
After many years of using my son’s old 3d Printer, Qidi Tech I, I’ve upgraded to an Anycubic Kobra 2 Max.
This large format printer has a print bed that is 420 x 420 x 500mm. This is a significant change from the Qidi Tech’s 150 x 230 x 200mm print bed. One of the frustrations with the Qidi Tech was always segmenting prints to fit on the bed.
The technology step up from a 12 year 3D printer to a modern machine is also significant. The speed is easily 10x faster and there is much more control resulting is great prints. The self-leveling bed and the PEI build plate is a dream. No more using a feeler gauge to level the bed and removing prints are seamless.

Out of the box there was one parameter that needed to be tuned before printing great looking PLA prints. That one parameter was the Z-Offset. Getting the nozzle height tuned in so prints stuck to the bed and the printed line look consistent took a couple of hours of work. Ultimately I found -0.8mm setting for the Z-Offset was perfect.
I like to use Benchy the Boat for testing. The overhangs, bridges and sharp corners highlights any printing issue. The Kobra 2 Max printed really crisp Benchy on the 3rd attempt, after a few minor tweaks.
The Qidi Tech I is still a great little printer. At 12 years old, this print still pops out great looking ABS prints.