Anycubic Mono X Large

Discussion in '3D Hardware' started by paul_l, Sep 3, 2020.

  1. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    It’s not that hard. Depends on the program you use.
    Just start at the begging.
     
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  2. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    It's surprising how easy it is to get started, just start with something simple, I made back to back gauges as early items, just a cylinder with a cut out for an axle and a handle. Lets you establish the accuracy of the printer, and only a few pennies worth of resin / filament.

    Paul
     
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  3. paul blythe

    paul blythe Full Member

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    3d printing is something id like to get into. I have access to Autocad through work. Currently working from home so could use it at home for now. Ive tried using some of the free or more affordable 3d modelling packages and have struggled a bit with them. After using autocad for 20 years im so stuck in my ways.
     
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  4. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi Paul

    Have a look at Fusion 360, for personal use (or comercial use for companies with less than $100,000 turnover) it's free of charge. Coming from the Autodesk stable there should be some comonality.

    Paul
     
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  5. paul blythe

    paul blythe Full Member

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    Thanks I just had a look. I'd previously considered it but as my computer was logged into my work autodesk account it kept asking me to pay for a license. Once id realised if i created a personal account i could get it free i've downloaded it. It looks like a slightly simplifed version of autocad with pretty icons. The commands seem to be very similar. Im a bit old school and input commands using the keyboard on autocad so will have a bit of a learning curve using the icons and menus
     
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  6. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    And it's here :thumbs:

    Parcel actually arrived yesterday, and it's taken over 24 hours for me to get the chance to unbox it :facepalm:


    Boy is this well packed



    Minimum thickness of high density foam is 30mm

    Removing the top bits of foam and additional corner strengtheners, I could remove the cover.

    Anycubic have gone down the route others have gone and replaced the enclosed print area with a lift off lid.


    This is probably the largest printer I would want to have this sort of lid on. The lid is bigger than my waste bin :whatever:

    The lid was covering the rest of the goodies



    Working clockwise from 6 o'clock Build plate, 9 o'clock power brick , 12 o'clock resin tank, 3 o'clock the linear rails, and in the center the remaining accessories - wooden handled 75mm metal paint scraper, with a ground bevel edge to the blade to aid in removing the models from the build plate. Plastic 60mm scraper to help remove the resin from the tank when pouring the resin back into the bottle. Conical Filters , nitrile gloves, face mask, 3 allen keys, usb stick (unbranded), wifi antenna, retaining screws for the resin tank, and some spare screws for the FEP retaining frames.




    Unlike the Photon's I already have there was no spare FEP, I will need to order some up, as you never know when one will fail, and we know how Murphy loves to apply when there is no spare available.

    TBC - cant post any more pics in this post.

    Paul
     
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  7. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    I do like the handles and feet on the resin tank


    The feet stops the base of the FEP touching the work surface, and also act as an rough alignment aid.


    The retaining screws for the resin tank are threaded through the handles and into the countersunk threaded holes.

    The only assembly task was to fit the wifi antenna - a whole 5 seconds. This works with an app for the phone - QR codes for the Android and IOS systems are on the printed instructions. I've yet to setup the wifi on the printer, and to be honest not sure if I'll use it as I don't think you can print direct from the PC - but I've yet to look at that. And I just tend to put the files on to the usb sticks. Mind you I will now have to organise the sticks a bit better as the files are not transferable between the Photon and the Photon Mono X.

    Oh almost forgot I had to remove protective plastic from the display screen, the build plate and the lcd screen. There is protective layers on the outside of the lid, but i'll leave it in place as gloves tend to get resin on, and this may keep the lid in good condition for longer.

    The only bit of setup required was to level the plate - a really simple task.
    Raise the head assembly 10 mm via the control panel
    Fit the build plate, and slacken the 4 side lock screws
    Insert the sheet of paper supplied for levelling on top of the build screen (photocopier paper will do).
    Press the Home button
    The head assembly will lower and the build plate will move within the adjusting slots
    Apply slight pressure to the build plate and tighten the adjusting screws.
    Press the Z=0 button - this is better than on the original Photons, as this button is at a different menu level.
    Accept the prompts and you're done.

    Next raise the head 50 or 60 mm to make inserting the resin tank and securing screws easier.

    And you're ready


    and with the cover


    Just for comparision the plain alluminium finish is the Photon Mono X build plate, the anodised blue is the original Photon build plate.


    I'll try to print something tomorrow - or is that later today as it's now 01:10.

    The Z axis motor noise is a lot quieter than the photon, and at idle the unit is very quiet, that will change once the printing starts, as there are a couple of larger fans on the rear of the base unit.

    Paul
     
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  8. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Excellent . Look forward to seeing some results...

    may invest myself in the new year. Will follow with interest.
     
  9. gormo

    gormo Staff Member Administrator

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    That`s one humdinger of a machine Paul.
    A little bird told me that Toto is compiling a list of items for you to manufacture once you`re up and running.....:facepalm::faint::hammer::scratchchin:
    Have fun
    :tophat:Gormo
     
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  10. redpiperbob

    redpiperbob Full Member

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    I have had mine a couple of weeks now all I can say is WOW IT'S FANTASTIC.
    Be seeing you
    Bob
     
  11. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Looked at the WiFi settings and it couldn't be simpler - a three line text file, with the wifi configs and password. put the text file on the usb stick, insert into the printer and select the file to print. Then hey presto your setup.

    I've even looked at the manual :facepalm: :scratchchin: :avatar:, a 50 odd page pdf and is very informative with instructions on supports, hollowing out, drain holes.

    I like the max fill line in the resin vat, as the build plate is large, it will displace a fair amount resin and for large prints the temptation to overfill the vat is high.

    The cover has a label on the lower rear side, this is used to detect the lid is in place, as per the Wash n Cure. However, unlike the Wash n Cure this functionality can be over-ridden, and by default is disabled. Now due to the smell of the resin, leaving the cover off is not recommended, but allows easy access for users to film the print process.

    Another nice addition on the usb stick, is a printer resin config file (R_E_R_F.pwmx), printing this file for each resin will allow the optimal print settings to be established for the resins, hopefully reducing the hit and miss aspect of establishing the correct settings for the resin in your printing environment.

    Hopefully I will get to do a test print sometime today.

    Paul
     
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  12. ianvolvo46

    ianvolvo46 Staff Member Moderator

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    Is this the 'Dark' side's 'Dark' side? :faint:
     
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  13. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    no with such a bright UV light it could be the Darksides bright side.

    Must admit I'm well chuffed I pre-ordered the printer back in Sept with a cost of $589 USD + p&p, now available for pre-order from Anycubic for $759.

    Paul
     
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  14. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    For those who may be interested, Anycubic have the Photon Zero on offer at $139 (approx £105)

    This is smaller than the Original Photon

    Anycubic Photon Zero
    Technical Specifications
    ● Machine: Anycubic Photon Zero
    ● Technique: LCD-based SLA
    ● Light Source: 405nm
    ● XY Res.: 0.1155mm, 854*480p
    ● Z Axis Res.: 0.01mm
    ● Layer Res.: 0.01~0.2mm
    ● Printing Speed: 30mm(H)/hour
    ● Power: 30W
    ● Materials: 405nm UV resin
    ● Machine size: 180mm(L)*195mm(W)*367mm(H)
    Printing Volume: 97mm(L)*54mm(W)*150mm(H)
    ● Weight: ~4.7kg



    [​IMG]

    It's main limitation is the build size 97(L) x 54(W) x 150(H), the print speed of 30mm/hour, means any print should be done within 5hrs max, and most parts Chimneys, domes, vacuum cyls, battery boxes should be done within a couple of hours - mmmmmm no got enough as it is :avatar:

    Paul
     
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  15. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Andy sent me some revised files for York Pauls Leek Station build.

    A little work carried out to merge all the components together and split them up into Front and rear assemblies.

    Windows required Single Window x 7 Double Window x 7 & Tripple Window x 4

    Loaded up into the slicing software - this is Anycubics own software, and as there is no profile available for Chitubox I have new software to learn.

    upload_2020-11-17_1-5-43.png

    Sliced and the software reckons it will take 2h18m to complete.

    File transferred on to the usb stick resin loaded and away we go.


    I must admit I'm impressed with the speed, normal exposure for the layers is 1.5 sec, whereas for the Photon it was 18 seconds, now this may need refining as this is the first print and the exposure settings may be way off.

    I'll find out in the morning - time for bed.

    Paul
     
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  16. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Wow!

    I’m honoured! I didn’t think that my designs would be your first print?

    do you want the O gauge Blythe Bridge box model... :avatar:
     
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  17. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    The down side are your prints were the first to fail :avatar:

    And fail they did :facepalm:

    To be honest I wasn't confident it would work, the base contact area is small and appeared to be very fast, but it did print on the Photons so thought it was worth a punt.

    I'm now printing the test print that comes with the printer .....

    Comparing the print settings between the test print and the window print (using the default settings for basic resin - I used Anycubic Grey resin) there are differences.

    upload_2020-11-17_11-13-59.png

    The left hand table is the default settings used for the window print, the right hand table is the settings Anycubic used for the test print.

    Normal Exposure time is 0.5 seconds longer, but also the Z lift speeds are considerably slower on the on the test print.

    Just got three hours to wait and see if the test print works.

    In the mean time my two Photons are getting to work on the prints for Leek Railway station - The tripple and single windows on one machine the double windows on the other, estimated print time 7.5h for each

    Now if the Test print works, the same print settings applied to the Leek Window frame sets will increase the print time from 2h17m to 3h15m, and thats for the full set and there is room to spare on the build plate. So we are looking at 3h15m vs 2 x 7h30m, its easy to see why I'm getting excited :thumbup:.

    Time to get my finger out and get on with learning the CAD software :facepalm:, Andy produces some superb models in 123D, but i'm probably missing something but I have issues. So I am looking at Fusion 360, Blender and Solidworks. Blender is Free (open source), Fusion 360 by Autodesk is free for users / companies with a turnover of less than $100K, and solid works price will bring tears to your eyes, but is the system we use at work, so while I can logon to the system I can play with the software, and get training from the designers at work.

    Paul
     
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  18. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    I’ll take that compliment! :thumbs::thumbs:
    And it wasn’t my fault they failed :giggle::giggle:
     
  19. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    The time drop is fantastic though...
    and the detail compared to a FDM printer is fantastic. A few years ago we could only dream of this for modelling.
     
  20. gormo

    gormo Staff Member Administrator

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    That is one impressive machine Paul,
    It`s like anything I guess......you have to do the slog and learn how to use it ......but you will get there.:thumbs:
    :tophat:Gormo
     
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