Rob Keeble
Member
- Messages
- 12,633
- Location
- GTA Ontario Canada
Well if you were as captivated by listening to Neil Armstrong landing on the moon via radio (we had to use our imagination), you will manage to grasp just how excited i am right now.
I have assembled my 3D printer and powered up and then got it to home.
Now on to adjusting bed level.
But i had to take a break , calm down, take a few breaths and share the occasion with all of you.
For me this is a long awaited moment, as a techie who has been involved in dozens of plastic tooling molds, has paid a small fortune in the past to have plastic housings "grown" through stereolithography, this day is exciting beyond expression.
Honestly was not expecting how i feel right now. Best i can do to describe the feeling is like i was as a toddler night before Xmas waiting to see what Father Christmas had brought.
So while i catch my breath and pause to calm down, i thought i might share some thoughts i had from receiving the printer.
1) I am super happy with the deal i got on Gearbest as a result of a coupon code from a you tubers video. I paid $339 US$ with free courier delivery to the USA. (I have a mailbox in Niagara)
2) Packaging was incredible. As a manufacturing man i have a sense of what this stuff costs. First they had it one thick carton inside another. Then the inner carton was nylon strapped 4 times twice across each side. Then inside the had everything secured with cable ties, everything carefully fitting in precisely cut out foam.
Then they included everything you need to get to the point where you running your first print.
Tools, spare parts, side cutters, tape, starter roll of filament (vacuum wrapped with silica pack to ensure moisture kept out)
Usb to computer cable, micro sd card with software, instructions for build, even the gcode for a starter model (cat).
3) When i opened it , i thought, wow happy that i waited. Happy that i purchased a more evolved rigid unit.
This unit has aluminum extrusions and takes less than an hour to assemble, assuming you are somewhat mechanically inclined and have previously watched a few videos on the printer (which i had done during my research phase.
I will add that if you have been on the fence about getting a 3D printer, then this is the unit for you.
It has well constructed stand alone controller that connects to the machine via cables that are all polarised and marked for identification. Power cables hook up to controller via screw in connectors so you got no mains hanging about.
Inside the controller there is a stand alone power supply that works on 120v or 240v through a slide switch change over.
But what really impresses me is quality. This is not the Harbor freight quality Chinese product standard.
I took my square out and the z axis to y axis upright is absolutely square. Yeah i expected it, it needs to be, but to see it well that another thing.
So far if i have any criticism it would be tgat they could have made the cables at least 6 -12 inches longer. That would have been cherry on top,
I took my machine straight edge out to check on bed flatness and again i cannot believe they got a piece of aluminum plate as flat as it is then shipped it half way round the world and its still flat.
I also notice they seem to have a real time change order processing system, speaking to their quality system because things that i have seen on yt expecting to have to do have been taken care of or upgraded already.
Yeah there are a few upgrade parts that need to be printed but that i think is all part of getting one of these.
All in i could not be happier. Now off to do my first print.
Oh if Toni in Spain gets to read this, Toni, you of all people have got to get one of these. For those of you that dont know Toni is a highly qualified industrial designer. I would love to see what he could create with a machine like this.
Btw build volume is 300mm x 300mm by 400mm high.
I aim to see how well it does printing one of those spiraling vases.
Cheers for now. I will update as i go along. Wish me luck.
I have assembled my 3D printer and powered up and then got it to home.
Now on to adjusting bed level.
But i had to take a break , calm down, take a few breaths and share the occasion with all of you.
For me this is a long awaited moment, as a techie who has been involved in dozens of plastic tooling molds, has paid a small fortune in the past to have plastic housings "grown" through stereolithography, this day is exciting beyond expression.
Honestly was not expecting how i feel right now. Best i can do to describe the feeling is like i was as a toddler night before Xmas waiting to see what Father Christmas had brought.
So while i catch my breath and pause to calm down, i thought i might share some thoughts i had from receiving the printer.
1) I am super happy with the deal i got on Gearbest as a result of a coupon code from a you tubers video. I paid $339 US$ with free courier delivery to the USA. (I have a mailbox in Niagara)
2) Packaging was incredible. As a manufacturing man i have a sense of what this stuff costs. First they had it one thick carton inside another. Then the inner carton was nylon strapped 4 times twice across each side. Then inside the had everything secured with cable ties, everything carefully fitting in precisely cut out foam.
Then they included everything you need to get to the point where you running your first print.
Tools, spare parts, side cutters, tape, starter roll of filament (vacuum wrapped with silica pack to ensure moisture kept out)
Usb to computer cable, micro sd card with software, instructions for build, even the gcode for a starter model (cat).
3) When i opened it , i thought, wow happy that i waited. Happy that i purchased a more evolved rigid unit.
This unit has aluminum extrusions and takes less than an hour to assemble, assuming you are somewhat mechanically inclined and have previously watched a few videos on the printer (which i had done during my research phase.
I will add that if you have been on the fence about getting a 3D printer, then this is the unit for you.
It has well constructed stand alone controller that connects to the machine via cables that are all polarised and marked for identification. Power cables hook up to controller via screw in connectors so you got no mains hanging about.
Inside the controller there is a stand alone power supply that works on 120v or 240v through a slide switch change over.
But what really impresses me is quality. This is not the Harbor freight quality Chinese product standard.
I took my square out and the z axis to y axis upright is absolutely square. Yeah i expected it, it needs to be, but to see it well that another thing.
So far if i have any criticism it would be tgat they could have made the cables at least 6 -12 inches longer. That would have been cherry on top,
I took my machine straight edge out to check on bed flatness and again i cannot believe they got a piece of aluminum plate as flat as it is then shipped it half way round the world and its still flat.
I also notice they seem to have a real time change order processing system, speaking to their quality system because things that i have seen on yt expecting to have to do have been taken care of or upgraded already.
Yeah there are a few upgrade parts that need to be printed but that i think is all part of getting one of these.
All in i could not be happier. Now off to do my first print.
Oh if Toni in Spain gets to read this, Toni, you of all people have got to get one of these. For those of you that dont know Toni is a highly qualified industrial designer. I would love to see what he could create with a machine like this.
Btw build volume is 300mm x 300mm by 400mm high.
I aim to see how well it does printing one of those spiraling vases.
Cheers for now. I will update as i go along. Wish me luck.
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