So as i said before, i'm going to post stuff i do with my A8, so here's the first.
After assembly i did some small testprints using KaiserTech Black PLA i noticed a few issues with print quality. Poor tightening of the belts and a wobbly frame resulted in a steppy surface. My first thought was to reduce the weight of the X-Carriage by changing the extruder mechanism from the standard direct drive to a bowden extruder (a mock E3D v6 from Gearbest*, which if you plan to do the same, i wouldn't recommend this specific one due to some faulty heater but if you have one around (the basic A8 Heater should fit) you could replace it).
The extruder came alongside some other parts i ordered (Mosfets, fibre-enforced belt, a new power supply and a glass plate, which was a little smaller than the 220 by 220 mm heatbed) a few weeks after ordering. Installing was straight away, since i printed the carriage for it before. The first few prints turned out well, but soon some issues started. A small clogging issue (skipping extruder stepper) and finally a burned through heater marked the first step back with my Bowden experience.
So i'm upgrading to a (hopefully) higher quality Extruder Setup as well as a few additional parts like a new motherboards.
If all the parts arrive, i will post another blog post showing details on the upgrades i allready did, the changes to the electronics i do as well as the things i planned for the future. (Spoilers: Its not the AM8).
The following blog posts will also contain a parts/shopping/printing list, if you dare to follow along.
*you'll notice when i talk about 3D Printing, i'll talk a lot about that page, mostly good but also some critical words)