Anyone tried the Creality CR-10 3D printer?

[gohan]

I read it prints decently but not like cr10 or prusa. The downside is the acrilic frame that is not going to be very durable over time.

[gohan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD7IZYcdw58

[tbowmo]

I bought a Geeetech I3 pro a couple of years ago, and after some upgrades, mainly to the z-axis, then it prints decently. I am considering building a core-xy from scratch, like the hypercube evolution, but will probably not be before 2019, I get around to that project :)

When I bought the Geeetech it was kind of a trend, and 4-5 of the members in my local "nerdclub" bought it. They have all bought a CR10 later on, and are trying to convince me, that I should buy one as well, as they think that it's much better in quality (also it's considerably easier to assemble.. 30 minutes from unboxing and you are able to print).

Currently the geeetech does it for me.

[NeverDie]

@lastsamurai said in Anyone tried the Creality CR-10 3D printer?:

Did anyone try the Anet A8? I am currently thinking about buying one.

According to this review of a different printer, the Anet A8's bed doesn't get hot enough to print ABS:
https://youtu.be/XIk-w5OSVh8

[scalz]

I would recommand a corexy or a delta. I'm not expert of deltas, I know there are some good.

Some good corexy builds are for example : hypercube like tbowmo said, d-bot and voron..
Mine is a corexy I built myself from different designs I saw.

I understand that people doesn't want to invest much money, or think a better build costs more (not true), and they want it quick to assemble with decent quality. Wow that's a lot of requirements for something cheap :)

Imho, I choosed to build it myself because I wanted to know every detail. If I have a problem, I know what happens, and not stuck ;)

Some important details (personal view)

• using aluminium, like vslots. I'm also of those who think it's too bad to use plastic corners for an aluminium structure. better use aluminium corners
• check the build&reviews of the printbed (for corexy) if there is any cantilever problem.
• Strong rods (8mm diam is too cheap..).
• bearings; not the cheapest.. else you can get imprecision in long term, noise etc. (vwheel when you can, and you build it yourself are nice too)

These points will help a lot the machine to keep its calibration longer, print fast, without wobbling, so a better print.
I think, a cnc in general, you can ask people working in this field, always need to check the calibration or recalibrate time2time for a good job. so what expect of a dirty cheap cnc..

This is a special process, control melting temperature, different speed parameters, push&pull filaments to prevent oozing, bed leveling because if first layers are not good then it won't be great etc..there is some learning curve, that no matter you buy a cheap or exepnsive machine, you'll need it.

Finally a few points that are good to consider:

• not too small print area, or may be disappointed in future when you want to print bigger
• heatbed is very useful
• autobed leveling is handy
• i like cube structure, it's easier to enclose if you want to use different filaments.
• and if enclosed, using hot temperature for a print, check that critical assembly parts have not been printed with PLA if you bought a kit, as they could soften a very little bit, and lose accuracy during print.

I'm sure i forget lot of interesting details. It's not very complicated to understand how it works, just needs to read and test. very interesting. then you'll have your mini routines for each tasks.
I hope this helps.

[gohan]

Agreed, but I don't think there is nothing wrong in starting with a good but small printer and later on get a bigger one according to the needs (if he needs to print sensor boxes, he could live with a 10/15cm squared print area)

[scalz]

I can understand your point too, about the needs. of course, there is nothing wrong.
just my personal point of view. That's what i would advice to a friend. Sure, easier for him, as i could also help him..

I'm pretty sure that after you first small printer, you'll want a better, wider one ;) that would be almost twice buy ->"half" bad choice. and we're just talking about the size, not all aspects.

would be also too bad to buy the first cheap kit with good reviews, without thinking if it can be updated easily I mean for features, not for accuracy. "dumb" to buy a printer with bad accuracy :)
it's like buying a 30$ drill machine when you know you would use it a lot.

if it's about a super cheap 100$ printer budget, and you're sure to not invest in future, it's just a short term toy, then i think you're right, and you'll get what you pay for.

I think with 250$ you can build something pretty nice. you'll have to study the opensource assembly manual, but it's a more rewarding learning curve.

To get this price:

• buy printed parts needed by the build on ebay or to some friends who can print them for you. you can find for example dbot printed parts on ebay. I just checked this one. I don't know actually which one is the best diy and documented build.
• on wiki, or thingiverse, check the bom, and source parts on aliexpress etc. there are also very good price for vslots locally in eu or usa.
  Note: you could also buy these parts included with the printed parts kits, but of course that would be more expensive..
  Bonus! you can choose the size of your printer, and that won't cost you an "arm" (30cm instead of 20 for example)
• read, assemble, read, calibrate etc.
  Rewarding, because finally, you can answer any problem you encounter.

[pjr]

@neverdie said in Anyone tried the Creality CR-10 3D printer?:

According to this review of a different printer, the Anet A8's bed doesn't get hot enough to print ABS:

Yes, the heated bed is bit weak but I think its quite weak on most sub 500€ printers having bigger beds than 200x200mm.
There is some help for the problem. See: anet/a8/improvements/understanding_my_heatbed

[scalz]

for example, on a custom 3d printer, you could use this for heatbed ;)

• https://goo.gl/PRdReG (220v version, AC, it needs security!)
• driven by https://goo.gl/W2VmAf

then a simple power supply for other peripherals (actually i'm using an atx power supply)
https://goo.gl/LDLCi1

[NeverDie]

Those are persuasive arguments, but I'm left wondering why none of the big youtube pundits on 3D printing seem to recommend or use an evolution hypercube or the like. Is it because there are no affiliate links for them to cash in on? Or is it something more fundamental?

[gohan]

I believe it is more related to the fact that with the hypercube you would need to source all parts yourself while when getting a kit you have all the parts and a less bulky printer

[dbemowsk]

@pjr I own an Anet A8. I do print ABS, but mostly small stuff. I have tried bigger things and have had warping and layer separation. The hottest I have gotten my bed at the stock 12 volts is about 102°c. There is an adjustment on the power supply that will allow you to increase the voltage, but I haven't played with that yet. The main board can supposedly handle up to 24 volts, but you need to watch the wiring to the heat bed as the stock wiring harness is under rated and won't handle the increased amperage. I think though if I could up the voltage a bit to the bed, I could probably get the bed to possibly 110 or higher. The other thing is an enclosure. I have read that an enclosure is one of the keys to printing ABS with the A8. It does a pretty good job with PETG though.

[scalz]

@neverdie
I don't know if it's about "affiliate" links, it could be. But I don't think it's because of bulky machine. else they wouldn't review the more expensive printers like ultimaker&co which are not small.

do these 3d printing pundits use a dirty cheap printer all day?? because we can often see better printers behind them on their bench, like ultimaker, delta kossel etc..

I think they advice the very noob that he 'll be able to print decent quality with a cheap machine, that's all. is it limited (the heatbed for example, etc)?? for how long without recalibrate? Oh, but the noob thought it was plug and play, now we're talking about calibration, he thought it was like classic ink printer, not yet unfortunately :)

One of the goal to build from scratch, imho, is to achieve same quality as expensive printer, for very cheap. else sure that's not interesting to invest time. That is the deal!
you can find on youtube people saying since they switched to corexy hypercube etc, from prusa i3 style, they live a "dream".
or take a look at reprap forums what non affiliated gurus says there, their builds etc. Maybe they will tell you that a 100-150$ printer is as good as an hypercube..but i don't think so.
Fair enough! I don't want to influence anyone in his choice, I just shared my opinion, better is to dig in google, reprap.

for abs, yes it's better enclosed because it doesn't like air&temp variation around. and fumes are toxic too!

[NeverDie]

@scalz said in Anyone tried the Creality CR-10 3D printer?:

do these 3d printing pundits use a dirty cheap printer all day?? because we can often see better printers behind them on their bench, like ultimaker, delta kossel etc.

In the case of Sanlanderer, he chose to run his materials tests on a Prusa I3:
https://youtu.be/nlIFMy4vIeM

He never really says why he chose it, instead of some other printer, for that purpose though. He places it inside a wooden box when he wants to enclose it.

Thanks everybody for all your feedback. It has been very helpful!

[scalz]

@NeverDie maybe because i3 design is common, for people watching.. I can see a big kossel behind him ;)

regarding print strength, another vid if you're interested, it's about volcano hotend.
at 8:10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93LJui-pC2Q

strength should not be influenced so much by the printer I think, except its calibration, important. Strength can be improved with the right filament, hotend+nozzle size+settings, and the way the object is printed (for exemple if force would be applied in same direction as printed layers then it could delaminate).

Cool, curious to see whether you'll buy one, and which one :nerd_face: I feel you have a preference for prusa :)

[NeverDie]

If I'm understanding correctly, the main argument in favor of the hypercube is that it can print without ringing at a faster rate than an i3 design and that it's easier to enclose because it already has a box-like frame. However, if I'm understanding @executivul correctly, none of the existing hotends, not even a Volcano, can print faster than an i3 anyway. Right? So, then I guess the argument is that maybe, at some time in the future, more capable hotends will emerge, at which time a hypercube owner will be better positioned to upgrade to a faster printing machine than, say, an i3 owner. Does that pretty much sum up the argument in favor of the hypercube (i.e. corexy design)? Or is there more to it than that?

[scalz]

the speed and melting limitation was regarding nozzle size I think. you could set print speed faster, if using 0.4mm nozzle vs 0.8mm.
And it would be easier with a volcano, as heat chamber is wider than classic hotend (e3dv6..).
Example:

• For technical parts, that I need quickly, or stronger, with a good aspect but less details: 0.8mm nozzle with 0.5mm layer is good compromise for me. Result is nice and print time saved is great. (slower speed at max, but gorgeous extrusion).
• For finer things and details, I use <= 0.4mm nozzle, and <= 0.3 layer. Great result, but more print time, even with more speed, because of finer extrusion.

Depends what you want to make. You may need to print slower with petg than with pla etc.

[NeverDie]

@scalz I'm trying to arrive at an apples-to-apples comparison between an i3 (let's assume Prusa i3 Mk3) and a corexy (let's assume Hypercube unless you want to name something different). So, assuming they are outfitted with the same size nozzles, etc., can a corexy print faster than an i3 without losing print quality as compared to what the i3 can produce at its fastest (non-ringing) speed?

If there's a better way to compare the two, then I'm open to that. So far what I've heard is that a hypercube can move faster without ringing than an i3, and so I'm wondering what, if any, tangible advantage that translates into when it comes to actual, practical use.

[dbemowsk]

My Anet A8 came stock with a 0.4mm nozzle. I have never tried anything larger, but I know you can purchase nozzles down to 0.1mm. What size filament does the Volcano use? Standard these days is 1.75mm, but many of the older 3D printer used 3mm. I have worke don an old BFB 3D Touch at our school district where I work and that uses 3mm Filament.

I have printed PETG at up to 80mm/s, but the quality wasn't near as good as when I printed slower like 40mm/s. The one thing I like about using PETG is that you get a similar strength to ABS, but you don't need the higher bed temps to print it. I print PETG at bed temps of 60°c to 70°c. I have on occasion gotten some corner lifting with PETG on larger prints, but overall not bad. Depends on what you have on your bed for the print surface.

[dbemowsk]

@neverdie What kind of print speeds are you going for. The quality at higher speeds I think depends largely on the rigidity of the frame of the printer. Somehting like mine which is considered an I3 clone which is an open frame printer vs something like you mentioned, a hypercube is going to be different.