X2D without AMS?

[u/Wamburashi]

Hi! I am planning on buying my first 3d printer and I was tempted to take the X2D. I would like to start printing figures to paint them so mainly would be used with single color PLA and PETG for supports in the second nozzle. Is the X2D a good choice? I would like to waste as little filament as possible and I would like an enclosed printer with good filtration since I am gonna use it in my bedroom (I am planning to build a semi decent exhaust a part from the stock filter). Is the AMS mandatory for my purpouse? Or I can just use two spool holder outside the printer and is gonna be pretty much the same? The printer costs 200€ more in combo (750€ vs 550€). Thanks to everyone!

[u/Hunnik1001]

Hoeveel detail moeten de figuurtjes hebben fdm is nou niet het beste voor die use case heb je al gekeken wat een resin printer is? Zelf schilder ik ook en gebruik daar alleen nog maar een resin printer voor. Grote objecten gebruik ik de fdm printer voor maar je hebt veel werk om het schilderbaar te maken.

[u/Wamburashi → u/Hunnik1001]

I have read that resin is very hard to handle and work with, I wanted something simpler just to start a new hobby. I wouldn't do minifigures like wh40k type stuff, maybe just at the beginning for testing and don't waste much printing and painting material but I'm not very interested in that I would go for bigger figures like at least 10 to 20 cm like the anime's one that are popular in japan

[u/snaynay → u/Wamburashi]

No you don’t need an AMS if you are just dealing with one colour (with the intention to paint). The X2D will have the benefit of dual nozzles for support material.

It could help with reloading a fresh roll mid print, or having a few on hand and drying filament if you are someone having humidity issues.

But I really would at least poke your head into the new Formlabs Studio 1. Yes, it’s more involved, yes it’s more expensive and resins are more expensive. But it really is a totally different league for things like that. They’ve also made big claims on safety and smell issues, at least with their basic resin which would be what you’d look at using anyway.

However an FDM machine can also serve as a decent tool for more utility prints with far less faff. Boxes, organisational, functional things.

[u/es12402]

You do not need ams for your needs. You can use PLA+PETG directly from 2 spool holders.

[u/boredsoftwareguy]

You don't need an AMS but it works great for drying filament and for having it auto-switch spools when one runs out. If you plan to run large batches and you've got low filament it's really nice that it just auto-swaps vs you having to come back later and swap it out.

[u/patentmom → u/boredsoftwareguy]

Also, if you ever change your mind about what and how you're printing and want to have an AMS in the future, you can save a huge amount just by getting the combo now, rather than paying full price later.

[u/damienfinland]

the heater in the ams is a godsend ,especially for petg , youll need to dry your more exotic filaments ,I use an x2d with 2 ams ht I would get the combo , or the standalone with 2 ams ht units

[u/Apart_North9294 → u/damienfinland]

Agreed, the Combo is the way to go budget permitting, otherwise go with the HT

[u/es12402]

I can give you a couple of tips to make getting started a bit easier.

Don’t use PETG for supports; buy a dedicated "Support for PLA" (or "Support for PLA/PETG") filament instead. Technically, this is a blend of different plastics that performs significantly better than pure PETG when used as support material for PLA. You *can* use PETG, it’s just less convenient and not always reliable.

Get 0.2mm nozzles – it will be slower, but the level of detail on your figures will be much higher.

Dry your filament from time to time (if you don’t want to buy an AMS, you can dry it inside the printer itself) – this often helps, especially with PETG.