Flashforge creator pro dual extruder 3D printer black

Before I bought my Creator Pro, I'd read a lot of reviews that referred to it as a workhorse, which shone through as very appealing to me after the relentless upkeep issues I'd experienced with my RepRap Pro Fisher.However, after using it intensely for some time now, I'd say it's more of a perfectionist.Like a workhorse, it just keeps going until the jobs's done, but it does so with style, and ensures a beautiful product once it's finished.Unboxing and first ImpressionsThe Flashforge Creator Pro is pretty much as close as you can get to out of the box ready. It came very well packaged leaving very little chance of damage in transit. Unboxing was simple and thought had definitely gone into the user experience when unpacking to make it easy and as straight forward as possible. With the possible exception of removing a piece of polystyrene from underneath the build plate which involves lifting the plate itself and due to the resistance of the motor, it's difficult to know whether you're pushing/pulling too hard as this is before you get a feel for the printer. That aside though, all good start.What's IncludedThe printer comes with the main unit, two spool holders, a good manual, an unpacking instruction guide, and two spools of filament (one PLA, one ABS). I'd heard before buying that the included filament is rubbish but thought I'd give it a go and as expected, it's certainly not great so has been relegated to the emergency filament cupboard.The deal I bought mine in also included a glass plate and adhesive spray which came a few days later than the printer and required fitting myself (which was a quick and easy ordeal in itself).DesignA pretty standard box design obviously heavily based on the replicator. A nice metal/plastic construction that feels very sturdy with little to no room for movement or vibrations. There is a removable clear box lid that slots on top for retaining heat when printing ABS which easily slots off for PLA based filaments, and a clear front door hinged on the left hand side.There is a really easy to use 5 button control panel and multi row screen on the bottom right of the front side and an SD card slot behind it just on the other side of the front door.SetupInitial setup is very straight forward. The extruder arrives not fitted to the motorised bracket on the bars so it can be transported in it's own block of poly (which I personally think is a great idea). To fit it is quick and easy and simply involves a couple of screws, followed by fitting the air duct for the PLA cooler. All tools are included along with a variety of spares for easy to loose parts of the printer.Levelling the bed is extremely easy. In addition to the firmwares built in levelling feature which I've not actually bothered using, the SD card it comes with is pre-loaded with a "print" which takes you step by step with on screen instructions through a quick and very easy 4 point level which takes less than a minute to complete and results in perfect levelling (though you sometimes need to repeat the process two or three times).To load and remove filament again is very easy and features step by step pre-set functions in the menu to do so. There is a loading bar showing you how close the nozzle is to reaching the required temperature then it starts loading or unloading for you. Nice and easy.To start a print it's as simple as selecting a model from the sd card using the on screen display and off it goes. You can pause a print, pause on z-axis, change speeds, temperatures etc and all very easily.InterfaceThe user interface on the screen is very simple to use, with a 5 button navigation system for getting around. It also has some nice features such as a log telling you exactly how long it's been printing, how much filament it's used etc.MaintenanceAs of yet I've had to do very little maintenance on mine. The only real thing I've needed to do was unclog a nozzle once and that was as a result of the crappy filament that came with the printer (don't use it people). Doing this was actually very easy and if you get stuck there's some nice videos on YouTube to help you along.Issues and ModificationsNow it wouldn't be fair my talking about the printers performance without first laying out on the table the modifications I've made.There are only really two issues I've come across using this printer, and to be honest, they are both very minor.The first is that the filament spool holders that it comes with to slot onto the back are huge and only really cater for very specific spool designs (which wasn't any of mine). To solve this, I simply printed a couple of my own (loads on thingiverse).I then found that because of how the filament is drawn from the spool, it was quite common to pull the filament over the edge of the spook causing it to wrap around the spool holder so again, Thingiverse to the rescue, I printed an adapter to move the filament tube towards the middle of where the spools sit and problem solved.The other issue I came across was nothing really due to the printer itself but a common gripe amongst printer users was adhesion and levelling. Now the bed as it comes (with pre-applied blue build tac) is pretty damn impressive for adhesion. I have to say it not far from perfect. But whilst the metal plate is very flat, it's not 100% perfectly flat which when you're printing at 0.1mm layer heights can cause problems across your first layer or two.This was a simple and straightforward fix, simply adding a glass build plate (which actually came with the printer when I bought it but arrived a few days later along with a VERY good can of spray on adhesive specifically designed for 3D printing). After this, no adhesion or levelling issues AT ALL!PerformanceSo, finally we come to performance. Coming from a Fisher on which I was printing at 0.04mm layer height, I was worried about a reduction in print quality moving to the Creator Pro which can only go down to 0.1mm (even if it was going to be more reliable at least). I had nothing to worry about, regardless of an apparently inferior layer height, the prints I am getting from the Creator Pro are far better than anything I was getting from the Fisher.Prints come out solid, clean, and smooth with no issues along the way.The big thing, and this is huge for me after struggling for months with very little reward on the Fisher is that this machine just does what you tell it to. I have it printing every day for most the day and it just does it. No overheating, no parts wearing out (though that's still early days), it just does it. I've just finished a 42 hour print and no complaints, no issues, no imperfections.SummaryWhilst the print area isn't the largest on the market, if you want a printer which you can just hit go and it'll print what you want without having to burn the midnight oil getting it ready for the job, this is certainly what I'd recommend. A fantastic printer for a very reasonable price!

This is my first 3D printer. Having debated about buying some of the cheaper versions, I was always concerned about the quality and problems that people tend to have - but having seen the reviews of this one, I took the plunge.Unboxing showed a great deal of attention to detail in protecting the parts and making sure everything gets to you in one piece. Even the mains plug is the UK 3-pin, so that's obviously a good sign! Assembly was straightforward - just the door, print-head and 'lid' to screw together. It's all pretty obvious, but the lack of any type of printed instruction is very surprising. An SD card had some bits on, but a simple leaflet with a Quick Start would have been great. Otherwise you're left wondering whether you've done things properly.Levelling was a doddle - just 3 butterfly nuts to adjust. My right-hand head is always very slightly higher than the left-hand head, but I doubt to make any difference - we're talking of less than the thickness of a piece of paper here! Feeding the filament into the heads was also very simple - although some spare PLA I bought was on the wrong type of spool for the printer. (Which was fixed during one of my first prints: print a new spool holder!) I also now know the main differences between PLA and ABS - and print in PLA for the moment as it works well for me, and at a lower temperature.So far I've been very impressed by the quality of the results. I've only done a handful of prints, but every single one of them has been perfect. One was taking my own Sketchup Make design, putting it through Simplify3D (which you have to buy, but I highly recommend it), then straight onto the SD card for the printer - everything was just how it should be. Perfect results.One tip: as a newbie, I soon learned that getting the print off the print-table can be tricky. Other people are using masking tape of various types, so my latest print-outs use ScotchBlue tape stuck on the bed (plus a re-level of course) - the prints come off far easier (and also because the tape lifts off, which is then easily peeled and re-stuck down), although I can see me changing the tape every now and then as it does curl at the edges occasionally.Now it's quite possible that the free 'slicer' software that you can get for this unit isn't all that good - I don't know, as I haven't tried it. But if you're going to spend this much money on a good 3D printer, don't leave the slicing software to chance. Simplify3D did a great job to me, as recommended by the seller of this printer in a short email after purchase.So far, I can't fault the printer (just the lack of instructions!). I'll update the review in a few weeks as no doubt I'll have learned a bit more by then.

With some minor adjustments its perfect

Llevo unos 20 días con esta impresora. En primer lugar, no es cierto que venga totalmente montada y lista para usar. El cabezal de extrusión viene desmontado, aunque eso no es lo peor ni mucho menos. Uno de los primeros problemas que tuve con ella es que era imposible imprimir ningún objeto con el software que trae de fábrica. Tuve que buscar un software alternativo y con él ya pude empezar a hacer mis primeros objetos. Después de 10 días de uso, uno de los dos extrusores se atascó y dejó de funcionar (con el filamento de PLA que trae la propia impresora al comprarla). Pero lo peor es que los tres tornillos que en teoría deben mantener perfectamente nivelada la plataforma sobre la que se imprimen los objetos se desajustan solos con la vibración durante la impresión. Como resultado, sobre todo con objetos que requieren de varias horas para completarse, la impresión se echa a perder con mucha frecuencia. Se pierde así tiempo, material de impresión y dinero en corriente eléctrica (la impresora consume 350 watios). Y, por supuesto, estos desajustes hacen que sea necesario nivelar de nuevo dicha plataforma con mucha frecuencia. En resumen, esta compra ha sido una decepción.

Mise en oeuvre très simple, le pire moment a été le déballage, ces !#?$*\! de blocs polystyrene qui bloquent le plateau chauffant sont délicat à retirer. Puis c'est le premier essai, un joli cube.Précaution à prendre (et qui n'est pas mentionnée dans le mode d'emploi succinct) : Chauffer le plateau à 80° mini pour retirer les pièces en ABS. Sinon vous risquez d'endommager le tapis bleu.jml