A long-running maker journey Link to heading
I started 3D printing around 2018-2019, when I bought my first printer: an Ender 3. At the time, consumer 3D printing still demanded a lot of patience. The printer was affordable and capable, but getting consistently good results required learning the machine, the slicer, the materials, and the small mechanical details that make or break a print.
My first major project came almost immediately. We had a custom-made roof bag holder for a VW Caddy, and I designed and printed custom adapters and mounts for it. That project made the value of 3D printing very clear to me: instead of waiting for an existing part to appear on the market, I could design exactly what was needed, test it, adjust it, and produce it myself.
After that, I printed many small gadgets, practical parts, and experimental objects, mostly in PLA. The quality was not always great, but every print taught me something. I spent a lot of time tuning slicer settings, adjusting the printer, experimenting with calibration, and learning where the limits of the machine were.
Living with a modified Ender 3 Link to heading
Over the years, my Ender 3 went through several changes. I tried converting it to a direct drive extruder, then later moved back to the Bowden tube setup. I added a glass bed, experimented with mechanical tuning, and kept improving the machine step by step.
Last year, I accidentally fried the original mainboard, so I replaced it with a more modern board and compiled the latest Marlin firmware for it. That repair turned into a broader upgrade cycle. I added bed leveling, a belt-driven dual Z-axis setup, a DIY IKEA table enclosure, and a PEI bed sheet.
With those upgrades, the Ender 3 became a much more capable and predictable printer. I reached a reliable standard print quality at around 60 mm/s, which was perfectly usable for many projects. Still, it was a machine that needed attention. Every successful print depended on tuning, checking, adjusting, and sometimes simply accepting that the printer had its own personality.
The jump to the Kobra X Link to heading
In January, the Anycubic Kobra X was released at around 280 EUR, and the value proposition immediately stood out. Out of the box, it offered features that only a few years ago felt like high-end territory:
- Four-filament support
- Wi-Fi and full remote control
- Precise automatic bed leveling
- Computer vision based spaghetti detection
- Acceleration compensation
- Smart flow control
- Hot-swap hotend
- 260 x 260 mm build plate
- Claimed 0.02 mm precision
- 300-600 mm/s printing speed
For that price, the package was extremely strong. After years of seeing the trade-offs in budget printers, this felt like one of the best price-to-value machines I had seen. I ordered one, although the waiting list was long. From order to delivery, it took about three and a half months.
Printing instead of tinkering Link to heading
When the printer finally arrived, the difference was immediate. After assembly and fully automatic calibration, it produced excellent prints out of the box. Compared with my Ender 3, it was not only faster; it was also much less demanding.
The speed difference changed how I approached projects. My third print on the Kobra X was already a 20-hour standing lamp. On my Ender 3, the same job would have been a risky 80-hour print, with a much higher chance of something going wrong. On the Kobra X, it printed perfectly on the first try.
In only three weeks, I have printed almost nonstop and produced more than I ever printed on my heavily modified Ender 3. The reason is simple: there is almost no need to constantly tinker. The bed adhesion is strong, the calibration is reliable, and the printer generally behaves like a tool rather than a project in itself.
What comes next Link to heading
The next step is building a proper enclosure. I print quite a lot with ASA and ABS, and although modern draft shield options help with smaller parts, warping is still an issue. In one case, the bed adhesion was so strong that the part did not detach; instead, the whole printed object bent with the internal stress. That is a clear sign that an enclosure is the right next upgrade.
What excites me most is not only the new printer itself, but the progress it represents. In just a few years, consumer 3D printing has moved from a hobby where constant tuning was expected to a space where a budget machine can include automation, remote control, multi-material capability, advanced calibration, and very high speed.
For me, the Kobra X is a reminder of why I started 3D printing in the first place: turning ideas into physical objects quickly. The difference is that now the technology gets out of the way much more often, and that makes the creative process far more enjoyable.