Have you tried the shower head insert from coffeepilot? My least favorite thing about my moccamaster was the uneven distribution & extraction, that solved most of my issues (I still babysit it and use the flow switch for different parts of the brew cycle) & now it makes a better cup than ever before

I get a certain satisfaction out of putting my neo back in it’s case when All’s said and done

I haven’t had any problems getting lactose free milk to foam, but I normally use a little beater-whisk-wand-thingy instead of a steam wand or automatic frother, so it’s possible the method will impact how well it froths into a nice foam. The next time I break out my De’longhi instead of my Flair I will experiment & compare foam.

Califa Farms & Oatly have solid “Barista Edition” oat milks that work well for me. If it’s the lactose & not the dairy that’s the problem for you, you can try lactose-free milks; e.g. Kroger has their “Carbmaster” milk which is lactose free, there’s also Fairlife which works just as well as traditional full-fat milk.

If you are unable to get Barista editions or lactose free milks then your best bet would be the creamiest oat milk you can get your hands on.

A wash & cure station for his resin prints would be a good idea of he doesn’t already have one. Mine really stepped my game up & I consider it an incredibly useful utility.

For his Ender I think some utilities like the Mintion Beagle camera or a filament dryer are very useful but also aren’t everyone’s first thought for an upgrade. Good luck!

I have a handful of printers including an Ender 3v2 and a Creality CR10S4, and my experience with Creality printers is that while they are cheap & usually offer nice features they are lacking in quality control & overall quality of the parts used (though the sprite extruder is a beast). If you are willing to put the time into tinkering with them then you can still make out with a decent printer for less than most comparable manufacturers.

Based on the features you listed I think the Qidi X-Smart 3 might be down your alley. The first few months after release were a shitshow with the firmware but now it’s in a really solid place & mine has been quite reliable. It has a smaller build volume than the Ender 5 S1 but can print significantly faster.

If you are willing to expand your budget a bit I’ve noticed that Bambu Labs has dropped the price of the P1P to $600usd/~$800cad. I don’t have any personal experience with Bambu Labs printers & honestly dislike some of the companies practices, but everything I’ve heard about the P1P & X1C has been fantastic.