Recently I’ve been experimenting with 3D modelling which made me realise the importance of materials and 3D printer reliability. After all, no one wants to spend time building and perfecting a model if you can't print it in its full glory. I am lucky enough to have a wide variety of 3D printers available to use at our office, but while I was tinkering with Makerbot and Robox machines, the Flashforge Creator Pro slipped under my radar. This week I finally got my hands on this printer and it just amazed me with its quality and construction. Here are the reasons why Flashforge Creator Pro will make a perfect fit for your home or design studio.
Reliability
Reliability is the key word for this model. Among all popular desktop 3D printers, I find Flashforge to be the best consumer-grade machine that just does the work. When it comes down to consistent trouble-free performance, the Creator Pro is rock solid. You can leave this printer running for hours or even overnight without being afraid of stuck filament and failed printings.
Versatility
The Flashforge Creator Pro comes with a dual extruder which has no limits in terms of material compatibility. It can print with widely popular plastics like ABS, PLA and nylon, but you can also get great results, using flexible filaments as well as wood and metal. The dual extruder allows you to print a support material which is different from the filament used for the rest of the object. For example, you can print an intricate ABS model, using dissolvable filament for your support structures. If you are keen on experimenting with colours, printing multicoloured objects is not a problem with this machine. What else do you need to unleash your creativity?
Open source
I’ve talked about the advantages of open-source platforms in many of my previous posts. I can’t fail to include them in this one, too. The Creator Pro is an open-source printer which allows you to upgrade, customize and unlock additional features. The printer can be custom-tailored to serve your particular needs. More importantly, it is fully compatible with STL, gcode and x3g files so no need to re-export models designed for other machines.
Durability and Printing Quality
The Flashforge Creator Pro is equipped with an aluminium build platform to ensure perfect leveling under the stress of high temperature. It may not have the fashionable, high-end aesthetics of the Robox, but it definitely compensates with resilience and stability.
Over and above this, the printer can really impress with the quality it’s able to deliver. I tried various models, using PLA and ABS filament, and they all printed out great.
Reasonable price
With prices dropping in the entry and mid-level market, the Creator Pro may not fall on the “cheap” side. Considering the features it offers and its excellent print quality, £875 is a hard to beat price point. This printer has the capacity to satisfy the needs of both beginners and experts.
Lastly, I really tried finding a drawback to point in this post. The truth is I couldn’t get my mind around any appreciable flaw for this class of 3D printer; Flashforge Creator pro is designed to perform and impress.