Well, as many of you know I've been waiting for my own very 3D printer kit for quite a while (almost 16 months). But finally, this past Wednesday (Feb, 5th 2014) I finally got it. If you want to read more about it's arrival you can check it here.
And if you fancy really poor quality videos and you see the initial unboxing here.
It was mostly fun to assemble it and even taking it slow it only took me about 8 hours to assemble it. Some of you were even able to see me doing it through the Hangout. If you haven't or you want to relive the experience you can check my blog about my Makibox Assembly Adventures.
However, I only actually tested it the next day after work, at first I had some issues that fustrated me a lot (I might blog about them later and/or elsewhere), but as soon as I got to actually print... my first print turned out rather nice.
Pandora's (Maki)Box first test/calibration cube
On the other hand, it only got worse after that (hey that's me, making it bad for everyone and everything :D )
Kariloy's Parade of Grotesque 3D test/calibration prints
However, the next day (today) I managed to cool off... (lithium) greased the driving rods, tighten up the hot end, cleaned and re-leveled the bed (now with a second pass) and manage to get a nice (6th) test cube afterwards (photo still not available but bound to be added to the Parade of Grotesque... ). This cube is at least as nice as the first one. At the exact moment I'm writing this blog I'm printing some gcode another fellow makiboxer sent me... not sure what it is... beyond that looks like a pile of concentric cylinders (at some point I tought it was going to be a chest piece, a rook... aaww). Regardless, apparently the print is turning out ok.
On a general note, and with only my limited experience and time with it I would say it's quite good for it's price, and despite some fustration that it already caused me, I still quite like it :D
If you're on a tight budget, and don't envision printing very big parts (build volume: 149mmx108mmx86mm) and/or like me do not have a lot of available free storage space at home this might be the printer for you (well, my Pandora/Anesidora, that's MINE... but one like her... or very similar)
And that's it for now...
P.S. - Yup, I've cornishly nicknamed her Pandora/Anesidora (spoiler alert: foreshadowing in the works), and yes it doesn't seem to fit my usual naming convention :P
Below are links for further albums as I keep printing more things:
W11 - TARDISises, wheels and wimen!!!