Creality K1 Review Extended Edition

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I excluded the First-Layer Fiasco at 37:45 from my earlier unboxing and overview video because that was almost certainly caused by user error on my part. I did not think it would be fair to spend so much time documenting an issue that was caused by user error.

Also the footage that I had explaining it was missing audio and super confusing because I spent so long working on this. video in a continuous stretch that my microphone ran out of battery.

Finally, about 3AM the next morning, I was able to realize my mistake, and fix it by loosening the shaft collar again, applying upward force to the leadscrew while applying downward force to the shaft collar, and tightening the set screws to lock the shaft collar in place to eliminate slop. This restored the machine to its original condition from the factory, and brought the first layer back up to acceptable quality (maybe 8/10, so good enough but room for improvement.

So first layer quality timeline:
Everything before 33:36
8 out of 10 (factory condition) pretty skewed bed, but otherwise printed well. First layer OK but could use improvement.

Everything between 33:36 and 38:57
3 out of 10 (ruined by user error) Clear issues with front-left print quality. Caused by botched attempt to fix the skewed bed by loosening shaft collar and introducing slop on z-axis leadscrew.

Everything after 38:57
8 out of 10 (factory condition) Fixed the slop issue by re-tightening the shaft collar with upward force on leadscrew, and downward force on shaft collar. First layer still has room for improvement, but good enough to not cause even the slightest issue on any "real" prints that I printed during testing.

I hope Creality is able to improve the first layer quality, to get rid of the fine gaps in between lines. But it has not actually caused any print issues for me, and I am hopeful that this can be addressed in a firmware update.

To be clear, the belt-slipping technique I showed at 34:28, I believe is a good and valid way to re-level the bed if excess Z-travel is required to print the first layer.

However, in the lead-up to discovering that fix, I was trying all sorts of other things. One attempted fix that caused a lot of issues is when I loosened a part of the machine that I should not have loosened.

Specifically, the front 2 lead screws have a small shaft collar to constrain them and eliminate slop in the Z direction. I loosened those because I thought that would allow me to rotate the front-left lead screw relative to the other lead screws, and level out the bed.

Looking forward to more reviews and testing from others in the community. Also, to my dear Bambu Lab fanboys: Stay mad that creality actually made a good printer.

In this video I am reviewing Creality’s latest flagship printer, the Creality K1. #CrealityK1 #creality #creality3d
Will it be able to compete with the latest printers from Bambu Lab, such as the P1P and X1C? #P1P #bambulab #x1carbon

I earn a commission on qualifying sales from affiliate links.

This machine is taking #corexy corexy speed printing to the next level. It is fast, fully enclosed, wifi enabled, cloud enabled, has an all-metal hotend, ceramic heater block, and CAN bus for the toolhead. Is this the modern day Ender 3? Do you think the K1 is better than the prusa mk4, bambu lab x1 carbon, prusa xl, ender 3 s1 pro, and the bambu p1p?

[frankb]

Just to share what kind of guy runs the channel: Nathan just deletes comments he does not like.
Not sure how long anyone can read this...

[Brunoku]

I'm going to preface this long-winded comment by saying that you seem very likeable and I genuinely think you'll do well in this space. I'm sure those Bambu comments are probably really annoying because they're just stating the obvious.

That being said, those comments are a response to how much praise and credit you gave Creality in the first video. Creality simply doesn't deserve praise for engineering or being innovative. They've spent the better part of the last decade refreshing the same printer, which was also a copy of another company's design. It's just a very sore subject for people in this hobby. Everyone is frustrated with the lack of innovation in this space. Giving so much credit to a company that is one of the main culprits is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way. You also (probably inadvertently) made a comment that was somewhat dismissive of the Voron community, which has been one of the biggest driving forces for innovation in this space. That community has been doing the work that a company like Creality should have been, and they've been doing it for free.

As far as the affiliate/sponsored transparency...
That's just the world that you're living in now. Most of the big 3D printing YouTubers are extremely careful to mention the money they can make from affiliate links. That's probably because they've seen the backlash that you're seeing now. I don't have many feelings about it, and I personally don't see anything wrong with how you're doing it, but it doesn't matter about what either of us think. If it pisses off a chunk of your audience, it's going to hurt you in the end. Take it as constructive criticism and don't let it ruin your day.

Sorry about the long comment, but I just made it because I'm rooting for you. "Screw the haters" and "screw you Nathan" aren't real feedback that you can use lol.

[slartibartfass]

35:53 "Peel off this perfect first layer" - rips off a half done first layer which separates into multiple separate lines next... 😅

[alexey_sychev]

Okay, thanks for the confirming this reviews were well paid

[dtjh]

Hats off for getting this version of the video out, thanks!

[technicallyreal]

Appreciate the extended cut. It reveals a few things I was wondering about. I love the look of this machine and it seems like good value. There are some things that you and no one else seem to want to talk about, though, and they're things that help the Bambu machines stand apart from the QiDi and K1 and others. What I'm referring to are things like the waste chute, nozzle wiper, and filament cutter. Those are major QoL upgrades that I was hoping to see come standard on all printers since their inception. A great example of their usefulness is shown off right in your review when you do the power off resume. The Bambu would have re-primed the nozzle and wiped off any ooze using the waste chute and nozzle wiper. Honestly the way Bambu uses those features at the start of every print has simplified my life to the point where I can hit print and walk away without checking on them at all anymore. It doesn't matter if I just changed colors or materials, either. It just works. 3-5x a day on 2 machines, I just hit print and continue with my life. I want the K1 and other printers to adopt these things!

[sofuzzywuzzy]

Looking forward to the head to head w/ the P1P and deeper teardowns.

[steveh]

So that's not what is commonly referred to as a Bowden Tube. A Bowden Tube is a tube that guides filament from a chassis-mounted extruder to the hot end itself.

[MisterkeTube]

One thing I noticed (and which might also hold for the Bambu - didn't think about it until seeing it here): the A and B steppers are inside the printing chamber and hence will get hot together with it. This is basically invalidating one of the big advantages of corexy.

[itsponytime]

PPS. People who watch your videos, and bother to leave feedback are viewers and engagement, not trolls. You might want to be less smug on that front, given YT is 100% about those two things. Insulting people who bother to watch and comment by calling them trolls when they point out a short, light, biased 'review', is the fastest way to alienate your audience.

[kazolar]

So an extended cut of the advertisement, I'm sure Creality is happy, and you should get more machines sent your way. Maybe the K1 Max.

[moorevfr]

Not trolling when calling you out to what’s strongly looks like your doing video review that’s looks very biased.
Easily to assume you got this from creality free and also being paid as well.

I really like your content just seems the other video was fishy.

I’m not against creality as I’ve got an ender 3 s1.

My gut just says this is a paid ad covered as a review from you and I hope I am proven wrong.

[jameshughes]

Love the glue stick incident! I've done that myself. Applying glue while printing is an art.

[DoRC]

25:15 I would call that a decent first layer but I don't think I'd call it a perfect first layer.

[AndyOz]

I really hate being told to use glue on a print bed. On my Bumbu X1C I've had perfect results heating the "cool plate" to 50°C with no noticable wear to the plate after ~2kg of filament printed through it

[madcannon]

Thanks for the long video Nathan. Looks great, one thing I really dont like about it is going back to using glue. To me its a step back. I know Creality can't use PEI textured sheets because they are not lidar friendly, but the regular K1 ain't got a lidar, so they could of included one.

[markbreidenbaugh]

Glue tip get a lint free cloth like microfiber apply some glue to a maybe 2" area of the cloth add some IPA and rub it on the build plate, this creates a nice think layer of glue that is far more consistent.

[ServerWoes]

I love it, calling people trolls when you refuse to show features outright. Looking at the p1p review theres obvious bias. You print something and snap it saying what would I ever use this junk for. On here you praise it even though it broke in half lmfao. Do better if you want better.

[mysfiring]

Do you think the K1 shares some of the Sonic Pad UI, with some tweaks? I wonder if that extends to the underlying firmware, too...

[Mark]

I'm a new 3D printer user so forgive my ignorance. I've only been doing this for about a year. I've never printed with glue or any type of adhesion other than what than a raft or brim adds to a print job. Do you have to add glue? Once the brim and first layers are laid down, shouldn't the print job hold firm to the print bed?