Creality CR-20 3D printer

The Creality CR-20 is a personal FDM 3D printer kit. As a member of the Creality CR family, it shows the typical modular-styled design of the CR-10. It is fully open-source and comes in two main parts: its assembly is a child’s play. You’ll have to tighten six screws and you are done. Focused on better user experience and more quality, the CR-20 is mainly used by hobbyists and students. Some of its flagship features are a self-adhesive print bed, resume printing after a power outage, filament detector, upgraded mainboard, and consistent print speed. It’s been used to print a wide variety of models and functional parts. Continue reading for a full review

One user decided to build its own lightsaber. He printed the three components separately. Despite the 3D printing characteristic layered texture, they look really nice.

Credit: @t_vec3d / Instagram

This medieval castle highlights the quality and the level of details achievable with a Creality CR-20. It has been printed with a layer height of 0.2mm.

Credit: @t_vec3d / Instagram

Specifications:

• Print quality
• Materials
• Build volume
• Printer controls
• What’s in the box
• Look and feel
• Price

Print quality

The Creality CR-20 is an FDM 3D printer that can print layers at 100 microns. The surface finish is not as smooth as you get with the more expensive printers, but is more than enough for prototyping and household use. The self-adhesive flexible bed ensures a good adhesion of the first layer and easy print removal.

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The Creality CR-20 has a 0.4 mm nozzle, giving you the best balance between speed and detail.

Credit: serial-testeur.com

The print head runs on rails, which makes printing reliable, fast and precise.

Credit: serial-testeur.com

Materials

Creality CR-20 prints with PLA, PETG and other materials. 

The extruder comes with a fan for printing with PLA-type materials. By cooling the model down, it reduces warping, stringing and, generally, makes for higher quality prints.

Notice how smooth this F5 Tiger Aircraft looks like.

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The Creality CR-20 has a heated Buildtak-like print bed with an adhesive surface, which makes it suitable for printing with ABS-type materials. The bed is flexible and can be detached to easily remove the prints. 

To ensure high reproducibility, we recommend installing an enclosed print chamber to keep the temperature constant. This way the print quality would not be affected by temperature fluctuations as a result of drafts and other factors.

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The Creality CR-20 prints with 1.75 mm filament, providing you with a wide choice of materials.

Build volume

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The build area of 8.7 x 8.7 x 9.8 inches (220 x 220 x 250 mm) lets you print just about anything you will need. Like a Sora crown from Kingdom Hearts, for example.

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Printer controls

The printer is controlled via a built-in LCD with encoder wheel. The display is placed at a 30-degree tilt angle enabling smoother operation.

Credit: all3dp.com

3D models can be printed from a computer over USB or with the SD card.

Credit: all3dp.com

The printer supports G-code files from any 3D software. It works really well with Cura, Simplify3D and Repertier-host slicers. These programs are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

What’s in the box

• Pre-assembled frames
• Tools for the assembly of the Creality CR-20
• Some spare parts
• Spatula for removing the print from the bed
• Wirecutters
• Fine point needle to clean ends
• Coil of filament
• Coil holder
• SD card and USB adapter
• USB power cable
• AC cable
• User manual

For some items, package content may change. In case of any questions, please get in touch.

Look and feel

Credit: amainhobbies.com

Creality CR-20 is available in black. Its stylish and compact look makes it ideal for education and hobbyst use.

The printer dimensions are 16.5 x 16.1 x 18.5 inches (220 x 220 x 250 mm). It weighs 21 lb (9.5 kg). The spool holder is mounted on the top of the frame.

Price

The price of the Creality CR-20 is $389.99, which is reasonable considering its advanced functionality and improved features.