WEBVTT 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 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:10.559 look at. This is Any Cubic's new multimaterial printer with their Ace Gen 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:14.320 2 multifunctional system, which shortens retraction time paths and minimizes the 00:00:13.040 --> 00:00:17.840 amount of purge you have to do. The system comes capable of printing four 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:21.359 different filaments at a time by default. So, you don't need to buy any 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:26.160 extra things off the top to get started with multifilament printing. 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 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:33.040 to note this is a prototype, so the actual production units may vary 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:36.480 slightly. Quickly looking at how it's packaged, it looks like it's pretty well 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:39.760 assembled. I wouldn't be too concerned about things getting damaged in 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:42.559 shipping, though, right off the bat, there is a fair bit to assemble once you 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:47.680 get it out of the box compared to some of the competitors. Looks like we have 00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:49.520 the print base first. They certainly 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 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:58.480 necessarily the best for environmental, but you know, at least the product's 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 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 00:01:06.479 --> 00:01:12.240 unlocking the Z axis, which is fairly standard for some printers, just again 00:01:10.720 --> 00:01:14.960 to make sure nothing gets damaged in shipping. Does look like they include 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 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:23.280 components as well, including a needle for what I would assume is clearing out 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:26.799 the nozzle. Weirdly common for 3D printers. Unlike some printers I've 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:31.360 seen, these look like they're using plastic brackets. I've seen some other 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:34.400 manufacturers using metal brackets, but shouldn't be a problem one way or 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:38.799 another. We have what looks like some cast zinc components to assemble things 00:01:36.320 --> 00:01:42.079 together or potentially aluminum. Looks like the mounts are pretty sturdy for 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:46.960 this type of printer. I'm sure it's plenty good enough. And the main axis 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:50.960 are coupled together with a belt for the vertical aspect, 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:56.759 which should again be more than adequate. As much as I love Allen keys, 00:01:53.759 --> 00:01:56.759 screwdrivers. 00:01:57.600 --> 00:02:03.520 And for those of you that don't like cast finished or machine parts showing, 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:07.920 they do include some aesthetic covers for these as well. Next up, connecting 00:02:05.520 --> 00:02:10.920 the print head, camera, and XY motor cables. 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:19.599 It's pretty slick mounting in terms of uh spool holders. It's one of the 00:02:17.200 --> 00:02:24.239 quicker ones I've assembled. And time to install a whole bunch of 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:28.720 teflon tubes. Looking a little bit like an octopus, 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. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:37.360 Going through and putting this together. Pretty straightforward all things considered, especially for a printer at 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:42.239 this price point. And they do send a double-sided textured PEI plate that 00:02:39.519 --> 00:02:47.519 they say is good for PLA, ABS, and PETG G. Interesting that the this particular 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:49.519 one doesn't say it's good for uh TPU, 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 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:57.599 that holds it down, which is fairly standard. Overall build construction 00:02:54.959 --> 00:03:01.680 looks acceptable. It's a bunch of aluminum extrusion for the supports. 00:03:00.160 --> 00:03:06.000 Some plastic couplings at the top and bottom with stickers everywhere to make 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.560 sure things don't come apart. Ah, so they do include a very short length of 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 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:20.400 like you can run it just locally. And the classic download an app. One second, 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:24.800 please. Make an any cubic account. Can I skip this? 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 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:32.319 that the Zaxis mounts are off, which is good. uh if they could damage things if 00:03:30.799 --> 00:03:36.799 they're still on. I'm glad that they included this cuz people will forget if 00:03:35.040 --> 00:03:42.239 you don't tell them. Kind tips. Calibration is about to begin and 00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:43.760 expected duration is 35 minutes. While 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 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:55.200 silicone covered hotend, and it does look like their melt zone is very short, 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:59.920 which would help contribute to their claims about less waste and faster print 00:03:57.760 --> 00:04:04.640 times. And part of their ACE Gen 2 system is adaptive force on the 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:09.360 filaments that allows you to compensate for using different types of filaments 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. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:17.840 and they have a little tiny and relatively whiny cooling fan, which I'm 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 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:27.040 mind. Other features of this printer include active bed leveling with 49 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:30.960 point compensation, and apparently active noise cancelling, which I'm 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:35.520 guessing is how the motors will function and try to minimize how much noise the 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:39.120 printer makes outside of the fan. We'll get the rest of this thing set up, 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:41.919 calibrated, and run a print. Then we can come back and talk about the experience. 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 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.479 some thoughts right off the bat. Setting it up pretty simple, pretty 00:04:48.479 --> 00:04:55.040 straightforward. They have a pretty nice UI and audio input for when you're 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:58.639 feeding in your filaments. Nice and immediate feedback and it gives 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:02.320 you a good indication that you've done it correctly. You can feed through all 00:05:00.080 --> 00:05:04.720 of them individually and the UI for implementing it is pretty 00:05:03.440 --> 00:05:08.560 straightforward. You can choose all of your colors fairly easily and choose in 00:05:06.960 --> 00:05:11.840 which location they're going to. In terms of getting a print started, it was 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 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:19.199 on their machine, which is this multicolored dragon. It came out really 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:24.560 well. They have some pretty good texture details on it, and the multiolor worked 00:05:21.440 --> 00:05:26.720 really well. One detail, as with all 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:30.000 single extruder multifilaments, there is a fair bit of material waste. Though, 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:34.160 compared to some of the other competition, it is substantially better, 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:38.720 but it's still quite a bit of plastic for a print this size. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:43.039 So, that is a thing to take into account. A couple of other features, it 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. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:51.919 The usability of it is okay. You take one of your filament rolls, scan it on 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:56.000 the RFID reader, and then I believe within 5 minutes, if you feed it into a 00:05:54.160 --> 00:06:00.400 specific location, it'll automatically load it into that spool location. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:04.400 Relatively simple, but also a bit contrived when the UI for entering them 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:08.080 here is pretty simple. One feature that I learned about, not from my own trial, 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:12.160 but from researching it a little bit online, is their filament detection. Out 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:16.240 of most of the other printers that I've used, this one I'm actually quite 00:06:14.400 --> 00:06:20.319 impressed by. If one of the spools runs out of filament, the head will detect it 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 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 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:34.639 actually very impressive. Other printer manufacturers could take note on on this 00:06:32.479 --> 00:06:38.240 one. While this is getting started, a couple other features that it does have 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 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:45.680 off. That helps it probe more consistently and have more clean prints 00:06:43.280 --> 00:06:50.800 in general. Weird UI things on this screen. Anytime the print bed is hot, it 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 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 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:03.680 print, which is just a little weird. A couple of other features that I noticed 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:07.599 later on. There is a camera on board for, I believe, AI detection of print 00:07:05.599 --> 00:07:11.199 failures and to enable a time-lapse of your print if you want to. They also 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 00:07:12.880 --> 00:07:18.160 see what you're doing for one reason or another. After going through and using 00:07:16.080 --> 00:07:23.199 this machine, I'm pretty pleased with it, especially for the price that it's 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:25.199 at. With the retail price being $400 US, 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:28.960 it's a pretty accessible printer, especially for what it is. I do have a 00:07:27.039 --> 00:07:32.800 bit of a question about longevity and how the hardware will stand up over 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:36.560 time. And as with all multifilament single extruder printers, you do end up 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 00:07:38.880 --> 00:07:45.120 printers that solve that problem are a couple of times more expensive than 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:49.759 this. So for what it is, highly impressed. Thanks again to Any Cubic for 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:52.720 sponsoring this ShortCircuit. And get subscribed.