Setup and getting started
Kits are rare, but there’s still a little assembly required before printing.
The days of 3D printers arriving in kit form have long passed, although that option is still there if you feel the need. Today the preferred method for acquiring a 3D printer is to buy one that’s pre-built or at least partially assembled. Most 3D printers still require a little bolting together, even if it’s just attaching a tool head, loading the filament and popping in the power cable.
Our five 3D printers on test have been chosen because of their ease of setup, with none taking more than 20 minutes to unpack, bolt together, power on and get started with printing. Of all the printers, the RoboxDual is the easiest to get up and running. It’s ready to use out of the box. Once the packaging is removed, the build plate installed, and the tool head screwed in, you need to power on the feed in the two filament reels, and off you go. Cel-UK has designed a pretty foolproof printer, and even the filament loading is handled for you thanks to the intelligent reels.
The MK3S and SideKick 747 arrive almost ready to go out of the box. Travel fixings need to be removed, and a few bits such as the tool head have to be bolted into place before being powered on and primed. The Kobra Max comes flat packed and takes five to 10 minutes to bolt the vertical section into place. Because of the printer’s design and size, getting the bolts in can be fiddly.
The SnapMaker does require quite a bit more construction, but the tricky bits have all been pre-built, so while it involves a little more thought than the others, there’s nothing here that should tax anyone’s brain. Thanks to the advancements in design, all printers offer automatic bed levelling. Once powered on and running through the software levelling, it’s just a case of feeding in the filament before printing.
Aside from a few fiddly bits, the setup and purging across all printers was fast and straightforward. Running a quick 3DBenchy test on each enabled some last-minute tweaking before the main test, with the AnyCubic standing out with its easy-to-adjust Z-axis touchscreen option. Furthermore, its sprung steel platforms with various textures are this author’s preferred printing base. The AnyCubic features a textured Carborundum (silicon carbide) glass base that, throughout the test, proved excellent adhesion.