This afternoon I wanted to make something useful out of this box of bits.
Wasn't entirely sure what to expect here. Two reasons...One is that I've never set eyes on a 3D printer of this type in person before, and secondly this is a direct from China box...so you're never quite sure what that means where assembly is concerned.
For those playing along at home, this is a Flsun Q5 printer.
Everything was soon out of the box and laid out on the desk it will live.
At this point a couple of things became immediately clear. Firstly being a delta printer means that there are far less bits than more conventional design. Secondly that my immediate impression of everything as it came out of the box was that it felt like a quality product.
The instructions were somewhat classic Chinglish, but to be honest beyond "the rails are labelled X, Y and Z, match them up..." You really don't need them.
They have included everything you need in the box, including all the Allen keys (including those for maintenance in addition to the actual assembly), cable ties, a screwdriver and even a surprisingly decent set of side cutters.
The three linear rails slot into and bolt onto the upper housing (where the controller and power supply live).
The only slightly fiddly bit is plugging the data leads from the controller into the stepper motor control boards. Not bad, but if the leads were 1/4" longer it would have been a 0/10 for difficulty rather than 3/10.
Five minutes later we had all the rails attached.
Then you need to flip it the right way up and bolt it down onto the base. At this point there is one more screw that goes from the outside of the upper casing as well. They're not taking chances with rigidity.
Forgot a photo of that stage...but the next one is then to attach the actuating rods to their bushings on the rails and the extruder to them. You could probably attach them all to the extruder then to the rails...but I figured doing them one at a time reduces the number of bits and pieces you've got flailing around.
The filament reel holder then goes on top, the cabling all gets connected up along with the filament guide. The wire connectors are all either keyed or colour coded so you really can't go wrong.
We're about 20 minutes in at this point.
Time to hook the power supply up (after double checking the voltage selection switch is indeed set to 230V not 110) and seeing what happens.
Powered up normally...bonus.
At this point with a conventional printer you would normally enter the time consuming faff where you have to level the build platform.
Not so with a delta printer. You attach a little levelling tool to the extruder (there's a magnet in it so it just snaps into place)...
then click on "Autolevel" in the tools menu.
It even reminds you to attach the levelling tool when you start it. Nice touch.
The printer then goes off and gently "pokes" the build plate in a couple of dozen places to build up an accurate map of where the bed is. The levelling tool can then be unplugged and stored safely.
The only remaining configuration step you need to do is fine tune the actual level of the Z axies. There is a dedicated button for this in the tools menu too. This scoots the extruder down to nearly touching the bed, you then slip a piece of standard paper in there and manually lower it until the extruder nozzle *just* drags on the paper. Click save and you're ready to go.
Well nearly. You need to load filament, *then* you're ready to go. That's simple too. Probably far more so with decent filament, the little starter reel that came in the box is pretty cheap and nasty.
You preheat the extruder nozzle (two button presses) for the appropriate type, then press the filament change button and "load." You need to make sure you cut the end of the filament to a point so it doesn't snag while feeding. Basically just a smaller version of feeding wire into a MIG welder then. When you hit the button to load the filament it runs the feed motor for a preset time to ensure it's all the way to the extruder and any air has been expelled. Getting the filament into the feed roller is a bit fiddly but it's pretty self explanatory what you need to do.
*Now* you're good to go!
The SD card they supply in the box has a few example designs on, so I picked one at random and pressed print.
Off we go!
Yes, the wiring still wants to be tidied up a bit, figured I'd ensure everything worked before I got too involved there.
I then left it be for a while while I got dinner.
When I got back this message was waiting on the screen.
More surprisingly though, this was on the build plate!
Seriously?!? Straight out of the box, with the horrible freebie filament, we've got a successful print?
Nothing wrong with this.
Now I've never owned a 3D printer before, nor ever printed anything myself on one. I have watched a friend getting things printed on their Makerbot Replicator...which did a good job but did involve a not insignificant amount of wrangling after any period of inactivity.
This just working out the box is definitely a good sign.
Overall impression so far: hugely impressed. I've assembled IKEA bookshelves that were more complicated to put together than this. If you've got any vague engineering know how you could put this thing together with your eyes closed.
There's only one type of screw used in assembly. Connectors are all colour coded or keyed, all the holes are precisely drilled and tapped cleanly. The critical ones in the rose joints on the extruder actuator arms have thread lock already applied, the edges are all nicely machines so there aren't any burrs or sharp edges...and it just worked. Overall the impression is one of really decent quality.
Very pleased so far.
Delta printers do take up a pleasingly small footprint on your desk too, as the build platform doesn't move nothing actually extends beyond the footprint of the printer.
Only gripes? The stepper motor wires could do with being a tiny bit longer. Not a big issue but it would make assembly that little bit easier. Finally, the filament they include in the box is pretty poor...but having said that, it did the job and proved the printer works! So can't grumble too much.
Only time will tell when we start getting more involved projects underway, but really impressed so far.
