3D 打印机制造商Anycubic最近发布了两款新打印机——Anycubic Kobra及其更大、更坏的叔叔Anycubic Kobra Max。我们有兴趣在寻找最好的入门级 3D 打印机时测试这两种产品。我们正在寻找易用性和可负担性，以及构建和打印质量。
我们已经发布了来自Anycubic的大量(Anycubic—for)3D 打印机(3D printer)评论——包括使用线轴打印的Anycubic Vyper等(Anycubic Vyper)FDM打印机和使用液态树脂作为原材料的Anycubic Photon Mono X 6K等(Anycubic Photon Mono X 6K)SLA树脂 3D 打印机——以及可以说，Kobra Max已迅速成为我们的最爱之一。
Anycubic Kobra Max 3D 打印机(Printer)的特点
这台打印机最明显的特点是它的尺寸。它绝对是巨大的。这意味着您可以单件打印大件物品。想一想(Think)完整的头盔或整个四弦琴——这些是您无法在普通尺寸的 3D 打印机上一体打印的东西。确实(Truly)，“Max”这个词并不能充分体现这台打印机的大小。祝您好运，将包装装入您的垃圾箱或回收箱！
我们怀疑这种尺寸的笛卡尔打印机（依赖于可移动的打印床）是否会表现良好，因为它有很大的重量可以四处移动。诚然，由于这些设计折衷，它不是目前最快的打印机，但它工作得很好。
Kobra Max的技术规格令人印象深刻：
- 调平：使用Anycubic Leviq技术自动(Automatic)进行 25 点调平
- 面板面积：7.95 in² / 51.3 cm²
- 耗材检测：支持
- 印刷材料：PLA / ABS / PETG & TPU
- 喷嘴尺寸：ø 0.4 mm（可更换）
- 喷嘴温度：≤ 500 °F / 260 °C
- 热(Hot)床温度：≤ 194 °F / 90 °C
- 平均速度：3.1 – 3.9 in./s (80mm/s – 100m/s)
- 控制(Control)面板：4.3寸液晶(LCD)触摸屏
- Z轴：双螺杆
- 打印尺寸：17.7 x 15.7 x 15.7 英寸/45 x 40 x 40 厘米（HWD）
- 构建体积：19.02 加仑。/ 72.0 升
- 机器尺寸：72 x 71.5 x 66.5cm
据我们所知，挤出机与Anycubic Vyper上的挤出机和打印头相同。此外(Furthermore)，Kobra Max具有与(Kobra Max)Vyper相同的自动床调平系统。该系统使用压力传感器代替电感传感器。
床调平传感器位于喷嘴本身，确保它可以探测床的每个可打印部分。由于传感器是基于压力的，您可以用任何其他材料替换玻璃床，床调平系统仍然可以工作。（电感式传感器需要金属才能工作，因此您不会在带有玻璃床的打印机上找到它们。）
由于 Kobra Max 的打印平台是一块刚性玻璃板，因此您无法移除和弯曲它来弹出打印件。我们更喜欢可拆卸的弹簧钢构建板，但玻璃仍然是一个不错的打印表面。如果您的打印机没有可移动的床，玻璃是理想的，因为您可以使用金属刮刀去除打印件，而不必担心划伤表面。
LCD触摸屏与许多其他Anycubic打印机上使用的屏幕相同。
像往常一样，它反应灵敏且易于使用。
关于灯丝类型的说明：Kobra Max将使用(Kobra Max)PLA、PETG、TPU和ABS打印。但是，如果您真的想用ABS打印并获得最佳效果，打印机应该在外壳内。鉴于其尺寸，为Kobra Max(Kobra Max)构建合适的外壳可能具有挑战性。
组装 Kobra Max 3D 打印机
组装新的Kobra Max时，请确保您有足够的工作空间。由于床前后移动，您需要的空间比您想象的要多。我们把它放在一个 30 英寸的折叠桌上，打印时，它需要大约 36 英寸，从前到后。
组装Kobra Max并不比组装Kobra或Vyper难。唯一的附加项目是斜撑，它增加了框架的刚度，减少了机械振动。
两个人大约花了15分钟组装。仔细检查您是否剪断了所有用于在运输过程中稳定打印机的拉链。他们有很多。
校准
自动床调平系统易于使用。Anycubic建议您检查 x 轴和 y 轴以确保它们不会摆动。如果是这样，您可以调整偏心螺母，直到摆动停止。我们的打印机没有晃动，所以我们不需要做任何事情。
此外，x 轴和 y 轴具有皮带张紧器。我们需要稍微收紧我们的 x 轴。张紧器易于使用，并且具有许多其他打印机所缺乏的功能。谁想拆开挤出机组件只是为了收紧皮带？不是我们，也可能不是你。
Kobra Max 的制造质量
由于添加了斜撑，框架非常僵硬。双 z 轴螺钉是对较小的Kobra的改进。它们实际上消除了 x 轴组件的下垂。
线轴架位于打印机底座上，可减少打印高大物品时的晃动。这比像Kobra那样将线轴放在顶部要好。
这台打印机由铝型材制成，带有美观的塑料盖，用于热端和张紧器。它有一个光学 z 挡块。x 和 y 限位器是机械的。整体感觉很扎实。
第一次打印
对于第一次打印，我们使用了Anycubic提供的测试文件。适当地，猫头鹰的打印量大约是较小的Kobra(Kobra)附带的猫头鹰测试打印的打印量的两倍。鉴于鲍登设置（这对于这种尺寸的打印机来说很有意义），我们很惊讶猫头鹰的耳朵竟然如此之好。
耳朵看起来比印在Kobra上的猫头鹰更好，Kobra具有直接驱动挤出机系统。我们怀疑这是由于打印速度较慢。很多时候，鲍登挤出机的回缩会产生伪影，但我们没有注意到任何斑点或拉丝。它接近您对直接驱动器的期望质量。
接下来，我们打印了一个带有 0.2 毫米层高的大型扁平底座的花瓶。从玻璃床上去除指纹肯定不像从更小、更灵活的床上去除指纹那么容易，但这也不是什么大问题。我们没有任何粘附问题。当玻璃床冷却时，打印件没有释放，这是我们所期望和希望的。
好奇这种尺寸的打印机的电源要求是什么，我们担心我们无法在同一电路上运行多台打印机。我们测量了Kobra Max打印时的耗电量，不出所料，打印机预热时耗电量最高。我们(Ours)的最高功率为 473 瓦。打印时，它是更易于管理的 200-300 瓦。我们认为它会不止于此。您可能可以在 20 安培电路上运行其中三台打印机。
切入正题
为了知道Kobra Max(Kobra Max)有多大，我们将Kobra放在(Kobra)Kobra Max的床上。疯了(Insane)。（我们不建议您尝试这个。）
小型打印机(small printer)是有限的，所以如果您发现自己打印大件小件并组装它们，请考虑购买Kobra Max。如果您不熟悉 3D 打印，请记住，打印大型物体需要很长时间——可能是几天和几天。通常，我们会向初学者推荐较小的打印机，但如果您在Anycubic网站上购买，价格为 569.00 美元，作为入门级打印机值得考虑。
一个缺点是，与在更小、更快的打印机上相比，较小的打印时间会稍长一些。那只是物理学。更大的打印机有更多的惯性需要克服并且需要更长的时间才能移动。例如，我们花瓶的打印时间是十三个小时。在我们具有类似设置的Prusa MK 2.5上，大约需要 12 个小时——差别不大。(Prusa MK 2.5)
在亚马逊(Amazon)、全球速卖通(AliExpress)或Anycubic 网站(Anycubic website)上购买 Anycubic Kobra Max 。
*特别感谢FormerLurker帮助审查AnyCubic 的Kobra Max 3D打印机。
Review of Anycubic Kobra Max 3D Printer
3D printer manufacturer, Anycubic, recently released two new рrinters—the Anycubic Kobra and its bigger, badder uncle, the Anycubic Kobra Max. We were interested in testing both products in our hunt for the best entry-level 3D printers. We’re looking for ease-of-use and affordability, as well as build and print quality.
We’ve published a number of 3D printer reviews from Anycubic—for both FDM printers like the Anycubic Vyper that print with spools of filament and SLA resin 3D printers like the Anycubic Photon Mono X 6K that use a liquid resin as its raw material—and we can say that the Kobra Max has quickly become one of our favorites.
Features of the Anycubic Kobra Max 3D Printer
The most obvious feature of this printer is its size. It is absolutely massive. That means you can print huge items in a single piece. Think of a full helmet or an entire ukulele—these are things you couldn’t print in one piece on a normal-sized 3D printer. Truly, the word “Max” doesn’t sufficiently capture just how big this printer is. Good luck fitting the packaging into your trash or recycling bins!
We were skeptical that a Cartesian printer of this size (which relies on a moveable print bed) would perform well since it has a lot of weight to move around. Admittedly, it’s not the speediest printer out there because of those design tradeoffs, but it works great.
The Kobra Max has an impressive list of technical specifications:
- Leveling: Automatic, 25 points leveling using the Anycubic Leviq technology
- Panel area: 7.95 in² / 51.3 cm²
- Filament run-out detection: support
- Printing material: PLA / ABS / PETG & TPU
- Nozzle size: ø 0.4 mm (replaceable)
- Nozzle temperature: ≤ 500 °F / 260 °C
- Hot bed temperature: ≤ 194 °F / 90 °C
- Average speed: 3.1 – 3.9 in./s (80mm/s – 100m/s)
- Control panel: 4.3 inch LCD touch screen
- Z-axis: double threaded rod
- Print size: 17.7 x 15.7 x 15.7 in. / 45 x 40 x 40 cm (HWD)
- Build volume: 19.02 gal. / 72.0 L
- Machine dimensions: 72 x 71.5 x 66.5cm
As far as we can tell, the extruder is identical to the extruder and print head on the Anycubic Vyper. Furthermore, the Kobra Max has the same automatic bed-leveling system as the Vyper. The system uses a pressure sensor instead of an inductive sensor.
The bed-leveling sensor is right on the nozzle itself, ensuring that it can probe every printable part of the bed. And since the sensor is pressure-based, you could replace the glass bed with any other material and the bed-leveling system will still work. (Inductive sensors require metal to work, so you won’t find them on printers with glass beds.)
Since the Kobra Max’s printing platform is a rigid glass sheet, you can’t remove and flex it to pop your prints off. We prefer removable spring steel build plates, but glass is still a nice printing surface. If your printer doesn’t have a removable bed, glass is ideal because you can use metal scrapers to remove your prints without worrying about scratching the surface.
The LCD touchscreen is identical to the screens used on many other Anycubic printers.
As usual, it’s responsive and easy to use.
A note about filament types: the Kobra Max will print with PLA, PETG, TPU, and ABS. However, if you really want to print with ABS and get the best possible results, the printer should be inside an enclosure. Given its size, it may be challenging to build a suitable enclosure for the Kobra Max.
Assembling the Kobra Max 3D Printer
When assembling the new Kobra Max, make sure you have sufficient working space. Since the bed moves forward and backward, you need more space than you’d think. We put it on a 30” folding table, and when it’s printing, it needs about 36 inches, front to back.
Assembly of the Kobra Max is no more difficult than assembling the Kobra or Vyper. The only additional items are the diagonal braces which add stiffness to the frame, reducing mechanical vibration.
It took two people about 15 minutes to assemble. Double-check that you’ve cut all the zip ties used to stabilize the printer during shipping. There are a lot of them.
Calibration
The auto-bed-leveling system is easy to use. Anycubic recommends that you check the x- and the y-axes to make sure they don’t wobble. If they do, you can adjust the eccentric nuts until the wobbling stops. There was no wobble on our printer, so we didn’t have to do anything.
Additionally, the x- and y-axes have belt tensioners. We needed to slightly tighten the x-axis on ours. The tensioners are easy to use and are features a lot of other printers lack. Who wants to take apart the extruder assembly just to tighten the belts? Not us, and probably not you.
Build Quality of the Kobra Max
Due to the addition of the diagonal braces, the frame is really stiff. The dual z-axis screws are an improvement over the smaller Kobra. They virtually eliminated sagging of the x-axis assembly.
The spool holder sits on the base of the printer, reducing wobbling when printing tall items. It’s better than having the spool on the top like on the Kobra.
This printer is built with aluminum extrusions with aesthetically-pleasing plastic covers for the hotend and the tenionsers. It’s got an optical z endstop. The x and y endstops are mechanical. The whole thing feels solid.
First Print
For the first print, we used the test file provided by Anycubic. Appropriately, the owl is about twice the print volume of the owl test print that comes with the smaller Kobra. Given the bowden setup (which makes sense for a printer this size), we were surprised that the ears on the owl turned out so well.
The ears look better than they did on the owl printed on the Kobra which has a direct drive extruder system. We suspect that’s due to the slower print speed. Many times, retractions on bowden extruders will create artifacts, but we didn’t notice any blobs or stringing. It approaches the quality you’d expect from a direct-drive.
Next, we printed a vase with a large, flat base with a 0.2mm layer height. Removing prints from the glass bed is certainly not as easy as removing prints from smaller, flexible beds, but it’s not a deal-breaker either. We didn’t have any adhesion problems. The prints didn’t release when the glass bed cooled, which is what we expected and hoped for.
Curious what the power requirements would be for a printer this size, we were worried we wouldn’t be able to run multiple printers on the same circuit. We measured the power usage while the Kobra Max was printing, and, as expected, power usage is highest while the printer is warming up. Ours topped out at 473 watts. While printing, it was a more manageable 200-300 watts. We thought it would be more than that. You could probably run three of these printers on a 20 amp circuit.
Cut to the Chase
To drive home just how big the Kobra Max is, we put the Kobra on the bed of the Kobra Max. Insane. (We do not recommend you try this.)
A small printer is limiting, so if you find yourself printing large objects in small pieces and assembling them, consider buying a Kobra Max. If you’re new to 3D printing, keep in mind that it takes a long time to print big objects—potentially days and days. Typically, we’d recommend a smaller printer to beginners, but at the price point of $569.00 if you purchase on the Anycubic site, it’s worth considering as an entry-level printer.
One downside is that smaller prints will take a little longer than they would on a smaller, faster printer. That’s just physics. Bigger printers have more inertia to overcome and take longer to move. For example, the print time for our vase was thirteen hours. On our Prusa MK 2.5 with similar settings, it would have taken about twelve hours—not a huge difference.
Purchase the Anycubic Kobra Max on Amazon, AliExpress, or the Anycubic website.
*Special thanks to FormerLurker for help in reviewing AnyCubic’s Kobra Max 3D printer.
