Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
Hello everyone - for the folks lurking on Reddit or people that are active on Printables, this might be nothing new.
But i completely forgot that the Forums here exist - sorry about that.
I'm excited to share the Core ONE Mini Project here aswell. This project aims to create a smaller, more compact CoreXY 3D printer while retaining the quality and reliability that the Prusa Core ONE is known for: same design paradigms, reuse existing parts (if possible) or source them directly from Prusa. The idea started as a personal tinkering project, exploring ways to shrink the overall footprint and optimize the mechanics without compromising performance - but since the release of the CORE One L (an no official announcement of a CORE One Mini or Prusa MINI successor), the idea got real and I want to open the doors to the wider community to see, what you think.
Here's what i am focusing on:
- Compact CoreXY design - reduced size for tighter spaces
- Shared components - leveraging common parts with the regular Core ONE where possible
- DIY-friendly approach - many parts can be fabricated using sheet metal, PMMA or other accessible materials at various services (or custom made, if you are skilled enough)
- Open collaboration - ideas and tips and inputs are all welcome
If you're interested in following along, contributing or simply want to discuss the design choices, please join the thread. I'm happy to share updates on CAD designs, prototypes and testing results as the project evolves (usually directly on my Printables Page).
The Project has left the pure CAD stage already and i've started building a physical prototype - if you want to help:
If you intend to buy a Prusa machine, you can use the referral code "@suit" at checkout in the Prusa online shop. This will give you some Prusameter points and me as well (which I can use for some free filament). Or you can just download, like and make some of my models here on Printables or even consider to become a member in my Printables club.
I've also set up a GoFundMe campaign to tackle the costs. Thanks to everybody who has donated a few euros already - that means a lot and helps me cover the expenses.
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
I wish you the best of success, although if I wanted to self-build a a printer of that size, the Micron and Salad Fork are more developed, and can be built for significantly less. It would be cool if Prusa would do something like this as a replacement for the Mini, but I suspect that the cost would be such that you might as well go for the regular Core One.
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
if i wanted to build i micron, i could have done that - but where is the challenge by just buying a random kit and putting it together? 🙂 and of course those are cheaper and less complicated - especially if you buy them from som generic china brand
and yes: you are right, the cost of the system is not much cheaper than the regular CORE One - but there is room for improvement - i found a lot of shortcuts and potential savings down the road - but that will be tackled after a first working prototype
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
I like your approach. Instead of complaining, "Why isn't there a Mini Core One…?"...you're actually developing/trying it out yourself!
I hope you receive some kind of support from Prusa, as this project - from my point of view - reflects the origins of Prusa Research!
Core One L
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
Engineering-wise this is impressive and I fully support it. But I think this might be a project that only makes sense as an engineering project and not as a commercial product. My reason for saying so is that print volume is one of the key attributes of a 3D printer that drives sales price / value. A large print volume isn't important for all, but it's important for many.
Spending Core One money to get a smaller printer doesn't make sense to me. If I want a smaller 3D printer, I could only justify that purchase by paying smaller amounts of money. If I'm paying Core One money anyway, why not just get a Core One sized printer instead of a Mini version?
That being said, a few years ago I used to encourage people to consider the Prusa Mini, since a vast majority of prints I do fit on the smaller Prusa Mini bed anyway. And there are parts of the world where compact living is more of a reality than in my home country. So who knows, maybe a Prusa Core One Mini makes sense for quite a lot of people.
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
I see diminishing benefits from shrinking the Core One further. The material cost of a smaller version will be nearly identical. And size-wise, with the fixed "overhead" of the mechanism, power supply etc., the relative reduction in outside dimensions will not keep up with the reduction in build volume. The Core One L only needed a 15% increase in its width and depth to achieve twice the build volume. The footprint reduction of a Core One mini will be equally modest, in return for a significant reduction in build volume, right?
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
I, for one, will not throw water on your fire. I donated some cash and thank you for doing this. I hope it inspires Prusa.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
@suit
What service are you using for your frame production?
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
But I think this might be a project that only makes sense as an engineering project and not as a commercial product.
this is one of the goals of the project - to see how much it would really cost and if it is viable
i have a big enough printer and i have a fable for small printers - there are people that are completely satisfied with a smaller print volume - for example if you print a lot of tabletop suff and don't what the toxic nature of an SLA printer - not everybody has a lot of space and a printer that is smaller, is interresting to some
a Voron Micron is - compared to a Voron 2.4 also not that much cheaper - but still there are lots of people that buy one - also from a pure financial standpoint, a CORE One does not make that much sense - after all you can get some china box for 1/4th of the price 🙂
I see diminishing benefits from shrinking the Core One further. The material cost of a smaller version will be nearly identical. And size-wise, with the fixed "overhead" of the mechanism, power supply etc., the relative reduction in outside dimensions will not keep up with the reduction in build volume. The Core One L only needed a 15% increase in its width and depth to achieve twice the build volume. The footprint reduction of a Core One mini will be equally modest, in return for a significant reduction in build volume, right?
that is indeed a problem - that is why printer designs like the Voron are so popular - they virtually cost the same, no matter how big you build them - it is more or less only a matter of space
especially on CoreXY-Machines, the kinematics take a substantial amount of space, aswell as the toolhead size gives you a bit of a constraint - the PSU and the electronics to the rest. But the CORE One L is not just an upscaled version of the CORE One - it is way more space efficient and uses a different geometry to stay more compact - if the C1L was build like the C1 it would be still bigger
but the Square-Cube-Rule is a bitch - so yeah, bigger printers are more efficient here
To bring that in perspective: the CORE One Mini will have a volume of rougly 57,5 liters with a build volume of roughyl 6,5 liters
The regular C1 will give you 95,5 and 14,85 liters and the C1L tops at 140 liters with 29,7 liters
Long story short: the only 15 % bigger for the C1 to C1L is only the footprint - if we are talking about volume, the C1L is roughly 46 % bigger for 100 % more build volume - while the jump from my Mini to the C1 would be 66 % increase in size for 128 % increase in build volume (normalized to the C1L increase this would be 51,5 % for 100 % increase).
So it is not that bad after all.
@suit
I, for one, will not throw water on your fire. I donated some cash and thank you for doing this. I hope it inspires Prusa.
What service are you using for your frame production?
Thank you for your donation - that helps a lot.
I currently don't use any service for the frame production - i just use "elbow grease" and do everything myself to be most cost effective (even though it means, lots of manual labour).
i inquired various services in europe aswell as PCBWay - the cost for producing the custom parts is (if you order 10 pieces) substantially cheaper than buying spare parts directly from prusa - even if you order them in germany - for a single unit it tends to get expensive - for example the back panel alone would cost about 80 euros without shipping if you order a single piece - the original for the CORE One costs about 36 Euros. but if you order 10 pieces, the price goes down to about 30 euros a unit (blank without paint/coating).
long story short: the prototype will be done entirely manual - but the manufacuturing of the parts is essentially the same as for the Core ONE - and would be not a cost issue for Prusa if they would volume produce them at their current supplier (or inhouse).
RE:
Manufacturing the parts is just a tiny fraction of the whole commitment Prusa would have to make when deciding to do a printer. There is a lot of other things regarding firmware development, software development (PrusaSlicer +profiles tuning), support team training, the whole logistics for packaging, storing, shipment), certification process and so on.
And you are never sure if people would be eager to buy it because it's tiny and the competition does not sleep... 😉
Good luck with your project, though 🙂
Maybe some day it would allow Mini conversion to CoreXY? 🙂
See my GitHub and printables.com for some 3d stuff that you may like.
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
One more thing, I wonder if the print height could be increased noticeably? See how Core One L was extended vertically... And with 18x18 bed you could easily print something like a prosthetic arm in the ful length ( I mean for example just forearm from wrist to the elbow). WDYT?
See my GitHub and printables.com for some 3d stuff that you may like.
RE: Introducing the Core ONE Mini Project - a CORE One usinig the printbed of the Prusa MINI
Good luck! I'm cheering you on and I'm very interested to see the final result.
RE:
One more thing, I wonder if the print height could be increased noticeably? See how Core One L was extended vertically... And with 18x18 bed you could easily print something like a prosthetic arm in the ful length ( I mean for example just forearm from wrist to the elbow). WDYT?
The build height could be increased to roughly 275 mm (280 mm including overtravel) - so about 5 mm more than the CORE One - with optimizations that were derived from the C1L and some minor changes to a 3d printed parts while maintaining the origial "long profiles" of the CORE One
if longer rods and steppers with longer leadscrews are used, this can be even extended further - but the physical limit is currently the 320 mm long lead screws - with some changes to the bed assembly and a bit of squeezing and changing other parts, 5 mm on top are maybe possible
it just depends on how many genuine Parts should be used 🙂 if you take the steppers from the C1L, it should be about 335 to 340 mm