Creality K1C review

For those who not too long ago purchased a Creality K1, then I’d advise you to cease studying this evaluate now as it can solely make you unhappy.

The K1 is just about six months outdated, however is already being changed by the K1C. It’s no secret that the K1 had some teething issues and Creality ended up redesigning the new finish, fixing some software program points and open sourcing the software program that ought to have been open supply all alongside.

However as a substitute of simply persevering with to promote the ‘mounted’ K1, Creality determined to do an entire overhaul and launch a very new mannequin, the K1C.

It would look the identical, however beneath the pores and skin there are a raft of upgrades and enhancements that make it a greater printer. So, apologies to anybody who’s simply purchased a K1.

Options & design

• New extruder
• New easy-swap hardened nozzle
• AI digicam as customary

Let’s begin with the C. When rumours of the printer began showing, some thought it stood for Color. Would Creality comply with Bambu Lab and launch a printer just like the P1S Combo that may print with as much as 4 colors?

Sadly not. The C really stands for Carbon, and means there’s an upgraded, hardened metal nozzle that’s designed to keep up a temperature of 300°C.

This is without doubt one of the K1C’s huge differentiators: it might reliably print abrasive carbon-fibre-infused filaments similar to PLA-CF and PETG-CF in addition to people who require larger temperatures similar to ASA and PC.

Alongside the ‘unicorn’ nozzle, as Creality is looking it, the all-metal direct-drive extruder is stronger than the unique K1’s, permitting it to extra reliably feed filament into the hotend.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The corporate says the nozzle is meant to be fast to swap out, however except I’m doing it unsuitable, it’s nonetheless far more laborious than the Bambu A1, for instance. The new finish is mounted on the rear of the print head, and the duvet (containing the fan) isn’t held in place by magnets: it’s a must to undo two screws. You should take away this to be able to take away the silicone shroud that sits over the nozzle. Then you want to unscrew the nozzle utilizing the provided spanner – hardly the one-handed swap Creality advertises.

The actual fact is, you’re not more likely to need or want to vary the nozzle fairly often anyway, making this all reasonably moot for most individuals.

The K1 doesn’t have a digicam, nevertheless it’s customary on the K1C. It means that you can verify on print progress remotely and document timelapses of prints for posterity. It’s known as an AI digicam as a result of it might detect overseas objects on the construct plate or if a print fails half approach via and the filament begins to type a load of ‘spaghetti’.

So far as I can inform it’s the identical digicam from the K1 Max so high quality in all fairness first rate. It isn’t excellent on the AI stuff, although, and doesn’t all the time discover and warn you of failed prints. It’s fairly good at recognizing once you’ve left the earlier mannequin on the construct plate, forgotten about it and began one other print although.

Past this, you’d be hard-pushed to identify the adjustments and enhancements. However they’re there. Creality says the body “adopts larger components made by built-in die casting. With fewer seams, it seems to be neat and turns into totally sturdy”.

Jim Martin / Foundry

It definitely feels sturdy, and there’s now a steel plate on the entrance fringe of the mattress, presumably so as to add additional energy. Nonetheless, the cynic in me sees it as a replica of what Bambu has achieved with its construct plates, even right down to slapping the construct quantity on it: 220x220x250mm. (Pedants will spot – and be irked by – the misguided ³ on the finish.)

Elsewhere, there’s a carbon filter (because the K1 Max has) which helps to maintain nasty particles from being blown into your room, giant rubber ft which come already connected (to dampen vibrations) and a Bambu-style silicone strip caught to the rear of the construct plate for wiping the nozzle clear.

By way of meeting, there’s just about none to do: you get it out of the field, take away a couple of transport screws and foam packing, then connect the display and spool holder, plug in and away you go.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Fairly clearly, the K1C is an enclosed printer. The benefit of this design is that prime ambient temperatures might be maintained to assist maintain warping to a minimal when printing with ASA, PC and different supplies that warp all too readily.

Regardless of what Creality says about them being glass, the aspect panels are nonetheless plastic, with solely the entrance door being glass. The lid is plastic too, and must be clicked firmly into place to cease it from shifting and even falling off fully when the chain (which homes the PTFE tube for the filament and wiring for the print head) strikes to the far left aspect.

As with the K1, the PTFE tube is bent at a good angle into the extruder which might make it troublesome or inconceivable to load filament into the new finish. Filament may catch within the run-out sensor mounted on the rear of the printer (together with the spool holder).

Jim Martin / Foundry

This implies filament adjustments might be irritating. If the filament catches on the tip of the new finish, the one approach to repair it’s to take away the lid, pull out the PTFE tube from the extruder and push the filament in manually as straight as doable till it goes in.

Evaluate this to Bambu’s AMS which routinely masses and unloads filament and it does turn into an enormous annoyance once you need to print in a unique color or with a unique kind of filament.

The 4.3in touchscreen stays the identical as on the K1 and K1 Max. Creality has made numerous enhancements within the interface, with one of the important being the flexibility to regulate print pace on the fly. This was a weird absence earlier than, nevertheless it’s there now (and it really works, I’m completely happy to say).

Jim Martin / Foundry

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It’s nonetheless extra restricted than the controls on Creality’s Klipper-based Sonic Pad, giving choices of 125%, 75%, and 50%. There’s additionally Quiet Mode which reduces noise to “as little as” 45dB. The unhealthy information is that “as little as” is the operative phrase: it was by no means persistently quiet in my testing, with the followers and motors nonetheless being louder than you’d need.

At full chat, the K1C is exceptionally noisy – a mixture of high-flow followers and excessive print speeds. It shakes and wobbles like loopy at speeds over 300mm/sec. And whereas it might technically hit 600mm/sec (Creality even gives a take a look at print to showcase it) it gained’t obtain anyplace close to this on most prints, and may solely do it with tiny layer heights in ‘floor’ mode. The ensuing print was mighty spectacular contemplating all of the shaking about: the partitions appeared excellent, with no layers or imperfections seen.

Speaking of efficiency…

Efficiency

• Totally automated calibration
• 200-300mm real looking print speeds
• Dimensionally correct, clear prints

Though totally different motors are used the K1C gives the identical print speeds because the K1. A helpful desk is included on a sticker contained in the printer itself, so you can also make the primary settings in your slicing software program.

Jim Martin / Foundry

What’s bizarre is that Creality Print doesn’t apply these settings once you inform it what kind of filament is loaded. You possibly can choose something, nevertheless it all the time retained the identical settings for Creality’s HyperPLA, which is 200mm/sec for partitions and 300mm/sec for infill. This might have been as a result of I used to be given early entry to a construct of the software program that supported the K1C, although.

Surprisingly, even when utilizing these sooner speeds for filaments that must be printed slower, the K1C nonetheless delivered nice outcomes. I printed the pace Benchy (pre-loaded as a take a look at mannequin) in Creality’s silk PLA which was accomplished in roughly 18 minutes. I repeated the take a look at by slicing a Benchy in Creality Print utilizing the really helpful settings, nevertheless it was troublesome to inform the distinction between the 2: each have been extremely spectacular.

There’s just about no stringing, with no wisps of filament hanging between the pillars on the boat, and no noticeable ringing on the hull.

I then printed this tiny hexagon field in PLA, which once more confirmed that retraction is superb: it was very clear.

Jim Martin / Foundry

To check tolerances, I used the identical PLA to print this infinite dice fidget toy. Apart from a few barely stiff hinges, which labored looser over time, it was absolutely purposeful proper off the construct plate.

Jim Martin / Foundry

I additionally printed a wall mounting bracket for my Ryobi space mild utilizing Creality’s wooden PLA. The half fitted completely, demonstrating that the K1C prints precisely.

I then printed a wide range of fashions utilizing some Bambu PETG-CF and PLA-CF, all of which printed with glorious outcomes.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Mattress adhesion was nice with all filament varieties I attempted when utilizing the really helpful glue stick. You should buy the elective textured PEI plate, however the clean one labored completely positive for me and leaves the underside of prints equally clean.

Jim Martin / Foundry

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The one time prints have been problematic was when utilizing PC and ASA. As you may see from this hexagon coaster printed in ASA, the corners have warped slightly, regardless of utilizing the really helpful temperature settings.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Earlier than every print, calibration takes round 5-6 minutes. This includes heating the mattress to the specified temperature, probing the mattress (utilizing pressure gauges within the mattress) and enter shaping, which makes an attempt to counteract vibrations prompted when the print head is transferring rapidly in numerous instructions.

Clearly this provides considerably to the time taken for very small fashions, however all the time value it for big prints that take hours and hours.

Print time and progress are proven on the display, however you can too see them in Creality Print and the Creality Cloud cellular app. You’re free to make use of different slicing software program, nevertheless it’s best to make use of these apps to watch prints and get alerts if there’s an issue.

It’s a bit annoying that print time doesn’t change once you modify pace on the fly. Once I tried out Quiet Mode, a print that might have taken 2h30 really took 3h10, nevertheless it wasn’t till the print was just about completed that the time modified. Hopefully Creality can repair this in a firmware replace.

Value & availability

The Creality K1C prices $559 / £539 from Creality. That lower than the $599 / £579 that the  K1 initially value.

That is good worth contemplating the upgrades, though it’s value noting that the K1 is now cheaper at $499 / £479, and that ought to embody the up to date sizzling finish talked about earlier.

It definitely undercuts Bambu’s P1S, which doesn’t have a touchscreen even when it does help multi-colour printing by way of the corporate’s AMS.

For options, see our roundup of the very best 3D printers.

Ought to I purchase the Creality K1C?

The K1C gives first rate worth for anybody in search of a flexible 3D printer that may deal with a variety of filament varieties, reliably with fast printing at prime quality.

The 220x220x250 construct quantity isn’t the biggest, although, and there’s no phrase but on whether or not Creality will provide an upgraded model of the K1 Max. In lots of respects, it doesn’t must because the K1 Max can – technically – already print with carbon-fibre filaments in addition to ASA, PC and nylon. You’ll simply put on out the nozzle sooner if you happen to do print loads of carbon fibre filament. It already has a carbon filter and a digicam.

Jim Martin / Foundry

You need to take a look at the Bambu A1, although, if you happen to don’t must print with filaments that want an enclosure. It isn’t any noisier for it, has much more options (similar to the flexibility to detect tangles on the filament spool) and is an effective chunk cheaper. Oh, and it’s nonetheless cheaper than the K1C even if you happen to go for the A1 Combo which lets you print in as much as 4 colors thank to the AMS Mini, which can also be very handy relating to auto-changing filaments.

Admittedly, you’d want to purchase Bambu’s hardened nozzle to print with carbon fibre, however the A1 can do it simply positive, and gives barely extra construct quantity. It might be a mattress slinger, nevertheless it’s not a lot slower than the K1C and it produces top-notch print high quality.