In an effort to try to generate an active and valid Amazon associates account, it is necessary for me to drive 3 purchases thru Amazon, of products I provide links to. This in turn generates a small bit of income for my site, sharing a commission at no cost to the buyer with me. Admittedly, my website traffic is very small, but just in case, I wanted to go over the gear that I have settled into using with my 3d Printer. If you want to help me out, consider each of these links as a small way to do so.
For the printer, I am using a Monoprice Maker Select Plus 3d Printer (http://amzn.to/2GFcQP8). This is actually a re-branded Wanhao printer, and has several very similar and popular models, which makes obtaining parts and upgrades pretty simple. In my case, I selected this particular model as a middle-ground compromise – it has faster speed and resolution than the lower end models, but without the top end features and price of higher end models. Basically, I didn’t want to cheap out and end up just having to upgrade later, but I wasn’t confident enough to go all-in, so I picked a middle-ground system. So far, I have been very happy with the results.
For filament, I have been using primarily PLA, and based on numerous reviews, settled on Hatchbox brand for my main use. In my case, it is Hatchbox PLA Gray in a 1 Kg spool (http://amzn.to/2tZCjQO). This makes a good neutral color, which takes paint well, and provides enough contrast to show details during printing. Hatchbox makes several color options, and I considered black for my True-Tiles, but it would be harder to pick out errors in the printing with Black. Gray is a good neutral color that works for almost all projects, and the Hatchbox material has been very reliable.
For magnets, I have been using the 5mm “magic balls sculpture toy” (http://amzn.to/2FLIEF3). In my case I have used black, but any color works since the magnets are hidden. The pieces are reliably sized, and decently strong magnets, and fit very well into the True-Tiles prints. My only difficulty is the speed at which I am using them up, 216 pieces in one set just doesn’t go as far as you might think.
