Hello guys!

I have become the owner of one of these machines, and decided to share with you my experience, to give back for everything I read here. It's a bit long, so please skip it if not interested.

Just to set the stage, please know I am a noob in this subject; I do not own any other 3d printer, I do not work in cnc or such, I actually sell wine in life :-)

This means, read my comments in that light; I won't be able to make comparisons with other products, and for sure something that satisfies me, would not satisfy a more expert guy.

With this out of the way, it was a while I was curious about 3D printing, and when some Kickstarters came out that offered models for 3D printed sceneries for my hobby (tabletop rpg games), the temptation grew like crazy.

So, I read around, watched tons of videos and read lots of reviews.

What I was looking for, was the best deal I could find for a 3D printer as close to plug-and-play as possible (I would consider no kit). I first found about this printer here: http://3dforged.com/best-3d-printers/

I looked for reviews, read all the Amazon ones, then found this forum, and read all of this thread. In the end, I convinced myself to pull the trigger. I ordered it on Ebay UK (there was an offer for 469 pounds) on Friday 6th May, after some messages with Quidi and confirming with the woman who answered me (ms. Fiona) that it was the newest model with new motherboard, Sailfish 7.8 and the additional fan. It was shipped to me from China, and I received it here (Italy) on Thursday 12th May (with the usual, very high VAT and import taxes additions, but that was expected).

The package was very well done, all was firm. It included everything I thought and some parts I didn't know about, like a spare chip (read on this thread what that is) and the additional fan (not mounted, sigh).

Putting on the extruder was easy, and actually also installing the fan was just as easy (after checking the instructions on the SD).
So, physical first impressions were great, all very solid and arrived intact.

The instructions are indeed very, very scarce, in particular the various options in the LCD menu are not explained anywhere that I found, some of them are self-explanatory, but not all, I am just ignoring what I am not sure about for now (btw thank you to mr. Robert Gillen who put the file together, I can't think what it would have been without even that).

The first thing I wanted to do, after leveling the build plate (which is, in my opinion, very easy, or at least I did not find any problem with that) was to print (on the blue original bed) the Z-Axis shim that some of you linked here (thank you guys), so that I could then go for a mirror surface.

I also bought Simplify3D, after reading quite a few reviews of the program, and seeing that it seems to have, at least from the reviews I watched/read, the interface closest to modern programs, and yield good results. I selected the Flashforge Creator Pro profile, pasted in the suggested start code (thank you again). I added a raft to the file to be sure, if I had problems removing the part, to destroy the raft and not the part. For now, I print with PLA.

The print went perfectly, but here I had some problems. The thing, just did not fit. At all. I thought I had got the wrong file, so I printed a couple more kinds from Thingiverse, but with all, the same problem. In the end, since I think the only aim of that item is to trigger the stop motion lever earlier, I just cut off the wings that go around the poles, and just laid the rest on the back, adding under it a little piece of the thermal pad I had bought, just to keep it a little stable, since that thing is sticky. Crude, but it worked.

(Aside: after reading the last messages, I now understand why it did not fit. I think, even if I do not have a caliber to confirm that, that the z axis are 10 mm instead of 8 mm, so of course a part designed for 8mm did not fit. I include a picture in the end)

So, I then went for my print bed.
I bought (at Leroy Merlin) a pack of four 15x30cm mirrors, some hair spray (unfortunately not possible to find any Acquanet here), and on Amazon the aforementioned thermal pad, like half millimeter high. Cut the pad in 2 strips, put them on the bed as-is, put a heavily sprayed mirror on it, centering it so that a few centimeters extend beyond the bed on each side, and started printing. The main benefit of this way, in my opinion, is that I just go check the bed leveling once every few prints, since removing the plate does not touch the bed itself.

I try and time my prints so that I am at home when one finishes, so that I can immediately start the next (Simplify3D timings are indeed just estimates, in particular for longer times), so the printer has been printing no-stop for a few days now.

I have to say, that I am very satisfied with the prints. They do have some very small stringing problem, but I read the troubleshooting guide on the Simplify3D site, and I think I will try and prevent that with the “Avoid crossing outline for travel movement” option, and/or adjusting the retraction, as suggested there. All in all, not more roughness to clean away with a cutter than with the resin-cast pieces I usually buy.

The noise is more than acceptable. It is not silent, but neither it is more noisy than my office printer when it is printing.

The adherence of the prints is perfect (please remember I never tried ABS until now, only PLA). Removing them was a serious problem at the beginning. But then, I found the mirrors I use as a base are not 100% rigid. After printing the items, I kind of "bend" the mirror (was sure to break them the first time I tried, did not happen), without too much force not to break it, and I hear "creaks" from places where the part detaches from the mirror, I do some more of that, and the parts come away with a snap.

I would like to try the PEI Ultem I am reading very good things about, but can't find it here in EU, and the ones on Amazon US do not ship here.... Will see in the future.

The additional fan does not always start, even if I set that on Simplify, I make sure to check it is on, or otherwise start it manually, at the beginning of every print.

For now, I am having no issue with this printer. If I could go back to the beginning of May, I would tell myself to go for it, and buy it.

Once again though, please note I am not an expert, never went to check the construction details of this machine, did not open parts of it to check what it is made of, no idea if there are parts glued on or anything like that. I hope it keeps working as it is, and that I won't have a reason to go changing parts or similar things.

Now, a few pictures of my z-axis, and a few things I printed for now (sorry but can't upload images directly, will add a link): http://imgur.com/a/UNJD6

Have a nice day everybody!