IdeaFormer IR3 V1: $559 conveyor belt printer with linear rails, all metal hotend printing at 290C

Ideaformer IR3 V1: Black Friday Deal ($559.2)
amzn.to/3EyylQ0
(Affiliate link)
00:00 Intro
01:20 Unboxing & Assembly
03:15 PLA Test print: XYZ Calibration cube, 3D Benchy, and other small objects with VOXELPLA Pro
05:30 PLA Test print: Hex driver holder with VOXELPLA Pro
06:32 PLA Test print: Titanic w/Eryone Silver Silk PLA
07:41 PLA Test print: Sign w/Eryone $13 PLA
08:23 PETG Test print: Sign w/Eryone $12 PETG (White)
08:45 PETG Test print: Sign w/Eryone $12 PETG (Yellow)
09:14 ABS Test print w/Eryone $13 ABS
09:41 Nylon Test print w/Taulman Nylon 645
10:16 TPU Test print: Soft printer feet w/Overture TPU
10:47 Pros
13:04 Cons
15:20 Conclusions
16:41 Bloopers
Welcome back to Aurora Tech Channel. Today, I will review the IdeaFormer IR3 V1 conveyor belt printer. Earlier this year, I reviewed the original IR3, and so far, these 2 printers look very similar. They have the same linear rails on the X and Y-axis, a CR-10 style external controller box, a conveyor belt with a Nylon surface, a BMG clone dual-gear extruder with a bowden setup, and a large print volume of 250x250 by infinity for the Z axis. The major upgrade is the hotend. This printer comes with an all-metal hotend that can print at up to 290C. Another improvement is the location of the X-limit switch, so you no longer have to mirror the model in the slicer. IdeaFormer also has a hotend upgrade kit for the original IR3, so if you have the old one, you can just get the kit for around $60 to upgrade your printer.
The retail price of this printer is around $700, and in this price range, this is probably the conveyor belt printer that comes with the best hardware and the largest print volume. I would like to thank IdeaFormer for sending me this machine to review, and with that, let’s get started.
Affiliate links:
Ideaformer IR3 V1: Black Friday Deal $559.2
amzn.to/3EyylQ0
Eryone filament (PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU as low as $10 per roll, min 10 rolls):
auroratechchannel.com/links/e...
$16.99 VOXELPLA Pro:
bit.ly/3UhJpYS
3D models:
Titanic by vandragon_de:
www.thingiverse.com/thing:272...
TPU feet for Qidi i-fast by Meliorate With Nate:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/vario...

[@qwertymanzzz]

I feel so unaccomplished when I watch these videos. They are so well made and speak very eloquently. My teenager years were wasted.

[@bobedwards8896]

comparison is the thief of joy, there will always be people better than eveyone else, no reason getting sad about it, just try to do better

[@slappy76]

I'm certainly impressed by their dedication and knowledge but they are exceptional teens and not the norm. They'll be the future captains of industry. I certainly hope they enjoy making these videos as much as we enjoy watching them.

[@NGraver001]

I don't usually comment on creators but Aurora Tech is probably my most trusted channel for printer reviews. What I LIKE: A) I LOVE that you don't waste our time telling us what you are “going” to tell us. B) There is no annoying background music. C) There are no “Clickbait” Titles or Distracting cover images D) You speak in a cadence that is easy to follow (some channels, even good ones talk so fast without pauses making it hard to follow). E) You give “NO BS” reviews without holding back. F) You tell us everything we need to know and don’t waste our time with unnecessary emotion and drama and rants. No petty complaints…SO REFRESHING! What I DON’T LIKE: A) I hate that you are so smart and talented and SO young… I hate you…lol I think big manufacturers must quake in their boots when you review their products. You are definitely a force to be reckoned with in the industry. I wish you much luck with your channel!

[@TestTest-eb8jr]

👍🖒👍@Aurora (I just love the "bloopers" at the end; keep it up!)

[@SaltGrains_Fready]

The structure of the presentation format with speedup, music and lighting, along with your technical descriptions is Excellent.

[@shassafrass1770]

she makes leveling the bed look soo easy and here i am breaking all my plates xD

[@melioratewithnate]

Awesome reviews! I can't say enough about how refined your work is. I noticed you printed out the rubber dampening feet I designed for the i-fast!! So cool to see my parts in another creators video! Thanks:) Made my day!

[@AuroraTech]

Yes, I downloaded this part a while ago, thanks for the design. Please let me know if this is the correct link for the video description: cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/qidi-i-fast-flexible-foot-upgrade

[@melioratewithnate]

@@AuroraTech thanks for asking! Yeah, that's the one. If you have any suggested changes to any of the designs or want the dxf files let me know. I appreciate you posting a link! Thanks for the reply and keep up the great work!

[@eliasb8]

I loved your gray sweater! It's really beautiful. Great content as always! I am looking forward to more bloopers! It's nice to see that you guys are having fun... 😁

[@paulherman5198]

This is a nice looking printer. I think it has some serious potential. I like the fact that it has an all metal hotend. I love watching your reviews

[@mindsmuggler6330]

Just bought this through your link. Thanks for the clear review!

[@samhughes1747]

You mentioned that the OpenSCAD model was rough. If you specify a value for $fn as some higher value, ideally a multiple of 90, your curves will get much softer.

[@markmalonson7531]

Every time I am smarter. TY so much Aurora Tech.

[@landonhillyard]

do more 90 deg belt printers! that is the best of both worlds.

[@KnotHead1008]

Your giggle is infectious. Lol

[@Aplysia]

Love the outtakes! You've probably already considered it, but I'll add another vote for doing a little less-formal style. It's less editing, and the viewers get to enjoy more of your personality. This is my favorite place to learn about new CNC-based maker products. You go into a perfect level of detail: the video isn't a sales pitch for the product, but it's also doesn't go into too much detail about benchmarks and minutiae. Liked and subscribed 😁

[@gustavofrederico]

Hi! Another excellent video, congratulations!

[@torquebiker9959]

Amazing printer and presentation! 👏👏👏

[@krollmond7544]

Thanks for this, super helpful.

[@trugbilddrachen]

Thanks AT team. Happy Thanksgiving.

[@repalmore]

Thank you for the out takes. ;o)

[@Kyokahnn]

yay for the bloopers

[@ideaformer2353]

Thanks Aurora Tech

[@teinh22a]

I loved the bloopers!😅

[@aliatan9424]

Great belt 3D printer!

[@paulcumber4732]

have a nice thanksgiving my friend

[@btc_noob]

Nice blooper segment!

[@Samer-3D]

Love your vids!!

[@darren990]

once you pop you just cant stop lol

[@monokheros5373]

be interesting to see what would happen if the Z axis could be run in both directions... might take care of some of the "overhang" problems thanks

[@marcothehammer]

This young lady is so impressive that she has encouraged me about the future of mankind in general. I see so many "woke" young people living in the moment of whatever is able to grab the attention they have been taught to crave instead of enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done along with the benefit of not being controlled and manipulated by the desire for the approval of the popular "thing" that's being tossed about and will most likely fade away in a few hours. This young lady is a benefit to the world. Absolutely delightful!

[@cpte3729]

quit making it political, nobody wants to hear your ranting about wokeness

[@marcothehammer]

@@cpte3729 LOL!!! GUT LAUGH!!! ROFLMFAO!!! BAHHAHAHA!!! Did I touch a wimpy-woke nerve?

[@DennisMurphey]

Dear One you have hit me in the heart with that Titanic, WOW! the Silver PLA looks awesome. I am working on a Model Train Engine about the size of the Boat Seems this printer may be perfect for engine bodies. What impact would you expect from the layer height at .2 mm? Is that Silk or just plan PLA. Man i could use that for the Chrysler building and the Snow Piercer Train Engine Body. Thank You for such a great enlightening video. How would you compare Idea Former to Creality in quality ???? I have never heard of them. And the screen control look older. Could the Sonic Pad be used to update that interface??? Thank You all very much. Dennis in Virginia

[@Pykolas]

Soon you will need a warehouse for all of those printers

[@bombasticbag-man1186]

Really liking these reviews since I've been considering getting an fdm printer as a beginner. By any chance are you planning to review the new Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro?

[@10_bn]

Thanks a lot for the video! Could you please share your knob reversed version of the FW? :)

[@AndrewAHayes]

Am I correct in thinking that the reason belt printers print at 45° and not 90° is due to an active patent? If so I am surprised no one has come up with a 90° mod for a belted printer, although the print time would be longer and the print length would no longer be infinite, a locking system to lock the toolhead and frame at 45° and 90° would therefore be preferable to gain the best of both angles.

[@KnotHead1008]

Nice printer. Just wish I had the space for it.

[@leonidas406]

Thanks for detailed review, much appreciated. My IR3 V1 came today, but the Marlin .zip file on the sd card is supposedly corrupt and the folder in which the slicer and configuration files should be is empty. Could you maybe direct me to where I could find the firmware and configuration files?

[@randomgrenad346]

I was wondering where the upload was this week.

[@revoltoff]

Hi! Lovely vid, I just bought my first 3D printer, the Mingda Magician X for 250 with a sale, however honestly I think I should have waited for the Sovol SV06 but the Mingda has a color screen included so yeah, I fell for that, lol. I think the printers are pretty similar tbh but I could be wrong, any tips on how to use the Magician?

[@horsthotzenplotz3321]

I thought with THAT pullover I had seen the highlight of this episode. 😄👍 But wrong, the end is completely unbeatable. 🤣😂🙃🤣👍 Contenance, please! 😂

[@toddw6716]

Love you videos. Great explanation

[@zyzzyva303]

Just out of curiosity, if you set up the printer at 45 degrees won't that get rid of any overhang issues? Sure, it limits the infinite Z, but it could potentially be mounted at height for some specific application.

[@REYSIM]

Very Nice, Love all your content In this printer I didnt see in the specs that it prints in ABS. Do you think it would be fine to print very large objets in ABS in this printer with and enclosure? Many thanks

[@doma_taek6533]

I’ve been wanting to get an enclose 3d printer. But I don’t know what to get. Any suggestions. Preferably more good quality and large build space.

[@Petro250]

What printer would you recommend at $300 and under? So far I think Mingda Magician X and Sovol SV01 Pro are my best bet but I’m not too familiar with 3d printers

[@jasontrauer]

Lol more outtakes! Seriously though, did the printed fan duct come with the printer and did they include an STL to replace it if it get warped or damaged? Awesome video as always!

[@gregorypfeifer9117]

The fan duct is a printed from factory part. I'm sure you could find the STL for it on their website or if you asked them for it.

[@AuroraTech]

Yes, the STL file is available for download, I re-printed it with PA-CF for my old IR3.

[@hrdcpy]

How's bed adhesion overall? I see you used supports but I didn't see any rafts or tabs on anything. 45° printers have their niche and top surface quality leaves more to be desired.

[@gregorypfeifer9117]

I've had my ir3 v1 for a little over a week and have logged well over 150 hours of print time on it. Every print stuck absurdly well. Like anything over the contact of a benchy required rotating the belt until the part came off. This thing had better adhesion then my ender 6 with a TH3D PEI sheet.

[@tweekFPV]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@larryyneely5765]

i loive the bloopers at the end she is sooo cute hahahahaha'

[@skyrider4789]

What is the belt made of? I heard what you said about smaller parts needing glue. I have an Ender 5 + and am considering a new surface. Do you have a favorite surface you could recommend? Thanks!

[@skyrider4789]

Nice bloopers at the end! 😂

[@gregorypfeifer9117]

The bed is a nylon belt of some sort. I don't think this is a coating option on a flex bed but TH3D makes a really nice PEI coated build plate that tend to have amazing adhesion. I run 1 of each on my ender 6 and have 0 complaints

[@jdcamc]

Would it be possible to share the sign STL's? I would like to use them for comparison with my belt printer. Thanks!

[@joehimes9898]

Do you know if you can add Klipper on a Pi?

[@jacobbusbee9170]

Any advice on increasing print speed

[@FlippingTurtles]

Hey Aurora Tech! Is it possible for you guys to drop any Ideamaker slicer profiles you have for the IR3 if you've tweaked ! Looking for help with PETG

[@riceball4u172]

Just fyi for anyone who considered this printer, a very known problem is LAYERSHIFTING! And if you can't fix it, MADE SURE YOU RETURN IT within returnable period. i was in contact with the manufacturer (which are helpful, up to a certain point) trying different stuffs, (non work) and took so much time that i can't return it because it was outside of ebay's 30 day return windows.

[@SavageJacek20]

Hey there, I enjoyed the video but would like to inquire about the different filaments you used. I've scoured the internet for hours trying to find slicer settings for stuff like ASA and PETG for the IR3 V1 and haven't found anything. Could you by chance share the slicer profile settings you used for the PETG, Nylon, ABS and TPU you used in this video?

[@manny420mcfly]

any luck?

[@SavageJacek20]

@@manny420mcfly all you gotta do is set the two temps differently. PETG to 240/80 for example.

[@demonfoxs]

Would you be willing to do a video guide for the direct extruder?

[@dxtr3697]

How do you think this printer/slicer would handle an rc plane?

[@JT-Works]

Are there any belt printers that use Klipper? That seems like a game changer for quality and speed.

[@dominiquerenard9212]

Par rapport a la concurrence Ideaformer est top , plus abouti, plus accessible, bref le must.

[@MattJonesYT]

I would like to see prints on torture test objects that have thin spires such as a plantygon. Also, I think they made a big mistake using an 8 bit motherboard. What is the purpose, cost? You're already spending hundreds on it and you end up with a printer that is loud and gives much worse print surface texture than 32 bit boards. An extra few dollars on a decent motherboard would have made a lot more sense.

[@roysigurdkarlsbakk3842]

I've been wondering why we don't see 3d printers with belt, but that prints normally, at 90°. This would make it possible to fill one build plate's size and then roll it over to a cooling zone, continuing the print and when that is finished, move that to the cooling zone and unload the now cooled parts to somewhere, perhaps a tiny roller or something.

[@dragonscales4377]

Because the head would hit the part Imagine printing a P then L next to it. The overhang of the P would get hit by the head when the L tried to connect to it.

[@roysigurdkarlsbakk3842]

@@dragonscales4377 No, you misunderstand. You just print your pieces, like on any other printer, the head lifs up like it usually does, the band rolls on and you start over.

[@dragonscales4377]

Then you could never make anything bigger than the build plate. That defeats half the purpose.

[@petercollins797]

@@dragonscales4377 Yeah but that is way better for mass production. Think more print farm than hobbyist. You need 10 widgets? Open the gcode, add a move to the end to eject the print into a bin, then copy and past the print gcode, repeat 10 times and call it a day. Bonus points for removing the cool down gcode at the end.

[@pokingaroundwithtech]

Stratsys patented it

[@BULLDOGG]

Great review as always. I wish my daughters were as excited for 3d printing as you are. I have 7 printers, and they don't want anything to do with them. You have any tips that might get them interested?

[@LegitLeeVelez]

You should print out a sword to see how it looks

[@LegitLeeVelez]

I am going to subscribe and I been watching you videos for about a year now

[@danielthiessen5917]

Are these filaments really that cheap in the US? Eryone PETG 12$ ? In germany they will charge you 26€

[@AngryMarkFPV]

You failed to mention the skipped steps at the R of javascript.

[@belakulcsar]

This or the cr-30?

[@whatisyouremailid]

How to get in touch for a product review?

[@nicwilson58]

Why infinite Z and not Y

[@AuroraTech]

As it's printing at 45-degree, the X and Y are on the gantry, the conveyor belt will be Z.

[@brokencreationlordmegatrol3037]

bro it must be so hard for this kid to talk this slowly

[@AndrewAHayes]

Was your brother trying to make you laugh on purpose?

[@jzagaja]

I wish my daughter be like Aurora :)

[@toma.cnc1]

Titanic and blue sign have issues you did not mention, not good!!! BTW, IdeaFormer is in my experience the best seller on ebay.

[@lukaszbroda1094]

You didn't mention it either, what issues?

[@toma.cnc1]

@@lukaszbroda1094 Titanic has a layer shift on the back side, sign has a level shift on the back side

[@lukaszbroda1094]

@@toma.cnc1 true, I missed that in the video

[@andersalbertsson215]

I feel like these printers are an answer in search of a problem, unless you are making cosplay swords. Very slow and weird slicing

[@thefullnelson7279]

This printer ruined my business. It cannot print the same thing twice. Maybe I got a dud but they wont return it.

[@creepinonthebabes]

can you buy a removable magnetic buildplate with that material for an ender 3 for instance?

[@CJBMAGGOT94]

Where are you getting this cheap filament? Nowhere online has this brand for $12 and $13. You should stop putting that.

[@kevinerickson2595]

Happy Turkey 🦃 day~ gobble gobble 🥐