This year has continued to demonstrated that for the enterprising electronics hobbyist, replica props/cosplay designer, wearables innovator, student and educator, 3D printing is here to stay!
Each Thursday we celebrate and highlight the bold desktop 3D printing pioneers from our community on the weekly 3D Hangouts show and on the Adafruit blog. The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, costumes/wearables, robots, interactive art, and other design with your 3D printer!
Compared to last year’s 3D Printers gift guide, we have vastly expanded our options for machines and accessories. With a better range of affordable desktop 3D printers to choose from this year than ever before, isn’t it time for you to see what this “3D printer revolution” is all about for yourself?
Our best value printer
The Flashforge Creator Pro is the latest addition to our printer family, built upon an open source platform!
With the flexibility of a dual head, spring loaded direct drive extruders, you can print in all of the new materials without any modifications! Flexible filaments like NinjaFlex, print beautifully right out of box.
The included enclosure allows you to print with ABS better and more efficient than ever. The upgraded three-point platform leveling system is now more intuitive than ever and the all-new heat resistant build platform support is now made of highly-durable metal. Guaranteed not to deform means more time printing and more fun and with a thicker Z-axis rod, the Creator Pro provides more steady and precise movement than ever before. The firmware is based on sailfish which allows you to modify and tinker.
This printer works great wirelessly by adding on a raspberry pi running Ocoto Print or Astro Print. The dual extruders allow you to combine materials or colors to expand into more complex projects!
Best Medium size Printer
The Ultimaker 2 is one of our favorite 3D printers on the market. It’s a well-built open-source compact machine with an excellent UX. Every inch of the Ultimaker 2 is designed to create the most effortless and reliable 3D printing experience ever!
The bowden print head silently and precisely prints with an accuracy of 20 microns. That means that print lines are barely perceivable creating a really smooth finish. And with its heated print bed and highly efficient dual fans, the Ultimaker 2 handles overhangs and bridging like a champ!
Ultimaker also created Cura, the open-source software that most other manufacturers use, so the printer harmonizes excellently with the software without any tinkering. And we love Ultimaker’s active software development and their large online community.
Out of box the Ultimaker 2 is setup for 3mm filament but it can also work with all of our 1.75mm PLA and ABS filaments in the store with a little bit of modding using this ptfe tube.
Learn more about printing with 1.75mm filament here including the software settings.
NOTE! The Ultimaker 2 does NOT work with Ninjaflex!
Our Most Affordable Printers
Printrbot Simple Kit – 1405 Model: The Printrbot Simple is an exercise in 3D printing minimalism. It includes only what is needed to get started in the world of 3D printing.
(Please note! the Printrbot is a kit and not for beginners! You’ll get all the parts to assemble your own 3D printer but it does require some technical expertise, time and effort to assemble.)
After building this kit you’ll have a fully-functioning 3D printer that weighs only 10 lbs and fits nicely on your desk. As of October 17th, 2014 we are shipping the new version of the PrintrBot Simple Kit with a number of features & upgrades including an auto-leveling system, GT2 timing belts/drive pulleys, all metal Ubis Hot End with 0.4mm nozzle, updated laser cut chassis, and 6061 aircraft aluminum metal print bed.
Printrbot Simple Metal
As opposed to the Printrbot Simple Kit, all of the laser cut wood parts have been replaced by rock solid metal and assembled. In fact, the total number of parts have been reduced to just a fraction of the wooden model. The all metal construction combined with a GT2 belt pulley system produces a 3D print that rivals those of other manufacturers which cost thousands more!
The Printrbot Simple is an exercise in 3D printing minimalism. It includes only what is needed to get started in the world of 3D printing. With the All-metal Printrbot Simple you’ll have a fully-functioning 3D printer that weighs only 12 lbs and fits nicely on your desk!
3D Printer Accessories!
Filaments
Most printers come with some filament there’s a good chance you’ve been printing up a storm and need something new. That’s why we’ve started carrying a complete line of 3D printing filament in a variety of materials and colors!
We stock:
Metals
• Bronze
• Copper
• Iron
Wood
• Bamboo
Flexibles
• SemiFlex
• NinjaFlex
Raspberry Pi 2
Print wireless with this tiny computer! Run Octo Print or Astro Print with this handy little add-on.
We’re excited for the Holiday Season here at Adafruit, and we can’t wait to share that excitement with you! Stay tuned into the blog where you will find new, handpicked gift guides five days a week from November 9th through December 24th, 2015 alongside holiday themed tutorials and builds!
Free Deals
Adafruit offers exciting deals and free items when you shop with us. As of October 13th, 2015 we are currently offering:
- Adafruit Perma-Proto Half-sized Breadboard PCB – Single for order $99 or more
- Adafruit Trinket – Mini Microcontroller – 5V Logic for orders $149 or more
- Adafruit Pro Trinket – 5V 16MHz for order $249 or more
Adafruit Holiday Deadlines 2015
Here are your 2015 shipping deadlines for ordering from Adafruit. Please review our shipping section if you have specific questions on how and where we ship worldwide for this holiday season.
The Adafruit Shipping Department works hard to get your orders out as quickly as we can, but once they’re in the hands of our carriers they’re out of our control.
Carriers have been struggling to keep up with the sharp rise in online orders. UPS, FedEX, and USPS all experienced delivery delays over the last few years.
So all the Adafruit Shippers say: Please be sure you get your gifts early! Order as soon as you can! Once you place your order we’ll ship like the wind!
UPS ground (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 11, 2015 – There is no guarantee that UPS Ground packages will arrive by December 24.
UPS 3-day (USA orders): Place orders by Thursday 11am ET – December 17, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
UPS 2-day (USA orders): Place orders by Friday 11am ET – December 18, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
UPS overnight (USA orders): Place orders by Monday 11am ET – December 21, 2015 – Arrive by 12/24/2015.
Please note: We do not offer Saturday or Sunday service for UPS or USPS.
Friday, Dec. 25, 2015, Christmas, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, New Year’s Day, no UPS pickup or delivery service.
United States Postal Service, First Class and Priority (USA orders): Place orders by Friday– December 11, 2014 – Arrive by 12/24/2015 or sooner.
USPS First class mail international (International orders)): Place orders by Friday – November 20, 2015. Can take up to 30 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/25/2015 or sooner, but not a trackable service and cannot be guaranteed to arrive by 12/24/2015.
USPS Express mail international(International orders): Place orders by Friday – December 5, 2015. Can take up to 15 days or more with worldwide delays and customs. Should arrive by 12/24/2014 or sooner.
Gift Certificates are always available at any time.
When in doubt contact us!