Clone wars 3d printer

Unpacking.

The theater starts with a hanger, and the first impression of a printer from the box)

Wanhao and FlashForge fit in one box. The MakerBot has a separate printer and a separate top cover.

The printers are packaged securely and neatly. MakerBot has made the printer the safest to transport. All carriages and moving parts were fixed with ties with special linings.

Wanhao - the most disassembled. All acrylic parts will have to be assembled - the top cover, sides and door.

With MakerBot, the entire assembly consisted of just installing the top cover.

FlashForge in installing the cover and screwing the extruders to the carriage.

Knowing our shipping companies, I would be wary if my printer is shipped in individual boxes like MakerBot. But when ordering a printer from us, you can not worry, we always additionally pack a second box in order to avoid damage. FlashForge turned out to be the most compact box.

Complete.

MakerBot turned out to be not very rich in equipment.

• 1 spool of ABS plastic 0.5 kg.
• PTFE-based grease
• Business card - gauge for setting the gap between the nozzle and the table.
• Flash drive
• 2 spool holders
• Hexagon set
• Plastic spatula for easy application of film on the table
• 3 kapton foils
• USB-A to USB-B cable
• Mains cable
• Instruction in Russian and warranty card
• Tubes for guiding the thread

Wanhao was the most generous.

• 2 kg spools of plastic (PLA/ABS).
• Spare bolts.
• Flash drive
• USB-A to USB-B cable
• Mains power cable
• Top cover assembly tool kit (hexagons, bolts, even larger screws than needed)
• Platform holder kit (paper clips)
• Kapton self-adhesive thermal film
• Table glass
• Printing tape
• 2 spool holders
• Instruction in Russian and warranty card
• Thread guide tubes

• 2 plastic spools (ABS/PLA)
• PLA blower hood
• Flash drive
• USB-A to USB-B cable
• Allen key set
• Spare table cover.
• 2 spool holders.
• Mains power cable
• Instructions in Russian and warranty card
• Tubes for guiding 3D filament

It is quite logical that MakerBot only comes with an ABS plastic spool. The manufacturer's website states printing only with ABS plastic.

Looking ahead, I will say that we will carry out printing tests with ESUN plastic. The 1kg plastic spool (the hole diameter of the spool is 51 mm) didn't fit on the FlashForge and MakerBot holders. For them, you will have to print the holders for the coils.

Appearance.

At first glance, the printers look like brothers and differ only in shape.

I did not find a single printed part in them, all plastic parts are molded. The body of all is essentially the same - a metal frame with panels of composite and acrylic.

In terms of build quality, Wanhao turned out to be a good average. There are no obvious gaps. Acrylic side panels can be quickly and conveniently removed by unscrewing just 4 screws. I think this will be a good advantage when printing PLA. The door fits snugly, but does not lock in the open position. This means that if you need to do something inside the printer (for example, calibrate the stage or remove the finished product), you will have to remove the door or do all the actions with one hand.

MakerBot is a bit disappointing - the composite does not fit snugly at the bottom of the body, there is a small but unpleasant gap. And the door does not close completely due to ill-conceived holes for the hinges (the manufacturer says that it is necessary for ventilation). The hinges are tight and the door can be easily fixed in the open position. Acrylic sidewalls can be removed, but it will be inconvenient to do this, because they are unscrewed only from the inside.

FlashForge pleased with a very high-quality and solid assembly. Externally, the printer looks very solid. There are handles on the side for easy carrying of the printer. The door is not up, but to the side. This means that it does not have to be held when manipulating inside the printer. The closed door "snaps" on 2 small magnets, this ensures that it does not open during printing.

The top covers are also different.

• The MakerBot has a one-piece lid. The lid at the base has a small "skirt" in which there are holes. These holes align with the bolts on top of the printer. Due to this, the cover does not roll around the printer and can be easily removed.
• Wanhao's cover is assembled and not fixed in any way. It just sits on the printer.
• FlashForge also has a one-piece lid and is rigidly fixed on top of the printer. It takes some effort to get it off.

All printers have screens with control buttons on the front panel. But even here there are slight differences.

• The MakerBot has a recessed screen and buttons. The buttons are rubber. Very easy to press.
• Wanhao has plastic buttons recessed into the case. When pressed, they click nicely.
• FlashForge has a 45 degree screen and buttons in relation to the body. To look at the screen, you don’t have to bend over if the printer is on a pedestal at waist level. A trifle, but nice.

Mechanics

The kinematics and layout inside the housing are exactly the same.

Two motors for feeding plastic are located on the “head” of the printer. In theory, this increases the weight, and consequently the inertia. But on the other hand, this layout allows you to print with soft types of plastic without problems.

The Y-axis motor is attached to the carriage.

X-axis motor mounted on the body. Nothing dangles anywhere and does not play. The straps are well tensioned.

Trapezoidal screw and 2 shafts mounted on the Z axis. Wanhao and MakerBot do not have a screw on top, unlike FlashForge.

There are handy wide screws for calibrating the stage. MakerBot and FlashForge are calibrated with three points, Wanhao with four.

Extruders.

We will not analyze the design of extruders in detail. Wanhao and FlashForge have similar designs. MakerBot has its own extruder design.

Electronics

Wanhao and FlashForge have internal power supplies. MakerBot has an external one. I think this is more of a plus than a minus.

MakerBot has very well shielded wires. Drivers signed.

Wanhao and FlashForge boards are very similar. The visible difference is different driver models.

Totals:

In fact, these three printers are really very similar. Although they leave behind a different impression. That's how I rated them on a 10 point scale.

Never printed with MakerBot. It will be very interesting to see what he can do.

Wanhao stood out with a rich bundle, it's nice to get a bunch of pleasant little things in addition to the printer. But I've heard very mixed reviews about it.

Outwardly, I liked FlashForge the most. It looks strong and reliable. I hope he will be able to please me not only in appearance.

Of course, judging a printer by appearance alone is stupid. Therefore, in the following parts, we will compare printer software, interface, calibration complexity and, of course, conduct print tests.

Well, a little advertising)

Buying equipment in our company, you get 10 benefits:

1. Opportunity to use the Trade In program.

2. Warranty - 12 months

3. Instruction in Russian

4. Technical support throughout the entire operation period

5. You buy a Wanhao 3D printer from the official Wanhao distributor in Russia

6. Free shipping.

7. Free training in our office.

8. Opportunity to buy a printer on credit through TKS, OTP, Renaissance banks.

9. 10% discount on plastic forever.

10. An opportunity to get acquainted with the printer in our demo room.

Review prepared by Anna Panfilova, 3D printing specialist at Tsvetnoy Mir.

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3D printers. Clone Wars. Episode 3.

The article applies to printers:

Hi all.

Finally, we moved on to the most important thing - printed tests. You can talk for a long time about the design, appearance, convenience of the slicer, but the result is important.

For MakerBot, we used the Maker Bot slicer. For Wanhao and FlashForge we used Flash Print.

I understand that any printer can print well, the only question is how much time it will take to refine and configure. We evaluated the printer more from the point of view of a novice user, so the printer had 1 attempt to print the model.

But first, I will answer questions that came across in the comments to the previous parts.

'Where's the quality/speed comparison? Ease of maintenance / plastic replacement? Reliability after all!

After all, the printer is not bought to stand on the table and joyfully beep / shine with lights.'

Refilling plastic is quite convenient. Go to menu-Utilities-Filament Loading. There are 4 items Load / Unload right and Load / Unload left (load / unload the right extruder, load / unload the left extruder). Select the desired item. The printer heats up the desired extruder, turns on the motor and loads/unloads the bar. But the extruder only heats up to 230 degrees. In the FlashForge and Wanhao menus, you can change the heating temperature for Preheat and manually push the bar. I did not find such an item in MakerBot. It is inconvenient to shamanize loading PLA, PVA and other types of plastic with a lower extrusion temperature compared to ABS.

Printer reliability is a very relative item. More dependent even on the private instance of the printer. I have all 3 printed without problems. Only Wanhao once had to disassemble the "head" and clean the nozzle.

For tests, we used Esun ABS, PLA, PVA, HIPS plastic. When switching from one type of plastic to another, the extruder was cleaned with Esun cleaning plastic (By the way, a good and convenient thing. It is very economical. A standard 100 gr package turned out to be quite large).

Print ABS

The first thing we tested was ABS, of course. On the move, it turned out such a boat. (15% infill, Standard quality)

Maker Bot did it in 1h 19m, Wanhao in 1h 35m, FlashForge in 1h 15m.

Still, when printing ABS in a closed chamber, it is desirable to blow it. On small details (pipe of a boat) this is especially noticeable.

This became more noticeable in printed tests. (15% coverage, High quality)

MakerBot completely refused to print bridges. And Wanhao was very pleasantly surprised by the test. Print time for MakerBot is 1h 32m, Wanhao is 2h 15m, FlashForge is 1h 46m.

ABS small test (15% infill, High quality)

Corner bending is not ABS deformation when it cools, it is an attempt to tear the part away from the platform. Print time MakerBot - 46m, Wanhao - 1h, FlashForge - 52m.

• At Wanhao we printed on glass + glue.
• MakerBot Kapton film.
• FlashForge has its own coverage. And if usually the problem is to stick the first layers to the table, then this coating has a problem tearing the part off the table. Seriously. It is generally unrealistic to tear off the cooled ABS table.

ABS printing in two colors.

Here already MakerBot showed its best side. Almost no snot on the model and color mixing. This is more the merit of the slicer. MakerBot Desktop builds a cleaning fence with two nozzles, Flash Print prints a fence around the model with only one nozzle - this was not enough. Print time for MakerBot is 2h 17m, Wanhao is 2h 27m, FlashForge is 2h 22m.

Printing PLA

"If a printer can print ABS, it can print everything else)"

Let's check this statement. We decided to print the same models only with PLA plastic.

After the very first boat, it became clear that Wanhao and MakerBot with the maximum open cameras cannot print objects from PLA. Not at all. We decided to cheat a little and set to print two boats at once and two tests at once. FlashForge printed 1 test at a time.

Large and small test

Bicolor boat.

As can be seen from the tests, these printers are more suitable for printing ABS. Even FlashForge clearly lacks airflow for good PLA printing.

And of course, the most interesting thing in my opinion is the printing of models with soluble supports.

PLA + PVA

Especially for Wanhao and MakerBot, we came up with a model blowing system)

It turned out very well with blowing.

PVA turned out to be quite capricious and very fluid material. MakerBot was the only one able to print the PVA raft. Wanhao and FlashForge started chewing on the bar.

Wanhao, in spite of the maximum retract set in Flash Print, managed to "puff up" the second PVA model.

After rinsing off support.

MakerBot was unable to print small fangs on the model. Wanhao printed both fangs. FlashForge printed only one fang on the blower side.

ABS + HIPS

Here the printers were in their element.

The model was larger than a boat and all the printers did an excellent job.

Half washed.

Here MakerBot was the best because of the slicer. Flash Print considered that the thin septum in the nose was a design error.

Print speed test.

The dice test was not very revealing.

The first and last cube.

Airflow becomes necessary at high speeds. I did not notice that the printer would shake very strongly at high speeds. Perhaps this is because we printed small models.

Results

Let's evaluate the print quality on a 10-point scale.

Let's summarize all 3 parts.

Average scores for packaging, assembly, slicer and of course printed tests.

Maker Bot turned out to be a good workhorse. A decent printer with a very thoughtful slicer. When printing did not cause any problems. The only negative is the lack of airflow, which is still required for printing small ABS products.

Wanhao is a printer with great potential. With a little tweaking, it can print very decently. I think it will suit a person with straight arms who will be interested in modifying the printer.

FlashForge is a very high quality and well-made printer. I was very pleased with the quality of printing, the material of the table and the presence of airflow.

We believe there are no bad printers.

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