Thoughts on 3D printing

Hello all, I'd like to share a quick experience which may be of help since so many of us use them. I have had a couple now, the first a GEEEtech which is your basic reprap $250 ebay clone. I learned to print on that. I made an entire inmoov with it. I still have it but tend to use it more for parts now. I upgraded to an Crealty 10S which I love.and use as my printer now.

It is important to know that continuing improvements and feature releases do not exist for 3D printers. They build them, sell them, then move on to the next design. That is why you don't see software patches or firmware upgrades. They are not ARC, that is for sure. But people keep writing software and making improvements on their own. To get to the point, I was using the factory firmware in my printer. Recently I upgraded to Marlin firmware. I was afraid because I did not want to brick my machine but there are universal firmware updates now that make it a simple 10 minute process. Marlin offers better functionality and makes the machines much SAFER. Particularly, Marlin has thermal runaway protection. This very basic safety feature can keep you printer from burning down your house and for some reason, not incorporated into most off the shelf printers. I also found that there are different jerk setting algorithms there which made my prints much more appealing.

There are a few different programs available for free to make the upgrade which I will not post here as I do not represent any. If you ask I can recommend the one I used.

So in a nut shell software development is dynamic. Look how many changes there are in ARC. There is NO REASON you should be using printer firmware that is 2 -3 years old and missing basic features. I am not sure if many know you should keep it up to date. 10 minutes can give you safety piece of mind and better prints to boot.

Perry