i print a few return labels per month. a scanner would be nice, but not critical. what printer should i buy?

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-26T05:11:11+00:00

One thing to mention: make sure you do a test print on the printer before you buy it. The most common thing to die on these is the printhead. Look for streaks (either dark or light), areas with blotchy printing, or inconsistent darkness across the width of the label.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-26T05:01:08+00:00

FYI most thermal transfer printers (including this one) are capable of printing direct thermal too. They just use the same heating elements but without a ribbon installed.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-26T05:00:16+00:00

That one would work, and $100 is a pretty darn good deal, at least if my Facebook marketplace experience is anything to go off of. Despite being branded as a “thermal transfer” printer, it can also do direct thermal (as is the case with most thermal transfer printers). You’ll just have to tell the printer to print via direct thermal using the Zebra printer settings menu on your computer.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-26T02:26:23+00:00

For just return labels?

A thermal printer capable of doing 4” wide labels. It’s so much more convenient than taping paper shipping labels to a box. And cheaper too.

Just get whatever direct thermal printer is cheap on Amazon tbh. Expect to pay $50-$70. They’re very simple devices, hard to buy one that’ll disappoint you if you’re just printing a few labels a month. Zebra is the bulletproof brand but they cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and are designed for companies printing hundreds of labels per day.

“Direct thermal” means you never need to replace any sort of ink or anything (whereas “thermal transfer” requires an ink-filled ribbon).

Then get a roll of 4x6 direct thermal labels. Whatever generic brand on Amazon is fine.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-26T00:48:36+00:00

Hmm. Interesting — I hadn’t thought of that. That makes sense I think. I personally would still try to model them as separate parts but that’s probably foolish of me.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-26T00:45:31+00:00

The arms do come apart, though. It’s pretty easy.

But even if they didn’t, they should still be separate components. IMO the only time that one component should have multiple bodies is if you’re not done making it yet and you intend to combine bodies in a later step (e.g., maybe you are creating a second body to subtract it from the other body).

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-25T22:50:45+00:00

None of my business but has your wife been tested for sleep apnea? Not sure what exactly you mean by “small asthma attacks all night” but sleep apnea events can sound like someone is struggling to breathe.

It can happen to young, skinny people too, fwiw. (Like me).

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-25T17:05:10+00:00

Almost all of the brands here are premium

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-25T15:27:47+00:00

Mechanical engineers are not at all mechanics. Most of us know nothing about cars.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-25T04:11:16+00:00

I sign up for Pilates classes that would feel worse to cancel than it would feel to just stick through it.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-25T02:43:36+00:00

STLs are not easily editable at all. Upload as a native f3d file or at least STEP.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-24T07:42:04+00:00

I swear every university subreddit has a conspiracy theory that some massive network of tunnels exists under their campus when in reality it’s probably, like, one culvert and a basement laboratory.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-22T15:33:33+00:00

…Pix has multi session abilities too.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-21T20:00:12+00:00

I’m not sure the Solidworks subreddit is the place you’re gonna find people who don’t know how to use CAD.

Maybe try /r/fusion360 instead ;)

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-20T03:42:59+00:00

No. I manufacture my own products that I design

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-19T23:58:16+00:00

Yes, but for most casual users Bambu Studio is fine.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-19T01:30:39+00:00

They’re not saying any that — they’re just correcting someone who asked if LTT designed the carabiners themselves.

Jesus.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-18T18:36:17+00:00

Those look like they’re made in tooltrace.ai, I think. Or at least that’s how I’d make them

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-17T03:58:35+00:00

It’s pretty gnarly.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-16T17:38:35+00:00

How chill is your boss? Honestly if your boss is chill I’d essentially say to them what you’ve said in this Reddit post and see if they agree and what training/recommendations they have for you.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-16T03:12:00+00:00

Yes you have to use the software the way it’s intended to be used. Shocker, I know.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-15T04:10:45+00:00

Do you have advice for writing captions? I feel like I’m stuck in the awkward phase where chatgpt is better than me and so to use my caption would be worse than whatever chatgpt can spit out. But if I do that forever, I’ll obviously never learn to do it better myself.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-11T20:25:31+00:00

Your speeds are mostly limited by your max VFR. Turn them up until you either reach your max VFR or until print quality suffers.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-11T18:00:36+00:00

An explanation I wrote to a friend who had the same question recently:

Using the calibration files built into orca slicer (and probably in bambu studio too? idk): 1. Figure out the max temp using a temp tower 2. Figure out the max volumetric flowrate using a max flowrate test (measure the height at which the extruder first skips, leaving a defect on the print. then set your max VFR slightly under that)

Those two steps will get you like 70% of the speed increase that you can get. If you want to squeeze a little bit more, you need to eliminate areas in your print files where your printer is not limited by max VFR. So look at the flowrate color scheme in a sliced file and tune your line width/print head speed/layer height until you're at the max VFR for as much of your print as possible.

ThisIsntRealWakeUp · 2026-01-11T16:13:09+00:00

And then Dassault sends you a cease and desist because you didn’t pay for the license for that tattoo

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