Testing 3D printers is an in-depth process. Printers often do not use the same materials or even the same process to create patterns. I test SLA, 3D printers that use resin and light to print, and FDM, printers that melt plastic on a plate. Everyone has a unique methodology. The basic qualifications I consider include:
- Hardware quality
- Ease of setup
- Software package
- Appearance and accuracy of prints
- Repair
- Company and community support
A key test print, representing the (now old) CNET logo, is used to assess how the printer bridges gaps, creates accurate shapes, and handles overhangs. There are even little towers that help measure how well the 3D printer handles temperature ranges.
When testing speed, we slice the model using the default slicer the machine ships with at its default settings and then compare the real-world print duration to the slicer statement completion time. 3D printers often use different cutters, and those cutters can vary greatly depending on what they believe to be the completion time.
Then we use PrusaSlicer to determine how much material the print should use and divide that number by the time it takes to print in the real world, giving us a more accurate number for the speed in millimeters per second (mm/s) the printer can run.
Each building plate needs to be heated to a certain temperature, so we use it InfiRay thermal camera for Android to check how well they are doing. We set the build plate at 60 degrees Celsius—the most commonly used temperature for build plates—waited five minutes for the temperature to stabilize, and then measured it at six separate locations. We then measured the average temperature to see how close the 3D printer came to the advertised temperature.
Test resin requires different criteria, so I use it Ameralab Standard Test: printing a small resin model that looks like a small town. This helps determine how accurate the printer is, how it handles small parts, and how well UV exposure works at different points in the model.
Many other anecdotal test prints, using different 3D models, are also run on each printer to test the longevity of the parts and how well the machine handles different shapes.
For the other criteria, I researched the company to see how well it responds to customer support requests and how easy it is to order replacement parts and install them yourself. Kits (printers that come only semi-assembled) are judged on how long and difficult the assembly process is and how clear the instructions are.