The Gun Guy’s 3D Printers and Supplies
Here is a list, with links to the Printers I use, my favorite filaments, and other items that I have found that helps make 3D printing firearms parts more effective and with less waste.
The Ender 3 V2 was my first and is still my favorite 3D printer. For the money, this printer will do it all.
I have made a number of upgrades to my Ender 3 V2, but without a doubt, the best money that I spent on upgrades were the aluminum extruder upgrade and the tempered glass bed. While I had no serious problems with the factory parts, when I set up my 2nd and 3rd printers it just made sense to install them in the initial build.
The thing I wish I would have learned about sooner we the auto bed leveling kit. This and this alone has saved me from more bad prints than I can count.
Finally, if you have your printer set up in a shop or a place with a lot of dust or where it’s kind of cold a printer tent is a must. This keeps the dust out of your workspace and the air inside at a constant temperature.
My next printer was the Ender 5 Pro. While honestly, I didn’t feel like it was much of an improvement over the Ender 3 V2. When I wanted to start going a bit bigger I went with the Ender 5 Plus. I should have skipped the Pro and just spent a little bit of extra money on the plus in the first place. The added printing surface is awesome.
I have made the aluminum extruder upgrade on the Ender 5 Pro but wanted to try the Micro Swiss Direct Drive Extruder on the Ender 5 Plus. The Micro Swiss Extruder appears so far to be worth the money. However, as I write this I’ve only had it a little over a month. In addition, I added the tempered glass beds, auto bed leveling and purchased the printer tents for Ender 5’s as well.
The first and most time-consuming lesson you’ll learn about 3D printing is that not all filaments are created equal when it comes to printing firearms parts that need to be able to take some stress. If you’re making your mommy a baby yoda to sit on her desk, anything is fine. If you’re going to print an AR or Glock lower, then take some advice.
After wasting hundreds of print hours to have a print just break apart in my hands with several “Amazon’s Choice” filaments I found SunLu. SunLu’s PLA & PLA+ Filaments have performed fantastically for me. In addition, SunLu’s Carbon Fiber filament is the only carbon fiber I’ve been able to get to print right so far. Now, that said, on the advice of a master 3D firearm printer, I’ve just purchased some Inland PLA. He swears by it and I’m always looking for better results even though the last was just fine.
The 3D Printing page is going to work as a navigation for a blog. Each of the main titles will take you to a subsection. As I purchase new printers, find new filaments, or find needed upgrades to the printers I already have I will update this page so please stop back. 3D Printing is a lot of fun, and there is a special satisfaction to building a gun from scratch. Please, just remember to be safe as you move forward in the 3D Firearms Community.