In this video I will be unboxing the CR10-V3 3D printer by Creality to see just how easy it was get up and running. I will also give some tips and tricks on the assembly to make it easier for other's to do as well. I purchased this video for my production process since it's a direct extruder design and is more suitable for flexible filaments. The build format is also quite a bit larger than my existing machines which is why I found this to be a suitable addition to my prototyping studio. I will be doing a full review of the machine in the future so please keep an eye for this.
Transcript
Hello everybody and welcome to another video. In today’s video I will be taking a first look at a new 3D printer which I haven’t as of yet heard much about. I am planning on making a follow up which will be the full review however today I’ll go over the assembly and first impressions that I have with the machine. I bought this machine online soon after it was available and have been taking a closer look at it’s capabilities. This video was in no way sponsored, I purchased this machine in order to fit the requirements for some of my client work and decided on this model.
The packaging was extremely well done which was a relief given the shipping company which was used to deliver my printer. One thing that is important to note is that the support bars are hidden in a compartment in the foam so you’ll want to make sure to find those pieces otherwise you won’t benefit from the rigid frame design. If you pick up the foam pieces you’ll notice that one is heavier than the other’s and this is where the compartment is located.
Once opened, you should have all the materials that you need to assemble this machine however at the time of this recording the BLT touch was back-order therefore I will be including this in the follow up video instead. The user manual is very well designed with a parts breakdown list and diagram in color which is always a good sign. The company has also been very good in providing instructional tutorial within their website in order to help with problem solving.
Before you begin assembly always take all of the components and place them out so that you can make sure you have all of the required parts. This is simple but important step before you begin working on putting any machine together. Lay the frame on top after you’ve turned the couplings upwards to give yourself some more room. When attaching the main bolts for the frame, I would recommend moving the machine to the side of the table so that you can see underneath without damaging any of the components. I loosely tighten these screws until I have them all placed at which point I tighten them fully. If you over tighten then you could risk bending or stripping the threads so they should be tight enough that they won’t come lose but not so tight that you see your tool bending with the force.
For the pull rod, you’ll first need to join two of the poles together using the provided double ended screw. You’ll want to partially turn in one portion of the component. For the second bar you’ll want to hold it with you thumb to prevent it from spinning while you attach the second pole. You’ll then attach the live bolt to either ends of the joined pole. Make sure to add the bolt onto the live bolt since this will help lock the bar into place. In my initial assembly I overlooked this portion and had to fix this latter on. Make sure to use the Wrench to tighten the bolt afterwards. Take one of the screws and place this through the live bolt hole while placing the washer on the other opposing side. Screw this first into the bottom hole. In my case this hole was covered with plastic caps to help protect them so you’ll need to remove these before completing the assembly.
Next I pre-threaded the L connector for the top of the frame making sure to keep these a lose as possible. These turn around in the grove to lock themselves into place if put in correctly. Double check to make sure that they’re turned the right way after you’ve put these into place. I then attached the Live bolt into the frame in the same manner as the bottom of the rod.
Z end stop goes on the side where the two screw holes are and with the switch facing upwards. The company also provide a replacement switch in case it’s needed in the future so make sure that you store this in a safe location.
I made sure to change the correct input voltage to my areas requirements which for me is 115.
The next part was to attach the filament run out detector. This portion has an arrow so that you know the proper orientation for this part. I mounted it with the arrow facing to the front so that the light is visible when turned on. As the for the filament spool, I mounted it differently from what was shown in the diagram. From personal experience I’ve had some spool which could get caught on edges so choose the smoother side as the contact area. The filament run out sensor seems to have quite a bit of friction and may cause issues during printing. I made sure to mount it as close as possible while still having enough room for a full sized spool of filament. If this is your first printer and you don’t have a full spool keep in mind you will need to adjust this latter since the provided one is extremely small in comparison.
With the basic assembly completed, I then connected the power cable and build plate connector to the power box. Following the labeling of the cables, I connected the two Z axis connector and the Z stop sensor. Afterwards I proceed to connect the Y axis motor, XE Transfer Interface, YZ Transfer Interface, filament run out sensor, Extruder Motor and the cable guide by following the instructions and labels provided. When I received my shipment the cable guide was attached to the frame however this came off during the unboxing so make sure to check carefully to ensure that it’s installed before finishing. Also it’s very important to give the cable enough slack in order to move completely to the back to prevent any undo strain. This guide is important in preventing the premature wear of the cables which is a common issue with printers.
With the machine put together I it was now time to print the model that was provided with the printer. It’s always a good idea to print the test model before doing anything else since this can help diagnose issues more quickly. In my case the print came out almost flawless however because of the choice of filament it was difficult to see the imperfections along the surface. Once this print was completed, I then swapped out the nozzle to check how it printed with a larger nozzle size. I must point out that changing the nozzle is somewhat awkward if you don’t know how to do it properly. This is something which I will discuss in the full review of the machine afterwards. With the nozzle changed out, I then began tweaking my settings until I had something which worked fairly well. I’ll be doing quite a bit more tweaks before I finish this piece off but for now this is how the print came out.