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Last time I reviewed a Flash Forge
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machine, it seemed like it was designed
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by someone who'd never actually lifted
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their head to look at the modern world
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of 3D printing. It technically
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functioned, but only in the same way
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your nan's VHS still technically
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functions, whilst everyone else is
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watching DVDs or streaming content. It's
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one of those experiences where you find
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yourself halfway through a print before
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wondering whether the machine was built
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before or after they discovered the
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concept of firmware updates. Everything
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about it felt like it was made in a
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vacuum and not the good kind. As if the
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development team had been kept
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underground since 2014 and were just now
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learning that other printers exist. Back
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then, they wouldn't have recognized a
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modern workflow if it dragged itself
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across their PEI sheet. So, when Flash
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Forge sent me the AD5X, I genuinely
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thought, "Here we go again. Let's see
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what fresh nonsense awaits." And
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honestly, I've been thrown off because
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this machine actually works well. as in
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I've had it for a few weeks now and it
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hasn't once made me want to throw it
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through a wall and that in itself is
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more surprising than most of the things
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I've printed this year. Hi, I'm Ross and
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this is Far Hammer Videos. Now, this is
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a brief one. I'll put about as much
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effort in as Flash Forge did. Talking
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about setup, this thing arrives mostly
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preassembled, but really that's because
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it's just a frame. Unclamp the LCD and
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slide it into its mounting socket.
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Attach the filament feeder arm to the
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right hand side and then push and twist
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the feeder itself to lock it into place.
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Attach the four spring-loaded filament
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winders on the same side, all of which
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are numbered. Connect up the four PTFE
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tubes and the hub in the top of the
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hotend and then plug in the power cable.
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This is in the back. Switch it on, let
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it do its own self checks, and
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setupwise, there you are. You're done.
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It's basic. It's solid. Now, in terms of
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specs, this is a 220x 220x 220 mm build
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volume, so it's your standard cube, but
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it is on the smaller side of modern Core
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XY printers. The bed is a spring steel
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PEI sheet that just works, something I
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actually struggled with on my last Flash
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Forge machine that still needed to use
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glue. It slides into place easily, and
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I'm a big fan of the plastic grip on the
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front, as small of an enhancement that
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that actually is. All the leveling is
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automatic, which again, solid modern
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feature. The hot end's a bit odd,
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though. The nozzle is held in with a
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magnetic bracket, which is great for
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quick swap, and you simply need to
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unlatch it and pull it away. But it was
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also interesting to see that the heat
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sink actually unfolds. Now, I haven't
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actually experienced an extruder jam on
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this, and I've done a lot of filament
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swaps, but watching the online videos,
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it doesn't look like it's the easiest
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job to access the extruder gear
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mechanism if you do face an issue in
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there. Mounting filament is a case of
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pressing it onto the pegs on the right
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hand side and partially feeding it into
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the automated feeder. From here, that
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will then grab it and take care of
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everything else, prepping it, ready to
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be fed on demand. Just be aware though
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that only spools with an inner diameter
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of 52 to 58 mm will fit on these prongs.
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Now, thankfully, more brands seem to be
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adopting this as a standard because of
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all the filament I have lying around, I
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wasn't actually able to find one that
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didn't fit. Now, overall, I like
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automated filament feeders, but I would
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prefer at least the option of something
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more enclosed, which it doesn't seem
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like Flash Forge have. Now, then let's
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talk connectivity. All of the IO, all of
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the main elements are sensibly on the
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back, including the power and rocker
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switch. And I assume, like many print
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farms, I'm happy to see this actually
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has an Ethernet socket. And you also
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have Wi-Fi as an option, too, to connect
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to your local network. Now, let's
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address the control screen. It's fine.
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It's functional. It's got a USB port on
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the side, but it's resistive, not
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capacitive, which means instead of
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tapping, you're pressing firmly. And
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even then, sometimes it responds,
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sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it jumps
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back to the home screen just to remind
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you who's in charge. Overall, I did find
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it a little frustrating when I've got
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other cheaper machines that are
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capacitive and much easier to press.
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Now, menu layout is simple. It's easy to
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find what you're after cuz there's not
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much here. It's nothing flashy. It's
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clearly using the same skin as every
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other modern printer. It works. There's
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just no innovation or advancement here
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either. And when loading filament, you
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can select both the color and material
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type in each slot in order to sync that
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back to the slicer. But speaking of
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legacy, there's also no camera, not
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installed as standard. Anyway, this is
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an extra and you'll need to buy it if
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you want remote monitoring. Yep, that
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makes sense for those of you who want to
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avoid the extra cost of a machine if you
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won't use this function. I'm just not
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sure the price of this machine reflects
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that of a more budget friendly device in
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the first place, at least at the time of
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recording this video. Anyway, please
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don't have a go at me months from now
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when you find this in a sale. But here's
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the funny thing. Flash Forge also sells
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an enclosure kit, which is great, right?
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Well, no, because that kit only includes
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the clear acrylic panels and nothing
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else. You actually have to print all the
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frame and mounting brackets yourself.
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So, the enclosure kit actually wants you
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to print your own parts, which again,
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it's good for keeping the cost down, but
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ideally you'd want to print this in
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something like ABS, which in case you're
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not familiar with Irony, is one of the
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main filaments that actually benefits
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from an enclosure in the first place.
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So, in order to print this reliably, you
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probably actually already want a printer
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with an enclosure. I'd expect you'd want
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to print an enclosure in a more
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heatresistant material like ABS, but in
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order to print ABS, well, you really
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need a printer with an enclosure. Sure,
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yeah, you could print it in PET G or
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PLA, but the result will be a machine
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that does little more than prevent the
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average breeze from affecting your ABS
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print rather than actually having a
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chamber which controls the environment
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properly to print materials like ABS.
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Yeah, are you with me? It's a bit of a
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catch 22. It's genuinely one of the more
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eastern printer brand things I've ever
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seen. It's perfectly circular logic. But
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honestly, in day-to-day use, this is
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where the AD5X surprised me because it's
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been decent. Reassuringly decent in my
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experience. Once a print starts, it just
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runs. No drama, no skip steps, no sudden
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mystery errors at 92%. Print quality is
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solid. PLA prints come out smooth.
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Bridging is clean. Supports snap off
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easily. Overhangs are handled nicely.
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Bottom layers are crisp. My first layer
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printing test was solid with only some
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slight bubbling in one corner. My first
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actual test print on this, which was
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their logo as a test print built onto
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the printer, had one of the smoothest
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top layers I've ever seen. So, I dove
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straight in and printed a multiolor
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Borderlands mask. And I've got to be
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honest, it looks incredible. It's really
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good quality. But the reason I wanted to
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print this specifically is as a perfect
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example of why I've been avoiding
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multiolor prints on filament changer
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machines. I know I roughly talk about it
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but then avoid doing it because of the
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waste here for this one mask. I've got
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an entire tub. Then there's the purge
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time. This whole print took almost two
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days now. Yeah, you can reduce this
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waste volume and time by reducing the
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amount of material purging it does in
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the slicer or by purging into infill
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too, but because this was a mostly white
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print, I wanted to avoid any chance of
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crosscontamination. And this bin is the
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result. It's not a criticism of Flash
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Forge. Don't hold it against this
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printer. It's just how multicolor FDM
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with filament changes work. And I don't
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think I'm the only one who's kind of
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gone, yeah, we love multiolor prints,
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but because of this waste, so many of us
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would rather just print individual
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elements in their respective colors and
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glue them together afterwards. Am I
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alone on this? Because it feels like
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that's the next advancement in 3D
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printing. This type of filament changing
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seems to be steadily going the way of 3D
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TVs. You just can't buy them anymore.
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But quickly covering the slicer. Out of
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the box, this uses Flash Forge's own
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version of Orca Slicer, but you can just
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use base Orca slicer, which to be honest
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makes more sense to me because it's got
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all the latest Orca updates in it rather
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than being a Flash Forge derivative
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where we get updates when Flash Forge
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get time to integrate them. We may as
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well just use Orca. But finally, and
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just an aside, I wanted to show
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something else off cool that I got my
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hands on. Hand Boost sent me their C1,
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which is basically an ultrasonic cutter.
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Now, I actually thought this didn't work
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at first because I couldn't see the
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blade vibrating when it was turned on,
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but it was only after touching it to
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bare plastic you can hear this subtle
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high-pitch squeal as it effortly just
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slices through like a hot knife through
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butter. Now, they wanted me to give my
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opinions on this. I'll be honest, it's a
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little heavy due to the battery and
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mechanics, which well, it stops it being
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super comfortable to hold. And yeah,
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it's a little bit unwieldy, but once you
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get used to it, it is incredibly handy
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to have. Probably as handy as it is
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dangerous. So yeah, if you grab one, be
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careful when using it. I'll put a link
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in the description, but I absolutely
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love mine. But yeah, final thoughts on
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the machine. There's not really much
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here. The Flash Forger Adventurer AD5X
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is a great machine, but it seems built
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by a company that still behaves like
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it's the only company making 3D
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printers. They're just blind to what the
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competition are doing in terms of
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features and price. It is like it was
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designed in a bubble. One where other
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brands doing the same thing, either
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better or cheaper, don't exist. One
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where including a camera would be a
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revolutionary act or a new UI means
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changing the font. And yet, what we've
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got here is genuinely good. I like it.
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It's easy to set up, easy to use. It
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prints well, and it doesn't overpromise.
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It's stable. It's quiet, and it gets the
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job done. Yeah, it's not exciting. It's
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not trend setting, but it seems
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dependable. And that makes it perfect
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for people who are perhaps tired of
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flashy gimmicks or just want a solid
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printer that doesn't give them anxiety.
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It's the kind of printer you buy because
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you don't want to support the big flashy
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brands with their weird policies. You
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know who I mean. But you also don't want
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to drop into the bargain bin lottery
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with budget brands either. It is middle
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tier in a good way. Mediocre, but
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perfectly so. A reliable workhorse, just
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with the face of a pensioner who still
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calls the internet the web. Now, if this
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is what you're after, grab one. I would
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appreciate it if you use my affiliate
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links in the description before making a
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purchase. I'll net a commission at no
10:41
cost to you when you do that, and that's
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how I can afford to run the channel. I
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want to say thanks for watching. Big
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love to the members. Your names are on
10:48
screen now. You legends are another
10:50
reason I keep this going. Please, if
10:52
you're watching, consider joining up if
10:54
you want early access, bonus content,
10:56
Discord rolls, or your name in lights or
10:59
all of it. So, please do that or don't.
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I won't cry probably. At least not if
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you bother doing the like and subscribe
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thing. Thanks again for watching. Until
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next time, they're in their own little
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world. Faux hammer out.
