Purchasing a MK4S piece by piece - recommended pre-assembly upgrades?
After some year with my Mini, I have decided to get something bigger, but I'm in a life changing moment, back to school, and sort of broke right now.
Mi intention is to purchase the pieces of the printer when I have the cash for each of them, print the PETG pieces with the Mini, and assemble the printer when I have everything . This could take some time but that's fine.
Are there any upgrades that improve the printer in general? Something that you would have included from the start. For example: many recommend the bondtech extruder for the Mini, so If I ever build another Mini, I would save the money of the original kit extruder and get the bondtech right away. This is what I intend to do for the MK4S , if there is any such improvement to be made.
I hope this question is not too weird or specific 😀 . Thank you all!
RE: Purchasing a MK4S piece by piece - recommended pre-assembly upgrades?
I would save up 4-$500 bit by bit and then shop your local market place. I think a complete running printer would be more cost effective, especially if you found one with extra plates and parts. Once the Core 1 is adequately stocked and shipping I think the used m4ks prices will come down some.
RE: Purchasing a MK4S piece by piece - recommended pre-assembly upgrades?
I agree with the above but even if you want new, piece by piece is an expensive way to do things. You would be better off putting the money aside until you have sufficient funds and buying as one unit. You will then get it cheaper and have the latest version.
RE: Purchasing a MK4S piece by piece - recommended pre-assembly upgrades?
I agree with what others have said -- buying a printer piecemeal is certainly the most expensive way. Just take a look at the spare parts catalog for the MK4S and run a quick sum of the major parts. I am pretty sure you will exceed the price of the complete kit significantly, even before you add in the multiple shipping costs.
Saving up for the MK4S kit looks like the best option if you want all-new parts. (Or even the Core One kit -- it's not that much more expensive.) Buying an MK4 secondhand will probably give you even better value for money, if you are ok with a used unit and scan the market for a while until a good offer pops up.
RE: Purchasing a MK4S piece by piece - recommended pre-assembly upgrades?
I find this an interesting thread, though I am late. I purchased my Prusa printer after reading and watching videos about upgrading no-name printers to be as good as a Prusa and how much extra it would cost.
I have a 2 yr old MK3s+ and will purchase a new printer instead of any upgrades. Once the cost of the upgrades is at 50% of a new printer, I feel that a new printer is the best way to go.
RE: Purchasing a MK4S piece by piece - recommended pre-assembly upgrades?
Totally agree. If you do that, you'll end up with two perfectly working printers instead of one printer (with old and new parts ) plus a quite useless bunch of discarded parts.
RE: Purchasing a MK4S piece by piece - recommended pre-assembly upgrades?
Totally agree. If you do that, you'll end up with two perfectly working printers instead of one printer (with old and new parts ) plus a quite useless bunch of discarded parts.
It isn't just the discarded parts, if you are like me and ordered spare parts to minimize downtime. Two printers, one for those minor jobs and one for the detailed jobs. I have seen the MK4s print jobs and very impressed. I was/am hoping the Core 1 will meet that quality. FWIW, my next printer will be a SLA as I need some very precise parts for my projects.