July 1, 2019 at 08:25Updated Anet A8 Plus. Large and metal
Hello! I am pleased to present to readers an overview of the updated hit from Anet3D - Anet A8 Plus printer. It really has become noticeably larger and truly metallic. In addition, the manufacturer did a serious job of errors and the printer is now going to very easily and really print out of the box, even despite some minor problems.
This is about this device:
Under the cut letters, photos and videos about the preparation for work and a modest operating experience.
Main technical specifications (from official sources):
The printer begins to pleasantly surprise already at the delivery stage. Everything is very competently packed in a neat polyethylene foam brick. The size of the box is quite sane, despite the fact that the printer is almost completely assembled.
At the top of this brick lies the base of the printer with installed guides and a table. Glass for printing has already been thrown onto the table and there are stationery clips. I always just printed and I advise everyone. Only I like the mirror more.
At the bottom is the vertical part of the frame with the X and Z axes, as well as all the electronics from the printer.
The printer also includes:
The vertical axis is set first. To begin with, it is screwed with a corner and a screw at the end of the profile. You can immediately remove the transport ties, fixing belts and tighten the set screws of the Z-axis studs. That's it! On this assembly mechanics is over!
The base of the frame is made of aluminum construction profile 20x20mm. Guides along the Y axis 20x40mm. There are very few plastic parts and almost all of them are cast. Even the extruder accessories are made of thin sheet metal. Both belts, X and Y, have normal tensioners.
With all this, it is the same, good old Prusa. On belts, ballscrews, shafts and linear bearings. Here I have to make a small digression. Despite all the disadvantages of this linear movement system, I consider its use in budget machines to be more than justified. If the shafts are crooked or the bearings deteriorate, it is always very easy to find and change them. Also, if the shafts are not parallel, they can always be slightly moved and adjusted. If you take the machine on rails or rollers, then this will be a completely different price category.
The power supply is mounted on the right side of the machine and plays the role of an additional scarf, giving rigidity to the structure. Please note that it also has a metal casing, a network cable connector and a toggle switch for inclusion. And all this, of course, has already been assembled and connected.
Next, the limit switches of the X and Z axes are installed. Everything is already thought out and molded in plastic. All fasteners are optimally selected. Seat for the X-axis trailer:
Even the Z-axis trailer holder is made of metal. It is attached very securely, and moving it for calibration is very easy.
As a motherboard, one of the variations of RAMPS from Anet3D is also used. The drivers are soldered, there is an adjustment of the Z axis current. On the one hand, this is a minus (that the drivers are not removable), on the other hand, in my practice, no driver was hurt. There is a fuse on the table and a slot for printing from a memory card. The board is also stitched with some kind of Marlin assembly from the manufacturer. At the end of the article, I will give a link to the software for this machine, but even on the stock firmware everything started confidently for me.
Connecting wires takes much longer than assembling the mechanics. But everything is signed and you can connect especially without looking at the instructions. No need to solder. All switching is thought out very competently. Special cable lugs are made even for limit switches.
By the way, the table heats up from 24V. With the old model, I had a problem that the heater contacts in the connector were warming. Anet A8 Plus in the table connector already has two contacts for plus and minus (and the wires themselves are also duplicated), and the contacts themselves are filled with sealant.
I will add here an illustration with a picture to connect. It simply shows the board itself better. In fact, even she is not needed. There are signatures on the board, and on all cables there are nameplates. This generally applies to the whole machine. Everything is going very unambiguously and intuitively.
As a result, after complete assembly and cleaning of the wires into the braid, it looks as follows:
On many product photos, the color Anet3D logo is shown on the display, but in fact the usual monochrome LCD is used. By the way, it is very original mounted on a horn with a magnet and you can remove it, pick it up and control the printer as a large adult CNC machine from the remote control!) The
display with the encoder and reset button is in a separate metal box. Having disassembled it, I still found something to complain about in this machine!
At first glance it makes a very good impression. It is not much different from the popular MK2 and it will be easy to find spare parts for it. In fact, the manufacturer made sure that the coolers immediately installed extruder coolers and models. An additional radiator is installed on the thermal barrier directly in front of the cube - a very elegant solution compared to what it was on the previous version.
There are additional guides for plastic. I tried printing with Flex and I had no problems loading or extrusion.
With such a large printable field, this turned out to be much more complicated than I expected.
At first, I had problems with setting too little current on the Z axis. The right engine began to skip steps and all calibration immediately floated away. But I dealt with this problem very quickly, and then dancing began around the frame.
Looking ahead, I’ll say that in the end I was able to calibrate the printer only on an even piece of chipboard with a piece of fiberglass under the middle right foot. And to come to this decision I spent 8 hours!
The large size of the printer entails big problems with calibration. Even with a very small bias of the frame diagonally, it becomes almost impossible. I put it on a flat panel of chipboard and tried to align all the mechanics with it. Perhaps I was able to eliminate some major irregularities, but in the end I just experimentally picked up under which leg and how thick to put the part. But in the end, everything was calibrated just perfectly. I even dragged it from place to place in this form.
Much of what I said and something else new can be seen in the video:
Print
If you try to summarize, then I would say that fundamentally nothing has changed. Yes, the structure has become metal, but everything has become larger and heavier.
In other words, there is a clear increase in print volume, but not in quality. It has remained quite suitable for printing various structural elements. And there is a nice bonus from the fact that the printer began to print noticeably quieter (probably due to the rubber feet in the first place).
An inexperienced viewer may think that the test model is printed very poorly. It is made with a 0.4 m nozzle with a layer height of 0.15 mm. In fact, this is quite a worthy result for the Chinese budget printer and it will allow you to very confidently print products like SkullBota.
I emphasize - this is the result of printing out of the box! That is, you can still work out fine-tuning the mechanics and play around with printing algorithms to improve the result.
I also tried to drive a larger print from the memory card - a girl stylized as T800 in the first photo. Almost 30 hours of printing, 140 MB of G-code, 900 g of plastic. On the one hand, everything went smoothly, but the quality of the plastic was not very good. And you need to understand that when there is almost a kilogram of plastic on the table, it starts to swing very well, which affects the quality of the print.
Software from Anet3D You can
buy this printer for about $ 300 now at the links:
Anet official online shop for A8 Plus
Amazon for Anet A8 Plus
Aliexpress for Anet A8 Plus
Ebay for Anet A8 Plus
TomTop for Anet A8 Plus
Thank you for your attention. I will be glad to answer any questions and listen to recommendations!
This is about this device:
Under the cut letters, photos and videos about the preparation for work and a modest operating experience.
Main technical specifications (from official sources):
- 300x300x350mm print box
- Frame made of aluminum structural profile 20x20mm and 20x40mm
- Double polished shafts with a diameter of 8 mm and linear bearings on each axis
- X and Y axis drive with belt with tension system
- Two Z-axis stepper motors with trapezoidal running screws
- Additional fuses to protect against overheating
- Removable control panel (display with encoder)
- Heated table
Unpacking
The printer begins to pleasantly surprise already at the delivery stage. Everything is very competently packed in a neat polyethylene foam brick. The size of the box is quite sane, despite the fact that the printer is almost completely assembled.
At the top of this brick lies the base of the printer with installed guides and a table. Glass for printing has already been thrown onto the table and there are stationery clips. I always just printed and I advise everyone. Only I like the mirror more.
At the bottom is the vertical part of the frame with the X and Z axes, as well as all the electronics from the printer.
The printer also includes:
- Two screwdrivers
- Hex key set
- 8GB microSD memory card with USB adapter
- Side cutters
- Coil holder
- PLA plastic probe (approx. 10m)
- Wire braid
- Spare Fuses
- Air nozzle
- Fingertips
- Instruction manual
Assembly
The vertical axis is set first. To begin with, it is screwed with a corner and a screw at the end of the profile. You can immediately remove the transport ties, fixing belts and tighten the set screws of the Z-axis studs. That's it! On this assembly mechanics is over!
The base of the frame is made of aluminum construction profile 20x20mm. Guides along the Y axis 20x40mm. There are very few plastic parts and almost all of them are cast. Even the extruder accessories are made of thin sheet metal. Both belts, X and Y, have normal tensioners.
With all this, it is the same, good old Prusa. On belts, ballscrews, shafts and linear bearings. Here I have to make a small digression. Despite all the disadvantages of this linear movement system, I consider its use in budget machines to be more than justified. If the shafts are crooked or the bearings deteriorate, it is always very easy to find and change them. Also, if the shafts are not parallel, they can always be slightly moved and adjusted. If you take the machine on rails or rollers, then this will be a completely different price category.
The power supply is mounted on the right side of the machine and plays the role of an additional scarf, giving rigidity to the structure. Please note that it also has a metal casing, a network cable connector and a toggle switch for inclusion. And all this, of course, has already been assembled and connected.
Next, the limit switches of the X and Z axes are installed. Everything is already thought out and molded in plastic. All fasteners are optimally selected. Seat for the X-axis trailer:
Even the Z-axis trailer holder is made of metal. It is attached very securely, and moving it for calibration is very easy.
As a motherboard, one of the variations of RAMPS from Anet3D is also used. The drivers are soldered, there is an adjustment of the Z axis current. On the one hand, this is a minus (that the drivers are not removable), on the other hand, in my practice, no driver was hurt. There is a fuse on the table and a slot for printing from a memory card. The board is also stitched with some kind of Marlin assembly from the manufacturer. At the end of the article, I will give a link to the software for this machine, but even on the stock firmware everything started confidently for me.
Connecting wires takes much longer than assembling the mechanics. But everything is signed and you can connect especially without looking at the instructions. No need to solder. All switching is thought out very competently. Special cable lugs are made even for limit switches.
By the way, the table heats up from 24V. With the old model, I had a problem that the heater contacts in the connector were warming. Anet A8 Plus in the table connector already has two contacts for plus and minus (and the wires themselves are also duplicated), and the contacts themselves are filled with sealant.
I will add here an illustration with a picture to connect. It simply shows the board itself better. In fact, even she is not needed. There are signatures on the board, and on all cables there are nameplates. This generally applies to the whole machine. Everything is going very unambiguously and intuitively.
As a result, after complete assembly and cleaning of the wires into the braid, it looks as follows:
On many product photos, the color Anet3D logo is shown on the display, but in fact the usual monochrome LCD is used. By the way, it is very original mounted on a horn with a magnet and you can remove it, pick it up and control the printer as a large adult CNC machine from the remote control!) The
display with the encoder and reset button is in a separate metal box. Having disassembled it, I still found something to complain about in this machine!
Extruder
At first glance it makes a very good impression. It is not much different from the popular MK2 and it will be easy to find spare parts for it. In fact, the manufacturer made sure that the coolers immediately installed extruder coolers and models. An additional radiator is installed on the thermal barrier directly in front of the cube - a very elegant solution compared to what it was on the previous version.
There are additional guides for plastic. I tried printing with Flex and I had no problems loading or extrusion.
Calibration
With such a large printable field, this turned out to be much more complicated than I expected.
At first, I had problems with setting too little current on the Z axis. The right engine began to skip steps and all calibration immediately floated away. But I dealt with this problem very quickly, and then dancing began around the frame.
Looking ahead, I’ll say that in the end I was able to calibrate the printer only on an even piece of chipboard with a piece of fiberglass under the middle right foot. And to come to this decision I spent 8 hours!
The large size of the printer entails big problems with calibration. Even with a very small bias of the frame diagonally, it becomes almost impossible. I put it on a flat panel of chipboard and tried to align all the mechanics with it. Perhaps I was able to eliminate some major irregularities, but in the end I just experimentally picked up under which leg and how thick to put the part. But in the end, everything was calibrated just perfectly. I even dragged it from place to place in this form.
Video
Much of what I said and something else new can be seen in the video:
If you try to summarize, then I would say that fundamentally nothing has changed. Yes, the structure has become metal, but everything has become larger and heavier.
In other words, there is a clear increase in print volume, but not in quality. It has remained quite suitable for printing various structural elements. And there is a nice bonus from the fact that the printer began to print noticeably quieter (probably due to the rubber feet in the first place).
An inexperienced viewer may think that the test model is printed very poorly. It is made with a 0.4 m nozzle with a layer height of 0.15 mm. In fact, this is quite a worthy result for the Chinese budget printer and it will allow you to very confidently print products like SkullBota.
I emphasize - this is the result of printing out of the box! That is, you can still work out fine-tuning the mechanics and play around with printing algorithms to improve the result.
I also tried to drive a larger print from the memory card - a girl stylized as T800 in the first photo. Almost 30 hours of printing, 140 MB of G-code, 900 g of plastic. On the one hand, everything went smoothly, but the quality of the plastic was not very good. And you need to understand that when there is almost a kilogram of plastic on the table, it starts to swing very well, which affects the quality of the print.
Software from Anet3D You can
buy this printer for about $ 300 now at the links:
Anet official online shop for A8 Plus
Amazon for Anet A8 Plus
Aliexpress for Anet A8 Plus
Ebay for Anet A8 Plus
TomTop for Anet A8 Plus
Thank you for your attention. I will be glad to answer any questions and listen to recommendations!