3D Systems CubeX Duo 3D Printer

My Thoughts of the CubeX Duo 3D Printer

The printer will print well and if you just want a simple to understand software then this printer will be a great choice.

My Opinion:
The controller that they used with this series of printers uses the the PIC35MX440F256H which is a powerful microprocessor capable of running at 80 MHz. The printers mechanical design is excellent but the controllers firmware and software is, in IMHO, terrible. My basic opinion is that the manufacturer spent 99% of their
R&D funds on the mechanical design and 1% on the firmware and software design.

They also wanted to force a user to buy printing filament from them at about 3 times the cost of generic
products. They did this by placing a chip in the filament cartridge that locks out the printer unless one of their cartridges is used. The chip is also updated by the controller and when the controller determines that all of the filament has been used the chip is reset and the controller prevents the cartridge from being used again.

It's a shame that the existing controller is so crippled by sorry firmware and user software.

Of course I don't know the number of these printers that they sold but it was quite a few and if someone found a way to reprogram the PIC microprocessor to use a 3rd party firmware then they could make a lot of money selling the "hack" to CubeX owners.

Another problem with the CubeX's design is the hot end only has a 0.4mm nozzle and it cannot be changed. I have designed a simple adapter that would allow a user to install a generic E3D V6 style hot end that uses standard nozzles that can be obtained in a number of different nozzle bores. Unfortunately You cannot use this with the existing controller because the manufacturer used a non-standard (for this market) 200K thermistor instead of the more common 100K thermistor so unless the firmware's thermistor curve is changed or you can find one that will work with a generic E3D V6 hot end then it will not work.

All-in-all I'd buy one again even knowing it's limitations and if you have the skills then it would be a low cost way to get the basic mechanical portion of a 3D printer and retrofit it with a open source controller - That's what I am going to do.Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Sold by: mraksports.com

OMG what a disaster! If you're looking for a plug-n-play 3D printer, this is NOT the machine for you.

It's huge! It's heavy! It uses expensive (like $100 each) filament cartridges and won't use anything else), weird proprietary slicing software, can't print ABS because it doesn't have a heated bed! You have to use glue to get prints to stick to the bed and the glues costs $15 for a tiny bottle!

Poor design- it has plastic parts that should be made of metal- the plastic X axis motor mount is flexing because of the belt tension, the plate that lifts the Z axis is plastic! There's nothing holding the controller board in place except the cables that connect to it. The extruders are designed to accept 1.6 mm filament, not 1.75 mm and the filament path is bent around the unadjustable pinch rollers, guaranteeing that the filament is going to break INSIDE the extruder if it's a little brittle (like PLA that has absorbed a little moisture from the air).

I should have bought a Prusa i2...Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: erikdeals

Bad Product

Have bought two "New, Factory Sealed" printers. Neither works. Factory says they haven't shipped these products in over two years. Little or no factory help available. Both units were refunded in full.Read full review

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: kosunick29

I have had two of these printers. Both broke after a fairly short period of proper operation. 3D systems has wisely stpped production

Its not ok

The product prints great but i spent more time i mean way more time trouble shooting than printing..the inkndidpenser is horrible..

Broken printer

The LCD on the printer was not working.

Verified purchase:  Yes • Condition: new • Sold by: bransonvip