Hey guys. so my first and only 3d printer that I purchased is an Anycubic Predator
The Predator hadn't been out long when i purchased it so reviews weren't numerous, but from looking around, the things that immediately snagged my attention were its larger print area (370x370x450mm) and since the extruder floats in all directions, it self levels itself to the bed and I don't have to deal with bed leveling issues that seemed to plague beginner 3d printers. It also has a sensor that senses if the filament breaks or runs out and pauses the print so you don't lose your progress because of a fluke. I'm still fairly new to 3d printing so I dont have a ton of experience, but it has taken everything I've ever thrown at it without any trouble.
It did require some assembly upon arrival, but the instructions were very clear and I was up and running in no time.
I also still use the filament that comes from the manufacturer, because I am still working on getting to the point where I am willing to mess with a good thing. Hoping to get to the point soon where I feel more comfortable to be able to do so.
Anycubic recommends Cura as the slicer to use, and so far I have had no issues doing so, putting the file on the included SD card and jumping into printing. I have printed quite a few small items, I recently bought the Mark 85 armor from Do3D, and managed to print a forearm before finally hitting the end of my filament roll... as soon as I can get more filament, I cant wait to print more.+
I really recommend this printer to beginners like myself because there is so much less fine-tuning required to get decent prints fairly quickly after assembly.
The one con is the print bed, It doesnt exactly have great adhesion for pieces without a raft, however I got around this but investing in a GeckoTek print mat, and the adhesion is phenomenal.
I also added and LED strip, rather poorly i might add, for some extra light cause my bedroom is dark.
I put my very first 3d print on the printer to show what it is capable of size-wize, however, the helmet was printed in 22 pieces on a makerbot replicator 2 at my college, then fused using extra filament and a soldering iron. Not super proud of the piece, but it was my first ever project and you have to remember where you started right?
If anyone wants to check out the printer, here is the link:
https://www.anycubic.com/products/anycubic-predator-fdm-printer
If you want to ckeck out GeckoTek and their line of products:
(they are very reasonably priced and are great. They even have versions for both heated and not heated beds)
Let me know if anyone has any questions, Id be happy to answer them as best I can.
Been experimenting with custom 3D printed parts for tech tools lately, and having a reliable calculator really helps when adjusting dimensions and print scaling. I’ve been using online calculator it’s accurate, fast, and works perfectly on both desktop and mobile for quick calculations while designing.