Flashforge Dreamer 3d Printer, Dual Extruder, Fully Enclosed Chamber, W/2 Free Spools

I spent weeks narrowing down the positives and negatives between a number of popular 3D Printers. The final draft was between the Dremel Idea Builder, Flashforge Creator Pro and the Flashforge Dreamer. I wanted something that would be fairly easy to set up, and fire away some quality builds. The Dremel sounded like the perfect candidate. I was trying to convince myself that working only with PLA plastic would be fine, as the Dremel does not support ABS, or has a heating bed. The trade off would be ease of use, and "living room friendly". After tons of research, I decided I wanted the option of having both. In addition, the Dremel is actually the FlashForge Dreamer minus the above mentioned, and clearly aimed at the consumer market. I guess it was a good sign that Dremel chose the Dreamer to slap their name on. I was a mouse click away from going for the Creator Pro, as the reviews were overwhelmingly great, but I wanted something just more contained. See, I am in a hi rise, so this would have to also look somewhat decent near my desk in the living room. The Creator Pro was a bit more beastly, with filament streams flowing in from the top. I realized the one of the things I would be giving up if I skip the Creator Pro would be the wide choice of filaments from various manufacturers. The Filament spools on the Creator Pro are fed from the back, outside of the unit, so there's no size restriction. With the Dreamer, the filament rolls are self contained, inside the unit, and it's not exactly roomy in there. After further reading, I understood that there were a number of ways around the Dreamer's filament limitation. A few examples: Leaving the lid partially off and feeding any sized pool from the outside, or, there are few types of 3D Printer-created spool adapters on Thingiverse.com. Yep, you actually can build a new spool adapter on your dreamer to widen the choice of filament sizes/types. Update: 02/18 - Printed Out a Spool and now using Filament from Filamex (affordable).The Dreamer took about a week as it came directly from China, and was in stock at the time. It's been four days since I've had it, and I've been practically non-stop printing. After reading horror stories about the initial trial and error with your first attempts (a 3D printer given), I was happy to have a perfect build on my second attempt. The documentation can be a bit fuzzy in spots (figuratively speaking), but a visit to youtube made things easier. Also, having to wait a week for delivery gave me that extra time to study up on all the possible issues I may run into. The unit comes a white ABS and a dark blue PLA filament reel, plus a tool box with some spare parts and a few tools which is nice bonus. Also included is a 4GB SD card and USB cable. You can hook up your Dreamer to your computer via USB or WiFi, then send your work to the printer. I've been putting my saves on the SD card and just feeding them directly to the printer. Also, if you need to make copies of one of your builds, you choose the SD card on the Dreamer's handy display panel, find the name of your item, and hit print!Setup was pretty painless - took about 15 minutes. Leveling the plate is what was initially a lengthy process, but each time you do it, it gets easier. Now in two minutes, I'm able to level it, as opposed to the initial 20 minutes of paranoia. I started the first few builds with ABS. During my research, my two concerns were how much noise this would produce, and how bad the smell of heated plastic would be. As for ABS, it's not even close to what I expected. I was thinking it would be the equivalent of dumping an entire Mouse Trap game into a fireplace. There is definitely a fume in the air, however it seems to be somewhat become undetectable after spending hours in the same room. We have one of those essential oil diffusers nearby, which definitely helps. Keep in mind, someone who may be more sensitive to the fumes may feel differently. PLA is even less detectable, so no problem there. As for noise, I'm happy to report that it's a total non-issue. The fans are louder than the extruder riding along the rail, so no battles with the neighbors, even during graveyard runs.The quality of the prints are better than I expected. I've seen some 3D Printer samples on various sites that had me concerned. Perhaps being zoomed in with a camera flash shows too many imperfections, but trust me when I say, the quality of these prints are quite satisfying, especially tor the price. Both PLA and ABS are wonderful, and have their pros and cons. We made two iPhone charge stands with both plastics, and they were equally impressive. The ABS had a matte finish, while the PLA seemed to have slight transparency and a bit of a sheen. The quality of the print will all depend on a number of factors including how fast you want results. We printed small articulated elephants that took only one hour and came out amazing. This was on a medium quality setting with 15% infill. while a super artsy nested gyro wheel thingy took 9 hours. The end result was worth it! The one issue that you will learn to fear in the world of 3D Printing is stabilization of your work in progress. Without the right preparation, your masterpiece will be knocked off course, and churn out an angel hair pasta monster from hell instead. The heated bed is initially covered with Kapton tape, which at the beginning, held down the fort for a few ABS prints. I did not have the same luck with my first PLA attempt, as it dislodged from the bed, minutes into the print. I immediately hit the cancel button. There is a reason why Flashforge provides you with a generous roll of blue painter's tape. PLA likes painters tape. Just cover the Kapton and you're ready for some PLA prints, well sort of. I found using a glue stick (you'll see this recommended everywhere) to be one of your best friends s in the line of bed adhesion. Spread it across the blue tape, and man do those PLA builds become well behaved and come out perfect! I also started using it directly on the Kapton tape when it's time to go back to ABS, because the Kapton will wear and tear within days. Speaking of Kapton, if you don't want to keep having to buy more Kapton when the initial covering becomes really scary, you can do with many other 3D Printer owners have done, purchase a sheet of glass to clip to the bed. Getting glue stick gunk off of glass is a heck of a lot easier than Kapton.The included software (Flashprint) is super easy to use,, but after day three, I took the plunge and purchased Simplify3D. This gives you a ton more control over your work, and has many important features. It's pricey, but it's worth it. Apparently, Flashforge's support for this system is top notch. I haven't needed any help yet (aside from asking on the whereabouts of my shipment while in transit), but I feel confident based on what I read. Overall, I couldn't be happier with my decision. As I hype this, the extruder is dancing around to a soft, mechanical melody, producing yet another eye popping plastic wonder.

This is my first 3D printer, and was selected because I wanted a novice-friendly printer for someone who's all thumbs when it comes to assembly. I've been through most of the two spools it shipped with and have had very few problems. Using "rafts," I have had little problem with "bacon" and the only couple of hairballs I've printed are down to me making stupid mistakes.OOBE:Pleasant surprises here1) The guide stresses that you should set the voltage switch on the power supply. Couldn't find it. there wasn't one. Had an EE look, and he told me that the power supply looks upgraded from what's in the manual. It's now voltage sensing, or at least has been working fine.2) the manual says it comes with printer tape for the print bed. Actually, it came with three of those blue bed stickers, the first already installed.3) Cute little toolkit with a couple spare parts in it. And includes more than what you need for assembly, including a putty knife for levering finished prints off the bed. And, a little knife that you can use to stab your hands and fingers multiple times while trying to remove the raft from a print.4) Bed leveling was trivialCons:1) Doesn't take a full-sized 1kg filament roll. Head to thingiverse for multiple solutions to that problem2) Seems to have referred to adjusting four filament guides, but there are only two. Doesn't seem to make much difference3) The assembly (installing extruder assembly and fan duct) was beyond my meager hardware skills, resulting in me dropping a nut into the innards, requiring removal of the bottom plate for recovery. I should have sold tickets.4) one of the built-in test models (provided on the SD card) is a 2-filament (2 color) mini traffic cone. No raft, so I got bacon on my first print.5) It took me about 85 tries to get the PLA filament loaded correctly so it would actually extrude (see above reference to me having a rusty thumb).6) with no prior experience with printers, I can't say whether I really don't like this printer's PLA print quality, or if I just don't like PLA print quality from any printer. Way too rough. I've been printing mostly using ABS, which anyone with experience will know can lead to other issues. So far, I've been lucky or the printer has been that good7) The vertical axis makes a horrible squealing noiseOne of the things that's prevented me from buying a printer before now is knowing that I'm really not a tinkering type, and I've been put off by the DYI feel of a lot of other printers. This is why I selected the Dreamer over the Creator, for instance. I also wanted a dual extruder printer without having to go into bankruptcy, so it's nice to see the prices have come down considerably.As a first-time printer user and first-time printer purchase, this far exceeded my expectations. But, it still gets dinged one star because of the filament spool size issues. Seems like taking .6 Kg spools is just a way to force you to buy their in-house brand without resorting to DRM. And, I should have sold tickets to the spectacle of me trying to install newly printed spool mounts.But, I've been through the initial spool of ABS that came with the printer, and am about 2/3 through the PLA spool. The printer has been running nonstop since I got it, and the results have been mostly successful.I am VERY happy with this printerUpdate: one year laterOver the last year, I have found a few shortcomings with this printer. One is that the left hand extruder (default for PLA) jammed, over and over again. Another is bed adhesion: either not enough or too much. And, if you made the mistake as I did in scraping the old bed covering off with a metal putty knife with the power on, you run a very real risk of shorting out a board that's going to cost $100 to replace.Most of all, for all the disassembly/reassembly I had to do to replace the motor driver board and unjamming the extruder, it's just not a very easy machine to work on. Throw in the usual disadvantages of dual extruders (one extruder lays down a layer, the other comes along and knocks it over) and my year of ownership ended in frustration.But two months into the ownership of my second printer has pointed out one very important positive aspect of this printer that really shouldn't be overlooked: It makes it stupid easy to print PLA. Why? Because the heated bed can actually reach 100+C in a reasonable amount of time. Because it's a completely enclosed printer. Not just passively enclosed: there are fans to keep it from getting too hot inside.I have printed several spools of ABS and had a minimum of the normal problems you expect with ABS. Seeing all kinds of ludicrously priced printers that you can buy that are not fully enclosed (much less temperature regulated), and you start seeing what a gem this printer can be.Not only capable, but pretty decent print quality, too

Das war ein Fehlkauf. Es handelt sich um ein veraltetes Modell eines Doppelextruder-Druckers von Flashforge. Die beiden Druckköpfe vertragen sich nicht zusammen. Sie sind fixiert und nicht unabhängg vonenander, wie bei unserern inzwischen angeschafften, neueren FlashForge-DualExtruder-Druckern. Wir konnten auf dem Dreamer weder einen 2-farbigen Druck noch einen Copy-Druck (also 2 mal dasselbe Objekt) erfolgreich drucken. Alle Versuche schlugen fehl. Dazu kommt, dass die Idee, die Filamentrollen im Druckraum zu platzieren, ansich nicht schlecht ist aber die Umsetzung ist nicht gut. Es passen nur 250g Rollen hinein und da auch nur die kleinsten. Größere Rollen müssen ungünstig von außen hinein geführt werden. Außerdem muss man sich Rollenhalter bauen, es gibt verschiedene Objekte auf Thingiverse, aber wir haben uns inzwischen eine eigene Lösung mit Kugellagern gebaut. Zu guter letzt druckt der Drucker jetzt nur noch mit einem Kopf, der andere bleibt unbenutzt, da das Drucken mit zwei Köpfen bauartbedingt nicht funktioniert. Drucken wir halt mal rechts und mal links... Der Druck selbst ist gar nicht so schlecht, aber für einen Single-Extruder ist dann der Bauraum doch recht klein. Und weil der Dualdruck nicht funktioniert, gibts auf DRUCK auch nur einen Stern - schliesslich soll er ein DUAL-Extruder sein ;-)

The media could not be loaded.  Me agrado que llego antes de lo esperado; la impresora cuenta con doble extrusor, casi siempre imprime con el derecho; es importante documentarse en internet sobre la temperatura del filamento y la plataforma para poder imprimir de forma optima.

Works well, made of good quality material and it is reliable. Wifi file transfer in this model is very useful. Had no issues with print bed adhesion as it is also heated. Given Pla filaments fuses well when using 220-230c.

The printer arrived a week after ordering, having been sent from Jinhua China. It arrived intact and in good condition. It did require a little assembly, but it was ready to go within 30 minutes of opening the box. Customer service has been astonishing - I've gotten answers to questions I've emailed to Flashforge within 15 minutes of asking - even at 1am in the morning.In terms of quality - this is an exceptional device. I've read complaints about the plastic chassis, but it's solid, rigid and stable. The LCD/touchscreen controls are easy to use and understand. Because it's a closed box, you can set it up anywhere and know it's safe to use.Printouts are good and you'll probably get good printed right out of the box with the well designed software they include, but if you're looking to do more complex prints - especially if you want to use both print heads, you may want to spring for a third party application such as Simplify3D. I've been cranking out larger and larger prints that have the printer running for 18-20 hours at a time with almost no problems and when I have had.problems, it's always been something I've done wrong (wrong temperatures, leaving the chamber door open, bad filament, etc).This is not a printer for DIYers or people who like to mod their devices. It's essentially a sealed unit - which makes it much nicer for 'consumer' level printer hobbyists. The software does allow, however, for a lot of fine tuning of temperatures and print speeds. I do caution readers: 3D printing is still not a 'consumer' product. There are just too many uncontrolled variables and too many things you need to know before making a good print. This is not a fault of this printer - but a reality of 3D printing in general.The printer comes with a little kit of spare parts, a knife for cleaning, putty scraper (for helping to remove prints that won't release from the print bed), tweezers and a spare sensor cable, all in a nice little toolbox. It also comes with two spare BuildTak bed sheets, a spool of white ABS filament and blue PLA. The Flashforge site sells spares for almost every part in the machine that can be replaced. Keep in mind, the Dremel 3D printer is essentially this printer without a heated bed and only one extruder - but it means supplies for that printer should work fine this one.Overall, I'm very pleased with this printer. There is room for improvement of course, and it would be nice if the software was a little more helpful in figuring out things like temperatures - but that's one of the 'arty' parts of 3D printing - learning your printer and filaments. I do recommend, however, getting a 'sharp-edge' putty knife over the flat edge one they include. You'll find some prints practically weld to the print bed and you need that sharp edge to get under the print so you can detach it.

The printer arrived quite quickly, even if ordered on December 23rd. It was well packaged, and assembly instructions were straight forward. I was able to perform the first print some 30 minutes after reception. The build quality is great and sturdy. I enjoy having an enclosed printing space, as I can control temperatures more effectively.Most of the issues I had stemmed from my inexperience with the printer - it does require a learning curve to properly adjust the different parameters to get great prints. (ABS is a bit more difficult, but I got great prints too with the proper settings / preparation). Overall, a great machine for the 3d printing enthusiast. I use FlashPrint for the slicer, but moved to DesignSpark Mechanical for object design; again somewhat of a learning curve, but well worth it.