Hello 3d printer fans and makers. I currently have an a1 mini and have been putting it through its paces over the last several months. Ive probably used 5kg of filament and have maybe a few hundred hours of prints on it. I love the little machine, its a work horse. But it cannot print most engineering materials and Im looking to branch into more exotic prints and get myself a bigger build volume.
My first thought was getting the a1 with ams for multifilament printing and then I would have an ams I could use with either printer, but upon ruminating on the subject multifilament printing this way really seems to be such a gimmick and if I really want to do it there’s always stop code and manual filament switching. Plus its another bed slinger with the only real change being the larger build volume.
So that brings me to the Qidi Q1 Pro. All the reviews really talk it up, I like that its built on klipper and an open ecosystem (-1 for Bambu), the hotend max temp, the heated champer, the larger build plate, and the price? All seems like a big win to me.
My current plan is buying the printer along with a filament dryer, I dont really want to get their drybox attachment, a smooth build plate, some CF something filament, and 0.6mm nozzle as accessories.
Do you all have any thoughts on polydryer, if the 3 x-plus might be something to consider if I really want a bigger build plate than what the Q1 pro offers, or if there might be another printer for me to consider in the $500-700 range. Also, any recommendations on filaments I might want to try with a heated chamber, 100C build plate, and 350C capable hot end? Im leaning towards something nylon and/or carbon fiber… maybe PA-CF? lol.
Anyways, any input is appreciated. Thanks!
I don’t know about the Q1 Pro but I have an X-Max 3 and it has been bombproof for me so far. It absolutely can print PA-CF if you want to.
Mine can also print ABS about as easily as most machines print PLA, which I find fairly astounding.
This is what I like to hear! I ordered some pet cf and straight nylon, the pa-cf was just too expensive to justify without a specific usecase. Does your xmax 3 come with a tungsten carbide nozzle or did you switch to one to use cf filaments?
Mine came with one plated (with nickel, I believe) brass one and an entire spare hotend with a hardened steel one installed. They advise you to use the steel one for filled filaments (carbon fiber, glass, glow, etc.) and also high temperature materials.
I have since replaced my stock nozzle with an aftermarket polycrystalline diamond one, and it’s been completely trouble free.
I often refer to this list maintained by some people I trust over at the 3D Printing discord. Unfortunately it seems like they don’t update it as often nowadays, but Qidi Q1 Pro has been around for long enough, and it is indeed one of their top picks.
Thank you for the link! Looks like my pick is 2nd on the list haha. Pulling the trigger today and gonna get the Q1 Pro
Interested to see people’s thoughts here!
I haven’t used the Qidi Q1 Pro before, but what I will add is that I have the A1 and it works quite well. The Bambu Lab restriction on third-party access can be mitigated by using LAN mode + Tailscale. It printe very fast, and AMS works well, and I’m pretty happy with it.
That being said, the Qidi Q1 Pro does seem like an excellent value and I would encourage you to check out more reviews of it, seems like a crazy good value on paper.
Yeah Im pretty happy with my A1 mini myself, but moving from a bed slinger to a core xy I think will be a nice change on some of the bigger or taller prints as well as the bigger build volume which yes, doesnt quite match the A1’s 256^3, but its really not much smaller (245x245x240).
Looking at the reviews and price it really does seem to be the sweet spot for stepping up my 3d printing game. Ive been watching reviews for a good chunk of the last couple days, trying to find as many as I can that are more recent than 11 months ago when everyone was reviewing machines they just got and instead reviewing machines theyve actually put through the paces.
yeah, the Q1 Pro looks like a banger value as an affordable enclosed CoreXY printer
Sounds like you’ve done your research.
A friend of mine has a Qidi X-Max 3, so I got to play around with it quite a bit. It is a beast! And apparently their support is top notch. I’m definitely going to look at Qidi next time I’m in the market.
All that said, the Q1 is not the same class of printer as the X-Max 3. It seems like it makes some compromises to hit the price it does. If you are looking for amazing build quality or extremely large prints, you probably want to save up for something like their Plus4. But if you don’t care about those things, or don’t want to spend more, the Q1 seems like a great choice.
As far as the polydrier goes, it seems good, but expensive. I’ve had a good experience just using my printer’s heatbed to dry filament and using vacuum bags with redried dessicants. The bags are like $1-2 each, so even if 1/4 of them are leaky, it’s still way cheaper than dry boxes. And I just collect the dessicants from my new filament spools and redry them in the microwave.
I haven’t printed nylon, but I know you can get the cereal box dryboxes for like $7 each. If you plan to have tons of rolls of nylon, then it may be worth getting a full drying system, but for only a few rolls, I’d stick to cereal boxes.
If I were in your situation, I’d cheap out on the storage and put that extra ~$100 towards a Plus4 or some cool filament.
I don’t own a Q1 pro, and my only experience prior to my current printer was an ender 3 pro.
But I bought a Qidi Plus 4 a couple of months ago and have been extremely happy with it. It’s fast, reliable, and has the heated chamber and high temp hotend. Multi-material is supposed to get added via the Qidi box in the first quarter if you wanted to add it on later.
I haven’t printed any engineering grade material on it yet, but all the reviews I’ve seen say it’s a piece of cake with advanced materials.
… and absolutely yes on the engineering materials, should be easy as pie.
That plus 4 looks very nice, but it is just a little out of my price range unfortunately and it also seems like the Qidi box will not be compatible with the Q1 Pro, but I still feel like multi filament printing with a single print head is a wasteful gimmick.
Like you, I have an A1 mini but with the AMS lite, I seldom use it for multi color prints beyond some few pieces of simple signage. But, it’s very effective when you hang multiple materials or colors to do your single material/color prints. So I have to give them that point.
That said, when I bought the mini this last fall, I was all set to buy the Qidi X Smart 3-- only to discover it had been discontinued and off the website when I went to order. I just wanted a smaller and faster printer.
I see 3 reasons to save your pennies to get the Plus 4 over the Q1. It’s a bit bigger print volume, what appears to be better specs for printing those high end engineering filaments you want to print, and being a newer model it will be supported longer. The Qidi Box isn’t needed anymore than the AMS system you already don’t have. But I think you will be happier over the long run.
Ah, yes. I overlooked the budget. Well, I can at least attest to the quality of Qidi brand out of the box. Not sure on longevity, but I’m impressed so far.
I’ve never had a Qidi printer, so can’t speak for their quality. What do you plan to print that needs a heated chamber?
I’m very partial to prusa printers myself, but they’re a different price category.
At the moment ABS and PETG, but Im also just interested in expanding my capabilities and refining print quality. Im an engineering student and will very likely find uses for this printer in school projects and definitely in my own projects. If I ever need XL prints or want to get into multimaterial, Prusa is gonna be my go to.
