Sovol had been on my radar for a little bit with their SV01 3D Printer. I liked some of the unique features they were offering such as a rectangular build volume. I happened to enter one of their contests and won one of the printers! I’ve been using it for a little bit and wanted to share my experience, because I have to say… it’s been one of the better printers I’ve used in 2019! Join me in my Sovol SV01 3D printer review.
Specifications
Build Volume: 280 x 240 x 300mm
Extruder Style: Direct Drive
Stock Nozzle: 0.4mm
Maximum Extruder Temperature: 250C
Maximum Heated Bed Temperature: 100C
Power Supply: MeanWell 24V
Control Board: Creality V2.2
Thermal Runaway: Enabled
Heated Bed: Yes with Carbon crystal silicone glass surface
Unboxing
The unboxing procedure was uneventful which is what we want when we’re opening up our printer for the first time. Everything was nicely packed and there was no shipping damage. All the parts were accounted for. I removed all the parts and assemblies and we went ahead and started moving onto the assembly process.
Assembly
If you’ve assembled an i3 style printer such as a Creality CR-10 in recent years this one will not be much different. If it’s your first time assembling a printer, it is a very easy process. The printer top assembly is mounted to the base assembly with 4 long allen screws that go through the base and thread into the z axis aluminum extrusions. Once that is completed, the LCD screen is mounted, as is the filament holder and filament sensor. The Z axis endstop also needs to be installed.
First Impressions
After the printer was assembled it appeared to be a nice rigid printer. The 2040 X axis extrusion provides a nice stable track for the extruder and hot end assembly. The dual z axis lead screws keep the gantry level as it moves up or down. It really felt like an improved lovechild of the Artillery Sidewinder X1 and a Creality printer. The later because there are many branded Creality parts on this printer including the control board. I recently saw that Sovol has started offering Creality’s upgraded V2.2 silent board with TMC2208 drivers for the SV01.
I wasn’t a massive fan of the way the extruder was mounted as I found it to be cumbersome if you wanted to spin the gear to feed the filament however that’s a minor thing. This is where I also noticed the filament wasn’t smoothly moving through the filament sensor. It felt like it was grinding on something sharp inside the filament sensor housing and didn’t pass through easily. I also noticed at times some small marks on the filament from the sensor. The printer powered on with a flick of the switch and we were off to start a print. I like the design with the power plug input on the rear of the printer, however the power switch located on the side where it’s convenient to power on of off the printer.
Having previously used an Artillery Sidewinder X1 which is also direct drive, I modified the profile I was using in Prusaslicer by decreasing the print volume to the SV01 specs and started printing. The print came out fantastic.
Printing
The prints that the Sovol SV01 produced were smooth and clean and everything you’d like in a print.
I did notice a touch of underextrusion at times and I checked the e-steps which were surprisingly right. I say surprisingly as many low cost printer’s I’ve tested haven’t had perfect e-steps. I then increased the flow in the slicer and the underextrusion went away.
I still wasn’t happy with the filament sensor so I did end up place a dummy piece of filament in the sensor to bypass it after a couple prints and filament swaps where it just didn’t feel right. Aside from the sensor, I sliced and printed model after model and was really happy.
The print surface was fairly consistent with respect to adhesion. I was able to print the free Enterprise model from Fab365 without issue.
Some larger prints did have some corners lift unfortunately. I recommend playing it safe with a brim on prints you really care about that have very large surface areas or really small. For the most part adhesion was not an issue for me.
Community
The Sovol Facebook group is active with over 1500 members at
the time of writing this article. They’ve had a few giveaways in the group and
the members are friendly.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sovol3d/
Conclusion
I’ve been using the SV01 for review purposes and out of the box, it has been one of the best printers I’ve had the privilege of reviewing this year. The print quality has been consistently great with a nicely tuned profile. That irregular print platform size actually comes in handy when you need to print something a bit bigger but don’t have the space for a bigger printer.
The dual independent Z axis leadscrews combined with the 2040 X axis extrusion and 2040 Y axis extrusion make for a nice stable printing platform. The direct drive extruder performs well. I’ve often seen the Sovol SV01 3D Printer on sale for $269 USD which is a phenomenal price for something that prints so well. While there a few minor things that could be improved, I highly recommend this printer based on my experience with it and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next from Sovol!
www.sovol3d.com
Prusa SL1 Review – Review of the Josef Prusa SL1 MSLA Resin 3D Printer (First Look)