Great video, very refreshing that it doesn't seem biased like most channels. Great to see Qidi and even Creality get some love rather than only criticism.
Great video. I am a big fan of the Qidi printers. I currently print with the Q1 Pro. I was going to pull the trigger on an A1, for the multicolor, but it looks like Qidi is coming out with an AMS first quarter of next year.
For z offset, I print a single layer, getting it close by eye, then measure it's thickness with calipers to see how far off I am. Add/subtract as necessary, then I write the offset on the corresponding build plate. Since I started doing this I've never had to mess with z offset during a print.
Bambu Lab does have a printer with an active heater in it... It just happens to be $1000 more than the X1C... The X1E is massively expensive to get that active heated chamber, but it's still there. Don't think that would change your ranking, though. Just thought I'd share ;)
Wholly mackeral, I literally almost messaged you a day before you posted this video, asking how you were doing with the QIDI 3 MAX after 11 months of use. Thank you for this video. Very informative!!!
Very True about Creality, I have a K1 Max for 10 months and it went down last week, and its either the bed pressure guage or a board issue and I have to deal with customer support, and since they're in china, I dont think they're even reading what Im telling them. They keep repeating the same thing in each email. So I like the printer but due to parts and customer service and I might not be able to fix it, I would not buy it again.
Aw man, I’m so sorry to hear that! You may have already tried this, but Facebook groups for specific printers can be very helpful. If it’s the parts themselves that you’re needing the assistance with then not very applicable, but if you’re still trying to diagnose the exact route of the problem then it could be helpful. Wishing you the best of luck in getting your machine fixed!
agree 100% I was a ender 3 v2 and pro fan for years but as soon I got the BL A1, well what can I say, Bambu is leaps ahead especially for the price. I'm now a slobbering bambu fan boy lololo
I have Bambu X1C and qidi x max 3. I have had a lot of trouble with the x max 3 unfortunately. Things I can work around … except for the ghosting. I have never been able to improve or eliminate the ghosting
@@MMsPropShop Yes, this is also part of my frustration. The X Max 3 has several hardware variations. Mine has the automatic belt tension design which makes it very difficult to manually tighten the belts. I feel like one of the belts could use a little tightening.. nothing crazy… but to do that it would be more involved than I would like.
@@MMsPropShop The only thing I haven’t tried yet is moving the printer off of the current workbench that it’s on to something more stable. Not that the workbench isn’t stable (the Bambu prints on the same workbench with no issues. I never run them both at the same time either.). But there is some wobble when the x max 3 prints I think due to the larger head moving so rapidly. But it’s also double the weight of the X1C so I don’t know why it wobbles more. So I just moved the x max 3 to the concrete basement floor. I don’t think it can get more sturdy than a concrete floor. It’s printing a helmet right now so we will see if I still see ghosting sort of issues in a day or so when it finishes
@colinmsmall in theory it shouldn’t make a difference as the vibration compensation should eliminate any artefacts that could typically be caused by a less stable printing surface, but I’m interested to hear how it went for you!
In a few months, it’ll be a year since I bought my first printer on Black Friday-a Neptune 4-and about two weeks after that, I won a Creality KE. The KE is definitely my workhorse, and the only modification I’ve made was switching to a MicroSwiss Flowtech. During my first nozzle change, I broke the ceramic easily with very little pressure, and my immediate thought was, "Nope, what’s the upgrade?" At the time, I was trying PETG for the first time, and after swapping the nozzle, my results improved immediately, even before any tuning. A couple of months ago, I won a Creality SE (if only I had this kind of luck with the lottery!), and before it arrived, I had a MicroSwiss waiting for it. I’ve been using Orca Slicer all the way. I’ve also pre-ordered a K2+, which will be my first CoreXY printer.
My kid has 6 years old and he expends lots of time watching your videos, he loves the droids you do. He just obliged me buy an A1 mini so he can print the same star wars pieces you do. Thanks for your good work!
I chose the ender 3 v3 cause of its compact size. Though i still want an A1, the V3 is superb and i still think that an A1 is great however after hearing about the creality CFS being compatible with the V3 i just stuck with what i have 😂. Should i have gotten an A1? Probably but the V3 with CFS sound pretty fool proof honestly 😂
You should review ankermake M5C (200 us). I have been though 4 3D printers over 5 years. This printer is OMG and out of the box up and running 16min (wow). The unit has auto leveling and supports different filaments. I would contact ankermake to get one you can review. I do not see using it for the scale of your projects, but after using it for 2 months you can't go wrong. Love your videos and very informative.
Creality K1 owner here. Creality is annoying they expect you to take the printer back to either where you got it or fill out their warranty card that comes with the printer which can also be used to send it back to them to be fixed at your expense. Also like you said their software (Creality Print) sucks. I switched to OrcaSlicer and never went back. Luckily my K1 has been all good, though I have already bought different feet for it as it moves around alot, these 3d printed feet help with the vibrations and the printer shaking around so much. The very best thing I have done to it so far is rooting it and installing custom software. Now it runs Moonraker, klipper and Fluidd which unlocks everything.
As someone new to this space who got sucked in by the A1 Mini and it's price/performance ratio, I appreciate the run down. I'm not in the market for another printer yet, but I can already see that if I keep messing with this stuff I'll want a bigger print space and at least a practical multi-color option even if it's not something I use a ton.
i bought an anycubic kobra 2 neo for my first printer, bunch of learning curves. i found the slicer usable and had a lot of very very nice prints using anycubic slicer and that machine.
@@MMsPropShop I just got the k1 SE and the only downside is replacing parts, unless I upgrade over time to more widley available parts. The older printers didn't really hold your hand and had to figure stuff out yourself, now they are going towards paper printers where they're forcing you to use it a certain way... I want the hand holding for stuff I don't know, but have the advanced settings for the stuff I do know. I am glad the nozzle probing and pei beds have put an end to blue tape beds lol. Blue tape on a mirrored bed and rafts were my go to on my modded ender 3 to get the first layer right without damaging the bed lol.
Hi, great channel. I can see that you are passionate about your work, which is fantastic!! I have one question: When you say you don't have as much control over the Bambu Lab printers, are you talking about going beyond what Bambu Studio offers? As you can imagine, I am a user, not a tinkerer, and Bambu Lab is a godsend. I started with Anycubic Max 2 and Kobra 3, and I was very disappointed with the quality of the parts; the hotbed on the K3 was warped beyond compensation (I had to replace it), the z offset would jump with every print, and a terrible layer shift on the Kobra 2 Max was ever present, and so on. I have been in heaven since I switched to Bambu Lab (two A1s and two X1Cs). It does cost more, but I see it as an investment in my happiness. That's priceless. Have a great day!
It’s all the presets on the machine itself. Most of them I don’t mind and it definitely makes it easy to use, but if you were ever printing something more complex and realized at some point that it might be best if you slowed down the printing speed, you couldn’t just lower it to 80%, you’d have to choose one of Bambu Labs presets and that can be annoying when you don’t need the machine running as slow as 50%, but 100% is too fast. Thankfully Bambu’s calculated z offset has always seemed to be pretty great, but if it wasn’t you’d have no way of adjusting that either. In my opinion it just wouldn’t hurt to have the ability to have a little more control over certain settings.
There are so many 3D model designers these days that break up their files to fit on smaller printers, so you don’t HAVE to own a large machine to make large props, but being able to print parts in one piece is definitely very nice.
Hey could I have the link to the foot sanders you’ve used in previous videos I just came to the most recent to ask you because I thought I’d have a better chance at getting a response
I want to create the little EC-1 droid on your desk behind you. One thing not included in the video you made recently about this droid that interest me is the level of details you applied on the droid like Lenses, light inside Eyes/Base, transparent bar stand, Mesh on holes and Cables. Can you share us more info about what you use? Thx in advance :)
There may be one that pops up in a future video that goes into more of the finishing details, but until then: The lenses were clear Christmas ornaments (the separating kind) that were cut down to the correct size. The lights in the eyes were just a couple of single LEDs powered by a 9v battery in the head. The base lights are a USB powered LED strip. The bar is an acrylic rod, I believe it’s 10mm but the size needed is listed in the EC-1 instruction PDF. Mesh is some stainless steel wire mesh and the cables were a mix of random black wires in various gauges (that I’ve collected overtime in the name of droid building lol), a silver cloth covered lamp cord, and some ridged wire loom.
I am not sure if you are aware but Aliexpress has many hotend options for your creality printers. And at a lower price than creality site would sell them for. But yes Creality should have way more available.
Yes, I was finally able to find a hotend labeled as Ender 3 V3 specific on there (although still not very easily thanks to the almost identical name of 3 other printers 😅). Probably would have bought a replacement hotend cover as well but I have yet to track down one of those.
Very nicely summerised! As an owner of the X1 Carbon combo, I agree to all you say, really. I haven't tested the others, though, but your thoughts on them seem balanced enough. Thank you!
Great video. I have quite a few printers and my favorite is my k1. It is not perfect mind you but after a bit of modding and some slicer tunning it prints like a charm. It has over 1600 hours on it as well. I wish Creality would spend a bit more time on quality control though. I have quite a bit of experience and didn't mind modding mine as it was one of the cheapest entries to core xy at the time. They are getting better though. My SV06 and SV06 Plus don't get as much use now. And I have another printer (Anycubic kobra) that is so bad I am trying to forget about it. Lol. There are so many options now. It is amazing. The ones I am considering next are the Qidi Plus4 and the K2 Plus or the SV08. While Bambu is good I don't need another printer with a smaller build. The P1S is tempting but my K1 prints so well now I just can't justify it. I am happy to see your channel is growing. I see one of your last videos has over 1 million views. Congrats 👏. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦.
I am new to 3D printing. I have something that I have designed in Fusion 360 and at some point could become a product to be scaled up in manufacturing if demand is there. I also have a 2nd product concept that needs some refinement, fit adjustment and further testing. I have been watching a lot of people reviewing 3D printing, and i understand the evolution of the hobby for nerds that have the temperament for tweaking and fixing their 3D printer. From this video, it seems the QIDI or Bamboo Labs would be the choice. I also think I need an enclosed printer to control smells and noise since I work in the same environment. Since I have never used a 3D printer the cost and support are key important attributes. I use Apple computing devices and I like their support and interoperability across devices.
Amazing video! I’ve got a Qidi x-smart 3 as my main printer and it’s been working great. Have you heard that Qidi’s coming out with their own AMS system called the QidiBox? Apparently it’s compatible with their new Plus 4 printer, do you plan on getting it?
Great video,love your work. I’m running a Anycubic Kobra 2 plus and it’s been brilliant. Don’t know if you knew but the new Anycubic slicer is based on Orcaslicer. I used it today for the first time and it seems to be working great.
For the longest time I thought that my Elegoo Neptune 4 Max was just bad after a while because I had multiple failures only to realize that there are people out there who set up orca slicer profiles and they are fine-tuned to the machine. And if you add fuzz to your models it makes them look more professional also. At 0.3 - 0.3 on the orca other settings.
Great comparative review. Especially since I know what you have been using them for in the past. Really enjoy your videos. So refreshingly different. Thanks for taking the time
Great vídeo! Perhaps in the future you will have some Elegoo to compare with the Qidi and Anycubic. I have a Neptune 4 Pro and like it very much. I'll probably buy next the Elegoo Centauri or a Qidi printer.
I'm torn between the Qidi X-plus 3 and the Bambu P1s, they both are $599. Qidi has the slight size advantage, but I really like the Bambu software side.
I’m sure you’d be happy with either. If the Bambu lab printer and software is what you’re drawn towards, then go in that direction. You ultimately want to buy a printer that you’re excited to use. You can always download the slicers even without owning any of the machines to take a look at how the programs work and what they’re like to use. Especially if you feel that’s one of the biggest points for you in making a decision between printers.
I basically just use the KE preset that’s within orca and modify walls, infill, filament, etc. In the printer drop down just go to the bottom to add a new machine and that’ll bring up all of Orca’s built in printer profiles.
Recently got the Creality k1 max and any problems I read about when it was first released thankfully are non existent for me, best quality prints I've ever had also being able to print the high temp filaments is fantastic.
Glad it’s been working well for you! The K1 series have always looked like a really interesting line of machines. I’ve got a K2 Plus ordered so I’m looking forward to being able to finally try out one of the enclosed Creality printers.
@@MMsPropShop I missed the Pre-order on the k2 so will have to wait for the inevitable price drop, the fact it's multicolour too makes it even more Interesting.
What would you recommend for a beginner. Im looking for a resin printer but not to expensive but with a decent printer bed and budget friendly. Love watching your videos. The smugglers room turned me on to your channel. Thank you for your help.
I’ve had great luck with the Elegoo Mars printers. Not buying the most current model means you can normally get a pretty great deal on one. The newest Mars 5 models have some really nice upgraded automated features that might be worth the extra cost for you though.
@MMsPropShop Thank you so much. I will definitely look into the Mars and Mars 5 and see which one will work best for me and my shop. Thanks again for your help.
I’m all about the Qidi pro 4 right now especially with an ams unit slated for 2025. The pro 4 looks perfect, everything I’ve been waiting for in a printer.
Like the idea of the qidi printers especially the size bit I love my x1c as a novice it’s been almost flawless Soon as they make a large helmet class one I’ll be all over it
Not sure I would recommend it, but there's also not many substitutes for large format. I did a poll on the Kobra 2 Max Facebook group and only 36% of us got a good machine out of the box. Warped beds, mismatched Y axis pulley tension, hot end issues. Basically a build quality lottery. Would recommend joining that group first. They did suggest a Kobra 3 Max would be coming out when I met them at Rapid TCT, but no commitment when. Lots of improvements including open source firmware.
