So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?  

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I've had the MK2S up and printing for just over a week when I learned about the new MK3 and immediately ordered the MK3 and sold the MK2S.

But even that 1 week allowed me to gain some experience with 3D printing - which I am now using to prepare for the new printer.
The Prusa printer can produce amazing results - but I also learned about the limits and improvement potentials.
So the first thing I am doing to prepare for the new MK3 is to collect information about printing, and studying designs on the web to learn. There are really clever designs, working with the limitations of 3D printing and others which are not that clever...

The other thing is about slicer differences and settings for different materials, and the possibilities of the different slicer software solutions.
I had good results with Silc3r, but it seems like for prints that need supports, Simplify3D offers much more possibilities.

One thing that made a big difference was to put the printer on a stone plate, which greatly reduced the noise level and certainly doesn't harm the stability of the printer during printing - highly recommended! This combined with a housing/Rack should provide a very quiet, stable and clean work station for the printer.

Another thing you can certainly do is to buy some more filaments - it's just more fun to have different colors of PLA and I am really lookign forward to use my different materials from sample packs.

Oh, and get some tools! High quality pliers and cutters will make the assembly more fun and will continue to be useful later. A set of calipers will also be invaluable. I am also looking at buying some thickness gauges, they should come in handy to set up the Z-height and as well in other situations.

But based on my experienc e with the MK2S you don't HAVE to buy anything, the kit and instructions were VERY good, and the printer worked flawlessly from the start!

Lets just hope that the MK3 will be ready for shipment soon - I really want to get back to printing, it's fun!

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I've been investigating what changes will be needed to make Octoprint on the MK3 / Raspberry Pi Zero W work the same as on my MK2 / Raspberry Pi 3. One of the differences is that I use the Pi Camera for monitoring prints on the MK2, with an AdaFruit NeoPixel Ring to light the print bed and I use the Pi 3 ethernet port to connect to my internal (wired) network. The Pi 0W doesn't have ethernet, and it uses a miniature camera cable that isn't long enough to reach the front of the print bed.

For now I'm planning to use another Pi3, and run a GPIO cable to the MK3 controller instead of putting a Pi 0W in the case.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

This will be my first 3d printer as well. I've wanted one for a few years but waited for the technology to improve. I bought it to make my own battery holders for 18650 lithium battery packs. I am going to print a lot of various things though . There are several items around the house and on our farm that could be fixed using 3d printed parts.

So while I wait, I'm busy brushing up on my CAD skills as well as reading everything under the sun about 3d printing. There are invaluable videos on youtube that I've been watching as well. I hope to amass enough knowledge to avoid most of the beginner mistakes. We'll see lol. I said the same thing when I bought a CNC router to cut carbon fiber sheet to make drone parts. Turned out to be a little more difficult than I thought.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I'm looking to buy a 3D printer for the first time primarily for making various RC car parts. I've had some friends print some for me and they've held up well.

My preparation is trying to work out if I should buy a second hand MK2S someone is selling locally (basically assembled, calibrated and tested - not much use beyond that) so I can get started printing asap, then work out if I need the MK3 or MK2.5 moving forward.

Especially given it seems to be accepted that shipping for the MK3 may have significant delays based on past product launches. I'd like to get a printer this year, not next...

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

Georg, you sold MK2S now and will be waiting for Mk3? Hey man, how you make it to wait so long? 😀 I remember my waiting for the printer for two months, not easy. Then it came. After some time my extruder jammed and I had to wait 3 days for new ptfe tube, hard days, even worse. And you make this to yourself on purpose! ;-).

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

Hehe... you are tight, it’s a long wait, but I was away for 3 weeks and now keeping myself busy building an enclosure and designing the parts I will print when it gets here.
I just wanted to sell the MK2S with a decent price to minimize the loss, and it worked out 😀

I’m also checking about possible upgrades, but seems like the Prusa is so well designed that upgrades are not really necessary.

But I really hope to get the printer still in November...

Lets keep our fingers crossed! Cheers, Georg

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I bought my mk2S in February of this year. From this time I was building an nice ikea table for it ;D but I am still not finished.

I heard about the MK3 and took a look at ebaykleinanzeigen and thought what the F..... So many want to sell the mk2 and mk2s for 700€ 😀

So I did the same for 600€. And now I am waiting for a new one ;D the mk2s tools 9weeks. Let's have a look how long we must wait at this time 🙂

So it's time to end the enclosement for my prusa mk3 😀 This it's not the time for wonder..... Dumdidum

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the purpose of using a raspberry pi with the MK3?

I've never used/owned a 3d printer and have the MK3 on order. I figured the MK3 and my PC was all that would be required.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the purpose of using a raspberry pi with the MK3?

I've never used/owned a 3d printer and have the MK3 on order. I figured the MK3 and my PC was all that would be required.

Octoprint

It's an optional feature.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the purpose of using a raspberry pi with the MK3?

I've never used/owned a 3d printer and have the MK3 on order. I figured the MK3 and my PC was all that would be required.

You are correct, an MK3 is all you need. Raspberry Pi is an optional feature. The most popular benefit is utilizing an interfaces such as OctoPrint. OctoPrint allows you to control your printer through a web interface. Imagine connecting to a webpage, uploading a 3d object, clicking print and then monitoring the print job away from the printer through a computer/tablet/phone via the web interface, finally recieving an email to let you know the print job is complete. I'm sure we'll see lots of other possible uses when people start getting creative. It's not necessary and something you can always add later if you see value in it.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

Thanks for the answers guys. Sounds nifty. I'll have to give that a go.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

it uses a miniature camera cable that isn't long enough to reach the front of the print bed.

i was just thinking about this, and if the pi zero can be directly connected over the gpio pins, cant we just make a wiring harness that extends this connection to move the pi closer to the bed...

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I pre-ordered the MK3, and it'll be my first 3d printer...

Actually, it will be my second 3D printer, because I also ordered a Cetus3d printer, which will arrive before the MK3. I figured it would be a good way to start playing with 3d printing while I wait for the i3. I'll probably end up donating the Cetus to the local makerspace, or keep it to tinker with. I'm also hoping that it'll give me a good comparison point for the more-expensive kit when I get my hands on it.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

it uses a miniature camera cable that isn't long enough to reach the front of the print bed.

i was just thinking about this, and if the pi zero can be directly connected over the gpio pins, cant we just make a wiring harness that extends this connection to move the pi closer to the bed...

I see no reason that wouldn’t work.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

it uses a miniature camera cable that isn't long enough to reach the front of the print bed.

i was just thinking about this, and if the pi zero can be directly connected over the gpio pins, cant we just make a wiring harness that extends this connection to move the pi closer to the bed...

Actually, AdaFruit is now shipping a connector ( https://www.adafruit.com/product/3671 \) that can bridge between a pair of Raspberry Pi camera cables. So I can use a Pi Zero cable plus the bridge plus a normal cable to reach the front of the machine. (See this for an example: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2189609 ).

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I pre-ordered the MK3, and it'll be my first 3d printer...

Actually, it will be my second 3D printer, because I also ordered a Cetus3d printer, which will arrive before the MK3. I figured it would be a good way to start playing with 3d printing while I wait for the i3. I'll probably end up donating the Cetus to the local makerspace, or keep it to tinker with. I'm also hoping that it'll give me a good comparison point for the more-expensive kit when I get my hands on it.

I'm actually in the exact same boat as you, except I've had my Cetus for about a year or so by now (jumped on the early bird for the kickstarter)! I'm also torn on whether I should keep my Cetus or not, though it's nice for its portability and it's a direct extrusion system vs the bowden that the MK3 employs. I might keep it around just for ease of printing with flexible filaments.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

Rebuilding my burnt down shop and garage. that's what I am doing. Yay California Wildfires.

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I pre-ordered the MK3, and it'll be my first 3d printer...

Actually, it will be my second 3D printer, because I also ordered a Cetus3d printer, which will arrive before the MK3. I figured it would be a good way to start playing with 3d printing while I wait for the i3. I'll probably end up donating the Cetus to the local makerspace, or keep it to tinker with. I'm also hoping that it'll give me a good comparison point for the more-expensive kit when I get my hands on it.

I'm actually in the exact same boat as you, except I've had my Cetus for about a year or so by now (jumped on the early bird for the kickstarter)! I'm also torn on whether I should keep my Cetus or not, though it's nice for its portability and it's a direct extrusion system vs the bowden that the MK3 employs. I might keep it around just for ease of printing with flexible filaments.

The MK3 is not bowden. I am guessing you mean with the MMU kit installed, then it is! Anyways, I am building the popular print enclosure that uses the Ikea Lack tables (using my i3 clone to print the parts.) So hopefully I will be all set for when it arrives! 😀

Re: So what is everyone doing to get ready for the new printer?

I just got a new table to put it on. It will be going right next to my new Ultimaker. I hope they get along! 🙂