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[@alpscraftshack599]

Whatever happened to the comparison video with the Creality Ender 3 S1 that you promised "shortly"?

[@BluSystm-2k20]

Nice review. I have this same machine for over a year already. On your "cons" side, my hotend fan is very quiet compared to yours and I have never had any issues with the Z-axis as you have experienced 10% of the time.

[@CallumColes]

Thank you! Appreciate you sharing your experience, have you had any problems with the machine?

[@brianp6859]

I second the hotend fan being quiet on mine as well and I've had mine for going on 2 years now. Only issue i ever had with this machine was a failed print that got all globbed up inside the print head and was a serious pain to clean but that was likely my fault since i had moved the printer to a new location that had less stable temps and the print detached and got all messed up. Otherwise pretty good plug and print printer.

[@YoKins]

Just an fyi if you intend on using this printer in the future, the CR6-SE community has put out a "community firmware" that is much better than Creality's. This added in several fixes to the issues that you've had and you should see a noticeable difference.

[@brianp6859]

Where does one find this community firmware?

[@ccarter1988]

First, lovely review. I just purchased 4x CR-6 SE from a local, these will be my first FDM printers and I am doing a lot of watching to get an idea where to start. At least here I got an idea of the hardware. Where would you start for learning how to get my first print going?

[@CallumColes]

Thank you! In terms of starting off, you’ll want to do some calibration prints to find the best settings for your filament. But before that, get the bed level! For this printer heat it up, remove the filament and give the nozzle a wipe, then run the auto bed levelling. I should do a series on calibration prints, that would probably go down well, thanks for sparking the idea:)

[@ccarter1988]

@@CallumColes Subscribed so I can see that come out because I have no idea about calibration prints haha. I did resin printing and my calibration was Cone of Calibration by Tableflip Foundry. So if you got some good suggestions, I can google them to see how to use them :)

[@dawnfinney-downing4426]

I'm just starting but am a quick learner and are 👀 ng to make material jewelry designs and shoe needs

[@ianmcat]

Looks like you got a lemon printer. I have had none of the issues you mentioned. Mine is as quiet as a pin, no z homing issues and is literally print and go. You also seem to be missing an insert to hold the spatula. If you put the spool holder on the other side (before the z frame) then the cable does not get in the way.

[@Peter_Cetera]

Did you use the latest firmware and is there a newer firmware available 2023? The fan sounds defective...

[@giovannymatias]

Great review! I actually just got this as my first 3d printer and am excited to see it’s full potential. What do you use to clean the glass? I been reading that it has a special coating that will go away is isopropyl to clean it, is this a fact?

[@CallumColes]

I always use 3DLAC for extra bed adhesion. Then if I do occasionally clean the bed, I use plastic free wipes. I have never personally used isopropyl to clean the bed, but it's very unlikely to damage the surface, just a bit OTT.

[@Happy3dprinting]

Another great review Callum, when I was looking for my first printer it was hard to choose between this printer or the Ender 3 S1, the deciding factor was the direct drive extruder on the Ender 3 S1 and it had everything else the Ender 6 had function wise. As with everything cost is a factor, budgets determine compromises but I am still glad I went for the ender 3 S1 and I am using it to print the upgrades for my ender 5 plus :) For your questions, Would you do a Delta printer? I find them interesting to watch. For the filament, I am trying to find a fast transition multi colour filament (3-5m), they are hard to find in the uk and even harder to find in 2 or 3 kg reels. For a project, I found your video about the extruder upgrade on the ender 5 plus hugely helpful and it’s an upgrade I just performed today. But the ender 5 plus really needs better part cooling and I am struggling to understand upgrades such as the “hero me 6” kit as it’s great but too flexible as to component selection for a stock ender 5 plus.

[@CallumColes]

Thanks Steve, appreciate the continued support. Yes, the extrusion setup is one of the big differences between these two machines. They are both good machines, I think you would have been happy either way. Yes I would do a delta, not that I've ever even seen one in person over my 8 years of printing, it's probably about time I did! Would probably be great for timelapses, which I want to start doing more of. In terms of fast transition, they're a tricky one, need a very precise colour doser that can accept as many components as colours you want in the end filament. With labour costs being what they are in China, I wouldn't be surprised if someone manually put the colour in lol. I might have a play with it in the future, but not on the cards for the moment. I've said it before, filament is not a game to get into if you want to make money, machinery is so damn expensive. Certainly a passion project. In terms of multi colours though, I'm considering doing something a bit like the nebula filament from Proto-Pasta. The upgrades for the ender 5 could be a good idea for a video actually, a lot of views have come from the videos on that printer, so I think it has quite a fan base! I'll have a think about a few of the easier upgrades that could be done, where others might want to try as well.

[@Happy3dprinting]

@@CallumColes With me at the moment only just coming into 3D printing I am like a kid in a candy store, I use 3D Tomorrow filament as it is consistent that way I can verify that any change I make to the printers are either successful or not without worrying about the filament being one of the variables effecting printer output. The ender 5 plus does have a following, but after your review videos we don’t see much of what you encounter after running them longer term, if you have breakdowns or issues, this is an area very few if any reviewers/channels bother with showing. The other thing you are uniquely able to do is help us get the best out of a particular printer with 3dtomorrow filament could be video shorts? The proto pasta nebula style of filament would be nice, at the moment I’m drowning in requests for printing these flexible dragons (though it may be because I give them away free lol) and so I am constantly looking for different filaments, uv reactive caught my attention the other day. it’s a gamble though on the quality and consistency of some manufacturers and some leave a lot to be desired. I am looking for projects for me to try out the 3dtomorrow wood and marble filaments so when I do expect an order :)

[@CallumColes]

Generally before the review goes live, the printer will have done at least a few hundred hours of printing, so most mechanical problems present themselves. When the printer does start to fail, the first things that go wrong are normally the heating elements, hot end + thermistor. For the bed slinger designs, the same is true for these heating elements, although normally less of a problem when the bed only moves vertically. Generally, you don't see these types of failures until at least 1000 hours. For plastic components that have contact, these wear down and can cause problems, although I normally highlight this point in the review. I suppose I could do follow up videos of replacing failed components like the thermistor and hot end, next time these go wrong. Glad you're liking the filament! You should definitely charge for the dragons, even if just to cover your material. People don't appreciate freebies as much as they should!

[@pledgegamer]

Looking forward to that s1 comparison. Does anyone know why there are eBay listings for the cr-6 for around $300?? Are they legit? Damaged machines? What do we think?

[@CallumColes]

I only paid £260 for mine, which is about $320, so I wouldn't be too concerned by a price at $300. Just with eBay, always check the seller has plenty of decent reviews and not just 1 or 2... It's a well priced machine

[@lugnut082999]

I just bought one new from micro center for 278

[@fireheadpet2039]

Great review Callum! Once again, very thorough and to the point. Some may find you are " nitpicking" but I disagree: this is a Creality machine, maker of printers for a long time. I cannot believe yet again how they get so many bad designs ideas, some so small (spool holder, tie wraps). Good job on the new camera angle and lighting btw! Brighter and easier to focus. 1) I actually have none except if you ever get the chance, I would like to see how premium printers perform. Are they worth the extra 100-300%? 2) I would still like to see/hear more about your operation? 3) I just found a great Canadian company that make their own filament from scratch, Matter3D. I am testing their 850based now and so far it is great and will become my go-to filament ( I'm releasing a small 3d printed part soon and have tested 17 different "manufacturers" so far and to date only Sakata holds up for the best finish/ease of operation. C

[@CallumColes]

Thanks for the comment, much appreciated! Glad you like my 'thorough' reviews haha, I really do put these printers through their paces, so probably pick up on a few more of little annoyances than the printer reviews that just print a few pieces. That said, I know I could do with doing a few more prints to actually show off in the review, so will try and find a workflow for that. Yes, I know right, it's crazy! They just pump out more and more machines, without ever really polishing the design. That's sort of the difference between the companies like Creality and Prusa for instance. Countless machines, vs a handful of careful iterations. Ahh really glad you commented on the camera setup, wasn't sure if it would be an improvement or not. I'm thinking it might be good to have a table side on, so that the printer could actually be parallel to me, should result in both myself and the printer being in good focus. 1) The closest to that so far is the Zortrax Inventure review I did. But I will see what I can do, perhaps reach out to a few companies and offer them a review / return, since I don't have the following (yet), to be gifted these sorts of machines. 2) I do plan to do more on that, just secured some garages/forecourt at an auction, so will document my journey to get this turned into the proper home for 3DTomorrow, at the moment it's a bit all other the place (Home+Commercial Premises+Storage Units). 3) Interesting, 850D is the grade for annealing yes? Does it differ much to 4043D when not annealed? It's a shame you're so far away otherwise I'd suggest giving our BioPro a try. I'm biased of course, but it is great. That said Sakata is a Spanish manufacturer, but I suspect they have international resellers?

[@fireheadpet2039]

@@CallumColes Camera Steup: yes, I fully agree: to have a nice table setup with printer parallel to you so both are in focus in the same shot. The visuals have become so sophisticated even for the simplest YT channel I would be a challenge to start one! Suggestions... 1) I'm somehow missed that Zortrax review! I fully understand your comment, and of course they are way too $$$. Even some larger channels don't even review pricier machines since most viewers couldn't afford them in any event. The comment stemmed from pure curiosity: is the print quality any better. I tested 3DHUBS (now just called HUBS) to see if they could print my small parts better than I could with my modified printer. I believe they used Ultimaker for my small run. Outcome: no, they cannot. The print quality was awful. I was expecting much better. My stock Ayncubic Mega S (at slow speeds of course), printed better. 2) I look forward to those diary vids Callum! I'm a entrepreneur myself and know all too well some of what you are going through. I am lucky to own a home with large spare areas that I renovated myself for my business and that of my wife's. 3) Sorry for the misunderstanding: the "850D" is the base plastic pellets used (INGEO850). I'm a mechanical engineer, not a chemical specialist at all but from what I know, it seems that many better (" ") PLA filaments use this as the base for a certain type. You know 1,000% more than I do so, I won't pretend at all. Funny, I believe, don't quote me though, that my other Canadian supplier/manufacturer uses 4043 base for their "Though Line" PLA. It is an amazingly tough and strong PLA and closely matches that of PETG! For my products, it is overkill and too costly. Yes, Sakata is carried by several retailers here in Canada. I think it is one of the most dependable product I've encountered. Until now, with this new all-Canadian brand. Yeah, shipping from the UK and the exchange rate would make you filament a bit pricey!! I'm a huge supporter of small local businesses and buy out-of-country when I have too, and even then, try to buy from smaller outfits.

[@CallumColes]

Sorry for the slow reply, been away! Have been super busy recently so needed a break, work hard play hard as they say haha! So in terms of industrial machinery at the end of the day the processes are the same so there aren't mind blowing differences. Having had experience with a range of machines from the cheapest to the most expensive, this is how I'd explain the difference. Consumer (Anycubic, Creality, etc) - Unconstrained with limited monitoring/ control processes. Wide range of output results possible, more dependent on operator skill. Results can match prosumer units. Prosumer (Ultimaker, Zortrax, etc) - More constrained with some monitoring/ control processes. Higher success rate with less effort for the operator, but less flexibility in control. Commercial (think Stratasys) - Very constrained usage, lots of monitoring and control processes. Wider range of high end materials. High success rate. In other words, there is a difference, but its not night and day. If a skilled operator was to print PLA on all three machines, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. More difficult materials start to widen the gap between machines, if possible at all at the lower end. I've just managed to purchase a 3DP1000, which is a 1mx1mx0.5m printer, so will probably do a video on that. Buyer's guide to buying old machines sort of thing. I've not seen it yet, so could be a mistake, we'll see!

[@rctrix9063]

Good review. If you have a noisy fan it's usually a very simple fix. Pop the blades off carefully being aware the shaft may have a very small ball bearing on the end. Why a jeweler's oil dropper or a toothpick apply just enough oil to wet that ball bearing. Never add too much.

[@CallumColes]

Cheers for the comment! Not sure I would be delicate enough to perform that fix😂 but may give it a try in the future

[@sharkboy980]

its actually worse to have the spool holder up top. that why many ender owners make side mounts lol

[@CallumColes]

The spool holder itself will have more impact than the position, directly into the extruder is always going to be better I would agree, but not a problem to have on top if it suits the workspace better

[@krisbuildit5149]

Mine is way way quieter. Also didn't come with a 1 kg. Spool..

[@CallumColes]

Glad to hear yours is quieter, although fans can get noisier sometimes after a while of use

[@krisbuildit5149]

I can understand that! I just have had good luck with mine. Quality control can sometimes affect this I'm sure.

[@kimballwiggins3976]

What a bunch of whining