I don't post often about 3D printing. But I love 3D printing so I need to get better about it. And so why not start off the New Year with some fun news!
History First Than New Toys!
I have had a FlashForge Adventure Pro 5M 3D printer for under a year now at this point. (I am too lazy to look up when I purchased it in 2025).
But I did purchase the printer via shopping.io and I paid with Ethereum. I also bought more rolls of filament than I could count via the same method as well. But this isn't a endorsement or critique of shopping.io. DYOR
However, some family members of mine have started to get into this whole 3D printing thing and how it could actually print things of use and not just my weird tech/crypto projects.
So I started to look for other printers that could do the 1 thing that mine can not.
Multicolor Prints!
I bought the Flashforge knowing it could only print in 1 color at a time. I knew that and I bought it as sort of a starter printer. I wanted to get my feet wet so to speak. And I surely did. I just thought it would be a year or 2 before I upgraded. Well turns out 2 years is really less than 1 year.
There were a few things I knew I wanted though when it came to a new printer.
- Larger Build Volume
- Multi Color printing (AMS / CFS / etc)
- Enclosed print bed area for better heating/cooling/etc
- Can print all the same filament my FlashForge can
- Has all the same nozzle sizes that my FlashForge has
With that information I found the printer I wanted (albeit this printer does not have a compatible 0.2mm nozzle like the FlashForge but more on that later).
The Creality K2 Plus Combo!
To Late To Go Back Now
Let's just say... decisions were made!
Today is the Day!
I was reaching out to my contact at Shopping.io for tracking updates, and I will say that it is 1 area that they are NOT good in. But after it was bought and I was told it was expected on January 27th... it arrive on February 1st!
I can't be mad. It came and yes I bought a refurbished version of the Creality K2 Plus Combo. And I did that because a $900 printer that was refurbished by Creality seemed like a better deal than a ~$1,500 brand new printer from Creality!
Let me tell you though... this thing is %$#(#$ HEAVY! I was surprised when I couldn't lift the box myself (safely).
I unboxed it and immediately started to set it up. Then the next thing I did was go get my FlashForge build plate and put it on my new Build Plate to truly show the size differences between the two...
(I will note that the packaging of the printer wasn't best, the front glass door has broken off from the 2 hinges. Luckily the glass door is in 1 piece and I just need to epoxy it back to the metal hinges)
After setting it all up though, I realized just truly how massive it really is!
What was the first thing I printed?????
Benchy of course!
It was nice that even the refurbished version came with 4 rolls of 0.5kg PLA (White, Black, Red, Blue).
What's Next?!?!?
Oh do I have BIG plans for this baby! I won't spoil my plans just yet!
