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And now that I have the settings dialed in, both these machines are work horses.
Oh, ,my general settings - LH 0.04mm, BLC: 7, exposure 11 sec, bottom exposure 60sec, LOD/BLOD: 4 sec, BLD 11mm, LD 9mm all lift speeds 65mm/min, retract 75mm/min (I have slightly different settings for translucent resin - and I used these for Elegooo Standard Resin and 3DRS Resin which are my two main resins).
Hell as it's one of the best printer reviewd I've ever read I'll print the whole thing:
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UPDATE: I should have delayed longer. LCDs burn out, if you use these printers you know that. But this machine is, bar none, the most difficult one to work on out of all the models I've used. Additionally, while Qidi customer service is still excellent, the time between asking for/ordering parts is excessive and can take up to a month. That's no good if you are running a small business like I am.
I've been delaying writing this review because I wanted to get some prints under my belt. Every time I started to do this, I've been put off for some reason or another (not necessarily because of this machine). But I wanted to tell potential buyers about my experience.
FIRST - I have become an accidental print farmer. The Pandemic sent us looking for a home-based opportunity, and I had bought a small 3d printer to use to make things for my history class (I'm an adjunct history prof) - or at least that's what I told my wife when I bought it - I really wanted to print stuff for Dungeons and Dragons. BUT, in March, my wife discovered that you could sell things if you have a certain level of Patreon.... so here we are. We currently are running 16 printers, #17 is on the way, #18 is planned (and #18 is almost certainly an SBox).
Second - I am one of those clients that can be a pain. I admit it. I'm ex-military (Army and Navy) and am very demanding. When I purchased the first machine (we have since bought 2), I immediately contacted tech support and peppered them with questions. Qidi tech support was very, very responsive. This is something that goes a long way to this review. A responsive support system for this tech is very much needed. I returned another company's machine because of poor support - I don't think you'll experience that with Qidi.
They helped me buy a variety of back up supplies (extra tanks, an extra LCD, FEP, etc.) PRIOR to my even receiving my first machine. In fact, those supplies arrived before SBox 1.
I gotta be honest, my first thought upon receiving the SBox was, "dang, it's big...." And it is. It does have a bigger footprint than my other medium format printers. But space isn't really an issue for me. But if it is for you, then it is something to consider.
The test print went...exactly as test prints should go. Perfect. Print #2, 3, 4, 5.... less so. o.k. for a while it was touch and go... I was keeping track of that Amazon "return by" date. There IS a learning curve here. I swear this machine will pull things off the supports so fast it isn't even funny. It's Z-axis is massive and it pulls like a truck! For a while there, it was like a needy girlfriend who constantly needed to be told she was pretty in spite of the fact that she can't cook. But I had enough experience to know that it was just a matter of getting the settings right (Default settings are nearly NEVER right - sorry).
FORTUNATELY - there was enough success that we were able to justify buying SBox 2 before I had all the bugs worked out.
And now that I have the settings dialed in, both these machines are work horses.
Oh, ,my general settings - LH 0.04mm, BLC: 7, exposure 11 sec, bottom exposure 60sec, LOD/BLOD: 4 sec, BLD 11mm, LD 9mm all lift speeds 65mm/min, retract 75mm/min (I have slightly different settings for translucent resin - and I used these for Elegooo Standard Resin and 3DRS Resin which are my two main resins).
I'm sorry Qidi, that default bottom lift speed of 100mm/min??? That rips things off supports. Which leads to my main criticism - it is slow. I'm talking my brother's kid doing chores slow. Your dog knowing that he'd done something wrong and walking towards you slow. Cold molasses slow. In fact, compared to a similar machine with a similar amount of printer plate real estate - well, the other machine completed a print in 10 hours, this machine took nearly 15. So, there's that. That slowness is the only thing that mars this machine. BUT, I'm a trained project planner...so... we can work around that.
THAT SAID it is faster than a certain monochrome printer that we pre-ordered and waited months for and so far has been a huge disappointment since it has to be slowed down to HALF the lift speed of the SBox for it to work. I'd sell that thing right now to fund another SBox.
My other, minor criticism - I wish the lid was sturdier. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a big lid and if it was sturdier, it would be heavier. But it really does feel a bit flimsy and the hinges are iffy at best... Oh, and I'd love a handle on the lid front (I'm going to print one, yes).
As to quality of the print. Once you get past your learning curve (and there will almost certainly be a learning curve), this machine produces models that are some of the highest quality I've seen. I've printed everything from huge dragons, to 28mm minifigs, to tiny, tiny, 14mm Nothic Grunts with lots of spikes. It does all with aplomb. I'm about to start two more prints on the machine, and while they won't be finished until tomorrow morning - I know that what I'll pull off the plate will be great!
One thing I really wish is that Qidi would explore a monochrome version of this machine, or, even better, a monochrome conversion kit - to speed things up. THAT would go a long ways towards increasing my production and I'd probably buy a conversion kit today!
SO - in conclusion - for the price point, you can't go wrong. While, like any piece of tech, it has a few warts, once you get past them, you'll get a strong machine that produces fine quality prints of all sizes, it's quiet, even if it's a little slow. We will buy more SBoxes
But I can't find anyone mentioning post processing in any review. 