Hello, 3D Printing Friends! Today on the BV3D Channel, we're opening up the Alien3D
UFO mystery box for September 2019! Stick around and we'll see what's inside,
right after this! I'm Bryan, and you... are watching BV3D!
Hi welcome back!
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So today, we're opening up the Alien3D UFO mystery box for September 2019. For
those of you who maybe haven't heard about the product, here's what the UFO
mystery box is, and what you get. The Alien3D UFO mystery box is a
subscription-based filament sample box, with a twist. So, in the box you get at
least four filament samples in a variety of colors and materials, and the
materials are usually PLA or PETG. At 20 meters long, these are a few meters
longer than what you get in other sample boxes, although there are some boxes that
are more of a Filament-of-the-Month Club, where you get a couple of full one-
kilogram spools, in whatever colors they're sending out that month, In the
UFO box, you also get a 3D printing related accessory, and you get a 3D
printing project, with parts that you print out and assemble. If the project
requires non-printable parts or electronics, those are included in the
box. Often, there are stickers, and when
available, there are coupon codes for discounts on 3D printing stuff like
filament, nozzles, etc. So, what's the "mystery box" part of the product? Well,
every month, one lucky subscriber receives the Mothership Prize, which is a
higher value accessory in addition to everything else in the box.
Last month, the prize was a BL touch mesh leveling sensor, which tells your printer
where the high and low spots are on the bed, so it can compensate for that as
it's printing. So you get all that stuff for US$36.00, and that includes shipping in
the United States. I've got a link in the description to the UFO mystery box, and
there's a discount code in there that'll get you $5 off your first
month if you subscribe. Full disclosure, if you do that, I get a $5 credit as well.
There are also less-expensive Alien3D subscription boxes, so if you only want
the filament, you can get a filament-only box. And if
you're only interested in the project and the accessory, you can get a projects
and accessory only box. So with all that said, let's dive in and see what's inside!
Let's go ahead and check out the card: "Welcome to September! This month marks
the end of summer, and the beginning of a string of holidays and festivities.
September also contains Suicide Prevention Week, which with the holiday
season coming up, I thought it would be important to bring attention to such a
touchy subject. Some of us, myself included, have had some bad days. Have had
bad things happen to us in our pasts. Some of us just can't help it and our
minds bring us down. But I want to each and every one of you to know that we're
all family here. Many in the community and myself are here for each other, and
here for you. So no matter what, know that you can reach out if you need to. I hope
you all enjoy this month's UFO! Josh, Alien3D.
Let's go ahead and set this aside right here.
And along with that suicide prevention awareness there is a
sticker, and a ribbon as well. We've also got some other stickers: We've got a
sticker with Josh, Alien3D, which says "Ooze runs through my veins," and we've also got
a PROFI box sticker. So we'll set those right over here. Oh, so we've also got a
couple of tiny little stroopwafels in here. Now, if you're not familiar with
these, these are a pair of little waffles with caramel in between. Now the
full-size ones you'll usually put over a cup of coffee for a few minutes to warm
them up. These little ones? Just eat them. If you try to balance them on a cup,
they're just gonna go for a swim, and that would provide a SUB-optimal
experience. Get it? Sub? Submarine? Huh. that Dad Joke really sank. All right. Well, I'm
gonna sit these right here. So here are the project parts. Now, I've already
looked on the Alien3D site, so I know that these are the parts for a Wi-Fi
print monitor that works in conjunction with OctoPrint. There's a USB cable, a
tiny, tiny OLED display, and a tiny, tiny Wi-Fi enabled Arduino sort of thing. And
there's a link in the description where you'll find the project files, including
code, and a printable case. The accessory this month is a dial indicator. This is a
tool that you mount to the carriage on your printer, and use it to see the
high and low spots on the bed. There's a link to a how-to video on the Alien3D
site, so you can see how to use this, and I'm gonna have to check that video out
too. But this seems like an interesting tool to have. Probably you've got to print
a mounting plate or something to get it attached to your printer. And this isn't
something that you leave on the printer full-time. But I'm curious to give it a
try and see what kind of results I get. And now, we're down to the filament. I'm
just gonna go ahead and take it all out of the box, and set the box aside briefly.
So we've got some Iced Amethyst PLA from COEX. It prints from 215C to 235C on a
0 to 60 degree bed. And that's kind of cool, the color seems to change depending
on what angle you see it. There's some FilamentOne Glint Gray Pro Select PLA,
that prints from 205C to 225C on a 55 to 65 degree bed. It's a nice glittery gray
or silver kind of color. Bet that would look real nice paired with that amethyst
on a project. There's some Fiberology Light Green Impact PLA from WolfWorks3D
that prints from 220C to 240C, on a bed from 50C to 70C. It's
almost kind of a springtime green. I like it. And finally, there's some Neon Orange
PLA from 3DUniverse. It prints from 190C to 230C on a 60 to 70 degree bed, and
that one seems to pair really well with that light green, in my opinion. Alright,
well let's go ahead and get this stuff packed back up.
So this month's box is pretty good I think.
The filament colors are all really nice, the dial indicator looks like it'll be a
handy troubleshooting tool, and I've got an idea of what I want to do with that
Wi-Fi print monitor. Now, I'm not gonna use the case design that's on the Alien3D
site. I want to do something a little different with it, so that'll probably
get its own video like last month's robot arm did. So just as a side note,
does anyone else notice the top end temperature on PLA these days? It's like
they're all maxing out at around 230C or 240C. Back when I first started
my 3D printing adventure a couple of years ago, PLA was a 185C to 195C sort
of product. Maybe 200C if you were having trouble getting it to feed.
It was ABS that was up in the 230C range. But now, all these PLA products are
printing at these higher temperatures. I know the PTFE tubes used in some
printers' hot ends start to get unhappy around the 240C range, so it's
probably best to keep below 240 if you can help it. On three of my printers, I've
installed Micro Swiss all-metal hot ends, so I don't have to worry about that on
them, but I know the PTFE tubes can start to deform and get yucky and make it
harder to print. If you've got a printer with a PTFE tube in the hot end (and
that'll be most of your Bowden-style printers, or printers that don't
specifically have an all-metal hotend) you might want to use a little care on
some of these filaments and try to print on the cooler side, like 235C and under.
Okay! Well, thanks for making it all the way to the end, and thanks for all the
likes, comments, and shares! And if you haven't subscribed, don't forget to do
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you make goes to the channel, and helps cover the cost of making cool videos for
you! Well, now that I've got some nifty new filament samples to play with, I'm
gonna go print something cool! You do the same, and I'll see you next time!