Halot Mage S - 14K Resin 3D Printer Review

[@Dlishfishportmelbourne]

Thanks for the honest review legend

[@WhatThe40k]

Informative review! The honesty is appreciated!

[@TheOuterCircle]

I appreciate that! I pride myself on my honest reviews.

[@ghostapi874]

Fantasic review thank you, I have had a halot mage S for a bit over a month now but I have been really struggling using lighter resins with it, light grey to white, I have to severely under expose to keep the details from disappearing. Possible because of the strength of the UV there is a lot of reflecting causing resin to the sides to cure aswell? I'm not sure how to address this other than just sticking to darker resins. Thank you for talking about the pump, most review just scoff at it but I've really been trying to get the right resin safety in place, which is difficult with so much miss information. There is very little technical information to reference and a lot of opinions. Something like what thickness nitrile gloves to use or will a pvc glove have checmical resistance is near impossible to find proper tested information on, I'm currently using 3.5g nitrile gloves but looking at the state of my hands, it is clearly not thick enough. In anycase I think I will get the pump on your recommendation, as I really want to minimize my resin exposure and that sounds like a really solid step.

[@LucidFX.]

thanks for the review, great info! Q: have they slowed down the movements that was causing splashes?

[@TheOuterCircle]

No, that's entirely down to us to set in parameters, usually with the lift speed. The lower one sadly does it still.

[@LucidFX.]

@TheOuterCircle thank you 😊

[@amg5787]

I know I’m looking for a quick answer but, what was commented before me, what Resin and FDM printer would you recommend for a beginner, that’s seen your videos ha (it’s been awhile and need to probably watch them again). Wanting to make models and terrain. Thanks always for the great honest reviews, and having the consumers / your subscribes back.

[@TheOuterCircle]

First question is how much space do you have and what do you want to print?

[@amg5787]

@@TheOuterCircle wanting to print 40k scale models(28 mil if I remember correctly) mostly infantry / models for old GW specialist games, but vehicles would be nice. FDM for terrain for said models. As for room, got an extra room that can easily have a desk / small work bench and a dining room that doesn’t have to be one. Den has a sliding door and dining room has window for ventilation.

[@TheOuterCircle]

@@amg5787 Ok, question two, how much do you want to spend, and what kind of life duration do you want from the machine?

[@amg5787]

@@TheOuterCircle now that’s the important questions. As for life duration, I’d prefer a little better than average? I don’t know how long 3D printers normally last. I tend to buy something and not wanting to upgrade until it breaks. As for price, realistically, $400-600 USD for the resin. $200-$300 for the FDM. But wanting to try and keep it under $800 for both if possible. But, I can just stick with the resin printer. Again, very much a beginner. And really only seen your videos on 3D printing.

[@TheOuterCircle]

Well, this is a great resin printer, as for the FDM, maybe look at the Ender 3 V3 in that price range!

[@jamescollins3893]

I have HeyGears printer after seeing it on Faux hammer, and for a closed ecosystem it’s about as good as you could want. I would be kinda curious getting your take on one, especially their solution for lowering the FEP tear force in their pulsing release module.

[@TheOuterCircle]

I haven't had it hands on but would like to trial one. At that price tho and with the proprietary resin? Ehhhhhhhh..... hard sell.

[@gerritvandenbosch4681]

I'll never afford this kind of printer. But I appreciate the review.

[@cthuludreams1]

It's only $459. $50 per paycheck for 8-10 weeks to cover tax, etc

[@pitbuell7959]

Love your printing vids and reviews. I'm probably looking for a little confirmation bias here, but I'm looking at the Bamboo A1 mini (FDM for indoor use, entry into printing capability, limiting chemical exposure, 0.2 nozzle for slow modular terrain, 'bits' and 'passable' minies, plus box surround to reduce noise and contain filament cast offs). Is it an easygoing low cost entry and what brand/models would be direct petitors? (youtube seems to be full of sponsored content that makes comparisons slanted...).

[@Paint_at_Dawn]

It’s tricky to say what would be a direct competitor as the price of the A1 mini is excellent for what you get. I guess the main direct competition for this printer is the Prusa Mini. I have a Prusa Mini and it prints amazingly, but I’m actually looking to replace it with an A1 Mini 😂 Mainly for the extra features it has and I also love the hot swappable nozzles. Speaking of which, I wouldn’t bother printing terrain with a 0.2 nozzle! Honestly no point. Would take soooo long to print and in my opinion it wouldn’t be worth what you get in return. Stick with 0.4 and fine tune your print settings. You’d be surprised what you get. Could even got up to a 0.6, but I’d stick to 0.4. Only go down to 0.2 if you want some proper fine detail stuff, but don’t expect miracles on models. If you’re new to printing, you’ll be amazed at how print times can vary.

[@pitbuell7959]

@Paint_at_Dawn yeah, absolutely. Figured the 0.2 nozzle for stuff like accessory bits, shoulderpads, logos and so on. Then use the 0.4 nozzle for small terrain, markers and so on. I think an acrylic enclosure can help with temp and noise as well. The multi roll attachment seems unecessary to me and printer, enclosure, single dry feed box as well as some filament should be around USD 400$, which seems reasonable as an entry point. Thankz for your insights!

[@TheOuterCircle]

A1 mini is a good (slightly pricey compared to the competition, but reliable if limited to Bambu parts and software with an awful interface). If it has your eye, I would say yes, it's a good unit, I'm not going to knock it back as it's not Creality, just there are limitations. All machines have issues and trade offs, as long as you know them and are at peace with them beforehand, I've done my job!

[@pitbuell7959]

@TheOuterCircle makes sense. Thanks mate.

[@hazsan5]

Really having a hard time deciding between the 8k and the 14k

[@DarkAbyssMiniatures]

Stay away from creality if you want a resin printer, elegoo make way better printers. Wish I'd gone elegoo instead of anycubic and creality.

[@hazsan5]

@@DarkAbyssMiniatures the issue is that in south Africa we've got just a limited range. Elegoo aren't officially in the country. There's a phrozen mini 8ks, elegoo mars 4 9k that's within budget. I'm prototyping miniature pipes and just not sure if 8k is enough

[@DarkAbyssMiniatures]

@@hazsan5 8k can easily print pipes my man. My old 2k printer could print pipes just fine. The 8ks is phenomenal from what I've seen

[@DarkAbyssMiniatures]

I got a halot one for Xmas 2 years ago off back of your review of it, won't ever buy a creality again. Utter garbage, you have to "upload" the files from the memory card before it can print anything and then it constantly says it can't read the file after uploading it. Literally worked for about 2 months before it started doing that. That and the fact you get some dancing muppet on the screen for about 20 minutes when you turn it on before it actually decides to do anything, it's complete crap. Would have been good to see you actually use this printer.

[@TheOuterCircle]

Interesting feedback, and the first time I've heard of this particular issue. I included a lot of footage in the previous reviews of the machines in use and scaled back on it to instead talk about the issues and quirks more in this review, so it's good to have your comments about what worked better for you. Quality control on all printers is a touchy subject, and if you've had a bad experience and choose another unit, or to not buy a particular brand again, I totally get it! I've had Creality, Anycubic, Elegoo, Phrozon, Artillery and even a Prusa have issues for me over the last 7 years, so I do understand your frustration. Last review I did was on the Creality K1 max and I even acquired a second unit to test that out and was only able to make one failure key occur. Beyond testing the machine I get and evaluating that, I'm afraid I can't tell your future.

[@margaretwood152]

🪒⚫Macc: you're a Gentleman -&- an *[§-†ier]* _Scholar._ Thanks ƒor _All the Time & Eƒƒort_ which you so selflessly put into this community. [];-)=•☁ (P.S. What 3D Printer would you recommend for someone that is just starting out but that has a decent bit of Theory/Understanding of the processes involved (thanks in part to your wonderful Vids) (** was thinking of the *Creality Halot 4K*, not sure.....)