Qidi Tech has released their new Q1 Pro, a fast, Klipper-based CoreXY 3D printer. We'll talk specs,
see a few prints, and I'll let you know what I think about it, right after this.
I'm Bryan and you are watching BV3D!
Hello, 3D Printing Friends, and welcome back! So today, we're getting a first
look at the new Qidi Tech Q1 Pro. This is the new newest release from Qidi Tech,
having been out for only about a couple of weeks. And I'd like to thank Qidi
Tech for sending this over free of charge, so I could show it to you.
So let's get right into the details of the Q1 Pro. It's using a CoreXY motion system, and its build
volume is 245 mm on the X, Y, and Z axes. The maximum movement speed is listed as 600 mm/s,
but the slicer tends to set the printing speed at about 300 mm/s, which is still plenty fast.
There's a full enclosure, with a clear removable lid, and a clear door. Inside there's a tool head
with a direct drive extruder, and a wear resistant nozzle that can reach 350° C. And a bed that can
reach 120° C. On the bed, there's a double-sided, textured PEI-coated flex plate, so prints are easy
to remove. It also has a chamber heater that Qidi claims can heat the inside of the enclosure to 60°
C. A heated chamber can help prevent warping or layer separation on some materials that
need to print at really high temperatures. The enclosure also has decently bright LED lighting,
and a 1080p low frame rate camera, so you can monitor the print live or do time-lapse
videos of your prints. It's got dual independent Z-axis stepper motors. Its calibration is fully
automatic, doing things like mesh bed leveling, input shaper calibration to reduce ringing
artifacts on prints, and automatically setting the Z offset. Well, I say it's fully automatic,
but you have to press one or two buttons on the 4.3-inch color touchscreen to start it,
so TECHNICALLY you have to do some of the work. It's got the ability to detect a filament tangle,
so that might save you some headache on a long print if the filament got crossed over on the
spool somehow. And it's got a filament runout sensor so it can... you know... tell you when
you need to run out and get more. I'm overusing that joke, aren't I? Should I dial it back,
or keep using it at every opportunity? The main board has a 64-bit chip running Klipper. It's got
Wi-Fi on board too, allowing you to wirelessly connect it to a network. There's a Qidi mobile
app available to let you control the printer from your phone, though I didn't try it. The QidiSlicer
software is based on PrusaSlicer, so if you're familiar with PrusaSlicer, you'll feel right at
home. If you're used to Ultimaker Cura, you may have a a little bit of a learning curve. Slicers
all do the same job, for the most part. It's just a matter of where the settings live in one
versus the other, and which one you're used to. QidiSlicer adds a couple of extra tabs to the user
interface. One lets you interact with Klipper's Fluidd web-based user interface, without having
to launch a separate web browser. And the other has an interactive user guide, which I think is
pretty cool. Qidi's recommended filament list is PLA, PETG, ABS and ASA. The heated enclosure will
help with the ABS and ASA. But the higher nozzle and bed temperatures, and the heated enclosure,
give you the ability to also print nylon filaments, including carbon fiber and glass fiber
reinforced nylon. And maybe the coolest thing about it is that within about 20 minutes of taking
it out of the box, removing the packing materials, running the initial calibration, snapping on the
spool holder, and loading some filament... within about 20 minutes, it's ready to start printing!
And that's the perfect segue into the "Looking at the things that I printed with it" part of the
video. So here we go! This 3DBenchy is the first thing I printed. It's one of a handful of models
pre-sliced and waiting for you on the printer's onboard storage. It's printed in red Polymaker
Polysonic PLA filament, and it only took 22 minutes to print. It's definitely one of the
nicer high-speed Benchies that I've printed. There are a few little strings inside the wheelhouse,
and what looks like a bit of a ripple along the side of the hull. But it's really subtle
in person. So I'm calling it a pretty good Benchy. Another model in the printer storage is this one,
called the Castle Slide Coin Catcher. This one took about four and a half hours to print,
and it looks amazing. And it's fun to drop a coin in the top of the tower, and watch it roll
down the slide and land in the base! I don't see any problems with this model at all. The surface
finish is smooth and glossy, and the slide prints without supports. Keep it on your desk at work,
and maybe co-workers will drop in a coin or two. Make it part of your retirement strategy! I mean,
it can't be worse than anything else you're doing to save up, right? Haha! Heh...Ugh. I'm
never going to have enough to retire. [BEEP!] Okay, sorry about that. Next, I loaded up some
Proto-Pasta Nebula Silver Silk HTPLA, and I printed this Fidget Cube. This was created
by designer LeForest Labs, and I downloaded it from Printables.com. There's a link in the
description. The Q1 Pro did a fantastic job with this, finishing the print in a
tiny bit over an hour. The Proto-Pasta filament rarely disappoints, and the gradient on this is
beautiful, with the soft blues and purples. If you haven't ever printed one of these, I highly
recommend doing so. They fold over on themselves forever and ever, and they're highly entertaining.
Next I have a trio of CaliDragon models, by designer McGybeer. Each one is printed in a
different filament. This one is printed in the red Polysonic filament from earlier. It took 32
minutes to print. There are some little wisps of stringing between the antlers,
but it's not bad. The backs of the antlers aren't perfectly pristine at the top, which tells me they
needed a tiny bit of extra cooling. But those are the only issues with this one.
Now this one was printed in some generic red ABS that I've got sitting around. This
one only took 25 minutes to print, and it's pretty much perfect. Even the backs of the
antlers. I have zero complaints on this one. The Q1 Pro did great printing ABS filament.
This last CaliDragon was printed in Bamby Lab PACF, which is their carbon fiber reinforced
nylon. This one also took about 25 minutes to print. It had the most stringing out of the three,
showing up here as these little clumpy blobs on the front of the antlers. That tells me I
probably should have dried this filament before I printed with it. Nylon filament is hygroscopic,
meaning it likes to absorb moisture from the air. So it needs to be dried. And kept dry. And
then probably dried it again right before you plan to use it. Which means you have to actually PLAN
to use it, and reserve a chunk of several hours before printing to put it in a filament dryer. I
didn't do that. Obviously. That said, the Q1 Pro itself didn't have a problem printing with this
filament. The surface finish on the CaliDragon looks cool, and it has a bit of texture to it.
The backs of the antlers don't indicate any cooling issues. The only problems I see are
the stringing, and some slight filament droops on steeper overhangs, like the dragon's chin.
So that's it for the prints! Hey, if you're enjoying this video,
or you just like 3D printing stuff in general, a subscribe would be very much appreciated!
That lets me know that I'm making content you enjoy, and you want to see more like it. Thanks!
Now that we've seen the prints, it's time to cover The Good, The Bad, and The What? Why?!
I'll start with a good. The spool holder arm brings the spool to the side of the printer,
and takes care of the problems I've experienced with having a rear mounted spool, so I'm grateful
for that. But I've got an issue with it, and I'll bring that up in a minute. I like the
double-sided textured PEI flex plate. It makes removing prints easy. I like that the built-in
LED lighting is bright. And the camera, while generally operating at 5 to 10 frames per second,
does a pretty good job of letting you live monitor the printer to keep an eye on what it's doing. The
touchcreen is pretty easy to use, and if you want more control over the printer, you can connect the
printer to Wi-Fi and use the Fluidd interface, either in the Device tab of the QidiSlicer app,
or in a web browser. And I like the all-black look of it. I know that's subjective, but the previous
Qidi printers have had flashier cases, and I think I like the more subdued look of the Q1 Pro.
Okay, that's the good. Now let's get into the bad. First off, there's been some controversy about the
chamber heater in the Q1 Pro, and whether it poses a safety risk. The heater module is... well, it's
an electric heater, and mains power runs through it when it's on. Also, being a heater, it's
probably flesh-burningly hot when it's on. Would it benefit from a "HOT! DO NOT TOUCH!" warning
sticker? Yeah, I think so. It has a grill over it to prevent accidental (or deliberate) finger
poking. I tried and failed to touch the heating element through the grill. To me, this feels like
a "don't stick your fingers in the toaster" sort of thing. If you'd like to see a deep dive on the
subject, please go check out Alan Mandic's video about it, linked in the description. It's a good
watch, and Alan covers the issue, figuratively and literally, in a clear and understandable
way. Apart from the heater controversy, another thing in the "Don't Like" list about this printer
is the plastic spool holder. Now, I know a minute ago I said I liked it, and while that's true, the
thing I don't like is that it seems kind of janky and wobbly with a full 1 kilogram spool on it. I
think maybe if it was metal it wouldn't be so bad. The Q1 Pro has a "What? Why?!" thing going on,
too. In the the back of the enclosure, there's a small... well, for lack of a better way to put it,
a small litter box. Yes, this printer poops. And it poops in that box. Instead of just printing
a priming line before a print, which will generally serve to wipe ooze off of a nozzle,
Qidi Tech added a mechanical nozzle wiping system at the back of the printer. Just before the start
of a print, the tool head moves to a particular place at the back of the enclosure and presses
against a lever, which causes the nozzle wiper to move into position under the nozzle. Then
the printer heats the nozzle, purges a little bit of filament into the litter box, and proceeds to
wipe its nozzle back and forth on a bit of felt. I... have a sneaking suspicion that Qidi Tech is
maybe working on an AMS system of their own, similar to what the Bambu Lab printers use,
and that's really what the nozzle wiper and the litter box are for. Why do I think that? Well,
partly because that nozzle wiper and purge box don't seem to serve any real purpose in
a single color, single nozzle 3D printer. Like I mentioned, pretty much every other printer solves
for this problem by printing a long priming line along the front or the side of the build plate,
which generally manages to let the nozzle wipe itself and get rid of any filament dangling from
it. The other reason I think Qidi Tech is working on an AMS system is that there are
references to a Qidi AMS on the support stickers on the front and the back of the printer. So
it'll be interesting to see if they actually release such a thing. But if they do, it's an
awfully small litter box to catch purge waste! So now it's time to wrap this up. The Qidi Tech
Q1 Pro did a pretty good job with the things that I threw at it, and I was impressed with the speed
and the print quality. I printed in PLA, ABS, and carbon fiber nylon, and I got pretty good results
with all of them. It was easy to unbox and set up, too. It's a bit under $500 right now, with
a pre-sale/early bird price of $469. If you're interested in checking it out, I've got a link
in the description. If you liked this episode, a thumbs up would be great, and maybe subscribe so
you don't miss new ones. Thanks again to Qidi Tech for sending the Q1 Pro to me, so I could show it
to you. And BIG thanks to everyone who supports the channel, whether with Channel memberships,
or by using the links in the description. Well, 3D Printing Friends, that's about all the time
we have for this one. And now that we're at the end, let's go print something cool!
[BEEP!] I like the double-sided textured PEI flex plate. It makes removing prints
really easy. I also like knocking over Benchies when I'm gesturing...