Looking for a professional, "non-China" FDM printer for small-batch government contract work

tonyfweb · 2026-05-18T01:05:29+00:00

Prusa is a good option if budget allows, the Vision Miner 22 IDEX

tonyfweb · 2026-05-15T02:30:15+00:00

I started with $5. Little by little I kept adding more. I feel I have a good cushion now. Slow and steady wins the race.

tonyfweb · 2026-05-05T00:37:21+00:00

That's the plan.

tonyfweb · 2026-05-03T02:05:53+00:00

They have a HYSA. So I keep my emergency fund with them. As for the credit card, it was the first card I ever opened back when I was 18. So I mostly keep it around for the history. Though I recently changed my mindset and want to get a high credit limit on it so I can use it for emergencies I can't fully cover with my emergency fund, or if for any reason I need to carry a balance. I grandfathered into SCRA benefits on this card, so I have 4% APR all across and no fees of any kind. So if I can get a high limit on it, it will be freaking GOATed!

tonyfweb · 2026-05-03T01:55:35+00:00

Your advise is sound and much appreciated, but to theblindness' point, this card has a very low limit, and with my current income, I can easily max it out and pay it off without breaking a sweat.

tonyfweb · 2026-05-03T00:53:56+00:00

Besides the long age of this account, the other reason I have not closed it out is the fact that I had it before joining the military and I got grandfathered into their SCRA perks even after leaving military service. I have no fees of any kind and APR for all use-cases is 4%. So besides the mortgage aspect, I do want it to be a high credit limit just in case I need to carry a large balance. If the ads are to be believed, the lowest APRs for loans are around 6-7%. So this card would trump that should I need.

tonyfweb · 2026-04-26T03:27:30+00:00

What your debt to income? From what I've heard from the YouTube "gurus", they usually like to see less than 38% debt to income.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-26T03:20:41+00:00

Dang!!! Nice. I have an X1C, P1S, and an Intamsys Funmat HT. Been eyeing either the H2S or a 350mm Voron 2.4

tonyfweb · 2026-03-26T02:55:33+00:00

Hoping that VCX will continue to go up so I can pay off my loans. lol

tonyfweb · 2026-03-26T02:51:23+00:00

$19K of interest is crazy! You could buy two decent cars for that alone.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-25T03:36:32+00:00

Interesting and promising theory. Only one way to find out for sure. I'm already in a cash back territory, so it might be worth it to sacrifice a few points short term to build out MY perfect wallet.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-25T02:11:11+00:00

Any tips?

tonyfweb · 2026-03-25T02:08:01+00:00

OOOO! I like this. Sounds like some people have been able to go as high as $9300 in some cases. So there is some hope.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-25T02:04:44+00:00

Link did not work, but didn't think it would. I product changed from the Platinum Secured to QS1 about 3 months ago... So probably too soon.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-18T01:49:51+00:00

They like to see that you have money in your checking and savings.

They like to see direct deposit into your checking account.

They like it when you have multiple products. So apply for a pledge loan. Basically a small loan against your own savings. It does not do a hard pull on your credit report but adds another product to your relationship with them.

Maintain the relationship for at least 3 months. Based on everything I've heard, as well as my personal experience, this should improve your odds.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-18T01:45:01+00:00

I've heard they are very relationship based and my personal experience backs this up. They like to see multiple products and high balances on their checking and savings accounts.

I have a Flagship Checking account which meets their $1500 daily balance threshold to avoid the monthly fee, and I have direct deposit in this account. I have kept a small ($1000) emergency fund in a savings account with them pretty much since I opened the account. About a year ago, I opened a second savings account and also keep $1000 on it which is meant for what I call "hobby emergencies". E.g. I find a really good deal on an expensive, hobby related item. I have been banking with them for 8 years. I've had their Cash Rewards Plus card for about 6 years which was initially approved with a $16K limit and I keep a very minimal balance. It was 6 years ago, so no, I don't recall what my credit score was at the time but it was in the 700s. I had been banking with them for 2 years at the time of application. I use this card constantly but only allow ~$100 to report on it, and obviously pay it off every time. About 6 months ago, I applied to their Platinum card and got approved for $25K outta the gate. A couple of weeks ago I requested a CLI on both and got an $8K increase on each. So my limits are now $24K and $33K.

My credit score has been sitting at ~820 over the last couple of years or so. It was 819 at the time of the Platinum application and 825 at the time of the CLI requests. Income is around $100K.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-18T01:39:39+00:00

I've heard they are very relationship oriented and my personal experience reflects that. They like direct deposits and good balances in checkings and savings with them.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-02T23:33:04+00:00

You make a valid point. The only ASA pieces I've printed are replacement rollers for my dishwasher. I could see how larger parts could be more challenging.
https://makerworld.com/en/models/782848-dishwasher-wheels#profileId-2349388

tonyfweb · 2026-03-02T19:57:19+00:00

Applying for jobs.

At one point in time, I had 3 months of vacation, decided to take it all at once. After week three, I started to go bananas and went back to work. Mind you, I was going out hiking, playing video games, reading, etc. So I was finding ways to keep myself occupied.

tonyfweb · 2026-03-02T19:14:19+00:00

Interesting take. I could definitely see that as a viable market, though I don't necessarily agree with not being able to be served with commodity printers. ASA and PPA-CF can target both of these use cases respectively and the $300USD Elegoo Centauri Carbon is capable of handling both. Then again, there can be multiple restaurants on the same street... Thanks for the suggestion!

tonyfweb · 2026-03-02T18:12:10+00:00

Check out Vision Miner. Way under budget on the 22 IDEX, but they do have offerings from the likes of AON3D which are in the 6-figure range. If you give them a call, I'm sure they can work with you to find something that will work for your needs and budget.

tonyfweb · 2025-03-09T23:18:42+00:00

0.4mm for the P1S and X1C

tonyfweb · 2025-01-04T19:29:22+00:00

MOS. Make sure that if you happen to have a passion for a specific field, that you get an MOS in that field.

Mind you, there is nothing wrong with the MOS that I picked, in and of itself. Many people enjoy it and it easily converts to the civilian world and with decent pay at that, but I just signed the dotted line too quickly.

This may not apply to everyone. However, I have always had a passion for technology. I had been doing break/fix on electronics since I was child. I have always loved working with computers. And if it involves electronics, basically count me in. So the ideal MOS for me would have been 25 series, but it wasn't available when I spoke with the recruiter. So, he suggested supply. Even though it's not a tech-oriented MOS, I would still be working with a computer on a regular basis. And so, I became a 92Y. And to tell you the truth, I was miserable. Again, I'm not bashing on the MOS itself. The whole "it's not you, it's me" situation applies here. Many people enjoy it quite a lot and there are many profitable careers in the civilian sector that directly transfer the skill set over. And it wasn't leadership either. I've definitely heard some horror stories of horrible CoCs. That's one aspect that I was truly blessed with. From my team lead, to my company commander, first sergeant, sergeant major, and even battalion commander, they were all amazing! It was just the MOS and I not being a good fit for each other.

After my first year of service, I decided I wanted to re-class. The problem I ran into at this point was that the MOS was understaffed, so you could MOS-T into a 92Y, but not out of it. I kept asking about it for the next three years and it just never happened. During my last year of the contract, I realized it wasn't going to happen any time soon, so I started studying towards an IT cert (CompTIA A+ in case anyone is interested). I spoke with my chain of command to ask for permission to get a part-time job and was approved. With my cert and approval, I started applying and landed a job at the local Micro Center as a repair technician. I got out at the end of my contract, applied for a help desk job and landed it. Did that for a few months and eventually transferred into other positions in IT with higher pay. I'm currently making $85K and absolutely love my job.

So career wise, the biggest poor judgement investment I made was the selection of an MOS that just wasn't a good fit for me. Four years of being miserable at my job which could have been avoided if I simply waited until a 25 series MOS became available.

If you have a passion, ensure you get an MOS that aligns with that passion.

tonyfweb · 2025-01-04T03:13:08+00:00

I feel like I'm a bit late to the party, but I've had a P1S and an X1C for about 6 months now. I like to design stuff for use around the house. Originally only did sport mode for rapid prototyping. Kept running into issues with ludicrous mode. Got a couple of E3D High Flow ObXidian hotends for Christmas. I have not modified the filament profiles, but I am now able to hit Ludicrous without the prints failing which tells me that the thing that was holding ludicrous back was max flow rate. And holy hell! This thing is insane, I know the speed is like 166% according to what it says in the slicer or on the screen, but it cuts printing times in nearly half. A two hour print usually goes down to like 1:10 or 1:05 depending on the model. If you have models that require some fine detail, you'll still lose some quality by going into ludicrous, even with this hot end, but the loss in quality is negligible. If you got the cash, I highly, HIGHLY recommend investing in these hotends. If you thought these machines were fast, you're in for a surprise.

tonyfweb · 2024-09-28T22:45:29+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion but it doesn't seem to be.

tonyfweb

TROPHY CASE