Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had the Creator X for a month after having used a MakerBot Replicator 2 for a month. Overall, I'm happy and finding the printers comparable once you muck about with Makerware for a while. Below are 2 sections- first a comparison for purchasing decisions, then a guide on how I customized Makerware for Creator X. Replicator 2 vs Creator X Despite being a power suck, the Creator X heated build plate is a great improvement over the unheated Replicator 2 build plate. ABS requires a heated build plate, and even with PLA it makes prints come out much better. With Creator X I heat to 70 C for PLA and I still have the original Kapton tape after having printed about 100 times, making for perfectly smooth surfaces where the model touches the plate. With the Replicator 2 I had to replace the painter's tape with nearly every print, the prints would still warp at any corner touching the tape, and the surfaces that touched the tape would be a bumpy mess. Replicator 2 has one print head, Creator X has two. I'm not crazy about that trade off, maybe because I'm using this for injection mold prototyping and don't care about dual color prints. The second print head adds weight and can knock against built layers, requiring slower print speeds and making it harder to print arrays of pieces. It's nice to have for quick color swapping and as a backup in case there's a break in one print head, but on balance I would rather it wasn't there. That's a sad thing to say about a feature that costs a good deal of money. In terms of print quality, I'm finding the Replicator 2 was better at 45 degree overhangs and 90 degree corners. The Creator X seems to curl up corner layers and sag the overhangs, even after I mucked endlessly with Makerware settings. I also keep getting bubbles on surfaces built over 10% infill (30% infills and solid infills come out fine, maybe it's related to the slower print speed required). To get Creator X happy you'll need to add custom supports and tie downs to corners and can't print large areas of overhang, at least compared to the Makerbot. I find that these issues are somewhat made up for by using the build plate as a surface. In terms of cost, probably the biggest trade off for the much lower cost of the Creator X is that you lose the 1 year warranty and only get a 3 month warranty. If I could make an ask in the next version of Creator X it would be to ditch the second print head and add in a 2 year warranty. Apparently they back their products well, so why not step up and offer a real warranty? Even a 1 year warranty would bump this product to 5 stars from my point of view. Beyond those differences, the products are very similar overall. They have essentially the same LCD screens, apparent build quality, and print quality capabilities. They can both be run with Makerware or ReplicatorG, and they both support USB direct connect or SD cards for offline printing. Using Makerware with Creator X The main drawback in making the switch was losing the Makerware software and support community around it. The open source ReplicatorG software doesn't come close in terms of quality in my experience. It's much slower, it doesn't generate a preview, it's awkward with dual print heads, and there's no one stop settings file for getting everything nicely configured. The good news is that Makerware is completely compatible with Creator X if you set it up for "Replicator Dual", although the default settings produce crappy prints. It took me over 50 failed prints, but I've figured out how to get Makerware happy with the Creator X. Below are my learnings: Speed (Updated 5/1/14 to be a bit slower still): You must run the Creator X at a slower speed than Makerware defaults. If you see vibration, your corners are sloppy, or your model is getting knocked off the platform then drop the speed. Here's where I ended up- it's possible you can get away with higher speeds: "rapidMoveFeedRateXY": 150 → 70 "doDynamicSpeed": false → true (slowdowns at corners, very important) "dynamicSpeedSlowdownRatio": 0.3 → 0.5 (to prevent some blobbing at corners) "doDynamicSpeedInteriorShells" : false → true "firstlayer": { "feedrate": 30 → 15 (to improve adhesion) "infill": { "feedrate": 90 → 40 (to cut vibration) "insets": { "feedrate": 90 → 40 (to improve corners) "outlines": { "feedrate": 90 → 30 (to improve corners) "minLayerDuration": 5.0 → 30.0 (so prior layer has time to cool, preventing curling) Temperature: You want a high temperature for the first layer, then drop to the minimal temperature for subsequent layers. That way you get good build plate adhesion and you also get the ability to do overhangs that aren't drippy. The minimum temperature for different spools of PLA can vary, but here's what I've used successfully: "platformTemp": 0 → 70 (for great Kapton tape adhesion) ExtruderTemp0 (right) or 1 (left): 230 → 195 (This is the default temp to print with, and should be as low as possible so long as filament feeds without clicking) "firstlayer": { "temperature_disabled" → "temperature": 220 (The first layer you want a high temp so the stuff really sticks to the Kapton tape and any build up in the print head gets liquefied and pushed out) For ABS you must bump the temperatures, here's what I use happily: "platformTemp": 110 ExtruderTemp0 (right) or 1 (left): 220 "firstlayer": { "temperature_disabled" → "temperature": 230 Extrusion: To switch print heads, you need to change.... The "Object" extruder setting in the Makerware GUI The "defaultExtruder" in the settings file, where 0 is right and 1 is left (the opposite of reading order) Match "defaultSupportMaterial" and "defaultRaftMaterial" to the "defaultExtruder", assuming you use default supports or rafts Filament Feed Rate: You'll need to print a calibration cube to figure this out, but in my experience it was necessary to lower the feed rate by upping the diameter and multiplier. Here's where I ended up with a good cube: "feedDiameter": 1.77 → 1.82 "feedstockMultiplier": 0.93 → 1.0 "infillDensity": 0.1 → 0.3 (to prevent bubbling on flat ceiling surfaces) Raft and Supports: I don't use Makerware auto generated raft or supports with Creator X- things stick well to the Kapton tape and come out smooth, unlike with the Replicator 2 where I always used them. Sometimes you need custom supports and rafts though. The rule I use when a support is needed is to create 1/64th inch thick circular base that touches the plate, then on top of that a 1/16th inch buttress that reaches up to touch an edge of the model. It's annoying the first few times, but once you get the hang of it it's easy to create custom supports. Hope this was helpful! I'll answer any questions in the comments section...