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Review: Flyingbear Ghost 4S 3D Printer , it deserves your attention

Name: One of the best of 2020
Item: Review: Flyingbear Ghost 4S 3D Printer , it deserves your attention
Rating: 8
Author: Stephane CAZAT

Stephane CAZAT February 2, 2022 3646

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In my quest to find you a high-performance and affordable 3D printer, I was interested and ordered for review the latest Flying Bear 4S, an all-metal, fixed platform model with great performance on paper as well as a Wifi circuit to send your files on it with no effort.

My story with the Flying Bear 4S begins with a misunderstanding. I thought I saw the pictures that it would be delivered all assembled like my Qidi Tech X-Maker.

But when I saw the height of the box on delivery, I realized my mistake. It’s a model to be partially assembled. When unpacking, I had the good surprise to see well identified parts starting with the screws and also the supply of accessories and even spare parts. Cutting pliers, sharp spatula, wire coil, heating head, additional teflon tube, … here is reassuring. The 30-page manual is in English.

Characteristics	Value
Frame Type	Full/Alluminium
Printer size	392342420mm
Bed size	275210210mm
Print size	255210210mm
Layer thickness precision	0.05-0.3
MAX printing speed	150 mm/s
Extruder number	1
Nozzle diameter	0.4mm
Material specifications	1.75mm in diameter
Material type	PLA, ABS, TPU,Wood, HIPS .
Positioning accuracy	Z 0.002mm, XY 0.01mm.
Recommended extruder temperature	220degC (the max 260degC).
Hot bed temperature	60-110degC .
Power requirements	24V, 300W
Connectivity	WiFi,SD card,USB
End filament detection	YES
Power failure restart	YES
Screen	3.5 inch touchscreen
Firmware type	Marlin
Sofware provided	CURA

Youtube is your friend

The Flying Bear 4S is therefore a model to be assembled for its upper part. Don’t look in the manual for the assembly steps! The manufacturer has decided to give preference to a video assembly tutorial on its Official Flying Bear YOUTUBE channel. The editing itself is split into nine videos. Then there are more tutorials for the levelling of the platform.

Using video is a good idea that makes the assembly accessible to everyone. Describing certain operations with a single image would have been unrealistic. Let the other manufacturers learn from this. There is no trap even if some steps are more tricky than others. On this subject at the end of the first video 2, do not tighten, or even do not install the back of the printer because from the beginning of video 5 it will have to be removed. Being involved in the assembly of your 3D printer is an opportunity to better understand how it works. I advice you to check and update your machine’s firmware if needed. I did it on mine. Again, a dedicated video on Flying Bear’s Youtube channel explains the procedure. You need to download the firmware (version 3.0 at this time), place it on the microSD card and reboot the printer. I had to do it a bit forced to take back control of the printer after running the touch screen calibration menu item. I advise you not to run this function it if your screen does not have a touch screen offset. The firmware of the Flying Ghost 4S is Marlin type, which opens up possibilities for improvement via the community.

A high level performance

The FlyingBear Ghost 4S 3D printer is housed in an all-metal, semi-shell case. The front and top remain open. The FlyingBear Ghost 4S is relatively well isolated from the outside, making it possible to print small ABS filament items with the FlyingBear Ghost 4S. The ABS filament requires better air regulation.

moving on the Z axis and not the head. This head will also move on the Y-axis and we talk here about a CoreXY Cartesian printer. The advantages of such printers are less vibrations and a more compact design because the platform does not move.The general design is reliable even in the details such as a silicone sock to protect the head. The extruder is Bowden type, mean located outside the heating head.

It is placed at the back of the printer with the filament end detection system underneath and the bobbin holder on the right. Technology is BMG Duadrive, known for its accuracy, Anyhow, this general placement at the rear is not super ergonomics as it forces to rotate the printer to change the filament.

A “sensitive” levelling

It is usual to have to level its platform and this is usually done manually via 4 adjustable screws with the help of the printer moving to each corner. This is the case on the Flying Bear 4S. But first you need to adjust a main platform stop on the Z axis thru a screw. I had to experiment to find the right height. From that moment on, my printout were almost all successful. Speed is recommended around 60 mm/s.

The heating bed of the Flying bear 4S is made of non removable glass without too much deformation. The printout stick well to the bed. I used my different PLA filaments of different types from gold to transparent via bronze or wood types. I am satisfied with the result considering that I did not try to optimize the heating speed or temperature for a particular filament.

I also managed to print with ABS filament but only on small parts like the chinese black cat in the above picture. The other attempts on large pieces ended in failures due to peeling.

A nice touchscreen

A good-sized 3.5-inch color screen is located on the front of the printer. It is touchscreen with a rich interface with many features such as a visualisation of the 3D Model to print.

As you can see in the screenshots below, the screens are colorful and for a large part translated into your langage. You will find the usual possibilities to preheat the tray/head, move on the 3 axes, level the tray, load/unload the filament etc… with of course the ability to choose a file to print and monitor its printout.

I like being able to preview a thumbnail of the object to be printed even in the file browser for the selection.

Once the filament has been loaded, it is possible to select a 3D model to be printed on the memory card supplied. I deplore Flying Bear provides only one sample file, a nut/screw assembly.

To go further, you have to donwload STL 3D printer files . I recommend as good website to find 3D stuff Thinksverse, CULTS 3D and My Mini Factory

A community to help out

In terms of software (Slicer), I was used to get one on the memory card. This is not the case here. On the documentation, Flying Bear requires you to download the classic CURA in its latest version 4.4 directly on the website (here). Flying Bear explain on the prinout manual how to donwload and configure the CURA software manually. This even include the Start and End G-CODE commands ! Providing small config files online or on the microSD card would have been more than welcome. The Wifi configurationrequires the download of a FlyingBearIntegration Plugin. The link is put on the manual as a QRCODE. Not easy to read without a smartphone. The file is here. Again, all this is also explained on the YOUTUBE Flying Bear channel. But I found much faster! The FLYING BEAR brand has a community in Russia with the Alexgyver reference page. Use Google translate to understand. You will see a link to a script in GITHUB to update CURA with all needed parameters for your Flying Bear 4S.

Once the package is installed, restart CURA and you will find the Flying Bear 4S printer in the proposed printers. In addition, optimisations have been integrated by this community to enhance, for example, the output of the filament at the beginning of printing. The touch of fun is is the Flying Bear logo on top of the virtual platform in CURA. This package also makes it possible to setup the WIFI printout in without any headache. Launching a printout via its WiFI directly from the Slicer avoids the handling of the MicroSD card.

The main interface of CURA asks you to send and start printing after slicing. It is even possible to control and send commands remotely via the Monitoring tab of CURA.

In my TOP 3D printer of 2020

It took me a little while to get the Flying Bear 4S printer up and running, as i imagined wrongly it would come fully functional out of the box. But this learning assembly phase using Youtube video was very useful to better manage my printrer afterward. Flying Bear should make some effort more to make life easier for end user on software perspective. Setting up CURA manually is a source of error. I hope that the links and information given in this review, especially the configuration pack from AlexGyver, will help you not to loose any time. I love to be able to send my print requests by Wifi. SInce i installed the CURA pack proposed by the community, i had no prinout failures. The Flying Bear 4S printer is now one of my favorite. I know I can still get more out of it with some small optimizations. I was also reassured to see that spare parts are available at low prices.

8 Total Score

One of the best of 2020

The Flying BEAR 4S 3D printer is a very complete model that is part of my 2020 recommendations. It offers a good construction volume, a qualitative printing and a very practical WIFI connection.

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