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A**E
An amazing 3D printer at a very attractive price
The media could not be loaded. I have considered getting into 3D printing for several years but until quite recently the only choices were to pay a small fortune for a commercial unit or build one from a kit. The Anycubic Mega-S changes all that and makes high quality 3D printing available to anyone.In the late 1970s I was involved in the early development of personal computing. Machines came in kit form, were pretty crude and required their owners to tweak and trouble shoot them on a regular basis - it was impossible to buy a 'user friendly' computer that would work perfectly 'out of the box'. The situation was pretty much the same in the 3D printer world a couple of years ago but WOW, things have really changed.Although the Anycubic Mega-S is not quite 'foolproof' it can be set up and working within an hour by anyone willing to follow the detailed instructions and its performance is pretty amazing.My machine arrived within 48 hours from the Anycubic UK Store, was very well packed and came with 1Kg of White PLA filament and 10m sample packs of red, yellow, green, blue and 'skin' PLA. The instruction book is comprehensive and, unlike many manuals translated from Chinese, very well written. The machine comes in two main parts; the base which contains the electronics and build platform and the frame with print head and stepper motors. It comes with an impressive tool kit - everything you need to build and operate the machine. Setup is fairly easy; bolt the two parts together, plug in the various cable bundles, level the base, insert the filament and you are ready for your first print!It sounds a bit complicated but the instructions are very clear (do NOT be tempted to ignore them and do it by trial and error).......... it took me about an hour from opening the box to making my first print.The SD card included contains a file (in gcode format) for printing a pair of Owls about 5cm high. As you can see from the picture, they came out very well first time - confirmation that you have put it all together correctly and that all is well. The card also contains a very old version of Cura which you will need to create the files needed to print other models. I would strongly suggest that you download a more recent version from the Cura website - I am using version 3.6 and exploring the 4.0 beta version. With this software you will be able to download models in STL format from sites such as All3DP or Thingiverse, convert them to gcode and print them.I downloaded, converted and printed 'Benchy' a small boat which is a demanding print and reveals any problems/limitations in your printer. As you can see..... it turned out very well.I then printed an articulated elephant....... printed in one part but the legs and head move!Feeling confident I then attempted a bust of Einstein using the sample of 'skin' filament. You can see the printer in action in my video clip. Models like this with overhangs (chin, nose, hair etc) need to generate 'supports' which make them look very messy BUT they can be removed quite easily to reveal a very detailed print. My last image shows the bust after roughly removing the supports; no sanding, filling or painting - just imagine what it would look like after these steps!Now for the bad news...... the Ultrabase heated platform is impressive BUT is very easily damaged as you can see in my final photograph. Unlike most print bases it does not require the use of tape or glue to fix your model, or require the use of a scraper to remove them........ just let the bed cool and they pop off easily. If you do use a scraper enthusiastically (as described on many websites for 'ordinary bases') you will cause serious damage!!!! The instruction book does explain this BUT 'how to print the owls' is on page 17 and the 'how to remove after printing' is on page 30 after 10 pages on the use of the software!!!!!The instructions suggest using 'alcohol' to clean the base after use....... BAD IDEA.If, like me, you consult 3D printing web sites and follow their advice to use Isopropyl Alcohol......... buy some on Amazon and use it on a hot base........ you may get the kind of damage shown in my image. In the USA most 'rubbing alcohol' or 'alcohol wipes' seem to be about 70% isopropyl alcohol but in the UK they might be 95% or even 99.9% like the one I bought.After talking to a very helpful person on the Anycubic Support site......... the golden rule is:Isopropyl alcohol - no more than 70% (mix with water if needed), applied gently with a microfibre cloth on A COLD BASE.After extensive research it seems that lots of people have had similar problems and have damaged their Ultrabase by scraping, pulling off prints while still hot or using high strength alcohol. After this experience, many suggest that the Ultrabase is 'rubbish' but I think that this is very unfair. The undamaged part of my bed works flawlessly - now I know how to treat it - and I look forward to the replacement which is on order.In conclusion...... the Anycubic Mega-S is an amazing bit of technology. I had expected mediocre results and lots of troubleshooting but I was wrong. If you follow the detailed instructions you can expect excellent results quite quickly.If you do run into problems or have any questions then I have found the Anycubic support website very helpful.
H**3
not very good
After seeing this on a deal i quickly purchased this printer. After it arrived i was impressed with how quickly you could assemble the printer. from now on it becomes disastrous. the first problem was a heating bed was warped. making leveling the bed near impossible it would print a reasonable print this this would only occur a coule times before the bed needed re-leveling. on observation one of the leveling knobs was spinning as the bed moved. the heated bed was also uneven, this was replaced and it proceeded to do a couple reasonable prints, but again it was hit and miss. finally it gave up and nothing would print at all. on examination the metal bed and the heated bed are both warped, after a lengthy process emailing backwards and forwards with their tech support . i was asked to check the voltage i had already bought digital calipers etc etc, not i was expected to purchase electrical testers. now i cant return it as tech support have taken so long to rectify the problems.warning if you buy look on youtube see the problems this machine has with leveling and the expectations of their tech support expecting you to buy test equipment and having a degree in electronics. In the meantime i bought a ender3 pro set it up and it has never failed a print. something to be said about Creality. so in conclusion id not recommend this machine, when working its as good as any other in this price range, but if it fails i hope you have the patience of a saint.I gave it 1 star because i cant give it a zero
H**S
Fantastic first 3D printer
Well i've had 10 days with my AnyCubic Mega S, it took a while for me to decidewhich 3d printer i was going to go for as my first foray into the world of 3d printing.This printer was my choice due to the following* Easy to build, it came in two pieces that you just bolt together* It has a heated build plate* Decent size build area, not too small and not massive* Free 1Kg of filament* touch screen display* USB and SD card inputs* Filament run out sensoryou also get a spare extruder, different coloured samples, tweezers, scraper.Setting it up was easy, bolt the two bits together, connect up 3 plugs and away you go.I do however have a couple of notes when you set this up.1. Loosen the filament sensor ( I found the angle ment the filament feeder was too tight so I loosened it off and everything has been fine. )2. Bed levelling. When you do this, make sure you have heated up the build plate to 60c, it is not 100% level. I followed the sliding paper under the extruder guide and scratched my plate with it cold, then later used the heated plate.As for printing, well i have been a maniac over christmas and printed loads.Yes printing takes a while but this printer makes things really easy.I can 100% recommend this as your first 3D printer, solid metal construction.To print you can load models onto an SD card or conenct directly to a computer.For windows you can laod models into CURA and print directly to it. Which isgreat if you have a PC connected directly to it.For me , i've bought a Raspberry pi 3 with camera and loaded octoprint onto it.That has been the best thing i could do, I now have a wireless 3d Printer iload modesl onto via a web page, i can watch it and chect the status remotely.Also it is plugged into a TP link smart plug, so using octoprint plugins Ican power the printer off and on when not in use from the GUI.Note : I did have a problem with my LCD touch screen, Anycubic have sent mea new one so once it arrives I will be 100% active again.
Trustpilot
1 month ago
1 week ago