Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread  

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

@charles-h13

Thanks, I'll think I'll wait until the end of November and hope Prusa help pages than will show my deliverance time slot, and decide then. I never knew that not having a 3D printer would make me feel this bad 😀 

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Posted by: @oxygen

@charles-h13

Thanks, I'll think I'll wait until the end of November and hope Prusa help pages than will show my deliverance time slot, and decide then. I never knew that not having a 3D printer would make me feel this bad 😀 

I am not expert but I think that is the prudent thing to do.  If they start shipping, I would keep the order.  If they are delayed by 30 days, order an MK3S.  

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Ok, I ordered one as well, first 3D printer at all 🙂

First thought to go with a Creality or Anet one, because they are cheaper, looked at the Ender 2 but I do not really know why I struggled 😀 Luckily I found a small one at Prusa 😛

I hope the Prusa fulfills their promises, because I do not have time to tinker around every time I want to get something printed 🙂 and I know friends with other brands spending lots of time before they get their first print done.

Yes ... so ... waiting ... and bookmarking prints from thingiverse and co 🙂

Perhaps you should add some tips for the waiting time 😉 and prepare for the newbies popping up on the forum 😉 because I assume there are going to be some buying the mini as their first ever printer 🙂 - like me

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Posted by: @herbert

Ok, I ordered one as well, first 3D printer at all 🙂

First thought to go with a Creality or Anet one, because they are cheaper, looked at the Ender 2 but I do not really know why I struggled 😀 Luckily I found a small one at Prusa 😛

I hope the Prusa fulfills their promises, because I do not have time to tinker around every time I want to get something printed 🙂 and I know friends with other brands spending lots of time before they get their first print done.

Yes ... so ... waiting ... and bookmarking prints from thingiverse and co 🙂

Perhaps you should add some tips for the waiting time 😉 and prepare for the newbies popping up on the forum 😉 because I assume there are going to be some buying the mini as their first ever printer 🙂 - like me

If you thought their would be no tinkering at all, you'd be mistaken, but you need to crack some eggs in order to made an omelette. 

Texy

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

@texy

ok, you are right. The whole process of 3D printing itself involves tinkering. This is what I am OK with, but reading about other printers I found the following:

•   grind their beds to have somehow a flat surface
  • I hope this is not necessary
• leveling their bed every time they start a print
  • Hope auto-leveling fixes this up to a certain degree
• print extra parts to get some basics right, like a fan mounting system, cable routing, etc
• replacing power supplies after some hours of printing or even repair them before starting
• screws which loosen itself after some prints
• Using an enormous amount of glue to get the prints stuck to the surface
  • which I also hope the extra printing plate fixes this
• starting a learjet
  • it won't be quite, but at least silent to a certain degree
• and so on

Yes I am ready to tinker with the prints itself, and how they behave and learn how to use supporting structures, infills etc, learn about PLA vs ABS vs PETG and play around with it. This is all good, but I really hope that the basics of the mechanics for the 3D printing itself are resolved by Prusa or work much better than everywhere else.

Is this a much better explanation of my expectations ?

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Posted by: @herbert

[...] Is this a much better explanation of my expectations ?

The screws part is true for every mechanic construction - all other points are however are already taken care of by Prusa. You will not get a simpler entry level machine to use in this price category than the Prusa Mini.

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Posted by: @herbert

@texy

ok, you are right. The whole process of 3D printing itself involves tinkering. This is what I am OK with, but reading about other printers I found the following:

I went through much the same when I was deciding what to get, and was sat on the fence between Prusa i3 and Lulzbot Taz for a while. Given recent news about Aleph Objects Inc. I'm somewhat relieved I landed on this side. From putting together my i3 MK3/S and having prior experience only with what I believe is an i3 Mk1 clone, I can give you my experience with the MK3/S and extrapolate what I expect from the mini:

Grinding beds: Not necessary. It's flat enough out of the box. The mini looks to be made of the same stuff.

Leveling beds every time a print is started: Really frustrating part of running the MK1 clone. If the bed didn't shift, then the Z-axis motors would slightly misalign and then it's time to break out the micrometer again and level them. The Mk3/S levels itself automatically every time a print is started by checking the bed's topography and compensating in a process that takes mere seconds, and if the arm is found to be uneven then it auto-levels at the top bumpers and restarts calibration. The mini only has one Z-axis motor so it should only need bed levelling.

Print extra parts to get some basics right: I haven't had to yet as the design is quite well optimised (apart from a slightly malformed filament sensor lever that I had to remake, but that was just a bad part and not a poor design, and it didn't actually prevent the printer from doing its job). It's worked mostly perfectly from the point of assembly. I've printed spares in case any part breaks, and some modifications to make the printer fit in my enclosure better. I hear some people have had the extruder motor pre-melt low-temperature filament when it gets hot, so they added heatsinks or fans to the extruder motor. I've not had to do that yet but I am mostly working with higher-temperature filaments or small prints in PLA ao I'd not notice. With the mini going the Bowden route rather than the direct drive route, I don't know if it's going to have the same potential issue.

Replacing power supplies: Not an issue yet and it's been going for some months. If a power supply did fail then the mini might be trickier to sort out, what with the power brick having customised electronics in it.

Screws loosening after some prints: The Mk3/S frame is very sturdy and I've not seen this yet. The mini looks to have a very similar construction.

Using lots of glue to stick prints to the surface: I did this with the MK1 clone. Not necessary with the MK3/S and mini steel plates as they are coated with PEI. So far I've just used the textured plate with a bit of PLA printing and a lot of PETG, and it just sticks like magic. It does need cleaning periodically (ideally immediately before each print but you can get away with not sometimes) by wiping it down while cold with a clean tissue soaked in a bit of 90% or better isopropyl alcohol, though I did get a problem where prints just stopped sticking. This was due to harder-to-remove deposits that needed the surface to be lightly scrubbed with a soft brush using water and a bit of washing up liquid. Warnings abound not to get them wet as they can rust, but I dried it down immediately and put it back on the printer and there were no more problems.

Noisy: Actually not that noisy, and it can be put into stealth mode to make it quieter (albeit slower and with less error recovery). Not sure if the mini supports this.

And so on: I had a problem with the bearings seizing up after a few days' running which manifested as X axis steploss errors. I didn't degrease the bearings before assembly and fill full of different grease as some people have suggested is necessary. However, a quick wipe on the rods with a bit of 3-in-1 oil every week however has prevented reoccurance and everything runs fine again. As the mini is pre-assembled, I wonder if this is what I will have to do from the start.

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Posted by: @herbert

[...] reading about other printers I found the following:

•   grind their beds to have somehow a flat surface
  • I hope this is not necessary

Prusa print surfaces may not be perfectly level, but the mesh auto bed leveling compensates for this. The vast majority of users don't need to worry about manually leveling the bed. 

• leveling their bed every time they start a print
  • Hope auto-leveling fixes this up to a certain degree

Even for those who like to perfect the leveling, it's a one-time thing.

• print extra parts to get some basics right, like a fan mounting system, cable routing, etc

Printing accessories is always fun, but there are no "must print" parts on the Prusa. You don't need to print a replacement for the extruder, a cover to prevent filament from falling into the power supply or many of the common fixes you see with the low-end printers.

• replacing power supplies after some hours of printing or even repair them before starting

The Prusa power supplies are not perfect, but don't tend to catch fire like some others. You should not need to do any repairs before starting, and even if so, you'll have excellent support to fall back on. Any required replacements will be sent with no fuss.

• screws which loosen itself after some prints

Well, you do need to maintain the printer, but it won't shake itself apart.

• Using an enormous amount of glue to get the prints stuck to the surface
  • which I also hope the extra printing plate fixes this

Having a spare plate is practical, but you don't need to use slurry, glue or other messy stuff on it unless printing exotic materials.

• starting a learjet
  • it won't be quite, but at least silent to a certain degree

I often fall asleep on a couch near my Mk3. It's nearly silent from across the room. 

A Prusa printer should meet your expectations nicely.

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Just ordered a mini 🙂 First time user here as well.  Excited. Hope the wait is not that bad lol

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

With so many first time user I see a flood of first layer issues coming in December 🤣 

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

@nikolai-r

I agree.  I think the flood is a good thing, but we need to be ready to help them.  

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

@charles-h13

We will, as usual. Just need to prepare a template. 

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Posted by: @nikolai-r

@charles-h13

We will, as usual. Just need to prepare a template. 

How True!  I will start with "I recommend you start a chat on the eshop page and report your problem to support".  

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Yeah yeah, we know the universal answer to all support problems.

source

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

@crawlerin

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

@crawlerin I think it should be spelled "Life Adjust"!

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Hi all. Can anyone tell me about how I buy the .25mm print head does it use some kind of ‘standard’ one. I’m a total 3D print novice so apologies in advance if this is a bad question.. thanks

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

The wait is really the worst part. I am looking forward to using this bit of kit though. Got my order in on the 12th. I don't remember if that was the first day orders were open or not. The few images coming out of reddit are cool. I hope we get an in depth video from prusa on the mini at some point. Not sure what else they can share on it but some more printing footage would be nice to watch. 

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

Agree, yesterday I saw a 0.25mm nozze test print on twitter from Josef and that was stunning.

twitter link

RE: Unofficial Prusa Mini Wait Thread

@oxygen

Yes Mikolas from PR posts some interesting tidbits on Reddit.

Miniatures: https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/driqr3/miniature_printed_with_025_mm_on_the_original/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Whether it is capable of printing ASA: https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/doptgj/prusament_asa_printed_on_original_prusa_mini_pic/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share