My first venture into 3D printing...

Had my wife buy me a Sainsmart A8 for Christmas. It was a lot of fun, since I got a big box full of screws and parts and got to spend a day or two putting it together.

I think it is an excellent printer for the price.  It made some nice prints, and taught me a lot.  I mean it, it really taught me a lot!

As my knowledge increased, I found a lot of areas it could be improved.

As you can see, there are quite a few improvements (printed in Red PLA).  Overall, I noticed that the setup was adequate, but was very susceptable to vibration, and tall prints would degrade as the height increased (this was very slight and NOT an excuse to not buy this printer).

I tried to minimize vibration, which has helped, but I think we can do better.

Even with all my "upgrades" I still was wanting more....

Our SainSmart A8 after upgrades, adding Octopi, and putting it on a massive cement and rubber table top.