have you had any issues with the bowden setup? I have all the parts, but I was reading up and found that a lot of people prefer the direct extruder because the bowden jams up a lot. have you experience any of these issues?
glass is the defacto standard, usually for a reason. Also there is a difference between a cheap Chinese lead screw and a proper one. doubtful there is a quality difference between the two in Z layer consistency. also the threaded rods non-precision is accounted for a much smaller step size per mm.
One more question, I think. Is this safe to connect through USB to a Raspberry Pi 3? I have OctoPi. I did connect it with the printer power off, and everything came on because it was drawing power from the pi. If I turn the printers power on, do you think it is going to keep drawing power from the pi? I’m having trouble finding anything on google about this.
Please don’t encourage to buy the one on the left. I have one and it is garbage. You are lucky to print above 50mm before the threaded rod starts binding. Good luck updating the firmware on that gt2560 too..
The board used on the left printer is a clone of a Geeetech 2560 board I have this printer and have done multiple upgrades, changed to a Bowden setup with a bulldog extruder and E3D hotend, BLtouch, Aluminium Bed with PEI sheet build platform and a Raspberry Pi controller.
Please keep in mind that the melzi does not support the 2004 LCD with the rotary click encoder. It does support the full graphics smart controller though.
Holy crap that’s a lot of lateral movement in your A8! I would check your screws are all done up, there’s no way it should be that bad. Out of the box mine had about 5mm play at the top. I’ve got it down to hardly anything by downloading corner braces and anti z wobble parts from thingyverse and solvent welding in place.
I will be willing to bet the only thing with the melzi is a burnt connector. I’ve ‘burnt up’ a melzi board a few times, just need to direct solder the wires like the power, bed etc.
I was going to Anet but after I saw you wiggling holy s***, I ‘m going for the CTC, at least it’s the original purse design. I bet the CTC with bowden flies!
A proximity sensor with high enough sensing distance, like a LJ18A3-8-Z/BX, will work on the cheaper machine since there is an aluminium board under the glass bed.
I actually own both printers and I found that I agreed with most of what you said but with that I found that the Anet a8 clone out preformed the one on the left in your video. Great reviews on both machine by the way 🙂
I like your presentations so far… How about trying a different design printer and see what mods you can come up with. I just purchased a Creality CR-10 size is 12″x12″x16″ with a heated bed last month because the Print volume and printer cost finally aligned with my view of cost and practicality. I Love the minimal time & ease of assembly as well as the print quality/price/Print Volume and they have 2 larger models for rather reasonable prices. the design uses Aluminum Extrusions and should, if you were so inclined, be easy to DIY with upgrades. What say you??
I bought the one on the left through your link. The instructions are a nightmare lol. I had to decide to just build it like the instructions and wait to connect everything else to the motherboard last. The instructions tell me to connect something’s in a place on the board that will not fit because the I/O port is there for a different component, and the list of what devices the I/O ports are for within the instructions contradicts the setup step instructions that tell the incorrect ports mostly.
The list of what devices the I/O ports are intended for is incomplete within the instructions. I looked online at the board and what the I/O modules are for, and those contradict the list in the instructions.
Its a great buy, but the translation was poor. Can you send me a list of what device you connected to the corresponding number that is on the picture of the board on page 7 of the PDF that came on the disk, or a link to better instructions that you used? Thanks for posting the bid btw
Recently noticed the STARTT 3D printer online, they say its only priced around 100 USD for the printer. Might be worth looking into.
have you had any issues with the bowden setup? I have all the parts, but I was reading up and found that a lot of people prefer the direct extruder because the bowden jams up a lot. have you experience any of these issues?
For $130, fun project. I submitted an offer. Lets see if it goes though. I have an Folgertech FT5 as my main printer 🙂
glass is the defacto standard, usually for a reason. Also there is a difference between a cheap Chinese lead screw and a proper one. doubtful there is a quality difference between the two in Z layer consistency. also the threaded rods non-precision is accounted for a much smaller step size per mm.
Tronyx is not a ANET A8, My A8 look better then the Tronyx anyway…
wish i knew were to get em for 150 all i see them for is 170 to 400
One more question, I think. Is this safe to connect through USB to a Raspberry Pi 3? I have OctoPi. I did connect it with the printer power off, and everything came on because it was drawing power from the pi. If I turn the printers power on, do you think it is going to keep drawing power from the pi? I’m having trouble finding anything on google about this.
The feed on the CTC is utter crap. The instructions were worse. No note of where to plug in the second Z stepper. Buy something else!
Please don’t encourage to buy the one on the left. I have one and it is garbage. You are lucky to print above 50mm before the threaded rod starts binding. Good luck updating the firmware on that gt2560 too..
dou know were i can get the ctc factory firmware i cant get mine working
The board used on the left printer is a clone of a Geeetech 2560 board I have this printer and have done multiple upgrades, changed to a Bowden setup with a bulldog extruder and E3D hotend, BLtouch, Aluminium Bed with PEI sheet build platform and a Raspberry Pi controller.
i just use manual mesh leveling turn it on in marlin u don’t need a sensor
how did you stiffen the machine on the right? do you have a link to your upgraded screen?
Please keep in mind that the melzi does not support the 2004 LCD with the rotary click encoder. It does support the full graphics smart controller though.
I have the anet a8 and want to move to a ramps 1.4 could you possibly share your configuration.h file as it would help out a lot. Thanks
i have to printer on the left the china £150 one
Holy crap that’s a lot of lateral movement in your A8! I would check your screws are all done up, there’s no way it should be that bad. Out of the box mine had about 5mm play at the top. I’ve got it down to hardly anything by downloading corner braces and anti z wobble parts from thingyverse and solvent welding in place.
check out my vid of printing at 130mms on my CTC i3 😉
I will be willing to bet the only thing with the melzi is a burnt connector. I’ve ‘burnt up’ a melzi board a few times, just need to direct solder the wires like the power, bed etc.
I was going to Anet but after I saw you wiggling holy s***, I ‘m going for the CTC, at least it’s the original purse design. I bet the CTC with bowden flies!
A proximity sensor with high enough sensing distance, like a LJ18A3-8-Z/BX, will work on the cheaper machine since there is an aluminium board under the glass bed.
Is the $154 price on the melamine frame including shipping?
Acme threaded lead screw
My new “original” Anet A8 is much more stable. With a little upgrade you can get it even more stable.
i was wondering if you could help me remove the extruder tip because i have a jam in it
Lead screw
Got a link to the “other” printer? The one on the left. Thanks.
Thanks so much for your informative review.
I actually own both printers and I found that I agreed with most of what you said but with that I found that the Anet a8 clone out preformed the one on the left in your video. Great reviews on both machine by the way 🙂
Great video!
I like your presentations so far… How about trying a different design printer and see what mods you can come up with. I just purchased a Creality CR-10 size is 12″x12″x16″ with a heated bed last month because the Print volume and printer cost finally aligned with my view of cost and practicality. I Love the minimal time & ease of assembly as well as the print quality/price/Print Volume and they have 2 larger models for rather reasonable prices. the design uses Aluminum Extrusions and should, if you were so inclined, be easy to DIY with upgrades. What say you??
that was lame. no printing comparison ?
I bought the one on the left through your link. The instructions are a nightmare lol. I had to decide to just build it like the instructions and wait to connect everything else to the motherboard last. The instructions tell me to connect something’s in a place on the board that will not fit because the I/O port is there for a different component, and the list of what devices the I/O ports are for within the instructions contradicts the setup step instructions that tell the incorrect ports mostly.
The list of what devices the I/O ports are intended for is incomplete within the instructions. I looked online at the board and what the I/O modules are for, and those contradict the list in the instructions.
Its a great buy, but the translation was poor. Can you send me a list of what device you connected to the corresponding number that is on the picture of the board on page 7 of the PDF that came on the disk, or a link to better instructions that you used? Thanks for posting the bid btw
Direct drive extruders are not “more accurate”..