i-FAST

I have several 3D printers and I use them quite a lot to make functional parts for work. The two I used most prior to buying the iFast are an Anycubic Mega S and Anycubic Chiron. Both are great and have served me well (and continue to do so), but I found myself wanting more, hence starting the search that ended with me buying the QIDI iFast. Things I was looking for included:- A workhorse that's ready to go out of the box and will be reliable without too much fiddling.- An enclosed build area (ideally actively heated) so I can print ABS, ASA, etc. more easily.- Dual extruders so I can use PVA supports or do mixed colour / material prints.- Direct drive extruders for printing flexible filament (actually the Anycubics do manage this OK even though they're Bowden extruders but I've only tried relatively rigid flex filaments so far and would like to be able to use more flexy ones like Ninjaflex).- Large build volume.- Well written and maintained firmware that delivers on its promises (both Anycubic printers fail to let me change filaments during a print without hacky workarounds, despite it being an advertised feature). With such a large build volume its inevitable that I'll need to change the filament mid-print sometimes.The QIDI iFast ticked all of those boxes. In fact I was surprised to see an actively heated build volume at this price and even though it only goes up to 60degC (higher would be better for some of the more exotic materials) it's far better than nothing and is fine for the materials I actually use in reality.Since it arrived a few weeks ago I've been using it a fair bit but have really only just begun to scratch the surface of its capabilities. I've done plenty of PLA prints and a few ASA, all of which have come out really well. I've had zero failed prints, which is fantastic because I'm really busy at the moment and need it to "just work"!I wasn't specifically looking for network connectivity but I'm glad that it has it. Being able to send and start a print straight from the slicer is very convenient. It would be great if there was an app or web interface you could use to control / monitor the printer, but it seems to be limited to just sending and starting a print.Speaking of the slicer, QIDI have their own slicer which is based on Cura but heavily skinned to provide easy access to the printer's features. At first I was planning to just use Cura as normal so I contacted support to ask for the printer profile, which they emailed to me almost immediately. However so far I haven't felt the need to use Cura because the QIDI slicer is working really well. Its interface feels slightly slower than the latest version of Cura, but not enough to bother me unduly.There's a camera built in to monitor print progress though, which is quite handy. It seems to have been bought in from a different manufacturer and apart from being switched on and off from the printer's interface it's otherwise a separate thing. It connects via a separate WiFi connection even if the printer is connected via Ethernet and is accessed though an app (Android in my case) that looks like a pretty generic webcam app, having nothing specifically to do with 3D printing. The camera quality is OK. Not earth shattering but plenty good enough to tell if a print is succeeding, failing or has finished without having to go to the printer. It has IR LEDs so you can still see what's going on in the dark. You can access the camera from outside your own network too, which is handy.My camera suddenly stopped working after a print. It was an ASA print so I had the chamber set to 60degC. I'm not sure if that's relevant but most other (PLA) prints are done at room temperature so it means the camera was significantly hotter than it usually is. Anyway I contacted support who were (and continue to be) excellent. They diagnosed the problem and sent me the firmware to load back onto the camera, which got it back up and running. Responses were always quick and the information accurate and helpful. If anything I've been the slower end of the conversation.Support also helped me to upgrade the firmware to fix an issue of the printer beeping occasionally during printing. It didn't cause any problems but seemed strange so I asked what it meant. Applying the updated firmware was easy, following the excellent instructions and video guides I was sent. It worked first time and did indeed stop the random beeping.I haven't yet found the time to try printing with the all metal extruders but I do intend to try with some CF nylon. Swapping the extruders looks to be straightforward as there are two separate complete assemblies, a dual setup for PLA, ABS, etc. and an all metal setup with hardened steel nozzles for fancier materials like PA-CF. I'm excited to try it and based on my experience with the printer so far I expect it will work well, and even if it doesn't the fantastic support will be there to help me get it going.In a nutshell the machine itself is fantastic and knowing the support team are available, knowledgeable and responsive gives me every confidence that any issues that do crop up can be quickly sorted out.This is by far the best printer I've used and I'm glad I bought it.

Quite a long review, but I hope it helps someone.The Qidi i-fast is my second Qidi machine, with the first being an X-Plus that I bought in 2019. The X-Plus has been a work horse, which I used primarily for engineering prototyping. Designing a part in Sketchup today, slicing it, printing it, then having that part in your hands a few hours later is what 3D printing is all about.I was completely new to 3D printing when I got the X-Plus. I took to it like a duck to water, mainly because I enjoyed the design/make process.Anyway, now I’m hooked on 3D printing. For future projects, I wanted to get a bigger machine, one that can handle pretty much all of the 3D printing plastics out there, has a dual extruder, faster print speeds, of course a heated build platform, and a heated chamber. Furthermore, it needed to be compatible with Simplify3D v5.1 (more on that in a minute). Good customer service is a “must have”. 3D printing is quite complex, so you don’t want to be left on your own when things go wrong.So, based on past good experience with the X-Plus machine and especially Qidi customer support, I decided that the Qidi i-fast ticked all the boxes for me. I did consider other printers, but the i-fast seemed to have everything I wanted for a reasonable price. Qidi say they will respond within 12 hours for a customer service enquiry. I can confirm that they really do what they say. The best customer service I have ever experienced with any product. Ever!I have had the i-fast for 4 months now, and I love it. Although I said above that my chosen printer must be compatible with Simplify3D, I have since found that I prefer the slicer Qidi Print 5.6.12 that came bundled with the i-fast. I prefer the user interface, and find it easier to use. The i-fast print quality is great, as is registration between the 2 nozzles. There is a dedicated e-calibration file and calibration function in firmware to get near perfect registration.The machine comes with 2 dual extruder assemblies, a low temp extruder and a high temp extruder.The low temp extruder is intended for PLA, ABS, ASA, TPU95A, PETG.The high temp extruder is best suited for PETG, PA(Nylon), PC, PACF, PCCF, PA12CF.Note that PETG can be run in either extruder, which is handy.I don’t find it too much of a problem swapping extruders. Remove 2 screws, remove 2 ribbon cables, remove 5 more screws, and the extruder is removed. Reverse the procedure to fit the other extruder. Perform fast levelling for both nozzles. Then perform e-calibration for perfect registration of both nozzles. To speed this up, I have noted the X and Y offsets for each extruder assembly, so can enter the X and Y values on the display for the extruder I have just fitted. Then just do one e-calibration print to check, and if necessary make a small correction.Since PETG is compatible with both nozzle assemblies, it has become my ‘go to’ general purpose material, as I don’t need to exchange whichever extruder is currently fitted. I have also set up the e-calibration file for PETG, so that I can have just one file for both extruders.A few days ago, I was tinkering and managed to mess up the left extruder calibration. It ended up extruding far too much plastic, and I couldn’t fix it. Qidi service to the rescue. Everything is working perfectly again now. Moral of the story, don’t mess around with firmware settings if you don’t know what you’re doing. As the Americans say “my bad” :-)Okay, so there was only 1 thing I didn’t like about the Qidi i-fast, and that was the included camera. It’s a 3rd party device and not integrated into the Qidi software in any way. It connects to your mobile phone via wifi. It may be okay for some, but personally I didn’t like it.Overall, I give the i-fast 5 stars. I’m not concerned about the camera. For me it’s all about a printer that gives good quality prints, can print pretty much any plastic material I choose, with the backing of an excellent customer service team. This is what I have, so 5 stars it is.