Review on 🖨️ CR-10Mini 3D Printer by Creality3D: Resumes Printing, 300x220x300mm Capacity by Rob Dixon

I've been impressed with this unit since I bought it. Received a few days before New Year's Eve 2019. Now that I have over 100 hours of printing I want to give potential buyers an honest review. Okay, a few things you need to keep in mind when purchasing this amazing device: First and most importantly, read the user manual online version or the one installed on the packaged SDmicro.2 card. Check the tension of the build plate guide wheels and belt. You don't want them to be too tight or too loose. They will most likely need to be adjusted. There are many YouTube videos showing what a good place is.3. After assembling the gantry, check the eccentric nuts of the belt tensioning wheel and the idler wheel on the X and Z axis.4. Slightly loosen the platform dials before the printer automatically returns to its original position.5. After installing the PTFE tube and loading the filament, check the height of the extruder gear so that it is in full contact with the filament. Make sure the locking screw is properly tightened. Make sure the idler pulley latch is pushed back as far as it will go. You may need to check the Z axis lead screw. Make sure it is fully seated in the Z-Stepper Motor Coupling. The set screws may be loose. Also make sure that the brass screws of the Z-axis support nut are not over-tightened (it is attached to the extruder stepper motor bracket with two allen screws on either side of the Z-guide rod). Two screws were too tight on my unit causing the Z.6 motor to not work properly. Regarding bed leveling; This is my first 3D printer for me. I immediately realized that bed leveling can be not only a science but also an art. I recommend learning with the printer paper method to get a feel for it being too tight. There are many files on Thingiverse showing the height of your bed. There is also no such thing as a perfectly flat piece of glass. My printer's glass printing surface had dead spots or small warping in certain spots. I highly recommend that you have some custom made mirror or glass pieces for the bed. Try to keep the bed clamps as close to the adjustment screws as possible. Currently I don't think Ezable's auto level upgrade is compatible with the CR-10 mini. This device is not for everyone. You'll have to fiddle with that sometimes. If you don't like debugging, swapping components, or making customizations, this isn't for you. However, if you like the 'master' aspect then for the price this is for you. After learning how to reset the quality settings in Cura and leveling the bed, I got some high quality prints. I printed some scaled miniatures from Capsule Chibi with a layer height of 0.06mm and AMAZING quality. The board game terrain I printed for Kingdom Death: Monster came out amazing with 0.1mm layer height and 0.2mm layer height for most of the terrain. I was amazed at how well CAT.gcode printed with a layer height of 0.1mm. The smallest characters were legible. Pros: Partially assembled a HUGE community of subscribers and support. Decent build volume for the price. (30cm x 22cm x 30cm) Literally pennies per cubic inch of yarn printed. Reliability and consistency after everything is zeroed and properly adjusted. Heats up quickly and keeps the temperature reliably. Capable of printing many types of filament - PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, PLA/Carbon fiber with plated steel nozzle. Layer height from 0.06 to 0.4. Lifetime support and 1 year limited warranty. Disadvantages: The glass printing surface may be deformed. A firmware update may be required. It is highly recommended to use the UPS battery. Single guide rod in Z-axis (this doesn't seem to affect quality though). The fans of the power supply and the controller can be a bit noisy. It is strongly recommended to store the printer in a closed separate room. In the factory packaging, the filament fits too tight and rubs against the Z-axis guide screw (you should print out the supplied .gcode file with the filament guide). On my printer and a layer height of 0.2, 100% fill took less than an hour. Overall I'm glad I got it. I studied the Creality CR-10 mini, Flashforge Finder and Flashforge Adventurer 3. Ultimately, it was volume, price, support, and popularity in the 3D printer community. As I mentioned before, if you don't mind messing around with a partially DIY 3D printer, you need a good build volume, but you're space constrained and on a budget under $350 this device will deliver can. Happy printing!