Sometimes, you just can’t help yourself!
I broke down, and bought another 3d printer. Yes, I’m addicted to these cool little creation machines. I could have waited for the next Elegoo Mars. I love mine, and it works fine.
I just didn’t want to wait. I looked at the Photon S, and several others. While I wanted to hold on for the next version of the Mars, well, I splurged and got a great new printer, the Epax X1.
Unboxing and Comparison to the Elegoo Mars!
Why a new printer?
Well, I’ve found myself getting busier. Thats good. Sometimes, when I have to print a bunch of things, mostly rings and pendants, I find that I’m spending a lot of time re-printing. Why not just add a printer, and double my rate!
Plus, you can never have too many!
Why the Epax X1?
Well, I looked long and hard. I wanted to add another printer for a while, and really thought about purchasing a second Mars. Its a great printer, and I’m not going to give it up.
I looked at the Anycubic Photon S, but, its cheap! All plastic, I can see me breaking the cover in a short period of time. I know, the Elegoo Mars has a plastic lid! That lid comes right off. Its not mounted to the base, and isn’t going to get banged up. I can’t see myself cracking it.
The Epax, is made of Metal. The upper chamber is well constructed. The hinges are strong, and support the lid when its up in the open position. The Power on the Epax is nearly double that of the current Mars printer. That was a big factor. In addition, the UV lamp has 50 led. This allows the lcd to pass through a nice even UV light for curing.
Its also upgradable. If I want to add a different UV lamp, I can, for not a lot of money. And most of all, the printer is significantly faster in printing. Mostly because of the Z axis motor. It moves quick.
You can purchase the Epax X1 3d printer on Amazon through my Affiliate account
Comparing to the Mars Printer
Well, this is difficult. Let me explain the differences and I’ll be doing a full review with lots of prints next week.
The Mars has a 20 +/- Watt UV Lamp, 40 Watts on the Epax
The X detail can come down to .01 mm, the mars, .025
Speed of the Mars is good, but the Epax X1 is much better.
Parts, supplies and resins can be used on both, with a few exceptions.
The Epax X1 uses what they call nFEP film. No, I’m not exactly sure what that is yet, but I’ll know by the end of the week. So far, I see no difference, and I’ve already run about 12 prints through it. If you want to, you can use FEP film on the vat, and it still works the same, but, I just got the printer, so, no, I haven’t changed the Film yet.
Stay tuned, full review coming…
