Hey guys,
The casting gods have been chatting with the printing gods and, lucky me, I’ve been sent
an Anycubic Proton S to review – woohoo!!
This is an upgrade to the standard Proton and has a few additional pros and cons that
I’ll be covering in a while.
As you’d expect, it came very well packaged. Peeling back the covers was very satisfying
and I enjoyed what I saw.
There’s all the accessories you’d expect. A power supply for your part of the world,
a memory stick for your print files, various tools, some rubber gloves, a plastic scraper,
a mask and some basic instructions. There’s also some spare FEP films as these inevitably
wear out.
Anycubic also include some resin – hooray – so you’ll be able to play with your
toy almost immediately.
Peeling back the protective films revealed a very handsome looking unit, but those with
the old style Photon will be used to metal casing and this one is very plastic.
Now I don’t mind plastic, it helps keep costs down, but this door feels very flimsy.
It works, it’s connected well enough, but it feels flimsy.
The first thing to check is the 2K Screen. These can crack in transit if the delivery
boys are feeling awkward, but fortunately mine was fine.
I’m pleased to see the on off switch and USB port conveniently situated on the side
of the printer. The power socket is nicely placed at the back.
The build plate needs attaching but to do this the Zed or Zee bar needs raising.
The screen is small, but Anycubic have maximised its usage with large clear lettering and menus
that are easy to read, even for my poor eyes.
Once raised maybe halfway, the build plate is easily attached and ready for levelling.
Now this is CRITICAL. Get this wrong and you’ll be lucky to print anything at all.
Step 1 - loosen the grub screw and make sure the plate moves freely.
Step 2 - slide an ordinary piece of paper across the Screen.
Step 3 – press the Home button to send the plate all the way to the bottom.
Step 4 – square the plate nicely by eye, press and hold lightly and tighten the grub
scrub. The plate is low level with the screen but we need to adjust an ideal gap. So...
Step 5 – pull lightly on the paper and it will likely pull free very easily. Well we
want a snug fit. So on the menu select the 0.1mm button and click the down arrow just
once. Make sure it’s the 0.1 and not the 10 and don’t go mad with the clicking. Just
one click and one test pull.
Step 6 – repeat the previous step, clicking and pulling until the paper is snug enough
that it pulls, but doesn’t push. Once you’ve achieved that, you’re there.
Step 7 – click the Z = 0 and hit Enter to confirm.
Now I don’t like this… it’s not a bad thing, just an annoyance. Enter and Return
mean pretty much the same to me. It’s just a language detail but I’d be happier if
it said Enter and Cancel… but you’ll see this a lot, so watch out for it.
But anyway, you’re done… the plate is level and the gap is ideal.
The plate gets raised and the Resin Tank gets slid in. This seats nicely thanks to a couple
of metal stops and just needs hand tightening into place.
The resin is shaken and poured into the tank to a recommended height of one third.
Now I griped about this with the Elegoo Mars so it’s only fair I gripe about it here
too. It would be nice if the manufacturers drew on a clear level marker. If it’s got
one, my not too brilliant eyes can’t see it and if you overfill the tank, as the plate
descends, resin spills everywhere. So don’t overfill!
I now was ready to print. All I needed to do was plug in the USB stick and get cracking…
but hang on a moment…
The USB stick contains some handy files including Slicer software and a test print file.
The problem I had was that the printer couldn’t find the test file on the stick.
Fortunately I realised that it was probably a Firmware issue – so take careful note
if you’re thinking of buying one of these machines.
Visit the Anycubic website and find the Photon S. At the bottom of the page are some useful
files…
There’s a Firmware Update, a Slicer update and an up to date Test Print File.
It’s necessary to download these files from the site and the Firmware files need to get
copied to a blank USB stick. This gets plugged into the printer and then run as a print files
– though they’re obviously not really printing. Once done, the system information
shows that the Firmware has been updated.
And sure enough the printer located the Test Print on the stick and got on with printing.
After a dip in alcohol and a spell under a UV lamp, here it is. And I think it looks
great. In fact it looks so good let me show it to you on a turntable I borrowed from John
Travolta.
Next I had a bash with the AmeraLabs Town Test Print and I have to say, this is the
best print I’ve done with this print file to date. Believe me what you’re seeing here
doesn’t do it justice. For something so small, it very sharp and clear.
This may in part be due to the Dual Z Axis bar. This promotes smoother arm travel and
helps eliminate wobble which can lead to poor printing.
The UV module is another upgrade to the earlier Proton with 2K High resolution screen with
more uniform light distribution.
These things at the back here are the dual activated carbon air ventilation, intended
to reduce the nasty resin niff.
Other additions to the original Photon are the User Interface and the Slicer Software.
As I’ve already mentioned, the screen is small but very clear and easy see thanks large
lettering and menus. It’s nicely sensitive to the touch, even when wearing gloves.
But the Slicing software… well… it works, obviously. It’s quick and fairly intuitive,
but right now it’s the only option you have. It’s the Anycubic slicer or no slicer. Currently
it does NOT support ChiTuBox which frankly is a stupid decision on Anycubic’s part.
The Photon has a fantastic online following with great community support. These talented
and dedicated enthusiasts have created some great free resources – but many of these
are ChiTuBox specific and by preventing its use, Anycubic are alienating their model S
users from this fabulous online community.
Personally I don’t like the slicer. It’s good if you’re happy with auto supports,
but so far I haven’t cracked the support editing and that’s left me missing ChiTuBox
terribly.
But there is good news… Anycubic tell me their engineers are looking to include the
ChiTuBox software with the model S very soon. And for me that’s a big relief.
So, what are my thoughts on the Anycubic Photon S…
Well that’s easy - I like it.
It’s quiet and it’s smooth. Despite the flimsy and the cheap plastic, it feels like
a quality item. The controls are well positioned and easy to use. It’s comes with a great
pedigree and a massive community. There’s more Anycubic resins out there than you can
shake a stick at and most importantly, this Model S printer prints beautifully.
For me it’s not perfect, but that’s only because I’m quite anal about the positioning
of my print supports – it gives me more control. But so far the Anycubic slicer won’t
give me this, but the ubiquitous ChiTuBox will. So I’m hoping for a some slicer updates
very soon or more ideally an inclusion of ChiTuBox so I can share files between various
printers. But slicing softwares are a personal choice and for you the Anycubic slicer might
be ideal.
One thing’s for sure, if you get one of these machines, you won’t be disappointed
in the print quality.
And if you are interested in one, check out the description below this video for a great
promotional offer.
As always, if you’ve got any comments or questions, drop me a line.
So that’s it for now guys, take care and thanks for watching.