I know the Flashforge has been down a long time and I heard that there is no intention to fix it and that DMS is looking to sell it in as is condition. Does anyone know what exactly is wrong with it? I may possibly be interested in it depending on how hard it’ll be to fix and how much the space wants for it
Do you mean the Form 2?
Yes, I believe so. The one sitting unused in 3D fab
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3d was gifted a dual extruder Flash Forge filament printer. It needs a champion to get it going. I had one member interested. But he keeps modding the printers he’s buying printers from Facebook, and building his own.
The formlabs form 2 printers sitting on the floor both need to be sold. They were approved to be sold at the last board meeting, we’ve haven’t listed it on ebay yet but to be kosher we have rules about selling assets to other members. https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Rules_and_Policies#Disposition_of_Assets
This is something @Evan_Lott would have to verify.
The flashforge just needs someone to get it running, it was a donation and we don’t intend to sell it as far as I know.
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Woops my bad I meant formlabs. I have a Flashforge myself lol probably why I got them mixed up
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Sorry yes I meant the formlabs. What is broken about them, do you know? Also I can get the Flashforge set up I own one myself they are pretty easy to use
Hey Hanna,
Thanks for your interest in Form 2 printers, and for volunteering to help with the FlashForge!
Form 2 Status
As Mitch mentioned, we are selling the Form 2 printers as they’re an order of magnitude more expensive (to run and to repair) than the Elegoo Mars, and there’s not much need at the 'Space for their more advanced features.
@themitch22 recorded the following status for the Form2s:
One is fully functional. It has a cracked lid and might need some cleaning. Comes with two used LT tanks (used with Clear V4 and Elastic V1), comes with tools shown in pic. Selling As Is.
One has damaged tank sensor pins so they would need to be replaced. Unable to test because of broken pins. Lid is cracked, resin cartridges will read and it has been repaired by FormLabs in the past. No tools, tanks, or resin cartridges are included. Selling As Is.
To give everyone a fair shot at them and get the highest price, we’ll be posting them on eBay (eventually - this has been on the to-do-list for a bit). I’ll be sure to post a link to the listing here on Talk once the listing is up.
FlashForge Status
The FlashForge was generously donated by @texan_dane (thanks again, Jeff!) and is our only dual-extruder machine, so it certainly offers some unique benefits to the membership that would amazing to get operational.
As far as I know, the FlashForge is in running order, but basically just needs someone to own it and train others on its use. As it’s our only dual-extruder printer, I’d prefer to see it used for that application (but any use would be better than dormancy).
I’ve been teaching 3D Printing Basics with the PolyPrinters sporadically, but would love to get some more advanced classes on the calendar for the other printers, especially the FlashForge.
@Team_3D_Fab can definitely use more instructors and classes on the calendar, so if you and/or @texan_dane would be up for training some trainers and/or holding some training for users (when you feel comfortable pandemic-wise), it would be supremely appreciated! PM me if interested, and I’ll do everything I can to help. 
Cool. The Flashforge isn’t very hard to use at all I can take a look at it when I get back in town on Thursday. It has its own slicer which I find is acceptable if not a little feature shy but makes the dual extruder very easy to set up. Filament loading can be a bit of a pain as it is on the back of the machine and there are some grooves you need to get the tubes shoved into. Biggest struggle I’ve dealt with is bed leveling. It is definitely an older gen printer and thus the bed needs to be completely manually leveled and the 3 screw arrangement I’ve found to be quite finicky. A rectangular test print around the whole bed helps with this process, and its a lot of trial and error.
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I just had surgery yesterday so I’m running a little slow these days until I heal up but I’m not opposed to doing some “Train the Trainer” sessions with the Flashforge, perhaps @Hanna_Kessler and I can collaborate on the training and between the two of us get folks up to speed to be able to teach.
I agree that bed leveling can be the biggest pain and it’s something you have to check every time before you print. For me, the ability to use the dissolving supports on the second extruder made up for the fact that print setup took a little longer. It’s definitely not a printer you want to do your “lets learn 3d printing!” on but once you have a little experience under your belt, being able to use multiple extruders on the same build is handy.
-J
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Awesome info! Thanks for taking a look at it, and for the quick assessment of the biggest struggles.
Might be worth investigating if an auto-leveling kit could be added.
Hope you feel better soon!
This would be excellent - the more people with the knowledge, the better.
An end-to-end class on dual-filament printing with dissolvable and non-dissolvable supports would be rad. Definitely agree 3D Printing Basics should be a pre-req.
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