FlashForge Creator Pro 3D - any reason NOT to buy one?

[Sebastian Finke]

Depending on where you reside, just that the clones are cheaper...

This. Apart from the price Flashforge are awesome printers!

[curious aardvark]

Does it matter how long the company is going to be around ?
The machine is the same, the parts are the same, the massive knowlege base is the same.
AT this price level you're not going to get support anyway. And in the states most warranties are only for 30-90 days.
12 month minimum in the uk and 3 years in europe. (no we are NOT a europaen country lol)

I'd buy the cheaper one :-)

[ssayer]

For sure, the parts are the same and the knowledge base is the same. I follow threads on FF, Wanhao, etc., just because they're all the same. I've got the MicroCenter clone, but I've bought parts for it from Monoprice. The reason I bought the parts from Monoprice? They cost me about a third of what FFUSA charges. Pretty simple, eh?

[dunginhawk]

FFCP support if you buy through amazon hooks you up with a guy, cant remember his name. Hes been awesome.. I borked one of my nozzles, he sent a new one. Sent a new fan or some other part i needed.. hes been fantastic. Other than that, no support needed.
If i bought another one, id buy the monoprice. Support from the community is 10x better than you will get from a manufacturer, at this price

[Bobby Lin]

Personally I don't have a problem with FF Creator Pro. It produces a good quality of prints and reliable speed.

[Ward]

Well,
I bought the Monoprice.
For better or for worse.

As far as I can tell it IS a FlashForge Creator Pro, with a different name. I read somewhere that they both come from the same manufacturer.
I think the only difference is the Monoprice doesn't have the purple LED light inside.
Other than that, I think they are the same part for part.

I'll report back after I get over the dreaded learning curve hump of learning how to use it and give a review of my experience with it.

I just hope the darn thing can reliably print the designs I've made with reasonable quality.

[curious aardvark]

yes it can - depending on your designs :-)

ie: if you designed them for manufacture with a 3d printer you should be fine.
If you just designed them without that in mind , you'll probably have a lot of redesigning to do :-)

[Ward]

yes it can - depending on your designs :-)
ie: if you designed them for manufacture with a 3d printer you should be fine.
If you just designed them without that in mind , you'll probably have a lot of redesigning to do :-)

Uh-oh....is this the "3D printer reality check" noone told me about BEFORE purchasing ?
I thought that if I could design it and get it all repaired through a program like NetFabb...and generate the GCode....it would print?

What do I have to "have in mind" when designing for a 3D printer specifically?

[ssayer]

Lots of things. Besides the bed leveling, the clean build plate, the right plate and extruder temps, you have to make sure that your designs are printable without tons of support and rafts and whatever else. Depending on what type of filament you're using, you might need to mod your printer with a cooling fan, or properly enclose your printer if you're using (dare I say it?) ABS. The 3D printer reality check is really just - experience (time and testing).

[Bassna]

I personally have a Flashforge Creator pro and a CTC 3d pro. I bought the Creator pro about a year ago, and the CTC over a month ago. Price wise, the Creator pro cost me $1450. The CTC cost me $430.

The main difference that I notice between them, is the case it is in. The flashforge has a nicer case, metal, sturdy. CTC has like a painted pressboard case with cheaper screws. The bed plate is also a thinner aluminum bed plate. That being said, after I printed out a few upgrades for the CTC, it runs basically just as good as my flashforge creator pro does. Basically identical printers other than the case, bed plate being thinner, after a few printed upgrades. I also switched the glass bed plates on both, so it really is about the same printer now.

The CTC came with non-spring loaded extruders. Those can also be printed and parted together with the direct ones it came with, but instead I personally took my left spring loaded one from my flashforge and put it on the CTC. Perfect And in doing so, I now have 2 extra motors, since I only have 1 extruder motor on both printers. Don't dual print much, and can be put back in if needed.

I would still pick my Flashforge over the CTC, but if I had neither, I would just buy a couple CTC's and call it a day :P