1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,359 Any cubic sponsored this video and sent over their new Cobra X for us to take a 2 00:00:03,919 --> 00:00:10,559 look at. This is Any Cubic's new multimaterial printer with their Ace Gen 3 00:00:07,759 --> 00:00:14,320 2 multifunctional system, which shortens retraction time paths and minimizes the 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,840 amount of purge you have to do. The system comes capable of printing four 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:21,359 different filaments at a time by default. So, you don't need to buy any 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:26,160 extra things off the top to get started with multifilament printing. 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,679 Ah, I wasn't sure exactly how this was going to come to us. This is a good time 8 00:00:27,519 --> 00:00:33,040 to note this is a prototype, so the actual production units may vary 9 00:00:31,039 --> 00:00:36,480 slightly. Quickly looking at how it's packaged, it looks like it's pretty well 10 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:39,760 assembled. I wouldn't be too concerned about things getting damaged in 11 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:42,559 shipping, though, right off the bat, there is a fair bit to assemble once you 12 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:47,680 get it out of the box compared to some of the competitors. Looks like we have 13 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:49,520 the print base first. They certainly 14 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:55,360 didn't skimp out on the packing foam on this one, which is both good and not 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:58,480 necessarily the best for environmental, but you know, at least the product's 16 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:03,359 probably going to make it to you in one piece. Taking a quick look through their instructions. Doesn't look too 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:09,280 complicated, but there are some parts that you definitely want to make sure you don't forget, especially like 18 00:01:06,479 --> 00:01:12,240 unlocking the Z axis, which is fairly standard for some printers, just again 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,960 to make sure nothing gets damaged in shipping. Does look like they include 20 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:19,200 all of the tools that you need to get the build set up and probably some extra 21 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:23,280 components as well, including a needle for what I would assume is clearing out 22 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:26,799 the nozzle. Weirdly common for 3D printers. Unlike some printers I've 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:31,360 seen, these look like they're using plastic brackets. I've seen some other 24 00:01:28,799 --> 00:01:34,400 manufacturers using metal brackets, but shouldn't be a problem one way or 25 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:38,799 another. We have what looks like some cast zinc components to assemble things 26 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:42,079 together or potentially aluminum. Looks like the mounts are pretty sturdy for 27 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:46,960 this type of printer. I'm sure it's plenty good enough. And the main axis 28 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:50,960 are coupled together with a belt for the vertical aspect, 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:56,759 which should again be more than adequate. As much as I love Allen keys, 30 00:01:53,759 --> 00:01:56,759 screwdrivers. 31 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:03,520 And for those of you that don't like cast finished or machine parts showing, 32 00:02:01,439 --> 00:02:07,920 they do include some aesthetic covers for these as well. Next up, connecting 33 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,920 the print head, camera, and XY motor cables. 34 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:19,599 It's pretty slick mounting in terms of uh spool holders. It's one of the 35 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:24,239 quicker ones I've assembled. And time to install a whole bunch of 36 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:28,720 teflon tubes. Looking a little bit like an octopus, 37 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:32,959 but those are all fed in now. And looks like the next step for this is power on. 38 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:37,360 Going through and putting this together. Pretty straightforward all things considered, especially for a printer at 39 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:42,239 this price point. And they do send a double-sided textured PEI plate that 40 00:02:39,519 --> 00:02:47,519 they say is good for PLA, ABS, and PETG G. Interesting that the this particular 41 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:49,519 one doesn't say it's good for uh TPU, 42 00:02:47,519 --> 00:02:52,959 but I'm I suspect it would probably work fine. They do have a full magnetic bed 43 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:57,599 that holds it down, which is fairly standard. Overall build construction 44 00:02:54,959 --> 00:03:01,680 looks acceptable. It's a bunch of aluminum extrusion for the supports. 45 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:06,000 Some plastic couplings at the top and bottom with stickers everywhere to make 46 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:10,560 sure things don't come apart. Ah, so they do include a very short length of 47 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:14,640 PLA for a test print. Cool. You can skip the uh Wi-Fi configuration. So it looks 48 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:20,400 like you can run it just locally. And the classic download an app. One second, 49 00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:24,800 please. Make an any cubic account. Can I skip this? 50 00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:28,159 Yay, I can. Nice. All right. Next up, it does give you a warning to make sure 51 00:03:26,159 --> 00:03:32,319 that the Zaxis mounts are off, which is good. uh if they could damage things if 52 00:03:30,799 --> 00:03:36,799 they're still on. I'm glad that they included this cuz people will forget if 53 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:42,239 you don't tell them. Kind tips. Calibration is about to begin and 54 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:43,760 expected duration is 35 minutes. While 55 00:03:42,239 --> 00:03:50,480 this thing is calibrating, I wouldn't recommend doing this, but let's take a look under the hood. little heat sink, a 56 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:55,200 silicone covered hotend, and it does look like their melt zone is very short, 57 00:03:52,879 --> 00:03:59,920 which would help contribute to their claims about less waste and faster print 58 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:04,640 times. And part of their ACE Gen 2 system is adaptive force on the 59 00:04:02,319 --> 00:04:09,360 filaments that allows you to compensate for using different types of filaments 60 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:13,920 like TPU or ABS, and you shouldn't have to adjust how firmly it's gripping it. 61 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:17,840 and they have a little tiny and relatively whiny cooling fan, which I'm 62 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:22,800 guessing will be running for the vast majority of the time you're printing. If you're sensitive to that, keep that in 63 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:27,040 mind. Other features of this printer include active bed leveling with 49 64 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:30,960 point compensation, and apparently active noise cancelling, which I'm 65 00:04:28,639 --> 00:04:35,520 guessing is how the motors will function and try to minimize how much noise the 66 00:04:33,199 --> 00:04:39,120 printer makes outside of the fan. We'll get the rest of this thing set up, 67 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,919 calibrated, and run a print. Then we can come back and talk about the experience. 68 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:46,880 Now that I've had an opportunity to take a look through this printer and get a little bit of use out of it, I do have 69 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:50,479 some thoughts right off the bat. Setting it up pretty simple, pretty 70 00:04:48,479 --> 00:04:55,040 straightforward. They have a pretty nice UI and audio input for when you're 71 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:58,639 feeding in your filaments. Nice and immediate feedback and it gives 72 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:02,320 you a good indication that you've done it correctly. You can feed through all 73 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,720 of them individually and the UI for implementing it is pretty 74 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:08,560 straightforward. You can choose all of your colors fairly easily and choose in 75 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,840 which location they're going to. In terms of getting a print started, it was 76 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:15,199 pretty simple as well. The print that I chose to do was one of the default ones 77 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:19,199 on their machine, which is this multicolored dragon. It came out really 78 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:24,560 well. They have some pretty good texture details on it, and the multiolor worked 79 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:26,720 really well. One detail, as with all 80 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:30,000 single extruder multifilaments, there is a fair bit of material waste. Though, 81 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:34,160 compared to some of the other competition, it is substantially better, 82 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:38,720 but it's still quite a bit of plastic for a print this size. 83 00:05:37,199 --> 00:05:43,039 So, that is a thing to take into account. A couple of other features, it 84 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:48,400 does have an RFID reader for being able to scan your spool and then load it in. 85 00:05:45,759 --> 00:05:51,919 The usability of it is okay. You take one of your filament rolls, scan it on 86 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:56,000 the RFID reader, and then I believe within 5 minutes, if you feed it into a 87 00:05:54,160 --> 00:06:00,400 specific location, it'll automatically load it into that spool location. 88 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:04,400 Relatively simple, but also a bit contrived when the UI for entering them 89 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:08,080 here is pretty simple. One feature that I learned about, not from my own trial, 90 00:06:06,639 --> 00:06:12,160 but from researching it a little bit online, is their filament detection. Out 91 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:16,240 of most of the other printers that I've used, this one I'm actually quite 92 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:20,319 impressed by. If one of the spools runs out of filament, the head will detect it 93 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:24,080 and then spit out a very short length of filament that is the scrap. Unlike a lot 94 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:30,400 of other ones where you'd have to feed it back all the way through the tube or something like that, the design here is 95 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:34,639 actually very impressive. Other printer manufacturers could take note on on this 96 00:06:32,479 --> 00:06:38,240 one. While this is getting started, a couple other features that it does have 97 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:41,360 on the back, a nozzle wiper just to help make sure that the tip's cleaned right 98 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:45,680 off. That helps it probe more consistently and have more clean prints 99 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:50,800 in general. Weird UI things on this screen. Anytime the print bed is hot, it 100 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:56,319 says the heat bed is hot. Please do dot dot dot. Please do what though? There is 101 00:06:54,400 --> 00:07:00,000 a way to like exit it out, but it'll always come back whenever you start a 102 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:03,680 print, which is just a little weird. A couple of other features that I noticed 103 00:07:01,759 --> 00:07:07,599 later on. There is a camera on board for, I believe, AI detection of print 104 00:07:05,599 --> 00:07:11,199 failures and to enable a time-lapse of your print if you want to. They also 105 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:14,560 include a nice little privacy screen for if you just want to make sure it can't 106 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:18,160 see what you're doing for one reason or another. After going through and using 107 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:23,199 this machine, I'm pretty pleased with it, especially for the price that it's 108 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:25,199 at. With the retail price being $400 US, 109 00:07:23,199 --> 00:07:28,960 it's a pretty accessible printer, especially for what it is. I do have a 110 00:07:27,039 --> 00:07:32,800 bit of a question about longevity and how the hardware will stand up over 111 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:36,560 time. And as with all multifilament single extruder printers, you do end up 112 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:41,120 with a fair bit of waste if you're doing a lot of multiolor 3D printing. But 113 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:45,120 printers that solve that problem are a couple of times more expensive than 114 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:49,759 this. So for what it is, highly impressed. Thanks again to Any Cubic for 115 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:52,720 sponsoring this ShortCircuit. And get subscribed.