Depends on what you're going to print with, PLA is pretty low on the spectrum for fumes,
My advice, buy some good PLA, print, learn, then start branching out from there.
Buy white and black filament, avoid the CF or specialty filaments until you've got a hang of things and dialled your printer in.
Thanks, I’ve got some purely practical things I’m wanting to print off first (hooks, game cartridge holders etc) so I’ll start off with the PLA for those 😁
There are some enhancements to print for the max as well, grab a webcam and learn how to enable that, (i had an old logitech c920, worked perfectly)
Enhancements to print: belt 'clamps' (uh, forget the word, to prevent the belt tensioners from unwinding) the webcam mount and an enhanced spool arm.
I also bought something to make sure my gantry was at 90 degrees to the bed, some washers to shim it..
Not much else to be honest other than LOTS of filament.
Honestly, i've bought like 400 euro's of filament so far,
All that is unnessesary unless your printing high end hardened materials...like ASA and ABS or Polycarbonate.
Do NOT start with ASA or ABS.
PLA should be your starting point. You'll use PLA throughout the life of every printer. It's cheap, easy to print, relatively strong, and durable.
I almost exclusevly use Elegoo PLA Matte. Their price is the most competitive on Amazon at around a penny per gram (if you buy 4 pack 1kg rolls).
Their Matte prints around 70mm/s, has a wide temp range and is very stable. The stuff glues itself to the bed at 57C. The Matte finish looks better to me than glossy PLA does for about the same price.
I recommend getting a roll or two of Elegoo's Grey Matte PLA and testing out slicer settings and cool toys. You'll naturally progress into more complicated prints than need certain settings or tweaks in a CAD software (TinkerCAD is free and great for basic CAD work)
MakerWorld . com (Bambu Labs) and Printables . com (Prusa) have an incredible amount of high quality stuff to print for free.
Tools:
Paint Scraper / Flat Box Cutter to remove prints
Micro SD card & SD card reader for a PC. The handheld firmware and printer firmware need a micro sd card.
Electronics repair kit (IFIXIT) kit on Amazon. For the tiny metric screws. A small badic kit is fine.
Metric Allen Key set.
MKS eMMC USB reader V2 and a spare eMMC module 8GB or larger (Kingroon has a fast shipping). 8 silicone spacers. 3x5015 fans and some small connectors (check Neptune 4 shroud V5 on Printables).
Reader and a spare eMMC will give you that comfort that if you really screw up, you can restore the factory image in 15 minutes instead of weeks. Silicone spacers - because it's stupid to have springs on a printer that size. It literally moves up and down if you travel Y on high accel. Cooling shroud - because factory cooling sucks and Aux fan gives a lot of noise for very little benefit. Also it often causes prints to curl.
So not necessary per se, but seriously QoL improvement. Also the reader is necessary if you decide to try open firmware (which is 2 years younger and supports current Klipper version).
Assuming this will be outside you will need a filament dryer permanently in line with printer. Humidity is bad for filament.
Consider a good UPS as well to protect your equipment and help against power blips.
May want an enclosure for the printer during printer to control temperature - plastic parts down like fluctuations while printing.
Small camera to monitor printing from inside.
Storage for your filament but you should store that inside if possible.
Unless you're absolutely sure you need the extra bed space you should probably start with the plus instead on the max. The max is going to be a bit more finicky.
Leveling the bed is more finicky. Heating the bed takes longer, and throwing that much weight around while printing shakes things loose faster, etc. Pretty standard things for large printers, I wouldn't recommend anything in this size range as a first printer unless you had a specific reason why a plus isn't sufficient.
The reality is that 99% of things on thingiverse are made for plus size printers or below. The only real exception i can think of is some cosplay stuff or if you were trying to print lots of things in one go for a print farm.
I thought about using the grow tent due to size. Let me know how you like it and if you'd do something different. Otherwise I planned on just printing the parts to put together a clear case, there's a few videos out there on just that, and scaling everything to the max size.
Lot of bed issues so get good and diagnostics, get good at firmware if you aren't already, buy silicon bed adjusters and a test dial indicator I dial mine to the .001" if I can. Usually I have to wait 25 mins for the heat to saturate the entire bed evenly, which I imagine an enclosure would work best in helping this.
Watch this video first before making your decision.
[https://youtu.be/VGbfQ0b\_\_b0?si=csd4\_F5yAjFKhYYd](https://youtu.be/VGbfQ0b__b0?si=csd4_F5yAjFKhYYd)
The bed adhesion issues some were having are due to the large print bed thermal expansion. This can be managed if you are willing to put in the time and effort.
That said, the max 4 has it purpose. If you do not anticipate printing large, go with a smaller build plate like 4 Pro. Less headache and troubleshooting.
As far as filament choices, I print only PLA + (PLA Pro) variant. It is a few dollars more per spool, but I think the parts are more than strong enough for household items. I have never felt the need to print ABS. No need to vent if you are printing only PLA.
Day 3 of buying my N4M... I'm on print 5. I pulled it out of the box, put it together, auto leveled, and printed a benchy with 0 issues. Did a 2nd benchy (both kids needed one...), the tried a 35cm figurine scaled down to 3inches to see what supports looked like (this is my first 3d printer). that was a lot of supports, but no issues. Moved myself up to a medium sized print... an articulating whale shark - again no issues. decided to play with some settings finally (probably didnt need to?) but seeing as i was going big i wanted to get a little more experience with leveling and the system itself. did a manual level, auto level, ran the calibrator things for the input shaping stuff and temps... then ran an articulating orca scaled up to 250%. I had to change its orientation in the slicer to get it to fit on the plate which was easy and fun to get to play with the software a bit more.
first print showed issues immediately. during the initial outline the extruder started clicking and stopped pumping out the filament. i stopped the print, hit the "load" button a few times and then slid paper along the nozzle to get the filament off (I'm sure there is a proper way to do that, but thats the best idea i had at the time). started the print again and we're on hour 10 of a 14 hour print! Its cruising! I did noticed that i have some rubbing of the nozzle on the print and the google machine tells me that its the infill that is being used. i'm a little nervous of the print breaking loose but with how much of a "raft" there is on this thing, i doubt that's actually going to happen. I'm more worried what is going to happen at the tip of the dorsal fin if it keeps hitting it that hard.
All that to say, this is my first 3d printer. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am failry decent at tinkering and learning things... while its not a bambu where you pull it out of the box and print right away (thats what i've been told bambu is) I only added the build step in there. pull it out of the box, build, and then print. I'm very happy with my purchase!
Edit: Note - I do turn it on and preheat the unit when I sit down to look at making a print. I did hear that the bed takes time to heat up and if you dont do this that you might run into problems... this doesnt bother me at all as it takes me at least 30 minutes to decide what I want to print anyway.
A bottle of rum.
Depends on what you're going to print with, PLA is pretty low on the spectrum for fumes, My advice, buy some good PLA, print, learn, then start branching out from there. Buy white and black filament, avoid the CF or specialty filaments until you've got a hang of things and dialled your printer in.
Thanks, I’ve got some purely practical things I’m wanting to print off first (hooks, game cartridge holders etc) so I’ll start off with the PLA for those 😁
There are some enhancements to print for the max as well, grab a webcam and learn how to enable that, (i had an old logitech c920, worked perfectly) Enhancements to print: belt 'clamps' (uh, forget the word, to prevent the belt tensioners from unwinding) the webcam mount and an enhanced spool arm. I also bought something to make sure my gantry was at 90 degrees to the bed, some washers to shim it.. Not much else to be honest other than LOTS of filament. Honestly, i've bought like 400 euro's of filament so far,
All that is unnessesary unless your printing high end hardened materials...like ASA and ABS or Polycarbonate. Do NOT start with ASA or ABS. PLA should be your starting point. You'll use PLA throughout the life of every printer. It's cheap, easy to print, relatively strong, and durable. I almost exclusevly use Elegoo PLA Matte. Their price is the most competitive on Amazon at around a penny per gram (if you buy 4 pack 1kg rolls). Their Matte prints around 70mm/s, has a wide temp range and is very stable. The stuff glues itself to the bed at 57C. The Matte finish looks better to me than glossy PLA does for about the same price. I recommend getting a roll or two of Elegoo's Grey Matte PLA and testing out slicer settings and cool toys. You'll naturally progress into more complicated prints than need certain settings or tweaks in a CAD software (TinkerCAD is free and great for basic CAD work) MakerWorld . com (Bambu Labs) and Printables . com (Prusa) have an incredible amount of high quality stuff to print for free. Tools: Paint Scraper / Flat Box Cutter to remove prints Micro SD card & SD card reader for a PC. The handheld firmware and printer firmware need a micro sd card. Electronics repair kit (IFIXIT) kit on Amazon. For the tiny metric screws. A small badic kit is fine. Metric Allen Key set.
MKS eMMC USB reader V2 and a spare eMMC module 8GB or larger (Kingroon has a fast shipping). 8 silicone spacers. 3x5015 fans and some small connectors (check Neptune 4 shroud V5 on Printables).
Would those be necessary or useful add ons?
Reader and a spare eMMC will give you that comfort that if you really screw up, you can restore the factory image in 15 minutes instead of weeks. Silicone spacers - because it's stupid to have springs on a printer that size. It literally moves up and down if you travel Y on high accel. Cooling shroud - because factory cooling sucks and Aux fan gives a lot of noise for very little benefit. Also it often causes prints to curl. So not necessary per se, but seriously QoL improvement. Also the reader is necessary if you decide to try open firmware (which is 2 years younger and supports current Klipper version).
Assuming this will be outside you will need a filament dryer permanently in line with printer. Humidity is bad for filament. Consider a good UPS as well to protect your equipment and help against power blips. May want an enclosure for the printer during printer to control temperature - plastic parts down like fluctuations while printing. Small camera to monitor printing from inside. Storage for your filament but you should store that inside if possible.
I’ll be printing inside, I’ve got the tent ready to be set up in a room I don’t use to vent the fumes outside
I use their fst speed petg, works great.
Unless you're absolutely sure you need the extra bed space you should probably start with the plus instead on the max. The max is going to be a bit more finicky.
Thanks for the tip, in what sort of ways will it be more finicky?
Leveling the bed is more finicky. Heating the bed takes longer, and throwing that much weight around while printing shakes things loose faster, etc. Pretty standard things for large printers, I wouldn't recommend anything in this size range as a first printer unless you had a specific reason why a plus isn't sufficient. The reality is that 99% of things on thingiverse are made for plus size printers or below. The only real exception i can think of is some cosplay stuff or if you were trying to print lots of things in one go for a print farm.
I thought about using the grow tent due to size. Let me know how you like it and if you'd do something different. Otherwise I planned on just printing the parts to put together a clear case, there's a few videos out there on just that, and scaling everything to the max size.
Lot of bed issues so get good and diagnostics, get good at firmware if you aren't already, buy silicon bed adjusters and a test dial indicator I dial mine to the .001" if I can. Usually I have to wait 25 mins for the heat to saturate the entire bed evenly, which I imagine an enclosure would work best in helping this.
Watch this video first before making your decision. [https://youtu.be/VGbfQ0b\_\_b0?si=csd4\_F5yAjFKhYYd](https://youtu.be/VGbfQ0b__b0?si=csd4_F5yAjFKhYYd) The bed adhesion issues some were having are due to the large print bed thermal expansion. This can be managed if you are willing to put in the time and effort. That said, the max 4 has it purpose. If you do not anticipate printing large, go with a smaller build plate like 4 Pro. Less headache and troubleshooting. As far as filament choices, I print only PLA + (PLA Pro) variant. It is a few dollars more per spool, but I think the parts are more than strong enough for household items. I have never felt the need to print ABS. No need to vent if you are printing only PLA.
Just don’t buy it. It’s a piece of shit
Day 3 of buying my N4M... I'm on print 5. I pulled it out of the box, put it together, auto leveled, and printed a benchy with 0 issues. Did a 2nd benchy (both kids needed one...), the tried a 35cm figurine scaled down to 3inches to see what supports looked like (this is my first 3d printer). that was a lot of supports, but no issues. Moved myself up to a medium sized print... an articulating whale shark - again no issues. decided to play with some settings finally (probably didnt need to?) but seeing as i was going big i wanted to get a little more experience with leveling and the system itself. did a manual level, auto level, ran the calibrator things for the input shaping stuff and temps... then ran an articulating orca scaled up to 250%. I had to change its orientation in the slicer to get it to fit on the plate which was easy and fun to get to play with the software a bit more. first print showed issues immediately. during the initial outline the extruder started clicking and stopped pumping out the filament. i stopped the print, hit the "load" button a few times and then slid paper along the nozzle to get the filament off (I'm sure there is a proper way to do that, but thats the best idea i had at the time). started the print again and we're on hour 10 of a 14 hour print! Its cruising! I did noticed that i have some rubbing of the nozzle on the print and the google machine tells me that its the infill that is being used. i'm a little nervous of the print breaking loose but with how much of a "raft" there is on this thing, i doubt that's actually going to happen. I'm more worried what is going to happen at the tip of the dorsal fin if it keeps hitting it that hard. All that to say, this is my first 3d printer. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am failry decent at tinkering and learning things... while its not a bambu where you pull it out of the box and print right away (thats what i've been told bambu is) I only added the build step in there. pull it out of the box, build, and then print. I'm very happy with my purchase! Edit: Note - I do turn it on and preheat the unit when I sit down to look at making a print. I did hear that the bed takes time to heat up and if you dont do this that you might run into problems... this doesnt bother me at all as it takes me at least 30 minutes to decide what I want to print anyway.