FLASHFORGE Adventurer 3 Pro 3D Printer with Glass build plate, Self-leveling 240℃ & 265℃ Nozzle Bundle, 150x150x150mm Printing Size
| Dimensions: | 52.1 x 48.79 x 42.9 cm; 12.58 Kilograms |
| Manufacture: | Zhejiang Flashforge 3D Technology Co., Ltd. |
| Dimensions: | 52.1 x 48.79 x 42.9 cm; 12.58 Kilograms |
| Origin: | China |
| Reference: | AD3 |
Other than needing a little time to load and figure out the slicing software – works straight out of the box. I find its helpful to wipe the build area with a little glue-stick then wipe with a cloth soaked with water to leave a very slight residue – this ensures clean release of the printed model. Also – for best results use a build raft.
Internal spool capacity is a bit small – cannot hold a 1kg spool – personally 250g spools are fine for what I need but harder to find.
Easy to use but despite the heated bed many prints still need rafts. The small prints size may be a problem but the ease of use and user freindly printer is for me worth the money saving time on assembly. I had to change the boden tube after a few prints but since then no problems.
I bought this for my husband who has never done 3d printing and he loves it. Highly recommend connect to flash cloud / connect your printer to it. My husband has printed a couple of boxes. A toothpaste key. A spool part for the machine. Easy to use highly recommend
Great printer for beginners, easy to use with a few YouTube tutorials, would definitely recommend for people starting out.
I found the adhesion a slight issue with the printer, but using a glue stick on most prints seems to solve that entirely (the adhesion issues are probably user error rather than the machine in the first place)
Great print quality for what I need, I have personally printed as long as 0.08mm but generally use 0.13 for fairly detailed items.
My personal downsides are the build volume, but it’s plenty big enough for most things just be aware it’s not the biggest at 150*150, and the fact it doesn’t fit a 1kg spool on by standard, so if you do buy this, make your first big print a spool holder
All in all a great machine, enclosure works fine and even after a year of use I only had to replace two consumables (the nozzle and Bowden tube but both for user error) and both where really easy to replace
We purchased this product as a Christmas gift for our 14-year-old son, and I must say that it was the highlight of the day. The installation process was straightforward, and the instructions were easy to comprehend. It has now been two months since its purchase, and I can confidently say that there have been only a few days when it has not been used for some task or the other. If I had the option, I would undoubtedly give it more than five stars.
La impresora est lista para imprimir nada ms sacar de la caja. El software de slicing de Flashforge funciona muy bien y es fcilde utilizar y con la conectividad de red, el envo de trabajos a la impresora es sencillsimo.
El acabado es muy bueno. Creo que la relacin calidad/precio es muy buena.
La nica pega es que en soporte de los rollos no admite carretes de 1Kg pero se resuelve fcilmente poniedo un soporte externo.
Great 3D printer. Comes assembled, just take it out the box and start printing. No messing around calibrating and fiddling, just print. Very easy. Only negative I would say is print area is a bit small and it does not support TPU but works great with ABS.
I rarely leave reviews but I’ve been so impressed w/ this printer. I’d never 3d printed before this purchase. Hardest part was loading the PLA filament the first time cuz I had no clue what I was doing but figured it out. I used Tinkercad to design which took some time to understand how it works, but after about a week I feel confident I can make anything. The printer has more than met my needs (creating custom parts for my modded car). The finished product is typically great, with only an occasional noticeable flaw but could be w/ the design too. It sits in my office and is not loud at all. Job well done at a reasonable price point!
Direction book not real helpful with leveling. We had to do a you tube search to level bed, and to send print files via wifi. Flashdrive didnt work to file transfer. Once these were done.. worked great! Super good detailed print quality.
It will print TPU despite being a bowden style extruder. (picture attached)
The good:
This was my first 3d printer and I am glad that I chose it. Its not perfect but it is a great beginner printer for someone who just wants to print and not have to tinker with stuff. I have over 600 print hours on my machine and it has been great.
It printed perfectly right out of the box with the print profiles provided. Creating your own profiles is easy and allows you to print with more filaments.
Ive printed with PLA, PETG, Carbon fiber PLA and even Flexable TPU (with stringing) and it has been able to handle them all with out any issues.
The build plate has great adhesion and I have never had a print come off while printing.
The Bad:
The biggest downside is that uses proprietary slicer software that is limited when compared to others like cura and prusa slicer. While it is posible to use cura it requires custom g code an might not be good for beginners.
I chose this printer becasue of the enclosed build volume and the wifi with camera but I ended up not even using the camera and wifi becasue it was so bad. So if you are choosing this becaseu of the wifi and camera I would not. Flash cloud and their whole web service seem to be junk.
It can only hold a 500g roll of filament so you will have to print out a spool holder for 1kg rolls and mount it on the outside.
It has a smaller build volume than most 3d printers.
Over all I would recomend this printer to beginners who want to get into 3d printing but doesnt have the time to fiddle with settings.
You can be printing something within 10 minutes from when you open the box.
Clearing out the printhead is easy, and while nothing has broken yet, and I’ve been using it a couple months, everything is very accessible, it would be very easy to replace parts or repair.
Leveling is sort of annoying, if you tap to move the print head up 10mm it seems to go a different distance than when you move it down, so if you put a page under it to get it the right distance away from the print bed, I generally move it until the paper is very difficult to move and then just tap up once and that seems to be the best place even though it doesn’t correspond to where it was the same two moves prior when I was only moving it down.
I’ve done 8-hour prints and they turn out great, I’m mostly printing parts for small machines and woodworking projects. I bought a nozzle that I could do petg.
After a long print though you’ll have to level the bed again because it expands.
The annoying part of these machines is that you have to use their nozzles, and a standard size of filament spool does not fit in the machine. You can use almost anything even just lean it up against the side and it will work but it means the machine is more open to the air so if your house is very hot or very cold or changes temperature very quickly that could be a problem. You can of course just throw a sheet over at or anything that will help maintain the temperature.
So, I just received my adventure 3 pro yesterday and, it was very well packaged and neat. There weren’t any signs of damage from shipping and everything looks good so far. I will post an update as far as how well the printing quality is and the whole process as well.
The FLASHFORGE Adventurer 3 Pro 3D Printer is my very first 3D printer. Without any prior knowledge of 3D printing, I was able to print my test box in under two hours. The Z-axis calibration can be easily done by just watching the Youtube video. Within the five days, I was able to print a rabbit, spool holder extender for 1Kg spools, and a set of dice.
It comes with cloud print with that can be used to print remotely thru the cloud or a computer.
FlashCloud, FlashPrint, PolarCloud are all free, but with MyMiniFactory, there is a monthly membership.
There is a camera inside the printer, viewing with Flash Cloud is very slow but with Flash Print 5.0 images can be viewed in real time. The only down size is, it does not record.
The difference between the Adventurer 3 and the Adventure 3 Pro is the glass bed and extra higher temperature tip on the PRO.
Although, the print quality is only VGA(640×480), the printing it is very quiet and the PLA filament does not produce any odor, as a beginner to 3D printing, am truly amazed that is so easy to print.
I recommend this printer as it does print everything I needed so far.
This is my first 3D printer, and it is a good one for the price. My only real issues with the printer is the documentation. The printer manual is basic. It will get you started. But the manual assumes you know somethings that if you were a newbie like me, assuming I know these things is not a good thing. I downloaded the FlashPrint software/slicer. The documentation for the software is really lacking, for a newbie. The software manual covers setting up for your print and using the slicer software in basic mode. Only issue there is Flashforge slicer basic mode is setup for Flashforge filaments and doesn’t necessarily work well with other brand-named filaments. There really is no documentation for the expert mode I can find. I had to use YouTubes to try and understand what all the options in expert mode do and how best to manipulate them. It is always good to have an idea what you should adjust and what you should leave alone before you try to modify settings.
I recommend the printer if you want to get started in 3D printing. But if you want to get creative and don’t like spending time researching how-to’s. Might not be the one for you.
I honestly thought 3D printing was still at a stage where even a nice enclosed model like this would be really fiddly and tricky to use. I have been amazed at how easy it has been. There is obviously still a learning curve and some trial and error with regard to settings etc., but I was printing the demo model in minutes and my own designs not long after.
To be clear as well, I’m using Tinkercad (free app and website) on a 7th gen iPad and the Flashcloud website to upload the jobs to the printer.
I bought the Adventurer 3 Pro, so it needs a sharp tool to lift the models from the 3D print bed once done (35C seems to be the optimal cooling point to do this). I’m just using an old, broad kitchen knife.
I’m generally a cauldron of frustration and rage when technology is inconsistent or poorly thought out and there has honestly been zero swearing!
I would, however, note that the Flashcloud website can be a bit fickle at times. That does appear to have improved since switching the printer to my guest wifi as opposed to my main. No idea why
It accepts .stl files very well. Having some issues with printing rafts that won’t release from the print bed even when they don’t show on the design in FlashPrint program and it is a bit fussy with some PLA types. As a result I have broken two beds trying to get the rafts off. It struggles with PLA that has a consistency that is softer than the PLA that came with the machine. It is fairly quiet and easy to use.
This was a gift for my 12 year old who has experience with 3D printing in school. At this time the only thing we can print is the programmed box! Everything else fails because it attempts to print extremely small. Instructions should come with tips and tricks.
Overall this is a good little printer and the ability to print wirelessly is a huge plus for me. It works wirelessly without issue and I have not needed to use Ethernet like I have seen in other reviews. I’ve never had a failed print and I’m overall happy. I’d buy again.
However, the “auto bed leveling” feature is not what I expected. You still need to use a piece of paper to gauge how close the nozzle is to the bed and it is a tedious process. The print quality is also not as nice as I would like it to be. I’ve gotten to a good place with a fair amount of fiddling but it still doesn’t match the quality of my Stock Ender 3.
Absolutely brilliant, my first 3D printer. No build required, plug in and print! Aimed for beginners or new to the hobby. Build plate isn’t the biggest, but I’ve had no issue printing everything I want.
I had a cheap 3D printer before and it was always terrible print quality. Perhaps I could have got better quality out of it with much tweaking but never seemed to be able to. But this printer was great straight out of the box. I just levelled the bed and it worked straight away.
Cons:
Cannot use cura slicing software
Cannot print over wifi
Limited to .5kg filiment rolls
Pros:
Quiet
Prints decent quality
Enclosed
Easy to operate
My brother is massively into 3D printing and i have asked him to print me some items in the past, he suggested i looked at buying myself one, but to be honest, whilst i am very good at new tech, 3D printing looked way too complicated for even me!
Whilst browsing the Amazon daily deals i came across this printer, reading the reviews and watching a few online videos everyone seemed to be saying this device required very little knowledge and just kind of worked straight out of the box – i decided to take the plunge and ordered!
When the printer arrived i was immediately super impressed by the build quality of the device and the super smart appearance of the machine. I looked at the instructions included and to be honest they were beyond pointless! I therefore watched a setup video online and hooked up the device. To my amazement it really was just plug and play! I had to download the flashprint 5 software which is free from the manufacturers website – again there is no real instructions on how to use this software but online videos helped me through it and it actually was pretty simple!
The printer comes with a small test roll of 250g PLA filament in red. Loading the filament was super easy, just place the roll inside the machine, feed the end into the printer and use the touch screen to pull the filament through. The touch screen guides you through the whole process.
I was now ready for my first 3D print – Super Excited! I downloaded a couple of free .STL files and loaded them into Flashprint, clicked a couple of buttons and it send the file to the printer. The display on the printer sprung to life and informed me it was receiving the file, it then displayed a nice 3D image of the item i was printing – which was a Benchy (tug boat). The print took around 1hr 30 mins but WOW – how good did this little boat look!!! That’s it i was hooked!! I ordered some more filament in black from Amazon and my next project was a skull that could hold pens/pencils. That has now been printing for around 8hrs and has around 3hrs left – so yes it’s not a fast process – the machine takes it time, but the detail is just so amazing!
What i love about the machine is that it is super quiet, it does not smell when printing, the print area is fully enclosed, touch screen is great, footprint is nice and compact, internal lights make checking on your print really easy, heat up time is astonishingly fast! Biggest plus is that it really is plug and play with no 3D printing knowledge needed!
What i didn’t like so much about the machine was, camera is pretty poor quality – you also can not view this in the slicing software but instead have to go to the printers IP address to view – it’s good enough for you to check on your print but it’s quite dark and lacking in detail, the quality looks like VGA rather than 720p. The printer can also only house 500g reels of filament, which are not value for money compared to larger 1kg rolls, however you can easily solve this buy purchasing a filament holder and having your PLA on the outside of the machine. The print bed is fairly small allowing a max of 150mmx150mmx150mm prints – but for a beginners machine i feel that size print is fine for an introduction into the world of 3D printing.
In summary, if you are looking at getting into 3D printing then i very highly recommend you look at investing in the Flashforge Adventurer 3 machine – you honestly can not go wrong with this smart looking device! It is truly is ideal for a novice/beginner who has extremely limited knowledge of this daunting hobby. If you are a more experienced 3D printer then you may want to look elsewhere as this machine is pretty locked down in terms of firmware and customisation options.
A truly amazing 3D Printer – i am totally in love with this device! I know for a fact i will be upgrading in the future and getting another machine that can perhaps print a little faster and have a larger print area. I will definitely consider getting another larger flashforge printer as i am super impressed with their product.
I can not recommend this enough!!! Over the Moon with it!
I hope that you found my review helpful
Pros:
– quiet
– does fine detail nicely
– easy to set up and understand
– no bed leveling required (pro version)
– heated glass bed
– nicely contained so my cats can’t get at it
– well-lit and attractive
– easy yet reliable software
Cons:
– nozzle gets partially clogged easily
– makes popping noises when not perfectly clean (usually just at the beginning of a print)
– weak filament extractor servos
– has trouble printing PFEG (can, but not really worth trying)
– limited size spool chamber made for smaller Flashforge spools only
Overall, it’s a good machine for beginners so don’t be discouraged by the reviews from people not following the proper setup – most people that get into the hobby don’t have a clue about what they’re doing anyway.
You can fix the spool issue by printing your own extender. I designed my own but there are some useful designs already out there.
Keep the nozzle clean inside. It’s hard to do but they do sell pins that are helpful for cleaning. It’s easier if you heat those up with a lighter first.
As for the servos – maybe someday I’ll get the ambition to try replacing those, it’s a chore though and we’ll see.
This printer is great for PLA and doesn’t take up much space. I’ve grown quite fond of it over time and am frequently printing out designs I made in Solidworks (saved as STL files). I’d recommend it for any beginner with these notes.
Happy printing!
Adventurer 3 pro, Works straight out of the box, amazing value for money, well done to Flashforge.
Adventurer 3 pro, Works straight out of the box, amazing value for money, well done to Flashforge.
After previously buying a faulty 3D printer in the past, I was a bit sceptical investing my money into another one. I am extremely glad that I’ve purchased this printer. Makes prints with ease, only needed to level the bed once. I connect my laptop to the printer and just a press of a button it does it’s magic. Not once have I had to calibrate it or unclog the nozzle before printing, works hassle free each time.
I have around 100 hours of printing from the unit and 95% of my prints turned out how I wanted them using flash forge’s default settings. for Some smaller objects you may want to use a slicer like cura to ensure the highest precision when printing.
Overall, I highly reccommend this printer to anyone who wants to introduce themselves to 3d printing. I run this in my bedroom and I can still get to sleep. It really is a quiet machine!
Note to buyers: print out the spool-holder in the above picture, you will be able to use larger rolls with the printer if you do.
Wow what can I say about this printer apart from its everything it says it is. Incredibly easy to learn and use, ultra easy to set up and all round fantastic printer.
Only down side is it doesn’t take 1kg spools but spool holders are easy to find and print out for this.
Awesome machine and I’m already looking at getting anothe
Easy to set up and use. Prints have come out great so far. Just wish it would take 1kg spools but that’s not really a deal breaker. Would recommend for beginners or intermediate users
I love this printer I have 2 different brands but this is the easiest to use. The only thing I need to do is calibration now and again which again is so easy to do. This really is a plug and go machine. Highly recommend.
I love this printer I have 2 different brands but this is the easiest to use. The only thing I need to do is calibration now and again which again is so easy to do. This really is a plug and go machine. Highly recommend.
Looms very expensive once set up. Camera could be better. Great for beginners
Looms very expensive once set up. Camera could be better. Great for beginners
Very good beginners model, printing within 30 minutes. Software instructions could be improved to explain software to slicer communion. Easily overcome by watching a few YouTube videos
Very good beginners model, printing within 30 minutes. Software instructions could be improved to explain software to slicer communion. Easily overcome by watching a few YouTube videos
Tried 3d printing a few years ago and found it frustrating and gave up. But with this printer it has worked straight out the box. With no setup at all every print has come out great. It’s a shame the spool holder won’t accept larger spools. But one of the 1st things I printed was an attachment that will hold a larger spool, so that was a very temporary problem.
Tried 3d printing a few years ago and found it frustrating and gave up. But with this printer it has worked straight out the box. With no setup at all every print has come out great. It’s a shame the spool holder won’t accept larger spools. But one of the 1st things I printed was an attachment that will hold a larger spool, so that was a very temporary problem.
Bought for my 10 year old son, he loves it, so simple to use. Highly recommend.
Bought for my 10 year old son, he loves it, so simple to use. Highly recommend.
Le test a t fait sur une Adventurer 3 Pro out of the box (aucune configuration except le WiFi et le nivellement post update)
Je trouve les impressions que j’ai ralis de bonne qualits (en comparaison a l’ender 3 que j’ai jamais russi faire marcher compltement)
Petit point noir le clavier tactile de l’imprimante est plutt petit (divis en deux parties) (cela est d la taille de l’cran donc justifi vu le prix)
J’ai ralis 3 pices (a l’aide du filament inclus)
– la pice de test : stock dans l’imprimante 3D (first try et aucun problme)
– un tardis (doctor who) : imprim a distance depuis polar cloud (j’ai eu un chec (mais c’est due une mauvaise manipulation de ma part) )
– un pice articul en plusieurs pice (imprim d’un coup grce flashprint)
J’ai eu un chec les pices articul tant trs petites (sur la premire couche) et n’ayant pas mis de raft ou brim la pice s’est dcroch (logique)
Aprs l’ajout du raft la pice a t imprim sans soucis et toutes les articulations fonctionne
Pour une imprimante ou la configuration du leveling a t limite fait a l’arrache (par un dbutant) les rsultats sont trs prometteurs surtout vu son prix
attention tout de mme il y’a pas de spatule pour dcrocher certaines impressions sa peut tre problmatique nanmoins une fois refroidi celles que j’ai fait se sont retirs tout seules sans employer beaucoup de force
EDIT 31/03/2022, j’ai aussi remarque que le filament inclus dans la bote avait tendance casser lors de mes dernires impressions (impressions longue dure)
Je vais continuer tester cette imprimante et j’diterai l’avis au fil du temps si il y’a un changement significatif
Muy buena impresora aunque hay que conocer el producto que se adquiere. Es una impresora cerrada y sencilla centrada en la conectividad y en poder imprimir con gran facilidad sin tener que destinar tiempo en montaje, calibracin y ajustes.
Ah os dejo una recopilacin de mis impresiones:
PROS:
– Plug and play. No tardas ni 5 minutos desde que la sacas de la caja hasta que puedes comenzar a imprimir la prueba.
– Buena calidad de impresin tanto en PLA como en ABS. Aunque no es super rpida, tienen una velocidad correcta.
– Rpido nivelado en 9 puntos.
– Es cerrada, con lo que eliminamos corrientes de aire y mejoramos la temperatura ambiental de impresin (Importante para el ABS)
– Muy buena conectividad, aunque con algunos problemas en el uso.
CONTRAS:
– Reducido volumen de impresin: 150x150x150 mm
– Solo acepta en el soporte bobinas de 250g o 500g, las cuales tienen un mayor precio/gramo, aunque se pueden encontrar fcilmente soluciones a este problema
– Software cerrado de Slicing, aunque funciona muy bien y ofrece suficientes opciones de configuracin
– IMPORTANTE: No admite entrada por USB con la Cmara encendida, por lo que hay que apagarla en el men de ajustes para poder aadir archivos por USB. Parece una limitacin de Hardware.
– Cmara tiene, pero con una calidad bastante justita. Sirve para ver que todo va bien y ya, pero por el precio que tiene es algo ms que comprensible.
excellent printer for beginners, easy installation and use, wifi connection work great, it is quite quiet and you can work on it even at night. I recommend using for printing / FlashPrint … easy to use and for slicing of stl for beginner is best .
excellent printer for beginners, easy installation and use, wifi connection work great, it is quite quiet and you can work on it even at night. I recommend using for printing / FlashPrint … easy to use and for slicing of stl for beginner is best .
Es perfecta para empezar en este mundo, viene todo montado, la sacas de la caja y a imprimir! Funciona muy bien, sus dimensiones son geniales para tener en un escritorio, obviamente eso hace que la placa de impresin sea ms pequea, 15cm, pero es suficiente para la mayora de piezas, el software de todas formas te permite partir con facilidad las piezas para enviar a imprimir, no hace mucho ruido, esta bien si la tienes en una habitacin que puedas cerrar la puerta, porque aunque no hace mucho ruido es constante, en general es una maquina perfecta para empezar, lo nico negativo que le veo es que solo acepta rollos de flashforge, para poder poner de terceros tienes que imprimir un soporte y dejar la puerta abierta, de todas formas en thinsgiverse hay muchos modelos e incluso una carcasa para agrandar el hueco, recomiendo que para imprimir rollos de terceros a la cama agregues cinta de carrocero, de la de pintor, como dice otro usuario por aqu y va genial.
* Made quite a few prints straight out of the box with no issues – download model, load into software and with a click of a button send to the printer. For a first time 3D printer user that’s what I’ve excepted.
* Flashforge software is straighforward to use for a basic level user, no complaints – load the model, slice, apply supports if necessary etc. and print.
* Looks aesthetically pleasing, enclosed.
* WiFi definitely makes starting and stopping prints convenient, especially if you keep the printer in an isolated area to contain the noise.
* Camera is low resolution but good enough to monitor the print. You can view the print through your browser if you know the local IP address or flashforge software.
* Glass bed is great – no issues with adhesion. Once the model is printed power off the printer, wait for the bed to cool down and models almost pop off themselves from the bed or require a very gentle nudge at most.
Cons:
* Cloud functionality works but is slow and you have to use slicing software on the cloud which is very limited and again – very slow. Not really practical but depends on your use case.
* By no means it’s silent. During the print it’s loud, very much so. On idle it has fans running top speed – again, very loud and what’s the reason to do so in idle mode? As in you wouldn’t want to be in the same room loud for longer than a few minutes contrary to the selling point.
* Calibration process is not very straightforward. E.g. after calibrating using a paper between the nozzle and the base it may not actually be properly calibrated even with multiple tries. Is there a technique of moving the nozzle up and down multiple times in a certain pattern to avoid inaccurate calibration, motor backlash?
* Does not support 1kg spools so you are essentially expected to print an external extension or pay extra for smaller spools which are also limited in options. Having an external spool means you have to keep the lid off thus reducing the benefits of noise and fume suppression unless you 3D print a lid for this particular case, there are models online. Inconvenience. You could arguably drill a hole in the panel but… this shouldn’t be a thing.
* You have to manually power if off, you can’t do that through software. There is no standby mode once it finishes. When finished it goes into idle mode and gets very loud (fants). A workaround is to use a smart socket to control power from your phone/PC.
* A very minor gripe but the power cable socket connection to the printer is a bit flimsy and may need a bit of play and support to stay in full contact but once done it stays in no issues.
* Obnoxiously loud ear piercing welcome sound. Luckily can be disabled, luckily.
Overall I do recommend this printer despite for what seems a long list of cons. Nothing that can’t be worked around for the most part.
* Made quite a few prints straight out of the box with no issues – download model, load into software and with a click of a button send to the printer. For a first time 3D printer user that’s what I’ve excepted.
* Flashforge software is straighforward to use for a basic level user, no complaints – load the model, slice, apply supports if necessary etc. and print.
* Looks aesthetically pleasing, enclosed.
* WiFi definitely makes starting and stopping prints convenient, especially if you keep the printer in an isolated area to contain the noise.
* Camera is low resolution but good enough to monitor the print. You can view the print through your browser if you know the local IP address or flashforge software.
* Glass bed is great – no issues with adhesion. Once the model is printed power off the printer, wait for the bed to cool down and models almost pop off themselves from the bed or require a very gentle nudge at most.
Cons:
* Cloud functionality works but is slow and you have to use slicing software on the cloud which is very limited and again – very slow. Not really practical but depends on your use case.
* By no means it’s silent. During the print it’s loud, very much so. On idle it has fans running top speed – again, very loud and what’s the reason to do so in idle mode? As in you wouldn’t want to be in the same room loud for longer than a few minutes contrary to the selling point.
* Calibration process is not very straightforward. E.g. after calibrating using a paper between the nozzle and the base it may not actually be properly calibrated even with multiple tries. Is there a technique of moving the nozzle up and down multiple times in a certain pattern to avoid inaccurate calibration, motor backlash?
* Does not support 1kg spools so you are essentially expected to print an external extension or pay extra for smaller spools which are also limited in options. Having an external spool means you have to keep the lid off thus reducing the benefits of noise and fume suppression unless you 3D print a lid for this particular case, there are models online. Inconvenience. You could arguably drill a hole in the panel but… this shouldn’t be a thing.
* You have to manually power if off, you can’t do that through software. There is no standby mode once it finishes. When finished it goes into idle mode and gets very loud (fants). A workaround is to use a smart socket to control power from your phone/PC.
* A very minor gripe but the power cable socket connection to the printer is a bit flimsy and may need a bit of play and support to stay in full contact but once done it stays in no issues.
* Obnoxiously loud ear piercing welcome sound. Luckily can be disabled, luckily.
Overall I do recommend this printer despite for what seems a long list of cons. Nothing that can’t be worked around for the most part.
Product is excellent but I had to watch a couple of hours of YouTube to try get laptop to link to the printer, set up of printer and to use is easy but the software link and laptop is very confusing with out guidance
Product is excellent but I had to watch a couple of hours of YouTube to try get laptop to link to the printer, set up of printer and to use is easy but the software link and laptop is very confusing with out guidance
Pros:
* Made quite a few prints straight out of the box with no issues – download model, load into software and with a click of a button send to the printer. For a first time 3D printer user that’s what I’ve excepted.
* Flashforge software is straighforward to use for a basic level user, no complaints – load the model, slice, apply supports if necessary etc. and print.
* Looks aesthetically pleasing, enclosed.
* WiFi definitely makes starting and stopping prints convenient, especially if you keep the printer in an isolated area to contain the noise.
* Camera is low resolution but good enough to monitor the print. You can view the print through your browser if you know the local IP address or flashforge software.
* Glass bed is great – no issues with adhesion. Once the model is printed power off the printer, wait for the bed to cool down and models almost pop off themselves from the bed or require a very gentle nudge at most.
Cons:
* Cloud functionality works but is slow and you have to use slicing software on the cloud which is very limited and again – very slow. Not really practical but depends on your use case.
* By no means it’s silent. During the print it’s loud, very much so. On idle it has fans running top speed – again, very loud and what’s the reason to do so in idle mode? As in you wouldn’t want to be in the same room loud for longer than a few minutes contrary to the selling point.
* Calibration process is not very straightforward. E.g. after calibrating using a paper between the nozzle and the base it may not actually be properly calibrated even with multiple tries. Is there a technique of moving the nozzle up and down multiple times in a certain pattern to avoid inaccurate calibration, motor backlash?
* Does not support 1kg spools so you are essentially expected to print an external extension or pay extra for smaller spools which are also limited in options. Having an external spool means you have to keep the lid off thus reducing the benefits of noise and fume suppression unless you 3D print a lid for this particular case, there are models online. Inconvenience. You could arguably drill a hole in the panel but… this shouldn’t be a thing.
* You have to manually power if off, you can’t do that through software. There is no standby mode once it finishes. When finished it goes into idle mode and gets very loud (fants). A workaround is to use a smart socket to control power from your phone/PC.
* A very minor gripe but the power cable socket connection to the printer is a bit flimsy and may need a bit of play and support to stay in full contact but once done it stays in no issues.
* Obnoxiously loud ear piercing welcome sound. Luckily can be disabled, luckily.
Overall I do recommend this printer despite for what seems a long list of cons. Nothing that can’t be worked around for the most part.
Pros:
* Made quite a few prints straight out of the box with no issues – download model, load into software and with a click of a button send to the printer. For a first time 3D printer user that’s what I’ve excepted.
* Flashforge software is straighforward to use for a basic level user, no complaints – load the model, slice, apply supports if necessary etc. and print.
* Looks aesthetically pleasing, enclosed.
* WiFi definitely makes starting and stopping prints convenient, especially if you keep the printer in an isolated area to contain the noise.
* Camera is low resolution but good enough to monitor the print. You can view the print through your browser if you know the local IP address or flashforge software.
* Glass bed is great – no issues with adhesion. Once the model is printed power off the printer, wait for the bed to cool down and models almost pop off themselves from the bed or require a very gentle nudge at most.
Cons:
* Cloud functionality works but is slow and you have to use slicing software on the cloud which is very limited and again – very slow. Not really practical but depends on your use case.
* By no means it’s silent. During the print it’s loud, very much so. On idle it has fans running top speed – again, very loud and what’s the reason to do so in idle mode? As in you wouldn’t want to be in the same room loud for longer than a few minutes contrary to the selling point.
* Calibration process is not very straightforward. E.g. after calibrating using a paper between the nozzle and the base it may not actually be properly calibrated even with multiple tries. Is there a technique of moving the nozzle up and down multiple times in a certain pattern to avoid inaccurate calibration, motor backlash?
* Does not support 1kg spools so you are essentially expected to print an external extension or pay extra for smaller spools which are also limited in options. Having an external spool means you have to keep the lid off thus reducing the benefits of noise and fume suppression unless you 3D print a lid for this particular case, there are models online. Inconvenience. You could arguably drill a hole in the panel but… this shouldn’t be a thing.
* You have to manually power if off, you can’t do that through software. There is no standby mode once it finishes. When finished it goes into idle mode and gets very loud (fants). A workaround is to use a smart socket to control power from your phone/PC.
* A very minor gripe but the power cable socket connection to the printer is a bit flimsy and may need a bit of play and support to stay in full contact but once done it stays in no issues.
* Obnoxiously loud ear piercing welcome sound. Luckily can be disabled, luckily.
Overall I do recommend this printer despite for what seems a long list of cons. Nothing that can’t be worked around for the most part.
So impressed with this. The only failures are where I’ve have tried to defy gravity with what I’m printing. Note it only takes 500g reels on internal reel holder.
So impressed with this. The only failures are where I’ve have tried to defy gravity with what I’m printing. Note it only takes 500g reels on internal reel holder.
So impressed with this. The only failures are where I’ve have tried to defy gravity with what I’m printing. Note it only takes 500g reels on internal reel holder.
This is my first 3D printer, so take into account I have nothing to compare this to. But as a beginner I’ve found this printer to be a great introduction to 3D printing. I was initially reticent to try 3D printing at all as reading up on it, it sounds like a nightmare, with many, many things that can go wrong and issues to overcome. Don’t be put off! Using this printer with PLA filament has been a great first experience and about as easy as I can imagine it being. Print quality, in “fine” mode, is perfectly acceptable, and sometimes really good, depending on what you are printing. It won’t cope with very fine details (e.g. tabletop gaming figures), but I’ve managed to print relatively small models of retro tech (see photos) and for the distance they are normally viewed at the quality looks great (the close up pics show all the flaws!). The software that comes with it is fine and reasonably easy to use for the basics, certainly good enough to get the job done, though I have had weird issues with the slicing seeming to go wrong sometimes and leave holes or gaps in the model. This could be something to do with problems in the STL files though, and at least you can see the problems in the preview window rather than printing it and seeing the problem then. I created the models using Blender, which is a free 3D modelling program, but there are even simpler programs to use like Microsoft’s 3D Builder. Generally I’ve found learning how to create the 3D models on the computer to be the longest & trickiest part of the process – the 3D printing itself has gone relatively smoothly in comparison. On the negative side, I have had issues with stringing, though that was largely overcome with some changes to the default temperature settings; but the main negative is that the printer takes 0.5kg spools of filament, rather than the more common 1kg. This makes sourcing filament more difficult, more expensive and limits the manufacturers you can buy it from. There’s plenty of Flashforge PLA that fits the printer on Amazon, but if you want to use ABS, it can be more difficult to find 0.5kg spools (and shipping costs for ABS from the official Flashforge site are prohibitively expensive for the UK, they only seem to have PLA on Amazon, so that wasn’t an option for ABS). Overall, though, I thoroughly recommend this printer as a beginner’s machine. I’ve had great fun using it and being able to turn something digital into a physical object in your own home feels almost magical. It’s a great little hobby.
This is my first 3D printer, so take into account I have nothing to compare this to. But as a beginner I’ve found this printer to be a great introduction to 3D printing. I was initially reticent to try 3D printing at all as reading up on it, it sounds like a nightmare, with many, many things that can go wrong and issues to overcome. Don’t be put off! Using this printer with PLA filament has been a great first experience and about as easy as I can imagine it being. Print quality, in “fine” mode, is perfectly acceptable, and sometimes really good, depending on what you are printing. It won’t cope with very fine details (e.g. tabletop gaming figures), but I’ve managed to print relatively small models of retro tech (see photos) and for the distance they are normally viewed at the quality looks great (the close up pics show all the flaws!). The software that comes with it is fine and reasonably easy to use for the basics, certainly good enough to get the job done, though I have had weird issues with the slicing seeming to go wrong sometimes and leave holes or gaps in the model. This could be something to do with problems in the STL files though, and at least you can see the problems in the preview window rather than printing it and seeing the problem then. I created the models using Blender, which is a free 3D modelling program, but there are even simpler programs to use like Microsoft’s 3D Builder. Generally I’ve found learning how to create the 3D models on the computer to be the longest & trickiest part of the process – the 3D printing itself has gone relatively smoothly in comparison. On the negative side, I have had issues with stringing, though that was largely overcome with some changes to the default temperature settings; but the main negative is that the printer takes 0.5kg spools of filament, rather than the more common 1kg. This makes sourcing filament more difficult, more expensive and limits the manufacturers you can buy it from. There’s plenty of Flashforge PLA that fits the printer on Amazon, but if you want to use ABS, it can be more difficult to find 0.5kg spools (and shipping costs for ABS from the official Flashforge site are prohibitively expensive for the UK, they only seem to have PLA on Amazon, so that wasn’t an option for ABS). Overall, though, I thoroughly recommend this printer as a beginner’s machine. I’ve had great fun using it and being able to turn something digital into a physical object in your own home feels almost magical. It’s a great little hobby.