In the mean time saw this video . Dustin Corbin does some work for FT  but seems very honest in his reviews. Bottom ,line is the FT5 is not a beginners kit but is is a very good deal on a large solid printer kit.

Tin

wagnmkr wrote:

So, how is the beast working? I am still considering one of these to build. I have an ESDv6 coming from Filistruder that I will use on whatever machine I build.

Tom

To be honest, I have not really had time to mess with it much after getting the Volcano & Titan installed - way too many other things going on.

Hoping to get back to it soon, tho.

I know the feeling all too well. It amazes me when some of my friends say they are bored 'cause they have nothing to do!

Tom

So, how is the beast working? I am still considering one of these to build. I have an ESDv6 coming from Filistruder that I will use on whatever machine I build.

Tom

To be honest, I have not really had time to mess with it much after getting the Volcano & Titan installed - way too many other things going on.

Hoping to get back to it soon, tho.

Tom

Also running it from a new to us laptop that was given to us -  a quad core HP Pavilion running Win7 Home Premium. seems to be working pretty well after a few days of cleanup and clean out (OMG - the garbage that was installed on this thing!)

Extruders have subjected me to the most frustration in all 3D printing.
FT-5 no different.
Very erratic extrusion from the FT-5.
Can't really calibrate the extrusion.
Tried different filament, and disassembled extruder many times
lots of grinding going on in there!
Very free feed from spool above.
Any suggestions before I mount a E3D Titan on it.
May try a wire feed gear I have around here?
Should work out of the box?

1. Make sure the set screw on the drive gear is on the flat part of the shaft and good & tight.
2. Make sure the hole in the nozzle mount is lined up properly with the output of the feed mechanism (it isn't causing binding of the filament - You should be able to push filament through by hand fairly easily when at temp and tension released)
3. Have you adjusted the voltage on the stepper driver for that motor? the stepper drivers do not come with voltage preset - you need to do it.

For testing purposes, you can remove the fan & heatsink and re-mount the nozzle block (use shorter screws so it is tight) so you can see what is going on. Do not leave it this way long term, however.

I am not a big fan of the MK series extruders due to not being able to see what is going on with the drive system, but they should work fine if things are set up correctly.

Also - correct temperature for the filament being used is necessary - for standard PLA in the range of 190-200C should be sufficient - ABS should work in the 230-235C range...

wagnmkr wrote:

Wiring is not my favorite task either. I hope you get it all sorted and working again. I have looked at getting one of those machines but it is just too much to get it shipped up here to Canada. Oh well, I haven't totally sorted the one I have at this point.

There is a guy in the FolgerTech Facebook group that is trying to get set up as a Canadian "supplier" for that very reason - if you really are interested in one I would suggest reaching out to him for more information. I can probably get you an email address if you want.

I don't do Facebook, so if you could let me know how to contact this gentleman, it would be great. I don't think it will be long before I have a second machine and I am looking for better quality.

Wiring is not my favorite task either. I hope you get it all sorted and working again. I have looked at getting one of those machines but it is just too much to get it shipped up here to Canada. Oh well, I haven't totally sorted the one I have at this point.

There is a guy in the FolgerTech Facebook group that is trying to get set up as a Canadian "supplier" for that very reason - if you really are interested in one I would suggest reaching out to him for more information. I can probably get you an email address if you want.