3D Printing What do you all think of this printer??

https://www.creality3d.shop/product...MI2obM-7qN5wIVycDACh2SqgEREAYYAiABEgL9avD_BwE

I have never used one. Would this give quality prints? Easy to build? Good price for a beginner?
Hoping some one has used this one. Thanks.

I think that’s a reseller, rather than the official Creality site.

I’m happy that I spent the extra money for the Ender 5. Really solid construction and really easy to level.

It is ok. You are hit or miss with a Creality. People swear bu them, but some get lemons. Mine is one of the lemons.

What all is involved to print a part? I know I have to have printer, filament. What else? How do you design a part? Is there software that comes with each type of printer? What is the slicer?

Ok, first you need a digital model of what you want to print. Usually an STL file. You can download existing files shared on repositories like Thingiverse. Or you can build your own with free tools like Tinkercad (web based), Fusion 360 (desktop, free to hobbyists) or Solidworks (pro grade). There are others.

You then feed that file into the slicer program. If you get a Creality, a version of Cura will come with it. You can download updated Cura directly. There are also other slicers. In the slicer you position, rotate, and scale the item to be printed (or even make copies to print more than one at a time) on a notional print plate, and tell it tuning details. The slicer makes a GCode file that you transfer to the printer by USB or SD Card.

We have two of the Creality products at work, including a CR10 S5. They have been given a real thrashing over the past year, certainly operating more than 50% of the time. Very few misprints, and happy with the results.

It’s critical to understand the importance of the slicer settings for a specific print. It takes a fair amount of time to get all the settings dialed in, and that’s for each type of filament, sometimes just between colors. I’ve seen the exact same STL sliced with different software leading to very different results. It is not plug and play if you want really top notch results. And just learning about the different filaments is a bit daunting.

The slicer is software that creates the instructions that the printer uses to lay down the filament. It literally creates slices for each horizontal layer. They are not all the same. Generally start with the one that comes with your printer. There are lots of calibration/optimization settings you can adjust.

Like anything, once you get the hang of it it goes pretty fast, but it can be a bit frustrating in the beginning.


Tony

That would be my recommendation for a first printer if'n you were to ask. 3d printing isn't for everyone (takes a ton of your time) and that specific printer is known for ease of setup/use and probably has the largest amount of support and upgrades available out of any machine made. If you decide you really don't like it you're not out a ton of $..

I have thought about this the last two days. The question I would have is whether you have tons of time to experiment and tinker with the printer. I have an Ender-3 that I have put nearly 10 - 20 hours of work into to get it to print. I have about 2 hours of printing in it. It is finicky as heck. I have put a new extrude, a new controller board, a pinda probe, installed marlin-3, and now a 32 but controller board. Maybe it will finally print this coming weekend after having it for over a year.

I compare buying a Creality like playing craps. You might get lucky and get a good printer. You might end up like me.

I bought a Prusa Mk3S and have assembled two Prusa clones. All three work perfectly out of the box with very little adjustments. I would buy a Prusa Mini as my first printer. It is worth the price.

I own 7 printers now. I will likely never buy another Creality but would buy my Anycubics and Prusas again and again.

Well I went ahead and got an Ender 5 Pro. It already has a new silent motherboard, metal head and the upgraded tube for the filament. Got an extra roll of filament. After all was said and done I paid 269.00 for everything. Is the glass bed a good add on? What other things may I need? I am hoping to someday print sleds as nice as I have seen on here.

The silent motherboard delivers as advertised. I was amazed at how quiet it is after.

There is a Thingiverse project for a couple little spacers so you can remount the x and y end switches. That quiets the homing.

I bought a glass bed, and a spare magnetic. I am still using the original magnetic bed. I’ve only used the glass bed upside down underneath Cricut cutting matte.

I’ve tried the aqua-net trick with the magnet bed - but what has worked best is wiping with isopropyl alcohol, drying out the filament, and getting the spacing right. Which -can- be done by feel.

I print PLA and PETG and haven’t gone over 70C on the bed.

Charles_McG said:

The silent motherboard delivers as advertised. I was amazed at how quiet it is after.

There is a Thingiverse project for a couple little spacers so you can remount the x and y end switches. That quiets the homing.

I bought a glass bed, and a spare magnetic. I am still using the original magnetic bed. I’ve only used the glass bed upside down underneath Cricut cutting matte.

I’ve tried the aqua-net trick with the magnet bed - but what has worked best is wiping with isopropyl alcohol, drying out the filament, and getting the spacing right. Which -can- be done by feel.

I print PLA and PETG and haven’t gone over 70C on the bed.

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I have one that failed to deliver. It is going on eBay.

Glass bed or printer? Coming from Amazon, so I have 90 days to return if it is like yours.

I have the silent board that I am selling on eBay. I upgraded to 2209s and an SKR mini which reduced the sound to 2-3 times less than the Creality silent board.

cwbullet said:

I have the silent board that I am selling on eBay. I upgraded to 2209s and an SKR mini which reduced the sound to 2-3 times less than the Creality silent board.

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You must have terrible luck, CW. I put the Creality board in my Ender 5, and I can’t hear it while it’s printing. Well, the fan, but not the servos. I’ve been thinking about getting the TH3D version for my CR10S5.

cwbullet said:

I have the silent board that I am selling on eBay. I upgraded to 2209s and an SKR mini which reduced the sound to 2-3 times less than the Creality silent board.

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And for half the cost right?

Wallace said:

And for half the cost right?

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Doubt it

Please tell us how the Ender 5 Pro performs. I love my Ender 5. It's worked very well for me, and I really haven't upgraded anything.

But it does sound like a robot from an 80's sci-fi movie. I took it on a work trip with me last week because I needed something to do in the evenings. I kind of felt weird trying to go to sleep with all of those robot-noises coming from the other side of the room.

(I was also building an Eggtimer Quantum in the foreground of the photo.)

Will do.

Got her today. Made first part, an upgrade for the printer itself. Took about an hour to get it up and running, just about as long to figure out the uploading and down loading of the files.
It is very quiet, was impressed by the hardware that came with, not cheap stuff. But the allen wrenches left a little to be desired.

Some sort of strain relief for the harness?

yup, mounts to the bed and holds the cable that goes to the heating element. Printing a control panel cover now. 5hrs. Now just got to figure out how to design my own stuff.

Well, here is print #2. I, at least, think it came out great. Are there any brands of filaments that are better than others?

That looks pretty darn good to me.

Thanks Rich. I am kind of liking this so far! Doing the LES now. trying to do up a mess of the smaller parts to use up the sample roll of filament.

Atomic Filament is awesome

liv3mind said:

Atomic Filament is awesome

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Atomic and KVP (Keene Valley Plastics) are 2 U.S.
. manufacturers that make some really nice stuff. Costs a bit more that the Amazon/Chinese junk but for "important" prints it's well worth it. I tend to just use the cheapest stuff I can find for prototypes and baubles, then switch to the good stuff if something needs dimensional accuracy/strength or reliability. They even sell "bulk" spools ( 5Lb. and 3.5 Kilo) for bigger jobs at a decent discount. Btw, nice work.

This would ,for me at least, be the very first upgrade I'd perform. Stops bed "sag" on power off, nothing more irritating. For literally a few bucks and 20 minutes of your time you'll save hours of frustration. Just make sure you order the correct one for your leadscrew because there are different variations. https://www.amazon.com/BIQU-Backlas...ords=anti+backlash+nut&qid=1579776948&sr=8-18

Thanks Wallace. I think I found the right one. Dave.

David, take a look at the printer. I ordered up the same thing as an early upgrade, and I seem to remember that it already had one.

One of my first printed upgrades were bracing arms for the bed.

For filament, I’m using Overture these days. Seems the same as Hatchbox. I’ve tried eSun, but my order came wet. Which speaks to another early upgrade: Rubbermaid cereal boxes with a cradle and silica gel in the bottom.