My X1 is still going strong.. I did manage to snap the lever, and had a ribbon cable frizzle. So yeah those spares the machine came with were put to good use.

The unused plug is probably for the Z stop sensor. I upgraded my X1 for auto bed leveling by attaching the stock sensor that used to sit right there to the print head, and now the cable sits at the same location, unused. It's likely that they used the same motherboard or other components from the X1 and just left the cable in place if somebody wanted to mount the sensor there.

I have an X1 that I absolutely love. I bought it largely based on your reviews. I was looking forward to this review ever since they announced the X2. I'm really happy with what they've done with it, and also pretty amused that after all of the work I put in to get mine upgraded, it now just comes like that out of the box lol

Love the channel, reviews and information. Always learn something, thank you from a long time subscriber.

Wait - am I to understand you printed a 300mm tall model at 0.15mm layer height with a 0.4mm nozzle and it still only took about 40h? I'd consider that a win. Impressive!

When I bought my X2 there were maybe three reviews on KZfaq (because the printer had only been out a couple months), this was perhaps the first in-depth one and it cemented my decision to buy a X2. Now there are quite a few, I've been using mine quite a bit, and I've been helping a lot of newbies on the Artillery3D subreddit. I have uncovered several issues involving the X2, especially some involving newbies. I posted this screed on another KZfaq video last night, I figure I might as well post it here too.. 😁 Maybe it'll help someone. --- I've had one of these since 11-11 (yeah, the sale) last year, and it's been great. Yes, it does have problems - I'll address the few you've mentioned. Lack of Preheat - actually it DOES have Preheat, just not one with pre-sets. It's under Tools -> Heat, then you press the "+" button a bunch of times to get the nozzle or the bed to whatever temperature you want. Lack of removable bed - a removeable bed is something I decided I could not live without. Fortunately easily fixed. Spring steel? Why? Get some IKEA 300x300 mirror tiles (a box of four for USD6) and use small binder clips to clip them to the bed. Yes, you either have to keep them absolutely fingerprint-free or use glue stick (I use glue stick, having been doing this with my old printer). Don't like bare glass? Get a A3 sized polycarbonate, you can get a 310x297mm sheet from it. 2mm or 3mm should work. You need to thoroughly scuff the surface with 200 grit sandpaper. (Just got one today, I'll be testing it out soon). Actually, acrylic/perspex/plexiglass seems to work as well, and it might even be possible to get this to work without heating the bed. Again, experiments on the way. OR you could do what Angus suggests and get a sheet of G10/Garolite. Spring steel? Costs too much money, I think.. OK, on to a problem you haven't discovered yet, but has been carried over from the X1. The firmware doesn't work with M0 and M25 (the "pause" commands), so the "Pause at Height" feature in Cura doesn't work. You can still pause the printer manually using the touch screen, but it IS a pain and I'm looking forward to someone coming up with a fix for this. There are workarounds, but so far they only work if you're running Octoprint. By the way, I don't use the filament runout sensor - it's a major pain in the neck to use, especially if you're swapping filaments. I just stuck a 2 inch piece of filament in it. If I need it I'll use it, otherwise it's not needed. Is this a good printer for newbies? I think it is. I've been hanging out on the Artillery3D Subreddit, so I've been observing problems that have been cropping up again and again for newbies. None of these is particular to the X2 (and also the Genius Pro), they're germane to all 3D printers. Or, in the case of one of the problems with 3D printers equipped with a ABL sensor. The first problem is.. newbies often have trouble getting the filament to stick. Most of the time it's simply that they've set the nozzle too high. In the case of the X2 (and other ABL-equipped printers) this leads to another issue. How do you adjust nozzle height??? I've been 3D printing since 2017, I'm used to adjusting the bed using the little bed wheels (not so little in this case..). Nozzle too high? Loosen the wheels a tad, this raises the bed. THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH THE X2!!!! It took me a while to figure this out.. With the X2 if the nozzle is too high, you have to use the "Z Offset -" button (under Tools -> More) to lower the nozzle. Once you have it to where you want it (I'd suggest setting the nozzle to printing height using the Manual Leveling menu - use Position 5 before setting the height with a piece of paper as a gauge) make sure you save to EEPROM. Why is this the case? Older printers had a Z axis stop switch mounted somewhere on the frame. This was fixed. Move the bed, this changes the nozzle height. The X2 uses the ABL probe as the Z stop reference. Once it senses the bed, it then sets the nozzle height RELATIVE TO THE BED using the stored Z Offset value. Adjust the bed up? The printer STILL sets the nozzle the same height from the bed. This confuses people - not just newbies, but experienced printers like myself who've never used ABL. You use the manual bed leveling to set the nozzle just right, and after you start the print, the nozzle is STILL too high. This leads to another problem at least 4-5 people have had on the Subreddit - the nozzle jamming into the bed when you home Z. This is one of two things. If the Z Offset is too low, the printer will try to lower the nozzle lower than the bed. How does this happen? In most cases it's a matter of someone tinkering too much - they disassembled the hot end, either because they wanted to see what was inside, or they got this idea that you had to do so to change the nozzle, or they believed someone who told them they absolutely HAD TO HAVE an all-metal heat break, or their printer wouldn't be cool. And when they reassembled it, they assembled it with the nozzle sticking down too far. What's the fix? Probably use the "Z Offset +" button - hit it 20-30 times. Then home Z again, see if it hits the bed again. If it does, repeat. If it doesn't, then set the nozzle height so that it's correct, using the paper. And then, save to EEPROM, of course. Oh yeah.. this leads to another problem (which IS particular to the X2 and the Genius Pro) - the ABL sensor probe can fall out. It's happened to me, and to a couple of others. If it does, the next time you home Z the printer will try to drive the nozzle through the bed. The fix? Stuff it back in there. Use some force, make sure it's in all the way, or you might find yourself with a HUGE Z Offset. What if you've lost it? You can print one. Believe it or not, there's a couple of them on Thingiverse. It doesn't really matter if they're not round, they do work. It's just a plastic rod - I measured mine. 1.8mm diameter, 15.4mm length. You could also go to a model railroad supply store and buy 2mm diameter styrene and cut it to length (I mean, if your printer isn't printing because you're missing the rod, you can't print one either, no?). Artillery should throw a half dozen of these things in the parts bag - it's only a few cents worth after all.

I love to see that they've added a leveling sensor. The bed on my X1 is just ever so slightly cupped. It took me forever to figure out why I wasn't getting good bed adhesion. I ended up adding a flexible build plate where I shim the center up with 6 strips of aluminum foil.

Would love to see you take it apart and tweak it, Angus!

On my X1 the striations were almost completely solved by tuning the extruder steps and flow. Another important part is to make sure the bed v rollers are tension properly so the bed does not fluctuate while moving.

Could this be a positive pattern with Chinese printers actually listening to reason going forward? I sure hope so. But i agree that there is always a limit to a design and the Volcano style hotends are meant to push a lot of plastic. Because of that they are best suited for big nozzles or fast printers like a CoreXY or a Delta. Hats off to Artilary for having the guts to not only improve but to trust an honest reviewer to give an unbiased opinion. Thanks again Angus for all you do for the community of people who depend on you.

looking forward to the new clearance tests. Looks like a pretty nice out of the box printer.

Very thorough review. Great job.

Hi Angus 👋🏻 Great review as always. Be keen to see those Z screw brackets removed and the benefits of them. I do like the metal brackets ‘round back for the stronger stability considering there’s a kilo or 3 of pla wobbling around on the top like a marionette 🎭

Thanks for the update Angus. Great review. I love my x1. A lot of my friends who have other printers seem to have issues with their printers.

Been keeping my eye on the sidewinder for a while, thinking of picking one up as my second printer and upgrade from my ender 3 pro, especially since I print a lot of tpu.

Hi Angus, I wanted to say thank you. because of your channel I finally decided to get my own 3D printer. Funny enough it’s the first artillery sidewinder printer. I’m currently using it to design my first battle bot

Just bought this machine after a struggle with the cr10v3. Enjoying it so far.

The unused plug is for the Z axis end stop but it's not needed because of the ABL. My Ender 3 V2 looks similar because there's plugs on both ends of the wire and didn't want to cut it :)

Angus, I really love your content! Great review. I have bought a X2 a few days ago and cannot wait to get it. I think it is a little bit sad, that they did not go for a aluminium heatbed this time. So this is something I will change for certain.

I'd love to see some more of the calibration castle! Seems so cool!

Great work man love your youtube channel!

It's referenced in the manual It's a stop switch that can be installed on the vertical support next to the plug It can also be used as a replacement stopper button on the horizontal support

I have an X1 and is my go-to printer. I have upgraded it to a Hemera extruder and added stabilizing rods for the Z height but other than that I love the printer. I'm glad, and a little envious, about the enhancements that they have made with the X2. I have thought about adding a bed levelling sensor but with the glass bed it is almost unnecessary. Loved the review Angus and keep the videos coming.

I've got an X1 and it's been great as has my experience with Artillery customer support, even during COVID. I did a few mostly cosmetic upgrades but by far the best one was to fit a Wham Bam flex plate. Adhesion is fantastic and if in a hurry there's no need to wait for the bed to cool down. I have seen many instances of chunks coming away from the bed and although I never had that problem the Wham Bam is far superior in my opinion. I'd buy an X2 without hesitation but I really don't need to as my X1 still does everything I need an FDM printer for.

Angus: This video has nothing to do with any kind of weaponry Also Angus: *Attacks camera with demonetization hammer*

My X2 is ordered and on its way looking forward to the PS profile.

My first 3D printer was the X1. One of the many things I learned from it is that the weight of the filament spool helps to cause and magnify Z wobble . The first thing I did was to move the spool off the top support and on to the desk surface. I also slowed down the print speed (when printing taller prints over 30-40+mm tall) which seemed to help. I haven't tried any of the Z angle brace solutions as of yet, but that's probably something that next on my "To Do List". Thank You for the review!

I've literally spent months trying to get rid of those striations on my X1, and came to the same conclusion: lighting and material are crucial to how the model looks. So I decided it wasn't really worth pursuing it further. One interesting thing I noticed: I started getting horrible z-banding when I replaced floating mounts with normal anti-backlash nuts. So I went back to the original mounts. Rigid mounts work well only if everything is true and straight. My z-rods are fairly straight, but the machine does not really allow adjustment of motor mounts and top bearings, and they are far from being perfectly aligned with each other.

My Prusa i3 Mk3 has been serving me well for 3+ years now and I expect it to continue for years more, but I'm still fascinated to see the 3D printing solutions from other manufacturers/designers. The Voron 2.4 that Thomas Sanladerer built was quite something, especially its print speed. Looking forward to the release of the Clearance Castle STL, what a novel method of testing printer accuracy.

Great video as always :-) Im quite shure that the design @16:00 is a design I have seen from Alex Kenis some years ago Thanks for sharing your expirences with all of us :-)

Yes, please test the removal of the Z couplers! Thank you!

To another channel they said the plastic vertical frame is because it's because the plastic is flexible. And that makes some sense: You don't really want a rigid structure there that you need to adjust with screws or whatever, when the "rectangle" is already defined by the two right angles on the base mount. You already have to adjust the X rail to slide smoothly up and down...

I make big prints and eventually all my X1s have had the beds die on them after months of constant use. This X2 is really interesting by taking on the bed cable issue.

Great review. Thanks

After having my cr-10s for a while before the X1 came out, I was admittedly a little jealous. Lol. Even with a bunch of mods on my cr10s, I admired how quiet and well built (for the most part), the X1 was for the price. Happy to see they’ve done some really great work for the x2. Only thing that kinda bugs me is the glued down build plate. If I ever need an extra printer, I’d likely get this. 🙂

I was a bit disappointed to see that sidewinder have removed a Z stepper driver. They've still got dual Z motors, but they're run off the same single driver, as opposed to two drivers on the X1. Which means no more z-axis auto align, which is a shame especially now they ship the printer with a bed probe.

I found the following settings best: 220 degrees extruder 65 degrees bed a light coat of hairspray. And DONT FORGET .To enable compensation for auto-leveling, add M420 S1 Z10 after G28 in starting Gcode

Wow, that bed heating 👍🏻👏🏻

I would love to see a test video of the X2, seeing the effects of different parts alongside this control video would be really helpful!

I would love to see a video on those couplers. I have an X1 and I love it but it does have some of those issues you mention. Love your content mate.

Hi Angus , I have an X1 and agree that the top rail should have remained , however I did modify the spool rollers to accommodate two rolls side by side which enables a easy change. I drew it up in fusion 360 and I am old. It also creates more room to put the filament through that pesky sensor , which has saved me a couple of times now. Cheers from Perth

I got lucky and bought the first 3d printer i could fine.. the x1 and i love it i don't even watch the first layer anymore i plug it in and pres start and go to bed super reliable once you get it going. would def recommend adding another fan though I would get this one but imma go resin as my next one

Got to be honest the last thing I need is another 3D printer. Have ten already but if I did need a replacement for my cr10 I would definitely consider this. Still not keen on the ribbon cables but it is good to see they are trying to make this better. One query though. The bed is not removable but can you stick a magnetic flex bed on top of the glass bed?

I have two X1 machines, only mods are hotend-extruder combos, on one i have Hemera and on other LGX with Mosquito magnum. Reason is just what you said, inconsistent extrusion and frequent jamming (I run them 24/7 and only use quality filament like Prusament, Filamentum...), soon I will get couple X2 machines (beside Vorons I am building) and i don't even mind that LGX+Mosquito is more pricier than whole printer as it works like tank (beside my Prusa machines which are great but much smaller in print volume). Great review, I really enjoy your content!

I really hope they offer a upgrade kit for the X1. Like the new Z screw guides and the 32bit board. I picked up a Genius Pro and yes the upgraded part are very much worth it.

Cant wait for the X2 profile! I love my X2 so far the one issue I need to fix is dimensional accuracy and warping. The warping may just be a problem with proto pasta htpla

Really good review! 👍 Please more about your mods on X2 and yes, please test the new X-brackets. 🙏 😃

Hey Angus, loved the review and was wondering if you'd know some fixes for the artifacting that came up in some prints. I've had a Wanhao D6 with similar issues and was wondering if upgrading to a "floating" coupler for the leadscrew, like the ones on the X2 would be something to look into.

In my farm I have four X1's that have thousands of hours on each printer. I only print with PLA and PETG so your experience my differ. I did buy one aluminum tension lever and it is still in my spare parts box unused. I have never cracked or broken a tension lever so I must be doing something that others are not. As far as ribbon cables I have had only one failure of a print head cable at the print head end, I do not use any form of support or clamp on the cables. However, I believe the failure was operator error more than a poor design on the makers part. I have a tendency to place the bottom of the cable in the slot then rotate it into position and I believe that caused the failure. I really like your reviews Angus they are on point and seem not to be influenced by whoever sent their product in for review. Thank you for all you do for the Makers of the world, good on you.

yess!!!! please do some tests to see what they if they help the z axis and or hurt it thank you kyle

Eager to try the new tolerance tests!

Yes it is the z stop sensor but due to having the auto bed leveling they remove it. So its the same wiring harness as the X1. Thanks for sharing Angus.

Angus I just purchased the X2 and I'm sorry to say, I've had nothing but trouble, the bltouch clone broke, so I fixed it with a toothpic. But artillery was kind enough send another, It also stops mid print with no error code, it makes a horrible ca-chunk noise when z hopping, I've ordered some anti-backlash nuts, I love my x1 and have printed some beautiful things with it, but the X2 is leaving me discouraged. I love 3d printing and I'm a loyal fan of this channel, but please go back and take another look at this machine, maybe please consider doing a follow up video on it. Thank you my friend for all the wonderful knowledge you shared. : )

Watched this video again and I’m still enjoying that X1 from the Tippi tree giveaway! I bought a new extruder for it, only $50 after I messed up a repair.. killed the extruder trying to replace a filament gear.

Great video, Angus. I bought an X2 and love almost everything about it. The only thing keeping it from being a truly fantastic product is the Z-axis inaccuracy you mentioned. The machine is quiet, sleek, and reliable, but the prints always come out pretty noticeably striated. Should I fix this with a different nozzle, or are there other decent ways you found that can compensate for this?

With the lines in the print there are ways to buff that out by adding something I forget what on top then sand away thus making it smooth and flat

Hi and thanks for all of your posts. I started my first foray into 3D printing with a cheap creality pro 20. Print bed was not level straight out of the box. Problem is that is has a fixed bed. I am currently modifying it to use the ender 3 leveling wheels but have to use blocks not springs. Springs are not low enough to conform with current settings. I am currently using cura but I am not in any way conversant enough to design my own printing projects. Could you suggest an entry level format that I can go back to school and learn the basics to start my own designs with. Some moths ago you did touch on this but I cannot remember which format you mentioned. Cheers.

How did you stop the print nozzle from crashing into the heated bed? I keep having this issue when leveling even with the touch sensor connected.

Angus had lots of fun making the demonetisation robot bit

I am interested in printing with a 0.8 nozzle, I have been using a 0.6 nozzle for a long time but the jump to 0.8 was difficult for me and I did not adjust the parameters well

I will say I got the sidewinder X1 and it was the most reliable printer I've ever used

Hey Angus, I would love you to do some testing of those z couplers as I am having similar issues on my creality cr-10s pro V2. Thanks

X1 review after 9 months: My x1 still goes strong after 9 months of use, i didn't break the lever yet but i did bought a metal replacement just in case. One thing i did that i will advise against is to remove the hot glue from the board connectors. I did it and with the vibration the fan of the motherboard unplugged and almost burn the stepper drivers. The glass in the center after a lot of print did slightly where out so this is one thing you must be aware but it's still works. I did bought some extra rollers when the factories ones will wear but still didn't change them. I did fit a bl touch clone and works great. I used the led wires from the head so it was like it was intended to be installed The flex cables didn't show any problems, but i did print a support part in the head just in case. The same with the heater, the first print of the printer was a cable strain relief for the main voltage cable. I could make a video if many people are interested.

Would love to see you try hard mounting the lead screw nuts - but do so in combination with removing the sync belt and top bearings. On my printer, I found removing this overconstraint and hard mounting the nuts immediately improved the layer stacking inconsistencies. I just include a G34 to level my gantry with the bed probe before printing now.

I've had the v1 for 3 years now with ZERO ribbon cable issues. The only thing that broke was the plastic lever on the extruder, which I easily replaced by an aluminum one for $5. Don't be lazy, use glue on the bed for best results.

super vid Angus

Both my x1s have had no problems mechanically other than I didn't clean the bed one time and it blobbed up real bad on the nozzle and u use both quite regularly no ribbon cable or lever problems.

Hi Angus. Thanks for this review. Am I blind or did you forget to leave your Prusa printing profile?

I have the same problem with uneven layer lines - I replaced & tested everything else so the only thing that remains is indeed the hot-end and/or extruder. It's very annoying since all my other printers print so cleanly.

Nice JP man!

Hello, just new with this product. As I turned on my 3d printer x2, the bed does not move and error appears telling printer halted kill() called. I tried to press confirm but the next page has no option icon and reset icon. What should I do?

Are you planning to review the Genius Pro by any chance? The updates from the normal Genius seem very similar to the upgrades to this X2 from the X1, but I'm still not sure if they are worth the price difference. Very useful review anyway ❤️

I wonder of the devices they have on the Z screws is causing resonance issues on the print quality?

On my X1 I removed the timing belt on the dual Z and activated Z_STEPPER_AUTO_ALIGN in Marlin. It allows me to level the X axis gantry using my BLTouch probe. I just level it at the start of my printing day and I'm good to go. My print quality is noticeably improved with the dual Z no longer tied together.

Wait, I thought they changed their name from Artillery to something else?

Is it possible to print "support" on the inside of a print instead of the normal infill we all use. I am sure this would save a lot of filament on prints that don't require the strength of infill?

the plug is for the z end stop or for the filament sensor

Regarding the layer inconsistencies - the extruder gears look injection molded, correct? Could there be either a slight radius imperfection on the circumference of one or both the gears or simply issues with the teeth depths that cause subtle pressure variations in the molten plastic? I could see that leading to layers bulging in and out. I'd be curious to see a better extruder on one of these machines and whether or not it helps.

@3:37 Back in the day, "Creepy Crawlers" were popular for a short while. You had a liquid that you put in molds, then baked in the oven...yum! It was actually not meant to be eaten but I'd be willing to bet one of the contributing factors to their demise was that some kids did.

Hi Angus, can you share the profile you used for this printer? You said you'd put it in the video description but I can't seem to find it.

funny enough, i have a 0.25mm nozzle on my X1, and I'm currently running a 5 day and 12 hour print, not tall, just a lot of parts for a 1/10th scale Aston Martin f1 car, and so far 31 hours it everything is perfect, this is also around 700 hours of print time without a bed cable strain relief piece, i plan on making one eventually, but gotta time crunch to get this model kit done for a birthday

I love my X1 but I do wish it had ABL. This is tempting. Yes I know I could add ABL but last time I did that on my cr-10 it was a total pain and I dont wanna mess with it. But the biggest thing for me on going with the X1 originally was the AC heated bed and how quiet it is. Seriously I love this machine. I gave away my CR-10 and i3 mega once I got the x1. Every now and then I still wish I had my i3 mega as it was really nice for when I had lots of stuff to print or ABS prints (being smaller it was easier to enclose) but the sidewinder handles them well even without an enclosure.

super helpful

I like the human fur on Angus' head 🥰🥰🥰

Thought there was mention of slicer configs used for the printer. DId I miss it somehow?

Please please do a video about the inaccurate extrusion width issue for the X1 or X2. This has been bugged me for months. Did everything I can imagine but no success.

When will you have the profile ready for this printer?

That is beautiful my man. If you ever need to get rid of prints that didn't go well I'd love to salvage them. Edit: I am not tech savvy enough to work one of those magical machines nor do I have an interest in learning how, my mediums have always been hands on, but I am still absolutely amazed how things have progressed since the late 1980's.

Good review, put review in the title. Your video is the first review that was a review and not just an unboxing. LOL you know how the other power plugs look like, how else would you know if they did send the right one?

Would you recommend I get this printer or the newer sidewinder x4 pro? I know that this one has a bigger build space, but overall which is better?

Is there a file that has that dinosaur sculpt with the flat bottom like you printed? the one on thingiverse has a rounded molded bottom

Sidewinder also happens to be the name of a type of buggy.

Got a sidewinder based on your previous suggestion and review and has been great for me so far. I do have issues using prusa slic3r and you mentioned that you would link your profile for it but I do not see the link. Would love to see your settings for it if you wouldn't mind sharing. S3D is working for me but it is the old version and I do like some features that prusa slic3r offers. Great review btw.

I've had problem after problem with mine... It's currently down with an error that stops the extruder from heating, and I'm down to just throwing parts at it to try and figure out what's wrong.

im thinking of either getting this printer or the ender 3 max as my first printer. which do you think would be best? im mainly looking to do cosplay stuff and once i learn more about designing maybe some bigger models. thoughts?

Good review, printer does look like it's a much improved product. The Z axis couplers, strange looking but istr that someone used a floating design that looked a bit similar for their rat rig Z gear? maybe? If (only) I had money for one other printer, one of these is now on my wishlist because of the good rap you've given it. As always cool to watch and learn.

Hi Angus, did you end up doing anything further with this printer? I recently picked one up, but so far all I have printed is the test cube

if you replace the z lead screw nuts with pom anti backlash nuts, a large large portion of the zbanding will resolve. similarly there are aftermarket files out there to brace the z axis with a hypotenuse style brace between the top of the z axis and the base of the printer itself. that usually fixes the banding issues on most sidewinder printers.

Do you have videos of you going over the synth stuff in the background? If not you should.

Hey Makers Muse I use a Balco touch it keeps curling up the filament and it keeps it turning it into a mess of filament