Conveyor belt 3D printer Review: Does this $600 IdeaFormer IR3 Conveyor belt 3D printer work?

00:00 Intro
01:28 Unboxing
01:50 Assemble & Setup
05:26 Test Print 1: Calibration Cube (Overture Black PLA)
06:09 Install and setup IdeaMaker Slicer
06:44 Test Print 2: Different attempts to print a 3D Benchy
08:42 Test Print 3: 700mm long sign (HatchBox Broze PLA)
10:13 Test Print 4: 480mm long Cargo ship (HatchBox White PLA)
11:27 Test Print 5: Continuous printing (HatchBox White PLA)
11:43 Pros
13:33 Cons
15:11 Suggestions to the manufacturer
16:41 Conclusion
Welcome back to Aurora Tech Channel. Starting this weekend, we are going to make a few videos on different belt printers and conveyor belt conversion kits for your regular 3D printer.
A high-end industrial belt printer like the Black Belt can cost $15,000, while a DIY open-source White Knight can cost you around $1500-$2000 to build. However, Naomi Wu and Creality launched the CR-30 or the 3D Print Mill back in 2020, which only cost around $1000, and this made the price of a belt printer thankfully more accessible. Since then, we have started to see some belt printers available for under $1000 in the market. Today, I will test out this IdeaFormer IR3 belt printer; the price of this printer is around $600. It’s a Core XY machine with linear rails on the X and Y axis, the Z-axis is a conveyor belt, and it has a print volume of 250x250 with the infinite Z-axis. The price and the specifications of this printer look pretty good to me, at least on paper. I would like to thank IdeaFormer for sending me this machine to review, and with that, let’s get started.
IdeaFormer IR3 Conveyor belt 3D printer
Buy from official website ($500 + ~$100 shipping)
bit.ly/3v4PPyR
* The people from IdeaFormer are super nice, but their broken website is not working great. If you are having issues ordering from their site, you may contact Kassi at [e-mail]
MK8 Hotend adapter:
auroratechchannel.com/download...
Also download the modified fan duct which is extended 5mm for MK8 hotend:
auroratechchannel.com/download...
Firmware configuration files:
auroratechchannel.com/download...
Affiliate links:
Creality Refurbished Printers (SAVE UP TO 50%):
bit.ly/3q17mGi
Used Ender-3 ($79):
Maybe in bad condition, but if you know how to fix some common issues of a 3D printer and have spare parts to replace by yourself, that could be an amazing deal:
bit.ly/3LPnzHw
Filaments and other 3D printing accessories used in this video:
Overture PLA filament:
amzn.to/3E1sGS3
Hatchbox PLA filament:
amzn.to/3rg2RID
My3D OMG Extruder:
amzn.to/3vbazoD
Follow us on Twitter @aurora_lung

[@shawnr699]

Maybe you can do a video on all the firmware changes and the process on how you did it?

[@countryracer69]

If it wasn't for you I wouldn't know a belt printer existed! Great and in depth review! Now the creative juices are flowing! Lots of ideas! Thank you!

[@hyperbeing114]

I own this printer, for the mirror issue swap the X and Y definition. Rear view left be X right be Y. Use Duet 2WiFi board set the right home side be X maximum. No need to mirror print parts.

[@MyMaximan1]

You should make your own Aurora Tech 3d printer. I’m sure it would be the best printer.

[@avejst]

Fantastic review. Well done 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experiences with all of us :-)

[@stevesareyka8636]

Thank you for reviewing this I've been looking at belt printers and was curious of the quality.

[@violettracey]

Thanks so much for the tips and review!

[@BloodyMobile]

Well done review. As for the printer, I think that the whole mirroring thing should be done by the slicer so the result is NOT mirrored compared to the preview. But it's very good that you pointed that out.

[@SaltGrains_Fready]

The mirroring can be build right into the firmware of the printer itself and mirror it as it runs the gcode into the extruder and control servos. It's hard to believe that the geeks building the firmware have not though of this yet. !

[@que_dijo]

rreally rreally really seriously REALLy well presented! outsanting .... thanks!

[@bowieinc]

Fantastic job as always!

[@Naomi-Wu]

Great job!

[@AppliedMathematician]

Agree!

[@AuroraTech]

Thanks for your effort to make the 3D Print Mill and make it open source. It has opened up a whole new market for affordable conveyor belt 3D printers that are more accessible to everyone!

[@AppliedMathematician]

@@AuroraTech : Would you be interested in trying to tinker out a simple metal 3D printer. I asked Naomi, but she currently has not time for this. Due to Corona I just want to travel again as soon as possible.

[@kitecattestecke2303]

Thank you for your work on belt printers!!!

[@shadowfreak5613]

Funny to see how this type of printer works :) Great video thanks ^^

[@bozthescrewup410]

The prints look surprisingly good.

[@sticky170]

Very insightful, thank you.

[@MicrobyteAlan]

Great review thanks. Interesting and well presented.

[@asulliv1954]

Great Video with Great Information Thank You for all you do U R #1!!

[@DennisMurphey]

Another crisp and informative review, you guys are wonderful sharers of information on key new stuff. I liked this printer price and performance. Thinking for Model Train Chassis parts that are inside the train like the wheel assembles. Here i have many common parts and require 4 or 2 each for every car. That's a lot of smaller parts maybe the conveyor would be good as the finish is nor so critical. And if we do train bodies some are over 400 mm long and would be nice to print in one piece. My CR 10S Pro V1 is getting a BL Touch now. Then I need to consider what to do for lots of small parts. Maybe the 10S Pro but with the Magnetic Flex bed for faster turnaround of print lots. would be a good next step. Take Care you guys and say Thank You to Mom and Dad, you guys are jewels to the hobby. Dennis in Virginia

[@stephan.scharf]

I admire your skills in logical structuring your videos. Great as always, what else should I say 👍

[@jamesmyers2087]

Amazing review.

[@MrBaskins2010]

another fire review, the quality gets better with each upload. yeah that idea with the alternating angles is really incredible but i think makerbot has a patent on printing on conveyor belt at a 90 degree angle like you describe at 16:20. 0.6mm volcano would be a sweet spot for a printer of this size. linear rails should be the industry standard at this point

[@AuroraTech]

They have too many things patented, removable build plate, filament spool, multiple color printing, network 3D printing and even drawer on a 3D printer.

[@jumpsushi]

Great Video!

[@ianvanzyl2551]

Great video!

[@twincast2005]

Top quality review as always. 👍 I wonder whether the threads of the nozzle are the same length as Creality's recent high-flow ones (for Ender-7 and Spider). Would open up 0.6 mm and abrasives. Anyway, the axis mirroring is inconvenient, but no real problem. The fixed angle of 45°, however, really is. I do want to get a belt printer at some point, but it must have multiple available angles.

[@rexxx927]

wow impressive nice job well done!sub earned

[@jcenergy2493]

Good video 😊 There is a volcano style nozzle that is too long, but sharp. A z adjustment is necessary, but works great.

[@starstrykr2021]

Thanks so much! Would you consider also evaluating these printers' competency with PETG, even if just a brief mention? I almost never print in PLA anymore.

[@GReadyPrints]

Very cool 😎

[@simonjfear]

great video

[@ryangamble5131]

As always, very well done. For the price it makes a good base I suppose. Real BMG and a volcano or a dragon and a .6 or .8 and one could farm multiple parts all day.

[@OscarOliu]

Man I can live to be 100 and still never understand how someone thought of this machine. Can you print PETG on the belt without damaging it?

[@severpop8699]

It was a dude about your age that needed long swords and he was printing them in bits to glue them together, than he tought of a chain production line like Ford Model T started with, and voila... some years of work and he came on the market with the first belt printer, the rest si just Chinese copy colne to make them cheaper.

[@jmtx.]

Thanks for a great review. Very odd that the slicer needs to have the model mirrored like that. Maybe the FW has Home at wrong side.

[@timothysands5537]

She is so cute & so smart. Thank you for the review! I just wish I knew how ASA behaves on this belt.

[@peacefulandhappyzong]

Thank you for the detailed review! Any suggestion to keep PETG stick to the bed? Been having that issue which is frustrating.

[@andersalbertsson215]

I feel like the belt printer is a neat idea with an incredibly niche application. You really need to design parts with the limitations in mind

[@BradCozine]

4:04 My God, those cables...

[@spikechuong951]

The notes are sooo important. Sometimes i wish the customer left better notes when the address is overly complicated.

[@swannjiejiechow3495]

bravo, exactly what i needed to know. You explain v clearly and i like the way its so thoroughly considered. I am not sure I could print what i intended to print; May I ask you if you think its the right printer for me to buy? If yes, I show you the model here? Or I upload the model on my blog and you could take a look and tell me. Thank you v much for your wonderful work.

[@bigreadbaron]

This is a very good video and very informative! I have some parts I want to make repetitively. But they are flat parts that will be used like a lamp shade. Similar to a lithopane. I’m afraid the texture of the belt on the. backside of the part might shine through and become visible on the outside. Do you think that the belt texture is very noticeable? Because I would really like this to work for my needs and run the printer continuously printing these parts.

[@AuroraTech]

Yes, you will see the texture of the Nylon belt on the bottom of your prints. The bottom looks similar to those printed on a textured PEI sheet; I think that's noticeable. Take a look at the picture at 11:38, the number 6 dice is a good example of what the bottom looks like.

[@KanielD]

I’ve been waiting for this video. Have you seen the Enderbender conversion for an ender 3? Or the Ender 3 belt kit?

[@riceball4u172]

She did a review on both 90 and 45 degree Ender belt

[@EPMSolutions1]

Excellent video. The link to MK8 is the same link as the link to the stl shroad. Can you provide the MK8 link? Thanks

[@tweekFPV]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@morphine07]

Have you tried mounting a direct drive extruder with an integrated motor like a Hemera to this printer?

[@UnrealVideoDuke]

@3:32 "If the gantry is a perfect 45 degrees. The angle of the print head would also be 45 degrees to the print head." Had to use YT's closed captioning function to see if it was really what it said. Can you make an edit to make it show up as "45 degrees to the print bed"? The build quality of this printer looks much better with the connectors that look the same as more of the industrial designs use. The 45 degree mounting plates look really solid. This printer looks great for a budget if you need a continuous run of some basic designs and multiple parts. Is it capable of trimming G-Code to remove any down time from printing multiple parts? This would benefit greatly with a filament sensor and possibly of a filament stitcher as an upgrade to make use of more than one spool if it ran out.

[@techmakesart8889]

Would you happen have the STL for the hot end mounting adapter shown available somewhere? Thanks!

[@AuroraTech]

Sure, I put it on my server: auroratechchannel.com/download/IR3_MK8.stl Also download the modified fan duct which is extended 5mm for MK8 hotend: auroratechchannel.com/download/IR3_DUCT_Ext5mm_For_MK8_Hotend.stl

[@dasshape00]

Just got into researching 3d printers. Never new it got this cheap. What's the best plug and play for a noob like me... and on cheap side. Creativity s1 pro?

[@swannjiejiechow3495]

I would like to print in PETG not in pla, does it work? could you try a small sample to see?

[@morphine07]

I'm using ideamaker and my printer is not following my slicer settings for fan speed and temperature. I have layers 1-4 set to 0% fan speed and layer 5 to 100%. First layer temp is set to 210c and each layer after that is 200c. It will print the priming line at 0% fan speed then 100% fan after that. The printer will follow the temperature and fan settingas in the "tune" section on the board. Have you experienced this?

[@ideaformer2353]

Thanks a lot for the review.

[@printing3d722]

I hope you listen to Aurora's suggestions. She is wise beyond her years.

[@ideaformer2353]

@@printing3d722 yup , we will do .

[@ideaformer2353]

@@printing3d722 really think so

[@thewellbeingc9258]

Can one install a 0.2mm nozzle on this print head? I see that officially they only talk about 0.4/0.6/0.8 and 1.0 mm.

[@morphine07]

Is there a way to automatically mirror the x axis in the slicer or firmware? I noticed things printed with ideamaker slicer on the Sainsmart Infi-20 don't need to be mirrored.

[@AuroraTech]

Yes, I think changing the INVERT_X_DIR and X_HOME_DIR in the firmware as well as the X endstop MIN/MAX pin on the board could do that.

[@morphine07]

@@AuroraTech When my filament runout sensor is triggered the machine will unload all the filament. Since the filament is no longer lined up with the sensor it will knock the sensor out of position as it's retracting. Is there a way to stop it from unloading?

[@morphine07]

Can you replace the hotend with one that accepts standard mk8 nozzles? Have you tried hooking up a raspberry pi to run octoprint? Are there any aftermarket touchscreen LCDs that work with this printer?

[@AuroraTech]

You need to make an adapter for MK8 hotend, I have made one and put it on my server: auroratechchannel.com/download/IR3_MK8.stl Also download the modified fan duct which is extended 5mm for MK8 hotend: auroratechchannel.com/download/IR3_DUCT_Ext5mm_For_MK8_Hotend.stl I didn't try Octopi, but I can't see any reason why it can't work with Octopi. I didn't see any touch screen with firmware ready to work directly for this machine.

[@morphine07]

@@AuroraTech Thank you. Does using a MK8 hotend affect the adhesion? Would you happen to know how this printer compares with the SainSmart INFI-20 Belt 3D Printer?

[@riceball4u172]

@@morphine07 this one cost $100 more but with true corexy and linear rail. Sainsmart isn't corexy design even thou they list it as corexy.

[@SGTMARSHALL1]

Is there such a printer that switches between 45 degrees and 90 degrees ? I thought it was a brilliant suggestion

[@qqqcoal2678]

so the website uses consighnee does that still ship to your house or do you have to pick it up some where i have never used consighnee before can anyone help

[@AuroraTech]

It would be easier to buy the new version(V1) from Amazon: amzn.to/3BMUr1c

[@SaltGrains_Fready]

The idea for a 90 degree unit with a belt is something that needs to be made up ASAP !! IF the 90 degree quality is so superior - they why is everyone going after this 45 degree mirroring structure ?

[@severpop8699]

Transforming a .4 mm nozzle in .6mm nozlle or .8mm nozzle or even 1mm nozzle is easy peasy, no special tooling required just a batery operated hand drill and the relative bits plus a 400 grit sheet of sandpaper to clean the exit hole. Now making them smaller ... that yes it would be a challange... lol

[@qqqcoal2678]

im confused by the shipping method for this on their website can anyone enplane

[@Keveira]

Wait, it comes out mirrored? That's odd!

[@AuroraTech]

Yes, you have to mirror(X) everything in the slicer.

[@joshrothchild8855]

The next version they say they will move the x limit switch to correct this problem

[@artyomg7275]

Вот умная девочка! Я восхищаюсь твоим умом. 😍

[@scottsnyder66]

How would this printer do with printing something tall, like the Eiffel Tower?

[@severpop8699]

height limited by Z height, or you ahve to print it laying down along the blet to get a taller one.

[@RobertGarcia-mr8fc]

is this the latest belt printer out there

[@morphine07]

I added your configuration files and I built firmware in vs code. It outputs a firmware.hex file instead of a firmware.bin file. Is that normal? I put the SD card in the machine and powered it up but it didn't seem to update the firmware.

[@AuroraTech]

14:01 This motherboard doesn't come with a bootloader that allows you to update firmware from the SD card. You have to use VSCode or Cura to upload the file to the printer.

[@GeorgeZaharia]

u can do a auto level from gcode starting position and just adjust the height wherever u want as long as u know what the distance is from nozel to base. this works great for static no springs under bed... cause u know ur 4 corners are at the same height, u can achieve that by using fixed silicon or aluminium spacers. and never touch the bed knobs ever again. make sure to take in account the usual +0.2 or 0.1 mm of layer that plastic gets added otherwise ul be off by some tents of a mm and ur first layer will always be weird. its a trial and error thing but once done properly... ur golden, and ul understand better how ur machine works. but the 1st mod u want to do on ur printer is get rid of springs under ur table no CNC has springs under table its a bad idea trying to make something perfectly straight while on each movement the bed shakes... is insanity.

[@Im_K4tana]

love your videos nice ,informative ,and direct no unnecessary cleavage in thumbnails you deserve more views.

[@jcenergy2493]

Nice review! Can you share the config file?

[@AuroraTech]

You mean the printer profile? I just download from their website: www.ideaformer-3d.com/aboutus12.html#c_portalResCompanyFile_list-16073250440181868-2

[@jcenergy2493]

@@AuroraTech is the reversed knob etc fixed?

[@AuroraTech]

I see, you mean the Marlin config files, I put them on my server: auroratechchannel.com/download/IR3_MarlinConfigFiles.zip

[@jcenergy2493]

@@AuroraTech this link does not work

[@makie1467]

or at least just add httpS

[@robymartini]

👍👍👍👍👋👋👋❤️❤️❤️💋💋💋

[@xoxtank]

The website don't work

[@ideaformer2353]

Contact the seller , they will response how to make order .

[@Tarex_]

They can't use 90 degrees because of patents on it, that's why there are these 45degree printers, not because they can't do it

[@AuroraTech]

Makerbot has too many things patented, removable build plate, filament spool, multiple color printing, network 3D printing and even drawer on a 3D printer.

[@Tarex_]

@@AuroraTech yep, so either someone licenses the patent for 90 degree belt printing which will make the printers a whole lot more expensive, or we wait until 2030 when it expires, though for private use you can convert it to 90 degrees, who's to keep you from it basically, don't know how much firmware can be kept from this printer for example or if vanilla marlin can be configured for it

[@dreamkiss4u]

i don't think these printers are ready to compete with the regular ones and do not know if they would ever be, due to people wasting so much filament and time for failed prints and only accepting prints that are sub par like she did and say that ill just accept bad looking parts at-least some parts are ok is a big no no.

[@Happyjohn36]

How old are you?!

[@dracoQuest]

If you don't mind an honest critique you sound like a reporter on the news.. Lighten up smile Place a little joy in your face You're young Let's see some enthusiasm not so clinical

[@severpop8699]

give her time, she will... and place some jokes and pokes here and there, about the age of 20 something...

[@swannjiejiechow3495]

I think its ok, dont worry, important thing is do an excellent job, I like it. You could smile or not smile, joke or not joke. Do as you like. :) bravo again!

[@justinbergman08]

This isn't Anchorman, this is one of the better videos I have seen. :)

[@dustydengel2153]

The embarrassed drain ultrastructurally discover because grandfather occasionally correct sans a gorgeous energy. imperfect, tangy tea