Craftbot Flow IDEX XL vs S5

[Belezeebub 9]

I love my S5 but I just picked up a contract worth ~3400 in the first phase and could be 10x that amount over the next year, the downside is the parts won’t fit on my S5, I am considering a Craftbot Flow IDEX XL, anyone have any first hand experiences with the flow specifically or Craftbot in general

Edited March 15, 2020 by Belezeebub

[ZzoyozZ 0]

I have an Ultimaker 3 Extended and just got a CraftBot Flow IDEX XL. I have it for 3 days and I'm pretty happy with it. Be aware that you need a very stable platform because of the heavy mass being accelerated at the top. I also printed special shock absorbers which help a lot.

[Belezeebub 9]

I have been talking with Craftbot, I am not getting a warm or fuzzy feeling, been waiting on a quote for shipping for a week, I told them I wanted the Craftbot 3 which is instock because I didn't want to drop 4k on a machine I can find very limited reviews on, the salesman tried to Up-sell me to the Flow, and now a week later still waiting for the shipping quote because IMHO I told him I didn't want to drop 4k on untested/unreviewed... Wish Matterhackers had them in stock, they respond. 

 

[ZzoyozZ 0]

My dealer here in Switzerland (3D-PrinterStore) is just minutes away from me and they have it in stock. They are very responsive and helpful. By the way, I just found out that with certain objects (e.g. Benchy), you get better results with Cura than with the Craftware-slicer.

[JPriceAZ 0]

On 6/10/2020 at 2:06 AM, ZzoyozZ said:

My dealer here in Switzerland (3D-PrinterStore) is just minutes away from me and they have it in stock. They are very responsive and helpful. By the way, I just found out that with certain objects (e.g. Benchy), you get better results with Cura than with the Craftware-slicer.

I just got a Craftbot 3, and I'm much more comfortable using Cura.  Might you be able to direct me to either a Cura profile or what parameters to enter to set it up as a custom printer?

Thanks in advance!

[acrarer 0]

This thread seems to have gone cold. Any tips on a Cura profile for Craftbots?

[GregValiant 1,261]

@nallath commented here one time that Cura isn't compatible with IDEX printers.  I'm not sure, but I think that's because there is no allowance in Cura for the additional axes (U, V, W or whatever).

There was a post here regarding the Raise3D IDEX printer.  I looked at it that a little bit and if that printer was installed in Cura as a Custom FFF printer it appears to be compatible.  It comes down to the Start-Up Gcode.  The printer could be installed 3 times (one for conventional, one for mirror, and one for duplication) or a Search And Replace routine could be used to adjust what mode the user wanted.

The Raise3D firmware uses proprietary gcode commands (M605 S2 is mirror mode) to inform the printer what mode to work in.  When the printer knows the mode it then handles all the translation of the regular axes commands for the second print head.  As a consequence, there is no requirement for the additional axes to be mentioned in the gcode and that's why I think it might be possible to get it to work with Cura.

If you were to look closely at a Craftware generated gcode file for your printer, you might be able to come up with working profile as long as the firmware is close to mainstream (M9006 S1 appears be mirror mode).  I would think it's something that Craftbot should be aware of.

[Belezeebub 9]

3 hours ago, acrarer said:

This thread seems to have gone cold. Any tips on a Cura profile for Craftbots?

All I can say is I purchased a Craftbot III and a Flow IDEX, they were the biggest POS’s I have ever had the displeasure of wasting money on, the support I got was complete and utter garbage. And just to twist the knife a bit more they wouldn’t tag the FLOW IDEX as defective so I had to eat a restocking fee which is why I refuse to EVER own a CrapBot Blow IDIC machine or anything with Craftbot’s name on it ever again. And the restocking fee upset me so much it broke a relationship with MatterHackers I won’t shop there again.

 

So this is not defective

Hard locked 32% into a print with Craftbots Filament and slicer

Craftbot Flow IDEX Locked up and frozen - YouTube

Best dual color prints I ever got out of the CBFI out of 58 tries again with their filament and slicer

Dual color tries 1 to 58 - YouTube

BL Touch Error right out of the box (still not defective as per CraftBot)

Dual Color Printing yes this is worth the 3k I spent

HULU Mode enabled - YouTube

 

 

[GregValiant 1,261]

Congratulations on an excellent rant.

So what did you end up with (if I might be so as bold to ask)?

[Belezeebub 9]

1 hour ago, GregValiant said:

Congratulations on an excellent rant.

So what did you end up with (if I might be so as bold to ask)?

Well the CB3 and CBFI were printers #13 and #14, Both replaced with S5's and all of my printers are listed or have been sold now, I gave a local 3d printer I know all my light customers and I am switching to SLS because all the customers I kept want functional prototypes.