Xssink Boxd 3d printers - Good or Bad reviews anyone?

DIYtech recently started selling Xssink Boxd 3d printers. I couldn't find any reviews on them at all. I like the design but I'm hoping someone has some experience to share about whether or not these are decent? I'm thinking about going with the 8x8x8 as my first hobby printer. Construction looks easy enough, and i like the core x/y design. Anyone have any reviews?

I am also waiting for someone to report a review.

Or even some pictures of calibration objects.

Well i ordered one so i guess i'll do a review. I like the diytech products and they seem affiliated. Just would be nice to know how long my wait time is going to be and some previous experience in case i run into troubles. I suppose someone has to be first though. Will post once i receive shipment. Its been "In production" for 10 days as of now.

Did you get the upgraded astroturfing option also?

I just received my Box'd 12i

First off, I was missing quite a few things

1. I was missing the dual hotends I tacked on as an option
2. I was missing some of the plastic parts (A little worse is that they changed some things without showing us the updates)
3. I had some of the parts to the hotends/extruder (So they knew I ordered dual extrusion, and was just neglectful)

Some of my thoughts during assembly

1. I had sort of a hard time with assembly passed the Box'd's frame (I laugh'd a little when I typed that [Box'd's])
2. The video on their YouTube page was sort of helpful but you have to watch it multiple times to make sure you are doing what they are showing (This is due to the fact that the video recording was very low quality and fuzzy)
3. I was hoping at least some pictures that show all the parts in their proper places. But they only every show the front. You never see the Y-Carriage. I was almost able to figure out the X-carriage with a bad angle view of it on their product page.

Don't get me wrong, this design has a lot of promise. Once the build is finished, I am quite positive I will be getting some very nice prints off of this thing. I plan to be upgrading it with my own mods however. I will have some automatic bed leveling and my own heated bed.

Sneak/Frank

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2015 04:37PM by SNEAKxxATTACK.

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My Printers (in order of purchase)
Printrbot Simple 1405 | Cubify Cube3D 3rd Generation | Xs's Ink Box'd 12i (Build in Progress) | Peachy Printer (Awaiting Shipment)

I ordered a Boxd 3D 8i from DIYTechshop on December 12. It finally shipped more than a month later, on January 22. UPS has it now and it should be delivered Monday. I called them and asked them why it was taking so long and they said they updated the X carriage so they delayed the shipment to include the updated one. I will update this once I receive it and say my thoughts.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2015 04:12PM by daboomafoo.

I'm in a similar boat.
I ordered the 12i on December 15th because it was listed as "IN STOCK" on their website.
After 2 weeks I emailed them. Nothing. 1 more week I emailed them again. Nothing.
2nd week of January and I call a few times over several days and they answer and tell me
it's on the dock ready to ship. I check the next day and it hasn't shipped, but now lists as "IN PRODUCTION."
I was in Portland, OR on a trip on January 21st and was ready to go over to Vancouver
and pay them a visit but I checked online and it just changed to "SHIPPED," so I called
them and they explained a similar explanation to other posters about a problem they found
in the carriage that they had to unpack everything and fix. Fine. My order is supposedly on the way.
I'm torn here. I feel like a paid a good price but listing as "IN STOCK" greatly affected my purchasing
decision. I spent nearly $900 dollars for a Christmas present to myself that by their website should
have been here by Christmas and I won't have it until February. Also, with all the other complaints I've
read about DIYTechShop and XSSINK (I'm quite sure they're the same company) I'm ready to send
it back and demand a refund. If it shows up missing one single g*ddamn part I'm going to send it back.
I was really excited to get started in 3D printing and I'm going to let them sour me on it. Super unprofessional so far.

edit: I'm NOT going to let them sour me on it.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2015 09:45PM by Neybordave.

I'm definitely going to be calling them to ask what's what. They pretty much never answer emails and only answer the phones around lunch time.

I already have some printers that are working great, so I can handle not having this one working well right away, but I've definitely been there when parts arrived not working properly.

Hopefully I can get my printer sorted out and working and I can then help others with theirs.

Sneak

It just really seems like they started advertising this printer before they had it nailed down.
This is the sort of thing you should start a Kickstarter campaign for. You don't throw a CAD
picture up on the internet, mark it as "in stock" with an arrival time of less than two weeks, and
then take peoples money and not answer the phones. I'm sad to see that I got pulled into
something that they've apparently been doing successfully for at least a year from what I've read.
The DIYtechshop website and XSSINK site are clones of each other. It makes me wonder if they
aren't just trying to leave the bad press behind with the old name.
All those gripes aside, I'm open to someone there actually sending me a printer with all the parts
and a BOM and instructions and then offering the support that I expected when I laid down the better
part of a thousand dollars. We'll see.

Yes, the 'we only have a CAD picture and a grainy YouTube Video of someone trying to put together the frame" level of professionalism was why I held off my purchase.

Things I'd expect to see on the Xssink/DIYTechshop page that would make me a bit more comfortable to buy from them:

* Full parts list of what is in the shipped kit (especially the 'upgrade your i3' kit)
* Video of an assembled device building a calibration object (ANY calibration object) - both for the single and dual extruder variants.
* Photos of some printed parts.
* Assembly manual PDF (even just a bunch of scanned pictures with circles around what needs to be assembled next would be a start!)
* A blog of where they stand on kit building/shipping[1]

That all being said, the design of the Box'd printers is nice - I use MDF in my prototype powderbed printer, and it's a great support material, and CoreXY is a lovely movement system.

[1] NOTE TO VENDORS: If you you are having problems with kit builds, LET US KNOW! A blog post like: "Sorry guys, we have to delay shipment and repack the kits - Printed Part #4 on the Y Carriage wasn't printed to spec, we're replacing it in all the kits, and will take an additional week." will do WONDERS for your PR. No news is bad news in the DIY kit area.

If your printer does arrive with missing parts and you have other printers the stl files for what looks like all the parts are on their github page here. It would have been nice if they put that on their website. I found it through the "boxd" reprap wiki page.

Hey, thanks, daboomafoo.
I don't have another printer but I have a friend who does. He was excited for me when I bought it
but now he's been telling me for weeks that he could have printed all the printed-parts that I'd need
and I could have built the rest. I have a woodshop and machine shop at my disposal.
This is really just boiling down to whether or not I want them to have my money. Other users have
been able to get all their parts finally through sheer determination but I don't feel like financially
rewarding a company that puts its customers through that.
I should have it Monday or Tuesday so I'll be sure to update.

Does anyone here have anything close to a BOM for this printer? I ordered duel-heads and power supplies
so I know to look for those but I'm honestly not going to easily know what's missing.

Wow, I wonder if someone there is reading this thread. Just now I checked back to their website
and there's an actual picture of the printer, not just a CAD rendering.

Just received my 8i... Not looking good. It didn't come with any instructions and did not say where to find them. My order came with everything it was surposed to... Except the hot end. On the paper with all of the parts on it the hot end section was just skipped. The plastic pieces do not look great but none of them are broken. The wood pieces need to be sanded because the edges are very rough. I don't think I have the patience to deal with diytechshop anymore Im just going to send it back. If it was just.a small plastic piece I could deal with that but the hotend... That's a main component of the unit.

where they skipped the hotend. You can see there are no checks in it so it was just skipped(sorry it's sideways)

Everything in the box (please excuse the messy desk I just pushed everything to the back to unbox this)

Well I guess I have to start looking for a new printer. Anyone know of any around $550 preferably prebuilt?
Colin

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2015 05:35PM by daboomafoo.

Quote
Neybordave
Does anyone here have anything close to a BOM for this printer? I ordered duel-heads and power supplies
so I know to look for those but I'm honestly not going to easily know what's missing.

Mine came with a bunch of papers with every item that should be in there on it.

They must have shipped a lot of them at the same time. I got mine today also. Super bad quality on the frame. The cuts
look like the work of a beginning woodworker. They're torn and chipped and burned in places. The speed was too low or
the blade was too dull. It looks like the saw was cracking the wood instead of cutting it. Blade in backwards?
Some of the slots are broken out, too. I wen't through all the pages and items and the only thing I seem to be missing
is the 2nd power supply. Some of the lighter wood pieces are just junk altogether. They look like they were drilled over
a template but not squarely placed on the template. Some of the holes break through the edge because they were too
close and some break the edge because the were drilled poorly and cracked the thin wood.

I'm seriously bummed. Now I have to continue to deal with them to try and get my money back. I'll let you know how that goes...

daboomafoo, you have the same little RadioShack pocket multimeter that I have. I got mine at Goodwill about 7 years ago for a dollar and I've still never even changed the battery. I love it. Keep it in my backpack all the time.

I completed the RMA (return material authorization, I assume) on their website and it assured me that my request will be forwarded to the proper department. I also called after submitting the RMA but their voicemail states that they "are not accepting tech calls at this time."
I'm in Baltimore for the time being but I live in Portland and I will not hesitate to take this straight to small claims. It took 49 days for my product to arrive. I've already saved every e-mail, phone call attempt, screen caps of their site, and document from my purchase and I've put my lawyer on alert to the situation. I hope I can amicably return this and I honestly hope they get the kinks worked out and can turn things around but they can't expect me to take this.
That all said, I guess I'll start looking into another Reprap project. Off to the other threads!

Originally posted this in the "DIY tech shop-bad experiences" thread but it belongs here also.

I went into the Washington State Sec. of State site, Dept. of Revenue site and gathered a little more info.
XSSINK llc. and DIYtechshop llc are not the same company technically but share the same owner, address and phone.

"http://bls.dor.wa.gov/LicenseSearch/lqsLicenseDetail.aspx?RefID=367077"
and,
"http://bls.dor.wa.gov/LicenseSearch/lqsLicenseDetail.aspx?RefID=694557"

I have a bunch more information on them if anyone wants it. I just want this info in people hands before they buy.
I'm going to aggressively pursue this until I get my money back but I'm still pissed off because even when I get it I will have given them a 900 dollar interest free loan. I paid with my debit card
so I don't have Paypal recourse. If I have to file in Clark County WA small claims court then I'll seek additional damages. I hate having to deal with this crap but I've found that you just have to muscle through it if you want people like this to shape up or shut down. My friend was looking over what they sent me and it's difficult to not just start putting it together because we KNOW we can make it work but that's not going to help change the situation. They suck at businesses and shouldn't be rewarded for it.
Meh, enough blowing off steam for now. I'm going to go work on the motorcycles. smiling smiley

Much of the problems we are facing were things they mentioned up front on their description of the printer.

Pretty much saying that we should know what we are getting into.

But I agree, they have to get on top of their sh** and always double,triple check the packages before they are shipped out.

The unfinished wood/plastic is something I can and do not mind dealing with. But that's just me. I ask for those looking to get refunds to just be patient and I suggest only calling them around 12-3PM when they answer the phones the most. Leave them a message to call you back because they do.

Sneak

Emailed a second time and got a response. Hopefully they follow through and respond tomorrow. I'll cut them some slack. As long as i get a shipment tracking number within the week i won't scream too loud. Below is there response:


On 2/4/2015 4:39 PM, Michael wrote:
> Can you Please update me with an ETA on the shipping date. Starting to get worried. Thank you.



Sorry about that,
The first set of printers went out and we immediately had people challenge us on its stability so we took a hard look and instead of struggling with the problem we just changed it and found an improvement on the x-carriage so that it can improve print speed and stability around 20% which is huge.
It also allows for x-CAR extruders to be mounted directly on the x-CAR This lets everyone use fillaments like Ninja flex and PVA and 3mm filament.
When we dropped support for 3mm we also lost a % of our customer base.

We will try to keep as many options in play as we can so that you can have a printer that can take advantage of the newest innovations on the market.

Thank you for letting us build a printer for you.

I will get you a tracking # and eta tomorrow.

Van & Son's

Quote
SNEAKxxATTACK
The unfinished wood/plastic is something I can and do not mind dealing with.

For a $400+ kit, I'd expect some minor finishing work to be needed. Ikea RTA furniture sometimes needs the holes cleaned out a little or a grove touched with a piece of sandpaper for a perfect fit. But "Super bad quality on the frame. The cuts look like the work of a beginning woodworker. They're torn and chipped and burned in places." doesn't sound like just unfinshed wood. It sounds like cheap, unprofessional, low quality kit. I'd also expect plastic pieces to need some work and not be perfect if it was a $30 kit off of ebay. Again not for a $400 kit.

Never did receive an ETA or tracking number. I'll be calling this week.

If you paid for an item using PayPal, you should file a complaint with them stating that the item you received was not as advertised. Also you can find out what credit card account they are using to guarantee the account.
The advantage to purchasing items such as a 3d printer kits on ebay is that ebay guarantees that you will be happy with the item or you can return it and get a refund. No questions asked, no RMA numbers.
If you have concerns about buying items from China not to worry. I received my printer kit in less than two weeks. The only thing wrong was a couple of holes needed to be enlarged.

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while,

I know I said I would be returning my boxd 3d 8i, but I called them the day after I recieved it and they imidiately priority mailed a hot end out to me. I have now built the entire printer, and it is ready to print other than I did not receive the pulleys that go on the x and y motors so thoes axis don't work yet. I just got confirmation that they sent me the pulleys and should be here in a couple of days. Everything electrical works as it should (I plugged it in and tested everything). I am overall happy that I kept it. My wood pieces were not that bad, and were easily cleaned up with sandpaper. If you are willing to be patient, which at first I was not, it looks like a great printer. You also have to understand that this is a $400 kit and it's not going to be perfect.

Thanks daboomafoo. That's encouraging. I will try to call today. Was assembly pretty easy? I've never had one and am a SW guy not HW. I can't imagine it being that hard though. Let me know if you have any filament recommendations. Do you have any construction tips? Did it have sufficient directions?

The assembly was extremely easy I was very suprised. This is my first 3d printer and first build of something like this. The instructions are all cad images but they were good and explained everything well, other than the x carriage. They updated the x carriage and did not update the instructions all they give you is a cad rendering from a top right angle and you pretty much have to figure it out from there but it's not too hard. I can't say much on filament recommendations since I am new to this. I have 1.75mm PLA. The only construction tips I have is you need to redrill pretty much all of the holes and you need and if you got a power supply with it you do not receive a power cable to plug it into the wall. Also, the extruded motor did not fit the plastic piece so I had to use a Drexel and grind out the inside to make it wide enough to fit the gear. I also shortened the set screw on the extruded motor a lot to make it fit better into the plastic piece.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2015 01:36PM by daboomafoo.

I got the machine printing yesterday. It prints well (to my standards). Here is a print of a cube . If anyone has any questions about it feel free to ask.

Nice, I'm glad to see you got yours working. I'd love to see more pictures of it. I returned my 12i to them and they
received it last Tuesday ( 1 week) and I still haven't heard anything in terms of a refund. I'll call later in the week if nothing comes my way. I've actually gotten Van on the phone to discuss my issues with the printer and timeline and he's very pleasant and seemingly willing to work with me. He said they can't just refund themselves because he has a business partner so it has to happen through their accountant, blah blah blah. Fine with me. I of course just want my money back soon. All things considered, since I'm moving back to Portland I'd consider doing business with him again as long as I could show up and look over what I was paying for. It sounds like they got in over their heads with tons of orders coming in and the carriage situation. If I get my money back this week then I'm still not happy that I gave out a 1000$ interest free loan for 3 months, but sometimes that's the way it goes.

Hey,
Its pretty comforting to know everyone is pretty much in the exact same boat as me with this printer. Its crazy how your experiences almost exactly match mine. The only thing is that this is my second printer form DIYTechshop and the first one was great and came with great customer care. Anyways, I never received any instructions and when I try to contact them about it I don't get any replies. Could you foreword the instructions to me? That would be extremely helpful!
Once I build it I'll get back to everyone too!
Thanks

Hey daboomafoo,

I think some pictures of all the parts (different views of the printer) could help us some along with the instructions or anything they sent you in regards building and operating the printer. Thanks man

Sneak