Bought a Creality K2 Pro printer

[The boogalorian]

I have been 3d printing for two years now and have enjoyed the experience. I started with a Creality ender 3 pro. It was around $350 on Amazon. I have been using elegoo pla+ filament for 99% of my projects. Over the past two years the ender 3 has preformed well. I did receive a few bruises on the way; clogged nozzles, knotted filament rolls, bad models, poor bed adhesion, bed leveling and a few other issues that I can’t recall right now. All in all it was worth it as I made a lot of good and functional stuff. Most things I printed were organizational in nature. Gun safe, work bench and kitchen drawers all received well deserved attention.
I built a case sorter with my brother. I printed all the parts and he did the electronics. It works for 9mm and 223 cases. That is a real time saver. Took some time to get it working right.

3d printing is a excellent hobby to get into if you like to tinker. Unfortunately it can be difficult when you start to have issues. The printers are easy to get started. Both my unboxings took about an hour and I was spitting out my first prints. There is very little included for troubleshooting. If you have an issue the best I was able to do was search for videos on YouTube. There are all sorts of discord, facebook and forums that you get answers on but I always opt for YouTube videos.

Enter the Creality K2 pro with AMS. I paid $1000 for it on Amazon and it was at my door in two days. It was about 1 hour to set up and get the first print. Of course I printed a benchy. (Benches are a printer test that shows how well a printer is working and can help identify potential issues). My old printer could make a good benchy in a bit over 2 hours, the new printer made a flawless benchy in just over 20 minutes. Freaking crazy. The new printer is hooked up via WiFi and can start printing from my tablet/ phone, as well as monitor the printer from a camera in the printer. The models can be sliced in the app and sent to the printer. I haven’t tried a multi color print yet but I’m sure I will soon enough. So far I am impressed with the speed of the printer and the ease of use with the app.

If you are looking for a new rabbit hole to go down and have 1k to burn consider the K2 Pro combo. There are plenty of reviews from credible YouTubers to watch.

 

[Scottyboy]

The wife gifted me a p1s for Christmas it’s been printing stuff everyday nothing big just small items ammo holders and an Aztec death whistle was on the list but so far so good …

 

[ridgeway]

I have a p2s on the way. Self teaching myself fusion 360. I have a few items modeled and looking forward to printing them. Cool stuff...

 

[The boogalorian]

I have a p2s on the way. Self teaching myself fusion 360. I have a few items modeled and looking forward to printing them. Cool stuff...

Thingaverse and printable are your friends.

 

[itchyTF]

My 2 sons gifted me with $500 each last summer toward a hardly used X1C with AMS, extra parts and a bunch of PLA. So I pitched in the remaining $500. I tried teaching myself Fusion 360 but couldn't get the hang of it even with YouTube. I got an older version of SolidWorks and my older son tutored me on it. I found it much easier to use. Just got done designing (and printing) a battery dispenser for 2032 and 357 coin cells, AA, AAA and 9 volt.

 

[F Class John]

I have a p2s on the way. Self teaching myself fusion 360. I have a few items modeled and looking forward to printing them. Cool stuff...

I run a p2s and a h2s both running AMS Pros and they're amazing. You won't be sorry.

We print tons of stuff for the house and cars. If you think it, you can probably find a print on any of the sites (Bambu's maker world is great too and have tons of AI creativity too). Fusion takes a while, find a mentor if you can, it's been a lifesaver for me.

 

[itchyTF]

When I first attempted the free version of Fusion 2 or 3 years ago it supposedly had a fair amount of functionality. While trying to learn it (with limited success), they began to strip functionality. Since I have my own “personal tutor” for SolidWorks there’s no reason to revisit Fusion.

 

[Just Say Moe]

The free version of Fusion was over my head, but I have been able to hack my way through FreeCAD with the help of Google and YouTube. I agree, 3D printing is a rabbit hole but the doo dads you can design and print are amazing and endless!

 

[Chaotik]

I have a couple of Bambu printers (A1 with AMS lite and A1 mini) and got rid of my P1S because it is not as easy to fix when things break as the A1 series, and having it inside a cabinet with a closed door just did not work. I also have a Snapmaker U1 with 4 toolheads. I was tempted to get onboard with the Fibreseek 3, but at the last minute I cancelled my Kickstarter pledge. Although it would have been nice to be able to print extruded carbon fiber along with PLA or PETG, I decided that I really did not need this at present. It's possible for me to make most of my prints as strong as needed without the carbon fibre.

I am able to print all kinds of stuff related to my Benchrest shooting, including 50 and 100 round loading blocks, 2 inch rear rudders (plastic and weigh not much more than an ounce so you can make light gun weight), cartridge case holders to make it easier hold cases while cleaning out primer pockets, Garmin chronograph attachements for my Lenzi rests, ejector removal tool for BAT and Kauger actions, V4 and Supertrickler powder cups, Group measuring tools (attachment for calipers), 4" and 3" wide double cleaning cradles, and a bunch of other stuff.

I use Fusion 360 only when I have to, and much prefer designing things in Shapr3d on my ipad with my Apple pencil. I have found Shapr3d to be more intuitive than most of the other CAD programs which I have tried, but there is a learning curve as there is with all CAD programs.

 

[The boogalorian]

I have a couple of Bambu printers (A1 with AMS lite and A1 mini) and got rid of my P1S because it is not as easy to fix when things break as the A1 series, and having it inside a cabinet with a closed door just did not work. I also have a Snapmaker U1 with 4 toolheads. I was tempted to get onboard with the Fibreseek 3, but at the last minute I cancelled my Kickstarter pledge. Although it would have been nice to be able to print extruded carbon fiber along with PLA or PETG, I decided that I really did not need this at present. It's possible for me to make most of my prints as strong as needed without the carbon fibre.

I am able to print all kinds of stuff related to my Benchrest shooting, including 50 and 100 round loading blocks, 2 inch rear rudders (plastic and weigh not much more than an ounce so you can make light gun weight), cartridge case holders to make it easier hold cases while cleaning out primer pockets, Garmin chronograph attachements for my Lenzi rests, ejector removal tool for BAT and Kauger actions, V4 and Supertrickler powder cups, Group measuring tools (attachment for calipers), 4" and 3" wide double cleaning cradles, and a bunch of other stuff.

I use Fusion 360 only when I have to, and much prefer designing things in Shapr3d on my ipad with my Apple pencil. I have found Shapr3d to be more intuitive than most of the other CAD programs which I have tried, but there is a learning curve as there is with all CAD programs.

I have printed all kinds of reloading stuff like reloading trays, die set holders and other organizing things. The primer catcher for the rock chucker was a huge improvement but my favorite project so far is the brass sorter from Seth. I have been shooting quite a bit more pistol and semi auto 223’s. Having a machine that can sort brass by head stamp is a real time saver for the progressive press.



I am currently working on building a case feeder for the sorter and a powder dispenser for my brothers a&d.

It’s funny how you can be in your house and think I wish I had “thing”. Then after a couple of minutes search on the internet and you’re printing a “thing”.

 

[Chaotik]

It’s funny how you can be in your house and think I wish I had “thing”. Then after a couple of minutes search on the internet and you’re printing a “thing”.

Yeah, I just wish that was my experience. What I have found searching for online models related to my shooting has been zilch. Maybe my interest in this hobby is just too narrow; so I find myself designing most everything as the need arises. Someday I'll get more organized and publish those files to a place like MakerWorld or printables.

 

[Fast14riot]

Ugh, I keep telling myself not to get a 3d printer, but every week I find something I think I could have printed and look into it again. I purposely stay dumb about it so I don't convince myself to buy one.

But I still want one. Just don't want to spend a bunch of gun money on it.

One of the guys I shoot with designed and printed a flexible recoil pad for one of his guns. Did some mods to his rest top. Loading blocks, too.

If I could get into it for 2-300 bucks, maybe I'd bite. But my particular 'tism makes any new hobby expensive, lol!

 

[The boogalorian]

Ugh, I keep telling myself not to get a 3d printer, but every week I find something I think I could have printed and look into it again. I purposely stay dumb about it so I don't convince myself to buy one.

But I still want one. Just don't want to spend a bunch of gun money on it.

One of the guys I shoot with designed and printed a flexible recoil pad for one of his guns. Did some mods to his rest top. Loading blocks, too.

If I could get into it for 2-300 bucks, maybe I'd bite. But my particular 'tism makes any new hobby expensive, lol!

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