JOSH'S MANCAVE LIVE

As with most printers this started off life as a standard printer well in my case this is a second-hand printer that allows me to do a lot of promo bits for the cave and for my day jobs the joys of being someone mad enough to run 3 jobs the family business/Crafting business/Man Cave, blogger. The wife might argue that the blogging bit is no a real job but i beg to differ.

I got a great deal on a second had printer load of mugs and some sublimation printing paper.

drove 30 mins out of town to grab this kit and well worth the money i paid a lot less than the printer alone would cost.

So why the Ricoh printer well in my case space is premium and this is a nice compact unit the fact its ink-based refillable cartridge system is a doddle to install and use.

its great machine to learn on as there is a lot of information on this printer on youtube so lots of setting up guides.

as new to this being a bit of a learning curve but getting there finding heat and time is the hard part of sublimation printing.

but once you have got your head around that it’s easy. i am getting there slowly but think i have now found the sweet spot on the printer side just to get the heat pressing parts

pros:

• Small and compact A4 printer.
• Easy refillable cart system.
• lots of guides on how to use this printer
• aftermarket inks cheap

Cons

• sealed ink cleaning bin single-use only have to replace so far looks like will last a long time.
• issues with windows 10 and drivers have had to run off the LAN
• inks are expensive if brought off sawgrass

I would recommend this machine for someone who wants to set up something out of the box without having to reset chips and other complications

I have been after one of these bad boys for an over a month but they are hard to find in stock as in short supply in the UK as so popular as the 3d gods have been reviewing them. elegoo support on amazon tipped me off of stock returning and i managed to snag the last one on amazon. time to review it.

What’s In the box?

Very impressive packaging from such a cheap machine after removing the foam you are greeted a with a box labelled tools and the printer.

after removing another layer of foam you will find the print plate lose encased in foam. i finished unpacking the tools and printer. You are greeted with a nice easy to use manual. so what’s in the box?

• Hex driver not sure what this i used for probably changing the vat screen
• Printing plate.
• Snips for cutting supports off.
• 2 x Hex Keys 1 for locking the print head in place the other must be for maintenance.
• Measuring jug for filtering the leftover resin into before pouring back into a bottle,
• 5 Face masks not sure the need for these as resin does not pong.
• Paint filters for straining used resin through so you can return it to the bottle.
• Some spare nuts and screws just in case you lose any.
• Nitrile gloves couple of pairs will need more
• 3d printed 45-degree drip tool.
• Plastic scraper for removing prints.
• Powerpack with local plug in my case UK.
• Instructions
• USB Key with rook test print instructions and slicing software

What’s not included.

Now you will need to buy resin separately i have gone for the Elegoo standard resin 500g transparent green for £20 off amazon. going to order some other colours soon.

You are also going to need some bits to clean and cure the print afterwards. After watching some videos i brought a pickle jar airtight this comes with a drip tray some 91+ % isopropanol alcohol to clean the print, some UV light to cure the print this can be sunlight.

I have ordered a UV light and turntable that i will make a curing chamber in the future will be an upcoming project.

The Setup.

This is probably the quickest setup i have ever done on a 3d printer.

1. plug in the printer and turn it on makes a beep and its ready select settings and manual raise the z-axis by about 100mm 10 presses on up button.
2. Get build plate loosen 2 grub screws and attach the build plate to the z-axis
3. Press the plate levelling button the plate will home and move up and down a few time then tighten the grub screws. plate is now levelled.
4. move build plate 100mm up the z-axis.
5. Check the uv screen is working this step i skipped as it was late.
6. fill resin vat to 1/3 full insert the USB key and press the printer button to navigate to rook print and press play.
7. Cover the machine, with UV cover i sat and waited till i heard the pop sound this was first layer being taken up by the build plate.
8. Come back 4hr 30mins later and print will be done i came back next morning.

The Morning after

Curing the print.

now this is the dangerous bit and requires cloves do not handle resin without gloving up as this stuff is toxic. i also put safety glasses on as just don’t want to risk it.

using the supplied 3d printed bracket I placed the build plate on it to allow any access resin to drip off the plate.

after 10 mins i came back using the scrapper i gently took the prints off the build ad plate put them into my pickle container filled halfway with isopropanol alcohol shook the sealed jar to remove any access resin.

i then put the prints outside for 30mins to cure.

The result.

Wow I am impressed with this printer yes it’s a bit messier than an FDM but the quality of the print is amazing going to start my first project to see how it handles a model off Thingiverse.

Summery.

I would recommend this printer for small quality prints it’s quite easy to use so far will review the slicing software shortly. as its resin would watch a load of videos first as safety is key.

Pros

• High-quality prints.
• Easy to set up and use.
• Not too smelly.
• Compact unit.
• Offline printing.
• Well packed.
• Price.

Cons

• Risk of harm from resin.
• The power switch is on the back
• the USB slot is on the back
• Getting material off the build plate is a little hard

All in all happy with my purchase can see it being a good fit in the cave. would recommend it to everyone just finding them has proven to be a challenge as in sort supply at the sale price as people are buying them and marketing up to £400+ on ebay.

A for future mods to the machine, I have a USB extension lead will try seeing if it will take it as will then mount the USB at the front and have a led extension with an on/off switch will see if i can then add the on/off to the front of the machine. so minimal mod to make it great will cove this later. will post the first project later once it done.

After a lot deliberation about what heat press i should get, i decided that the 3D press was right for me as can do more than a press a T-shirt and do costers.

Which is ironic as my first job is to do some costers for a trade show for my other business.

On my return from wales disassembled my cr-10 and cleared space for my new toy

Got to work on Tuesday after a week away to be greeted with big-box do love new toys.

now to unbox it so what’s in the box.

• 1 x set heat gloves
• 2 x 11oz mug wraps
• 1 x 15oz mug wrap
• Spare vacuum sheet
• Spare Tubing.
• Power Cable
• Manual.

All and unpacked and removed all plastics and packaging fired it straight up and through i would test out a coster fired up the tried to test vacuum it but just buzzed nothing happened.

I then realised i had to connect vacuum tube to nozzle now vacuums. fist test run didn’t sublimate to well as was not making a proper seal.

I have since watched a video and no know i have to make cuts around the outer edges of the paper to get it to make a good vacuum seal so that was my next issue solved.

In the video i watched it showed 4 costers being done at once 180c for 4 mins. so i tried that It did sublimate but colours are washed and not right.

I think this might have been as i was running 1 only might need less time so tonight i will be running the test again 80 seconds on the clock and different print settings.

Arg no joy now think its pressure issue with the machine will do some more testing on this tonight as i have read over the manual and want to check vacuum pump as was mention about removing water. as i printed 2 costers to a sheet second one i applied to a mug with 180c temp and 180 seconds now its worked colours are right but fuzzy so going to reduce the time as read this is caused by too much time to see if i can get my sublimation temperatures/times right.

Finally cracked It had some shit coasters that don’t sublimate well as just tried with some name badges 185c 4 mins can do 6 at a time no issue Colours came out well

I also tested a metal bottle opener worked well I know it’s not straight was 2 am in the morning

This is a great machine now that I have figured out my issue being cheap coasters. As with my sublimation journey, it’s been a bit of a learning curve.

Summery

This a nice solid build Machine with a wide range of uses for sublimation. It’s very user-friendly and easy to set up. Heats up to 180 c in around 5 mins or less. I am happy with my purchase

Pros

• Silicon moulds for range items ie phone cases mouse cover travel bottles, mugs.
• Compact uni
• Vacuumed seal
• Easy setup and use

Cons

• Not cheap
• Some noise when running

This is for a creator and can see it being a useful part of my side business. now i know its just the issue with cheap coasters. I have now found a reliable source of sublimation blanks should be plane sailing.