6 Kg of filament.

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It’s an excellent choice, I really like this printer. Probably one of my favorites.

In addition, I’ll purchase an enclosure with LEDs.

This will be very useful when printing special filaments such as ABS or ASA.

@cardoc Thanks! I will have a look at nozzles and plates as a priority.

I’ve wanted a 3d printer for a while, I haven’t bought one because I don’t how much use I’ll make of it but I thought it’s not much of a risk given the price.
I do intend to try ABS at some point so I have been looking at enclosures, I might have a go at making one (and probably spend far more on it).

I already have capton tape, Dremel clone, which I currently use for deburring, agreed might be better off with the proper tool. loads of M2, 2.5, 3 nuts, bolts, stand-offs. Have a hot air gun (the type used for shrink plastic) I was hoping would work for stringing. Also have hot air solder/rework station, which might be OTT for that. I’ll look at digital calipers, bearings, magnets

As far as making an enclosure goes, I would do it properly, or just buy one if I thought it’s beyond my ability. I hadn’t thought of just doing the printing in the shed. That should have been obvious. :laughing:

Be aware that large changes in ambient temperatures will effect your outcomes. Less so for an enclosed printer but still can have minor effects.

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I’ve been using this one for a while. It’s very inexpensive and useful.

The best value for money I know.

Yes, looks good. Seems it’s also possible to attach vent fan and tube. Not sure where I’d vent to.

I haven’t this limit.

My printer is in my garage.

But honestly, I don’t smell anything with the ASA and I don’t use ABS.

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Find a low cost HEPA replacement filter element. Fans are cheap and you own a 3d printer. Print your own air purifier.

You can filter inside the enclosure or send the filtered air out to the room depending on what temperature you are shooting for

Yes, fans are cheap. You think HEPA filter would be enough? I was thinking along the lines of activated charcoal to catch chemicals, probably with HEPA as well. I haven’t actually researched any of this, if it would work, I’m not even sure how powerful fan would need to be to suck/blow through both

Your lungs, your health, you make the choice you’re comfortable with.

ALSO - HEPA is an industry standard that defines minimum performance to be labeled as such. Many filters far exceed the standard. As far as "activated charcoal… Supposed to work at the molecular level yet most you can see through. To me it feels like bailing a boat with a pitchfork. Most of the water never comes close to the tines.

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I just checked, a filter that (allegedly?) does both would be cheap. Assuming the enclosure were suitable, it should be possible to make something with an extractor fan to cool the enclosure and filter the exhausted air while using a fan with heater to heat the enclosure when necessary. Should be able to rig up something that balances the two to keep a reasonably constant temperature inside. Possibly using PID algorithms and PWM to control the speed of the fans and strength of the heater.
I can think of a few ways to try this, STC1000, REXC100, Inkbird controllers used by brewers.
This would be something for a long way down the line.

I have a couple boxes of masks from Covid, I wear one when I’m printing ASA on my SV06…sometimes with the Zero.

BTW: I use the Wham Bam HotBox for my SV06. The SV06 & ACE are the same size.

Mostly, I’d buy several kg of good PLA filament to get started. If you were sure you’ll be making outdoor items or things for inside a car on a hot day, maybe standardize on PETG instead of PLA. To make it easier when starting, I recommend using one brand of good readily available PLA or PETG so you aren’t having frustrations with a different brand of PLA printing differently, as is the case if you buy whatever no-name filament is cheapest on Amazon. You’ll generally get the best buy when buying in bulk.

I’d recommend a replacement build plate and a few replacement nozzles, and a wrench for the replacement nozzles. I recently bought a little cross shaped wrench on Amazon that’s marketed for 3D printers by several sellers. It’s similar to the old 4-way universal lug wrenches for cars. I’ve found the little wrench to be handy for 3D printer repair and maintenance, and more than just changing nozzles, but it’s good for that as it provides enough torque but doesn’t encourage too much torque and it prevents burned fingers when turning hot nozzles. It was also inexpensive.

Maybe I’m being too fussy, but I like a good pair of tweezers with a large grabby area. Tweezers that ship with 3D printers and those sold for 3D printers are usually cheap with fine pointed tips that require too much precision when grabbing filament. I have some tweezers with long flat serrated tips but the last 50 mm of the arms can be used to grab filament ooze from a nozzle by feel. It’s difficult to judge distance when looking back into a 3D printer. Maybe get some longer tweezers of good quality with serrated tips.

Similarly, the blue handled diagonal flush cutters that ship with every printer work well enough for cutting filament on the diagonal for easier feeding into the extruder, but good tools just feel better. Hako cutters don’t cost much and have a luxurious quality feel every time you use them. They were $4.97 when I bought two of them in 2017. They’re $10.99 now. That’s inflation. :-/

If you’d like to try printing ABS, I’ve had good luck doing that on bed slingers by draping a clear trash bag over the printer and loosely tucking it underneath to create a passively heated static air bubble to prevent drafts. An enclosure with a door is more convenient, but it’s hard to beat the price of a trash bag and if you only occasionally need to print ABS or ASA, it’s probably the best solution. A trash bag adds a bit more flammable material to a 3D printer so I would recommend being with the printer to watch it while it’s printing, and I recommend a smoke detector over top of your printer, and some people even go so far as to install an automatic fire extinguisher ball over every printer. It’s a good idea to have a small manually operated fire extinguisher nearby even though you’ll almost certainly never need it.

Just a reminder to everyone posting in this thread …this is a new user to the hobby…we don’t want to send him down a rabbit hole even before he has a chance to use his printer.

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I concur with this :rofl:

I will get a fire extinguisher. We have a fire blanket in the kitchen/lounge but I suppose an extinguisher would be potentially useful for more than the printer.

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