Printable View
I found this item on Gearbest and it has features pointed out on this forum that give better results. Namely dual z axis drives, a supported build plate and non bowden extruder that I can tell. I can not find much info on the web about it, at least in a language I can understand. Amazon had a kit for $288 and a $65 discount that I pulled the trigger on. Now it is $269 no discount. Your thoughts on this printer?
links are always useful.
That looks quite pricey for an a8.
presume you mean this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anet-Precis.../dp/B073Y13FHP
It's extremely similiar to my ctc 13 pro b.
And yes they are potentially very good machines.
Not sure I like the acrylic frame. That makes it really tricky to add mods to it. Drilling acrylic is difficult and not generally recommended (it will splinter and crack).
A metal or plywood frame is actually much better.
The main issue with this design printer is that the x axis printbed carriage is not securely attached to the y axis gantry. So if the printer moves, it usually loses calibration.
So the first thing you need to do is get a baseplate (sheet of plywood is fine), make some brackets and screw/bolt both parts of the frame to a baseplate.
Once you've done that - change the calibration wheels for ones that incorporate nylon locking nuts.
That gives you a really stable machine that will hold calibration for a significant period :-)
You will also need a top mounted filament holder. Tricky with an acrylic frame.
But yep, the dual axis z motors, side supported bed and direct drive extruder make it vastly superior to machines like the ender 3.
Just bear in mind that for the money, it's not that great a buy.
Needs a fair bit doing to it and there ar5e machines in the same price bracket that already have these mods in place.
This is actually a better buy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G5F14..._t3_B073Y13FHP
Needs exactly the same mods as the newer version, that is 2.5x the cost. I can't see any real benefit in the changes they've made for the newer model.
But If you're in the 300 price range then something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANYCUBIC-Pr...ustrial&sr=1-4
is a much much better buy :-)
2 models of the anycubic: https://www.amazon.com/ANYCUBIC-Mega...gateway&sr=8-4
For $199 this could currently well be the best value i3 on the market. Certainly the only one with a 3.5 inch touchscreen.
You should add a top mounted filament holder - but that's about all the mods I can see would be necessary :-)
Although it is a bowden tube setup which isn't ideal or necessary on an i3.
But hey, what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts :-)
The monoprice maker select plus (rebadged wanhao) is still an excellent machine: https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Tou...ateway&sr=8-42
And that IS a direct drive.
For $289 it's massively better value than the new anet a8.
I tried to post a link but being a nube, I don't have the post count.
Building post count:D I was actually following your advice on the features to look for. Next post brings me above the 3 required.
Here is the link. No acrylic but aluminum extrusion.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That looks like a nice starting point for a printer. I like aluminum extrusion.
yep that is a very nice bit of kit !
Got everything you want, nothing you dont.
Looks like a simple clean design :-)
It's the 'PLus' that makes the difference :-)
It has been a week and time for an update. I spent last Saturday putting the Anet A8Plus together and trying to level the bed. Finally got it good enough and could not get the filament loaded, it would always feed out of the feed roller. Manually loading was a pia, the hole for the filament was very close tolerance and I did not see a way to make it better. Off to Amazon and ordered two new extruders. I continued with the mannually fed extruder and started printing some first level tests, some good others not. Seems the feed gear was doing a lot of skipping and melted filament was seeping out the top of the heat block. Good thing I ordered some new nozzles and threaded metal thingys the screw into the heat block and cleaning tools when I ordered the new extruders. They arrived Tuesday and installed Wednesday. Very nice compared to the OEM. Then the fix I made to a broken X axis belt clamp came undone. A 3d printed part that the belt slips into had broken the tab when I was putting it together. I used a zip tie to hold it and that did not last. It took until Saturday afternoon to figure out another way. So simple, two zip ties and a screw. I started printing some leveling knobs but when about a third of the way through I could see that they were skewed back to front. Kinda leaning. Seems my Y axis belt was jumping a tooth on the belt.. Belt seemed tight so what gives? The bed seemed to be binding and I learned about requiring lube. Much better now! Then for some reason I decided to upgrade to Marlin 2.0. Thought I bricked the board. Nothing but beebing. Took pretty much all day Sunday butI got it fixed and now printing my third leveling knob! And I know how to turn on auto leveling and manual auto leveling. Sounds dangerous:cool:But that will be after I print a few things. All in all I have enjoyed myself piddling with this thing. Not a cuss word was uttered, really!
with the levelling knobs - make them to fit locking nylon locking nuts - rather than non-locking nuts. makes a lot of difference.
Attached the one I made, think it's for 4mm nuts - but could be 3mm. Anyway you just squash the nut into the wheel with pliers :-)
I understand the locknut being needed on the knob. Not fun to see a knob laying on the table underneath the printer! I finally got all the bugs worked out and the printer is running like a champ.I was getting some y axis drift and looked into checking the voltage to the stepper driver but the new improved anet 3d v1.7 board doesen't have but one adjustment pot. The new fiberglass reinforced belt had arrived so I installed on the x and y axis and poof, all shifting gone. I switched on the manual auto level and I am getting decent prints. Now is the hard part, learning cad to make my own designs and playing around with cura to make more refined looking finished pieces.
So altogether I have about $300 invested in this printer not including filament.
if that's all it took - then still sounds like good value :-)
As far as the cad goes - have alook at openscad. http://www.openscad.org/
I find it much mnuch easier than actually drawing stuff.
Openscad is great, but also look at DesignSpark Mechanical. Looks to be a good full featured NON-CLOUD based tool. I have started playing with it and it seems very nice. Free, but not open source. https://www.rs-online.com/designspar...nical-software. You mentioned new belts. Can you provide a link and also a before/after photo. Love to see what it does.
On the belts I had read where stock belts were prone to stretching which i did observe to be a fact. I just looked at amazon and picked out one that had fair reviews and picked this one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
thanks for the post !!