Artillery Sidewinder X1

Artillery Sidewinder X1 High Precision Large Plus Size 3d printer

The new 3D printer Artillery Sidewinder-X1 has been making positive headlines in the 3D printing community for a while, now I have also switched to it and I am very enthusiastic. The Artillery Sidewinder-X1 is a really very precise 3D printer with a large printing area. Due to the uncomplicated operation, it is ideal for beginners as well as professionals. In this review I would like to introduce you to the device and give you some tips for getting started.

As you may know, I have been involved in 3D printing for a while, I wrote an introductory article a year ago. Since I always like to build projects based on a sketchup drawing and I also like to create drawings, 3D printing is an almost indispensable addition. Drawn things are automatically converted into reality by the printer, since sketchup files are well suited for 3D printing (you only have to export them as an STL).

Of course, I continue to make large projects such as furniture, utensils for the house and yard in my workshop with wood and metal. But I also like to make smaller things, the model maker has always been a bit in me. You can make an incredible number of decorative objects with the 3D printer, although I mainly use it to print small, useful components. I use it, for example, to make any holders, photo accessories, adapters, vacuum cleaner adapters, measuring devices, etc. Spare parts for defective parts in the household or accessories for larger projects can also be made with it. The 3D printer often saves me the long search and ordering of special parts and also saves a lot of time and shipping costs.

Why I switched to the Artillery Sidewinder-X1

I only started 3D printing last year with the 3D printer JGAURORA A5S. Basically, I was quite satisfied with the 3D printer and I probably wouldn’t have changed if I hadn’t had an accident. The JGAURORA A5S has the disadvantage that the construction is not particularly rigid. At some point I changed it and then forgot to level before the next print (readjust the distance between the nozzle and the heating bed). You should definitely do that, because a barely recognizable incline often also adjusts the distance to the heating bed.

It came as it had to come, the first layer did not stick properly and for a long time threads were spun wildly. Since I did not observe the pressure, I was used to it working reliably, also stuck the nozzle from the outside quite strongly.

Another mistake was that I did not remove the filament even though the 3D printer was not used for a few months. You should always do this, as moisture will inflate the plastic slightly over time, which can lead to clogging of the nozzle. That’s exactly what happened to me, at some point the nozzle was stuck and clogged. This also made changing the nozzle a little more difficult, it just wasn’t so easy to turn out. When I finally managed to change the nozzle, it suddenly stopped heating up. Somehow the heating element or temperature sensor seemed damaged during the change. Since I absolutely had to print something and it would probably have taken many weeks to find, deliver and install the right spare parts on the Internet, I decided to switch to the Artillery Sidewinder-X1. I had heard a lot of positive things about the model at the time. I passed the old 3D printer on to a hobbyist with more patience. In retrospect, it’s more of a stroke of luck that I go to the Artillery Sidewinder-X1 * came.

What can it do, what advantages does it have?

The Artillery Sidewinder-X1 convinces with a whole range of interesting features. On the one hand, it has an even larger print area of ​​300x300x400mm, so you can print really large 3D objects with it. On the other hand, it is delivered almost completely assembled , you actually only have to connect two parts, plug in some plugs and you’re ready to start with 3D printing. I don’t know how long the voucher is valid, just try it, but it is still very cheap even without a code. The Sidewinder-X1 artillery is being built by the Chinese company Shenzhen Yuntu Chuangzhi Technology Co., which is said to have specialized in 3D printing with 100 employees. The company only offers two 3D printers, which results in good model maintenance.

What I particularly like about the Artillery Sidewinder-X1 is the really clean and high-quality workmanship and the stability. As with the JGAURORA A5, the frame does not consist predominantly of a light U-plate, but of a strong, solid aluminum profile. The whole thing is much more rigid than the JGAURORA A5 and many others. The Artillery Sidewinder-X1 is much easier to access all the individual components if you need to oil or readjust them. The cable routing is also excellent successful, despite the large movement space of the print head you can hardly see the cables. Black ribbon cable is cleverly used as the cable, this is also attached so that it is barely visible and still causes clean bending points with a large radius when moving. There are no places where you soon have to expect a cable break, which is often a problem with many other cheap 3D printers.

Another advantage of the Artillery Sidewinder-X1 is a so-called direct extruder , filament transport and nozzle etc. are all located directly on the print head. The filament is not first transported to the nozzle by a long Bowden cable, but is inserted into the feeder almost directly above the nozzle. The filament roll sits on top of the Artillery Sidewinder-X1 in the filament holder to save space. This construction increases the precision even more, since the game in the Bowden cable is eliminated. You can also use it to make other plastics, such as flexible rubber-like TPUto press. So you don’t have to stick with the usual PLA with the Artillery Sidewinder-X1, it can print PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, PVA, HIPS, wood and other flexible filaments. However, one should definitely start with PLA or TPU, since in my experience this is the least problematic, I now also print PETG a lot because it is smoother and more stable. At PETG it took a little while to find the right printing temperatures and settings for the material, the filament manufacturers’ information is not always very reliable.

Summary

Artillery Sidewinder-X1 is a high-precision, almost noiseless 3D printer with a large printing space of 300x300x400mm. The printer has a print bed that heats up particularly quickly. Print models can be inserted via USB stick or SD card and printed out using the touch display.

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