Shark V3 Multifunctional Modular 2 in 1 3D Printer & Laser Engraver w/Reduced Noise Operation, Removable Touch Screen, & Dual Color Extruders

The media could not be loaded.  Packaging and Installation:The Lotmaxx Shark v2 is perhaps the most simple to setup and quietest printer I've used. The presentation after opening the box is very good, with all of the parts and components clearly labeled and packed safely. With the included, well written and clearly illustrated documentation, I had the print setup in about 20 minutes from start to finish. This model requires manual leveling but the procedure via the touch screen was extremely easy and I don't miss the extra 2-3 minutes that an auto bed leveler would add to each print. The touchscreen interface is excellent and a pleasure to use. After a short while I was very accustomed to navigating and dialing (touching) in the settings during prints or when queuing up prints.Build Quality:The extrusions on this printer are a matt gray color and look fantastic. The chassis, rollers, extruders, and touch screen are very well constructed leading to a very polished look. I like how all of the connections that you would need are external to the printer. The second extruder port, auto leveling port, USB, microSD, laser, and screen connectors are all in the front, clearly labeled and easy to access. Certainly better than having to flip the printer over and unscrew bottom covering and rerouting cables as I've had to do with other printers.Print experience and results:The results have been fantastic. I printed the standard included cat STL which came out great and then moved on to bi-color prints. I printed a bi-color benchy without issues using the included green and orange PLA. One thing to note about bi-color printing is that the slicing software will require a purge tower for each layer where there are multiple colors. This is to purge the remaining filament that may remain in the nozzle after switching to the alternate color. It's required for a clean print and I should add that you want to make sure that the tower is larger than the default 20mm for taller prints to prevent the tower from becoming dislodged from the print bed during operation. I was able to print a large Among Us crewman with a different color face shield and the result was amazing. I'm already thinking of a ton of different multi-color prints. I would also like to try using PVA filament for support material and see if I can make extremely detailed single-color prints with support material that you can dissolve in water.It also prints so quiet! The stepper motors via the 2208 drivers are super silent and the fans only kick on sparingly, likely due to the excellent design and attention to passive cooling. Speaking of cooling, the dual part cooling toolhead is perfect for printing parts that round up from the print bed (bowls). Other printers with single part cooling fans have trouble with rounded, bowl shape parts since the fan is only blowing on one side of the part as it prints. This wasn't a problem with the Shark V2. Also with that additional cooling power you can print much faster. I was amazed at how fast the printer was able to complete the built-in test models. I highly recommend this printer for it's print quality, ease of setup, speed, silence, and versatility.Drawbacks and precautions:There is a lack of easy and intuitive belt tensioning controls. A simple threaded knob would be a great improvement on the clean design. The existing tensioning is done via loosing t-nuts and drawing the belts tight and holding this tension while tightening the screws. It is doable but could be easier. The laser attachment and included software was a little difficult to get functioning properly. The default settings in the software did not produce any output on the wood (500 power, 50mm print speed, 30mm travel). I had to increase the power to 1000 and lower the travel and print speeds to 10mm each to get the light output in the picture. I'm certain that I can get the output to look much better with some testing, but as you only get 2 wooden sheets the process would benefit from some properly tuned defaults either in the software or written in the documentation. I would also caution users regarding the filament sensors. Make sure you straighten out the end of the filament instead of attempting to insert the filament curved into the filament sensor. You could prevent the filament from going cleanly through and potentially damage the internal switch lever. Straight path for straight filament, makes sense.

The media could not be loaded.  This is the third 3D printer I've owned, and was bought to replace my Monoprice/Wanhao Duplicator 6. I mainly use the printers for a hobby and general tinkering, so here's my thoughts on the printer after a month of ownership:1. Setup and assembly was very straightforward - took me about 30-40 minutes to setup everything, and assembly mostly consists of getting the gantry attached and getting the spool holders mounted. The instructions were fairly clear and easy to follow, the only difficulty I encountered was getting the spool holder arms bolts to catch in the slots on the gantry took a couple of tries. Initially, I had to level the bed several times to get it right, but once done, I haven't had to do it since.2. Software setup - The Shark came with a custom version of Cura 4.7 for slicing, so its pretty standard and easy. The only difficulty I had was that the second extruder needed to be added in Cura manually after the initial setup and this process was not well documented (Go to Preferences -> Machine settings -> select the Lotmaxx Shark profile -> Machine settings and change "number of extruders" to 2 from the default of 1).3. Operation - the Shark is very quiet and smooth when printing, there is hardly any belt squeal and whine when operating (my old printer was VERY noisy, so this alone is a big plus for me). The Shark uses a bowden tube for filament feed, and is fairly easy to load and unload. This design is also very forgiving of filament jams or breaks, as you can just pop the tubes off and pull the strands directly out. Again, this is much better then some other printers I've had in the past which basically are far less forgiving and require you to pull the extruder apart. Since both extruders go into one print head, just be careful to use the "unload" command to pull back the filament from the last used extruder before trying to load the opposite one, or the filament will jam.The heated bed featured a removable magnetic buildplate that makes removing a print easy. The adhesion on the buildplate is excellent - most of the prints I've made do not need more than skirt or brim. The only complaint I have on the buildplate is the adhesion might be a little too strong - it can be difficult to remove some prints without having to flex the plate, and it has a tenancy to collect some buildup on the surface that is hard to scrape off (it does not seem to interfere with new prints, however).4. Print Quality: Excellent - it is easy to get good results without needing to tweak the filament temperature or speed to prevent errors, making this by far the most "plug and play" printer I've worked with. I love the removable touch screen remote control - this is a great feature and makes it much easier to use5. Extras - The Shark also comes with a laser engraving kit. While I have not used it yet, it is a nice feature that is unheard of at this price.Bottom line - this printer is a great value for the money featuring the dual extruders and the laser engraving kit. For someone who is upgrading from an older printer like me, this is a huge upgrade versus my old one.. The printer is fast, quiet, easy to maintain, and has great print quality. If you are getting into 3D printing, this is a great model to start as it is easy to work with and operate, while still being capable enough to grow into some it's advanced features.

I received my first one on Saturday and that even requested a replacement because it had been used and sent back had a different language sd card in the slot and no film on the keypad. Probably because extruder #2 never would heat up and it was supposed to pull from extruder 1, but didn’t, pulled from 2 which didn’t work. So I got my replacement. It too had been used before and had the same issue of not being able to get #2 to warm up. I found white filament in extruder 1’s tube and then when I got it out my filament would load even with the hotend warmed up. #2 machines screen cover had been removed as well.I had watched multiple videos of folks opening their printers up, putting them together and printing right away - from extruder #1. I also don’t understand why with V2 you now have to purchase the auto leveling kit when before it came with it. 🤷🏼‍♀️I wanted one of these really bad, but 2 for 2 being bad, is not a good sign. 😔Sending them both back tomorrow.