Say hello to the Ender 3

Hello, future me talking from 2025. I got this Ender 3 back in 2020 right after quarantine hit, seeing old photos when sorting through my pictures. My dad had been interested in getting a 3D printer for me to mess around with.

Back in 2020, beginner printer choices were quite limited compared to today. Now you can pick up a Bambu A1 Mini and get it printing quality stuff out of the box without breaking the bank or becoming obsessed with mods.

This was the original Ender 3 released in 2018, as V2 will come out a couple months later.

The whining sound of the fan and motor that only slightly damped with the door closed. The sweet smell of PLA. The struggle of bed adhesion and finding the best method (Elmer’s purple glue stick on the original glass bed was the most reliable). So much nostalgia of that time in my life.

My Ender 3 has come a long way to be super silent and fast. But I do miss the loud days and staring at it on top of my dad’s office cabinet.

I believe most beginners should get into 3D printing through the Bambu A1 Mini. Tuning the printer takes a lot of patience and persistence when most users won’t be using it for rapid prototyping. But for those who are keen on learning everything about 3D printing, how a 3D printer works, and what exactly affects print quality, an Ender 3 will throw you right into the fire.

As such, I can confidently say I know how to tune 3D printers really quickly now, of course within limitations of the printer itself.

Today, I am building a Voron 2.4 to upgrade from the Ender 3 I have poured blood sweat and tears into tuning into a workhorse.

It may not be perfect; It can be temperamental on some days. But it never dies and I know exactly what parts and code are inside of it.

And that’s just the way I like it.