You might be able to assemble this printer in a couple of hours but you can't build it in that time. There is a significant difference in building something correctly and assembling it. Assembly is the easy part, anyone can throw things together. The build is now complete and to do it correctly takes 4 to 5 hours.
When you stand the Z axis uprights on their ends on a granite surface plate it's clear that the ends aren't machined square. After machining the ends they are square and flat enough to assemble now. The Z axis bracket that the leadscrew nut bolts to was not fully bent so the leadscrew didn't line up with the coupler and had to be straightened to make it parallel to the Z uprights so it would line up with the coupler. Check yours to make sure that bracket was bent at 90 degrees. The two uprights had to be shimmed to get them square to the bottom supports and parallel with each other so that the X axis rail would go up and down in a straight line without binding. Colored plastic shim stock of various thickness and an accurate machinist square is paramount to your success here. Even a small Framing square or a plastic triangle from an office supply store would assist in getting the uprights square to the base. The two uprights have to be parallel to one another and hopefully square to the base in order for the top rail to mate up correctly.
If you want accurate prints the X and Y axis has to be able to move squarely to one another. The Z axis has to move perpendicular to the build plate once the X and Y axis are square. If this isn't accurate it will affect your print quality. Once the mechanics are built you will need to tidy up the wiring, check the hot end and build plate heating and make sure the extruder will extrude plastic from the nozzle.
Prints can be made directly to the build plate, to a piece of borosilicate glass, mirrored glass or tempered plate glass resting on the heated bed. Once the Z stop is set close so that the Z homes with the nozzle close to the bed plate the you can level up the bed plate with a stainless steel feeler gage and you should be good to go. I would use a .005" feeler gage to start as a comparable piece of paper is .004" thickness.
Summary:
Pros:
1. Good value for money.
2. Everything bolted up and worked
3. Spare parts were a nice touch and much appreciated.
4. Good selection of software to slice and handle STL files.
5. Fastener quality was good enough to get the job done.
Cons:
1. Instructions are abysmal. The illustrations are too small, not well explained and the references are sorely lacking for someone that has no experience with building small CNC type electronics. In short the instructions are just enough to get the job done but the neophyte will struggle.
2. Build photos would be a big help. You can't depend on a bunch of folks on the Internet to cover your failings with YT videos and websites that may be doing it wrong to start with. The factory needs to own it.
3. Use a full size SD card. Micro SD cards are OK for phones and tablets because they get installed and stay installed, they have no business in a 3D printer they are simply too small to use all the time.
4. The 24V wiring coming from the power supply had insulation nicks on both the + and - wires and had to have heat shrink applied to keep them from possibly shorting out. The screws on the terminal block at the bottom of the power supply were just barely tight so check yours.
5. XT 60 connectors are rated for up to 65 amps continuous but they were never designed to be permanent connections. In RC model applications you may fly for 5 to 10 minutes and then the packs are disconnected. Most of the time the connectors aren't even in use. I would prefer to see a metal enclosure with a terminal strip for the power connections.
6. The uprights are cut on a cold saw and this is a common operation for extrusions. The problem is that the resulting surface isn't flat, straight or square. When you bolt the uprights onto the lower frame they aren't square and parallel. You will have to shim them to get them to be square and perpendicular. Note to the factory; you can do better.
Suggestions to Creality:
Look at the Pro's and Con's, take note of some of the issues and make corrections to the new kits coming out of China. It takes just as long to do something wrong as it does to make it right. Making it right is easier.
There should be an adjustable Z stop instead of a fixed one.
The homing speed needs to be lowered slightly as the hot end and table hit too hard when homing. I can do this in the Marlin Firmware but the factory just needs to lower the speed slightly.
All in all, this is a great way to spend a couple of evenings and the print quality is really good, especially for the money. Despite the issues this is a great printer. Don't let the issues cloud your decision about buying it. All the issues can be resolved by the builder and that's you. This should be a 3.5 star printer but it could be a 5 star printer with just a little work by the factory.
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