Great results on my first week with the MK2  

Great results on my first week with the MK2

Just wanted to post some congratulations to the Prusa Research team on a great product. There's a lot of posts here from folks experiencing various issues, and I thought I'd share my experience as a very happy user. Here's what I've seen so far:

June 16 - Ordered MK2. At the time, web site advised "3+ week" lead time. Ugh. Too long. No matter...I've been researching printers for a looong time. a few more weeks won't kill me.
July 12 - Received shipping notification.
July 18 - MK2 showed up on my door step. Pretty impressive shipping time from Prague to midwest US.

Build took place over 2 evenings. Approximately 8-10 hours. I highly recommend using the online manual, rather than relying on the printed assembly guide that comes with the product.

1) The online guide has links to high-res copies of all the photos. There are times when you will not be quite clear where a zip tie should go, or which direction a wire runs, or whatever. Being able to zoom in on the high-res photo was very valuable.
2) The online guide has comments by other users. Read these. Many people have been through this process before you, and there is good advice sprinkled throughout.

For those of you with kids, you are probably familiar with LEGO kits. More than once I told my wife that I felt like my Prusa kit was basically a grown-up version of LEGO. 😀

A couple other thoughts on the build process:
- Get yourself a hex screwdriver set. You will drive yourself batty driving all those screws with the supplied allen wrenches. A decent screwdriver will save you a lot of time.
- Also, a pair of diagonal flush cutters come in handy for all the zip ties. Way easier than trying to wedge the pliers into tight spaces.
- I used a digital calipers to measure anything where a length was specified, and also to measure my y-axis frame from corner to corner (to verify squareness).

Once built, I held my breath and powered on. Had a minor self-inflicted glitch (LCD display did not come on. Reseated the connectors. Problem solved).

From there, I ran self test (success!), leveled the Z axis, and ran the V2 calibration print to get the Z offset where I thought it should be. Since then, I've been printing continuously, with great success. I've attached a couple photos of sample prints (Marvin from the included SD card, and obligatory Yoda bust from Thingiverse). Prints are coming out very nicely with default settings.

When I ordered a kit as my first 3D printer, I was apprehensive. I was interested in learning how this thing works, and having something I could easily maintain and upgrade myself in the future. However, I want to spend most of my time printing things, not troubleshooting my hardware and software. I'm happy to say that the MK2 has exceeded my expectations.

Scott