Anybody 3D printed their own parts like spacers or mounts? What software do you use to design? Any 3D printers recommended for $500 or less?
I printed a mount for my brother to use his Garmin Fenix as a computer before he bought his edge. Worked fine for the most part.
I use Solidworks but mostly because that’s what I do for my day job so I have free access to it on my work computer. I have a lot of experience with it - but not with complex surfaces. So simple shapes I can bang out real quick but if they have to have swoopy designs and be super aero it would take me a bit.
I have an Ender 3 at home. I think I paid like $180 for it and I’d say it’s a steal at that price for someone looking to get into it. I believe Microcenter has had the Ender 3 Pro for as low as $99 which is crazy. I’m far from an expert in it so I won’t give too much advice. If you just want to do simple stuff in PLA I don’t think you can beat the Ender. Up to $500 you can probably get some pretty awesome machines now. But depending on what you’re going for (useable bike parts vs mini figurines for example) you might want a different type of printer.
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I was actually just looking at this line. Amazon has the V2 for like $240. The Max was on sale for $260 on their website but out of stock. Is there much difference between the Pro and V2?
I’ve 3d printed spacers to fit my Yoeleo Handlebar on my frame that doesn’t have internal routing. I use
inventor daily and this only took about 30 min worth of work. Most of that was using calipers to measure the old vs new and then combining the two.
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I think the V2 is better. It has the glass bed, upgraded screen and the quiet motor controls. If it’s in a dark corner of your basement then the noise won’t matter but if it’s somewhere you can hear it the V2 is considerably quieter. Those are all upgrades you can do to the regular Ender or Pro but it looks like the price is close enough to not really matter that much.
I think the prices have been cheaper than that in the past but not sure how often the sales pop up.
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I used TinkerCAD to merge together a Garmin quarter-turn mount and an attachment for my Cygolite. I found the Garmin and Cygolite designs online and merged them together, then canted them at 5, 10, and 15 degrees. The idea was to use a female Garmin mount on the underside of my aerobars. Unfortunately I do not have a 3D printer and the “free to use” ones at the public library were of poor quality. However, the mounts did work, just not as nicely as I wanted. Still, it was easy enough to make a custom part like this. Looking forward to the day when we can print much more complex parts.
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I have access to some really good ones from work, but I choose not to just because. Shapeways does a really good job and quick turnarounds
I looked there but a little more expensive than I was hoping. $30ish per item puts my order over $100 for the parts I want (2 Varia mounts and a computer mount). Plus, I want to print some other designs.
Where do you find designs? I’ve looked on Thingiverse; are there other sites?
I have a nice 3d printer that i have never use…
It was given to me by a friend about a year ago… 
@CaptainThunderpants , I primarily use Thingiverse. They seem to have the most extensive library.
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Ender 3 hands down. End of discussion.
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As others have mentioned, Ender 3 is a good option. I’d offer another option for the Prusa Mini+. It’s got a smaller print bed, but in my experience, Prusas are more “plug and play” to get good quality prints.
As far as SW, I use NX for my day job but SolidWorks for personal use. I plan to move to one of the free options next year (Fusion 360 hobby version, FreeCAD, etc.).
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Finally got around to printing a cover for my Colnago K-Zero stem, which was bought without and looked terrible as a result. Very strange curvature in multiple directions, but eventually nailed it with Fusion 360 and my Ender-3.
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I’ve only done a few small parts. A few bar ends with logos, a Di2 clip, and Garmin Varia mount. But I’m happy with how they turned out.
Oh and a napkin holder that’s not bike related but I did it because I like riding up mountains.
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Looking great; particularly like the multiple use of colours. Very neat.
Better watch out. Specialized will be after you next. 
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