FlashForge Creator Max Dual Extruder 3D Printer, 3D-FFG-CMAX

This is my first 3d printer, so I’m a newbie. But this thing is so easy to use it makes me look good. Since getting it; it has almost been running non-stop. And, I have had only two errors and those were probably because of cleaning. I am totally happy and impressed.

If you’re not handy with computers, or are a tinkerer at heart, this may not be the machine for you. I do like this machine, though it may not seem like it from some of the following comments. These comments are mainly given in the hope that improvements will be made to the supporting materials.I was looking at the Creator Pro and when I decided to pull the trigger, it was not available. The FlashForge site showed that the Creator Max was new the replacement for the Pro, and was a step up – hence the extra $150. So I ordered one here on Amazon.I received the machine, and performed the initial assembly and bed levelling. I then copied a model that I had sliced with FlashPrint onto the provided SD card. I then discovered that the SD card reader was not functional. After several emails to customer support, their solution was to send a new motherboard. I suppose this was to save shipping a new Max, and return shipping mine. But that meant I had to disassemble the bottom half of the machine to replace it. In the end, it would’ve been better for everyone had they just replaced the printer.FF customer support is quick to respond, I give them kudos for that. But they do assume a good deal of technical savvy on the part of the customer, and if they don’t have the answer, they need to check with their engineering team (in China it seems).In the meantime, I thought I’d test the printer using WiFi. The print came out great, but it was completely stuck to the provided “sticker” on the plate. Going back to the user manual, there was nothing about how to free a build from the plate. Really? And why is there not a decent plate provided? After much searching on YouTube, and trying several different methods, I settled on a glass bed (purchased separately on Amazon) coated with AquaNet. As long as you put the plate in the freezer for a few minutes (once it cools down from printing), the print falls off the glass. A little up front guidance from FF would’ve been greatly appreciated here!One of my reasons for purchasing this machine was the dual extruder so that I could print different filament types that require a different nozzle size. So I purchased some nozzles, and again returned to the user guide for help with how to replace a nozzle. Nothing. I went to the FlashForge site. Nothing. Great. I returned to YouTube and found several videos including the one from FF. OMG. You have to completely disassemble the print head to replace a nozzle. Really? Why, if you *know* that customers will eventually have to replace a part, would you not design it to be easily replaced? Not only that, but once reassembled, you need a balancing block to make sure the two heads are exactly level with each other. This part is not available for sale! Wait, what - really? You have to go to Thingiverse, find one that some random person designed and print it on your printer. Wow. If your machine is torn down, how are you supposed to print a part? And trust that the random person did it correctly! So I was forced to devise another way to balance the nozzles. This process needs to be much, much simpler! C’mon FlashForge! You can do much better! How about a simple bolt that allows Z adjustment of the head plus using gravity? And a written step-by-step? That is not too much to ask.Oh, and on the topic of YouTube videos, there are none (at least yet) for the Max. For the print head disassembly, it’s not exactly the same as the Pro.I went to try wood filament (once I had replaced the nozzle) and realized that the reel holder was not long enough to support the wide reel. Well crap, back to Thingiverse. I didn’t see one I liked so I designed one and printed it – a 10 hour print job. It printed well and functioned well. The printer did a good job with the wood filament after all the work of replacing the nozzle and making a new reel holder.I got the replacement motherboard, and again, no instructions anywhere, only YouTube videos. There were a few problems following installation, in that the Z direction was reversed and there was an error on the TF card. Turns out there was no TF card in the replacement MB, and even installing new firmware from FF didn’t solve the problem. After 2.5 weeks of back and forth with customer support, I finally gave up and exchanged it on Amazon for a new Max. If they had just sent a new unit up front, it would have saved me lots of time disassembling and reassembling the printer, and lots of their time trying to diagnose why it wasn’t working. A win for everyone…For a machine that approaches $1,000 in cost, you may not expect it to be Push ‘n Print like an Industrial grade printer, but you shouldn’t have to rebuild half the machine for every maintenance or upgrade task, that you do expect with a low end machine. That’s my opinion anyway.I have received the new Max and it is functioning well so far. I expect that it will continue do so!Summary:Machine – Very good.Customer support – Also very good, but they may not initially have the answer. They should be more willing to solve a defect problem in way that doesn’t create extra work for everyone.Availability of user information – Almost non-existent. Mainly, only user videos are available.Ease of maintenance/upgrades – Difficult. Don’t expect to do anything without lots of up front digging for info.

Print bed cheap and terrible. You have to change the print bed sheet after every two prints. Print bed leveling is almost impossible. If anything gets printed, good luck removing it from the print bed. Prints don’t come out right.Included software is so so.Wi-Fi connection is finicky. Doesn’t work well.Printing spool locations are designed wrong. They get stuck and stop feeding the head in the middle of the print job.Every other print is a mess.What a waste of time and money

This is my 3rd printer now. Specifically got it to print TPU where my other 2 struggle with this material.The enclosure is nice. Doesn’t help keeping it quiet but it does help keeping the cats from batting at the prints.Ran the test print - 2 color cube - over night. Woke up to both extenders being jammed. 4 hours later, tried again. To clear the heads requires removing 3 screws and and 4 or 5 parts. Not a huge deal except I’ve had to do this 6 times now in 1 week.The build plate is tiny; smaller than the Ender 3. It might be almost as tall as the other 2 but smaller x and y.If you can’t run a long print (15-20 hours) without it failing, it’s garbage IMO. Planning on returning it or selling it.When it works, it produces a great print. If you have to do maintenance on it every other print, that’s a serious design flaw.

"WARNING THIS PRODUCT IS A SCAM DO NOT BUY" This product is trash do not buy I got it set it up for a 27 hour print it printed 15 min and stopped so I cleaned it out and tried to load it now it does not print anything do not buy this is a scam even if I could trouble shoot it for 5 hours to fix it it is a brand new 3d printer I should not have too.

Ive had the printer over a month now. I really like the printer but think it was a bit overpriced compared to the competition. Only major complaints are the proprietary flashprint software and theres no fan on the right nozzle. It prints PLA very well out of the box. Disassembling the nozzles when i got jams (only with PETG) was scary at first but is a piece of cake after 1 or 2 times. Ive only tried PLA and PETG so far. Annoying things are it doesnt auto level the bed and the bed surface can be a pain to get prints off unless you preheat.