TLDR: It’s a great machine for super-beginners and kids, long lasting, easy maintenance, but don’t expect anything nice or fancy.
The Flashforge Finder is a Chinese brand 3D printer that runs relatively cheap between ~$230-$299. Here in Chicago, I can drive over to Microcenter and buy one right off the shelf. It’s lightweight, it’s mostly plastic, and it has a very nice little touch screen.
I’ve had this machine for over a year now and I’ve put it through the ringer, printing almost nonstop. What I like about it?
- The touchscreen. It’s got a cute little screen that walks you through changing filament, leveling the bed, adjusting settings, shows a preview and more.
- It’s pre-built. You don’t have to put anything together. Just level the bed, add the filament, and get to printing.
- USB, PC hookup, and internal storage. It runs well plugged into a PC or running directly off a USB. It can save the gcodes into its own storage which is fantastic in case the computer shuts down.
- Flashprint. The slicer program this dude comes with is actually pretty good. I love that you can manipulate the supports easily and you get a very accurate preview of the print before you send it to the printer.
- Autolevel! This is hard to get on cheap 3D printers without adding it on yourself and messing with Marlin program files. I love that it comes with it.
- Direct FDM extruder. The extruder, which includes the gears that pull the filament into the hotend, is located directly above the hotend, allowing me to print with more finicky plastics, such as TPU flexible filament.
- Easy Maintenance. For all the crap I’ve put this machine through, the only issue I’ve ever had is filament jamming and, compared to many other printers I’ve used, it’s an “easy” fix.
What I don’t like?
- Stringy, Stringy, Stringy. I’ve done everything I can to try and fix this. I don’t know if it’s just my machine or if there’s some other tweak I haven’t tried, but no matter what, temp settings be damned, I can’t get the prints to be less hairy.
- Print Quality, Resolution. You simply won’t get very good, high-quality prints with this machine. You can get okay ones that work for what they do, but forget tiny little minis with tiny details. I use this machine for simple terrain pieces for that reason.
- Mo’ Tech, Mo’ Glitches. The touch screen over time has glitched out on me, often freezing and requiring a restart or flickering in a very concerning way.
- Filament Holder. This is something you have to fix very early on. The spool holder this machine comes with is located inside the back of the machine and is a size that demands you only purchase a specific brand of filament. This is no good. You can print your own holder to replace it. I ended up printing two different types, one that hooks on the back and one directly above the machine to make it easy to feed directly into the extruder. (I’ve found that the one in the back can get tangled and jam, so I prefer the filament above.)
Ultimate thoughts? I would say this printer is not a bad one to start with. It can take a lot of abuse and keep kicking, but don’t expect it to do anything fancy. For me, it’s been a great machine to pump out dungeon walls and floors and other basic terrain pieces. So, if you’d like an easy-going buddy who’ll reliably get those floors and rocks printed while you use a nicer machine for your minis? Flashforge Finder isn’t a bad choice, but you could spend about 30-100 bucks less and just get a DIY kit that could print way better.
Speaking as a librarian though, if you want a printer that can print reliably right out of the box, like something for kids to use and play around with, this is actually a pretty nice choice.
