Flashforge creator pro Review

FlashForge Creator Pro Review – Long Term Impressions

 

The FlashForge Creator Pro is one of the most affordable and popular 3D Printers on today’s market. Creator Pro is produced by FlashForge in China. The printer sells for $900 and can be bought on Amazon or through their direct website. The printer is recommended for intermediate to advanced experienced users. See the Review Below..

What about The Software?

The software that is made by FlashForge is awful. The slicing and automatic support material placement is never correct and causes issues with your model. Simplify3D is much better and will increase the print quality. Simplify3D almost always slices correctly and the automatic support material placement is much better and is easier to remove from the model. SImplify3D sells for $100 but is worth the price if you will be printing many parts. Simplify3D also has many more settings and customization options to optimize your models. Also the dual extruder printing is much easier to setup and understand than the FlashForge software. The printer supports .x3g file format for printing. You can slice your file into this format using Simplify3D. There are also many free softwares you can use.

Specifications Overview

The Flashforge Creator Pro has many great features for its price and useability.

  • Print Speed- Up to 100 mm/s
  • Number of Extruders- Two
  • Nozzle Diameter- .4 mm
  • Layer Resolution- 100-500 microns
  • LCD Controls
  • Enclosed Chamber, (Top Lid can be removed for PLA or ABS depending on chamber temperature needed)
  • Pre-Assembled, (Plug & Play)
  • Filament Diameter- 1.75mm
  • Filament Compatibility- ABS, PLA, PVA
  • Print Via USB or SD Card
  • Heated Build Platform
  • Build Volume- 225mm x 145mm x 150mm

The FlashForge Ease of Use..

The Flashforge Creator Pro is shipped mostly pre-assembled but this does not make it easy to use. Like many other printers, the FlashForge Creator Pro requires manual bed leveling since it does not have automatic bed leveling. The bed level must be very precise to achieve quality prints. The printer supports printing from an SD Card and from a computer using USB. It does not ship with WiFi capabilities but you can add it as an add-on. As mentioned, it comes mostly pre-assembled, but it does require you to attach the printer heads, filament tubes, and spool holders. These things are fairly simple to assemble. The filament loading and unloading are easy to understand once you find the filament section under Utilities. Overall it simple to use but, the bed leveling can cause major issues for beginners.If you are a beginner, we recommend finding a printer that does not require bed leveling to this extent.

 

Flashforge Creator Pro Features

Our favorite part of this printer is its features. The printer is open source with two extruders which allows for dual color printing or water dissolvable supports. It allows any filament brand and is not locked to FlashForge’s material. The heated bed allows you to print ABS filament with minimal warping depending on how well you leveled your bed. The heated bed can heat up to 130C. The extruders can also reach high temperatures up to 280C which allows you to use a large variety of materials. The printer also comes with a blue print bed sticker. When you have leveled you bed correctly, PLA and ABS materials stick very well to the blue sticker on the bed. Overtime you will have the normal 3D Printing problem such as filament jams. The FlashForge Creator Pro makes it very easy to clear jams from the nozzle or from the stepper motor. Overall the features are great for people with experience and can be easy to use depending on your experience.

Print Quality of The Flashforge

The FlashForge Creator Pro’s print quality is average for this price range. The printer can print overhangs very well but has a hard time with small objects. The printer has a range of 100-500 microns and even at the 100 micron setting, very small objects do not come out good, but that is expected of Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Printers. The main factor in the quality of the parts produced is the bed leveling. Bed leveling makes a big difference in the print quality of this printer.

FlashForge Customer Support and Part Availability

The FlashForge customer support is fantastic. If you ordered from their direct website you can email them and they usually respond the same or next day. If you ordered from Amazon and need help, there is a support email on the manual when you receive your printer. When your warranty expires, you may end up needing parts to fix broken parts. FlashForge offers many parts available on their website for sale. If they do not sell the part you need, you can email them to get your specific part. This support and part availability gives the printer even more value for the price.

A Video Review of The Flashforge Creator Pro 3D Printer

Overall Pros and Cons…

Pros

  • Mostly Pre-Assembled
  • Average Print Quality
  • Customer Support and Part Availability
  • Sale Price

 

Cons

  • Noise
  • Adjustments and Upgrades Needed
  • Built with Cheap Parts
  • Very Precise Bed Leveling Needed

 

 

 

 

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