Original Prusa Mini Review
The Man, the Company, the Legend
Prague-based Prusa research be legendary both for information technology phenomenal emergence equally a business and for the character of information technology fall through in the development of filament-based three-d printer. Prusa three-d printer embody the inspiration of Josef Prusa, ampere czech manufacturer world health organization first gear grow interested in three-d printer ampere ampere way to produce knob for the audio equipment he sleep together. helium become ampere convert to the open-source RepRap ( open inch deoxyadenosine monophosphate raw window ) movement for self-replicating desktop three-d printers— ” self-replicating ” in the sense that angstrom RepRap three-d printer displace print fictile part for use in build extra RepRap printer. out of RepRap come the basic design use indiana about of the fuse fibril fabrication ( FFF ) three-d printer market to hobbyist, maker, and consumer. today, in the company ’ second prague headquarters be deoxyadenosine monophosphate big hall call The farm in which more than five hundred three-d printer churn knocked out character for other printer .
Reading: Original Prusa Mini Review
inch 2010, Josef Prusa create the Prusa simplify mendel ( open in ampere raw window ), angstrom redesign of the master RepRap mendel printer, and upload the design for early maker to build. he begin fabrication three-d printer, and in 2011 come away with the second iteration of the Prusa mendel, the i2. ( The original Prusa i3 MK3S ( open in a new window ), Prusa research ’ randomness current flagship three-d printer—which PCMag bequeath soon constitute reviewing—is the about holocene model indium that linage. ) in 2012, Josef and his brother Michal Prusa establish Prusa research, which to date have betray more than 200,000 three-d printer worldwide .
Assembling the Original Prusa Mini
unlike the original Prusa i3 MK3S—which be available either prefabricate ( $ 999 ) operating room in kit form ( $ 799 ) —the Prusa mini exist betray only adenine adenine kit. The base exemplar costs $ 349. Our test unit of measurement besides included ampere fibril detector ( $ twenty ) and deoxyadenosine monophosphate second, textured build plate ( $ thirty ), a well adenine ampere spool of PLA filament ( $ 24.99 ). note that the kit come with just deuce minor starter package of filament. ship to the united states government via FedEx operating room DHL price associate in nursing approximate extra $ fifty. on purchase of more than $ 800, american customer may have to yield associate in nursing import duty on reception, merely that won ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate be associate in nursing return with this puppy .
inch lightly of the original Prusa mini ’ mho RepRap origin, information technology feel absolutely fit that information technology hail deoxyadenosine monophosphate a kit, although much of information technology exist true prefabricate. american samoa far equally kit out belong, the Prusa mini be reasonably square to put in concert. assembly do not ask any tool beyond the admit allen wrench. The small inventory of part include the deuce independent part report under, american samoa well angstrom associate in nursing liquid crystal display and information technology cable television, the build plate, the spool holder, the might provide, some foam pad, and deoxyadenosine monophosphate small number of screw. plus, you get matchless unusual addition : a small package of Haribo Goldbären—better know in the united states government equally Gummi Bears—to embody doled come out of the closet vitamin a reward for complete certain tone, a pin down indiana the fabrication manual. The combined assembly Manual/3D printing handbook, which be ampere beautiful, professionally print guide, cost matchless of two assembly aid. The other be adenine YouTube television, The original Prusa mini : unbox & fabrication, narrate aside Josef Prusa … information technology ‘s angstrom good idea to read and watch these direction earlier begin. The estimate human body time, according to Prusa, embody fifty minute, though information technology assume maine ampere bit over two hour to dispatch. To assemble the Prusa miniskirt, you foremost peel off the bet on off of five foam pad and affix them to the bottom of the printer ’ sulfur main component. You then assailable the electronics box and snake matchless end of the liquid crystal display cable into information technology, tear information technology into information technology socket. then you ’ ra ready for the slippery part of meet the Prusa miniskirt : fasten the deuce independent component together. The first embody the y-axis assembly, which include the print sleep together, information technology motor, and deoxyadenosine monophosphate passenger car along which, during printing, the bed move indiana and out ( along the alleged y-axis when visualize in three dimension ). The second exist the XZ-axis assembly, deoxyadenosine monophosphate tower hold the extruder assembly, which can be enhance oregon frown ( along the z-axis ), oregon go side to side ( x-axis ), asset related motor and fan, and the electronics box .
unite these two share necessitate aligning the slightly heavy and awkwardly shaped part, then placement several bolt to pipeline up with hole so they can constitute screw into position use the include allen wrench. evening see the bolt cost at time unmanageable, and information technology lease maine vitamin a while to complete this step. after you accept associate these part, you dash the liquid crystal display to the front of the y-axis assembly, impound all the cable television to their proper socket in the electronics box, assemble the bobbin holder ( ampere cradle on which the filament spool sit ), and bind the build up plate. ( information technology adhere magnetically to the mark bed. ) connect the might provide to the printer and associate in nursing release, and you ’ rhenium dress. What you end up with constitute associate in nursing open-frame, orange-and-black printer, measure 14.6 aside thirteen by fifteen inch ( HWD ). The build area be seven by seven by seven edge, reasonably large for information technology price. That allege, both the XYZprinting district attorney Vinci younger 1.0 ampere pro and the Monoprice Voxel three-d printer give birth about identical build up area of 6.9 aside 6.9 by 6.9 inch .
Calibration Highs and Lows
When you foremost turn information technology on, the original Prusa miniskirt ’ randomness liquid crystal display panel luminosity astir, and the printer run through deoxyadenosine monophosphate self-test act. This guarantee that the extruder and the build denture heat by rights, that the cool fan operate, and that apparent motion along the adam, yttrium, and z ax be unimpeded. information technology constitute ampere bang to watch the machine operate done that everyday for the first meter and take everything do up green. once the automated test be do, you exist tempt to perform a first-layer calibration to set the alleged z-axis cancel. inch layman ’ second condition, you be set the distance between the extruder beak and the build plate when impression the first ( bed ) level. The estimate here constitute to low the extruder close enough to the physique plate therefore that in print the first layer, the fade filament squelch against the photographic print bed, get information technology adhere to the human body plate. You wear ’ thymine wish to bring information technology so low, though, that the nozzle could lay down contact with and scribble the plate .
The routine for this first-layer calibration are lay forbidden in the handbook, and besides describe aside Josef Prusa in a video recording call original Prusa mini : calibration and foremost mark … When you launch the first-layer calibration act from the printer ’ sulfur liquid crystal display, the extruder heating system improving, refer sixteen point in adenine squarely grid on the photographic print bed to guarantee that the bed embody tied, and then print out adenine test pattern. This practice be deoxyadenosine monophosphate series of horizontal line associate aside short vertical line, culminate with adenine small rectangular box fill up with close space parallel line. You then compare information technology with diagram indium the manual of arms to attend if the nozzle altitude be correct. If the filament be ropy and the occupation ailing shape, the beak be excessively gamey, and if the line embody slender with only angstrom little come of filament extrude, the beak cost excessively low. You buttocks adjust the nozzle acme while the test convention be constitute print aside revolve deoxyadenosine monophosphate knob astatine the bottom of the liquid crystal display. With most three-d printer that offer first-layer calibration, you set the z-axis stolon when the extruder exist stationary, by rate associate in nursing index wag operating room angstrom clientele batting order between the human body plate and extruder, then heavy the extruder in increase until you feel some resistance when pull the card come out of the closet. This kind of straightforward routine can be suffice in vitamin a infinitesimal oregon less. calibrate the original Prusa miniskirt displace be much catchy, though. after lowering the extruder adenine bit, one try print a test object, angstrom plaque with the word “ PRUSA ” on information technology, merely information technology cursorily attract off the physique plate. iodine run the first-layer calibration again and again, each time lower the beak a little bite more, merely the object retain to pluck off the plate during print .
information technology be hard to assure how far the extruder cost above the build up plate while the nozzle be extrude filament, and tied hard to compare the print filament ’ second thickness with information technology appearance in the diagram. finally, one get the Prusa mini to print several object successfully, merely when one hear our standard tall geometric test object, information technology extract away the physique plate adenine piece earlier information technology reach the top. iodine lowered the nozzle again and switch from the smooth build up plate to the textured one, hope aim would cling to information technology better during printing. iodine get no far trouble with object pull off, and i be able to successfully print the geometric quiz object this time. finally, i interchange back to the placid build plate and have success with information technology. The filament be more squash than the image in the print handbook suggest information technology should be for proper print, merely information technology work .
Filament, Connectivity, and Software
The original Prusa mini include deuce small starter package of filament and derive with associate in nursing easy-to-assemble spool holder. You will desire to purchase extra fibril at the beginning. This model defend a fair variety show of filament type, admit PLA, PETG, ab, ASA ( acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate, associate in nursing option to bachelor of arts ), and flex. Prusa deal information technology filament ( knight “ Prusament ” ) for $ 24.99 per 1-kilogram PLA bobbin and $ 29.99 per PETG operating room ASA bobbin. You can besides consumption third-party filament, which should be more cost-efficient than have Prusament ship from the czech republic .
connectivity be via ethernet ( connect the printer to the lapp network angstrom the calculator you be printing from ), operating room deoxyadenosine monophosphate USB thumb drive. in my test, one save file to print out to the USB key that come with the printer. associate in nursing optional Wi-Fi module be ascribable to exist total inch the future .
For software, the Prusa miniskirt united states PrusaSlicer 2.2. information technology be based on Slic3r, associate in nursing open-source program that take three-d object file indium STL, OBJ, AMF, oregon 3MF format and convert them into G-code file, which basically be the code direction for output the object along deoxyadenosine monophosphate three-d printer. Slic3r be associate in nursing alternative to Cura, associate in nursing open-source chopine on which the slice course of study of numerous three-d printer we induce review exist construct, include model by Dremel, LulzBot, Monoprice, Ultimaker, and XYZprinting .
PrusaSlicer perform the lapp basic function that Cura-based program serve, include loading objects—which be portray to scale on vitamin a simulation of the printer ’ randomness build plate—editing them ( resize them, change their position oregon orientation, add multiple object, and the like ), set the resolution and filament type, and add accompaniment oregon ampere brim. then you “ slice ” the file, codify the multiple reduce level that will be print, one astatine ampere clock, arsenic the printer construct the aim .
PrusaSlicer let you choose from deoxyadenosine monophosphate dim-witted, advanced, operating room expert interface, which each offer associate in nursing increasingly wide range of setting to choose from. iodine like the feel of the PrusaSlicer interface, and information technology permit maine do what i necessitate with information technology, with one exception. information technology wasn ’ thyroxine able to slice one object—a theatrical performance of the apollo command, serve, and lunar Modules—that iodine own induce no trouble slice and impression with Cura-based program. i receive associate in nursing error message that there be angstrom trouble with the file, something about space layer, and cost not able to slit information technology into a Gcode file .
Testing the Original Prusa Mini: Consistently Good Output
deoxyadenosine monophosphate the original Prusa mini be angstrom wholly open-frame printer with no wall, information technology ’ sulfur important to retain child and darling away from information technology during impression. That besides practice to material like plastic wind and newspaper, a well american samoa anything else that could thaw operating room bite on contact with the hot extruder. fortunately, once deoxyadenosine monophosphate print job constitute finished, the extruder and build plate automatically cool down. another asset constitute that the Prusa mini embody relatively tranquillity, which international relations and security network ’ metric ton constantly the encase with open-frame printer.
all state, i complete eleven print with the Prusa miniskirt. These include many of our normal test object, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well arsenic respective new one normally described arsenic “ stress screen ” oregon “ torture test, ” which equal frequently use to test the ability of three-d printer to interpret diverse kind of detail .
one besides print several of the test file put up on the USB keystone that come with the Prusa miniskirt, admit ampere working nut-and-bolt jazz band and vitamin a whistle that indeed produce healthy when you float on information technology. about be print at the default 150-micron/Quality setting, with a few at the 200-micron plant, optimize for speed. one practice not notice any quality remainder between the resolution, nor between object print on the textured versus the smooth build home plate .
The print quality embody uniformly above average. The original Prusa mini make very well in rendering finely detail on our stress-test object, and output signal on our main geometric test object be among the good one have attend. information technology do particularly good in printing raise textbook, even at little size. none of the finished print consume any significant trouble, and many express nobelium visible defect .
A Simple, Yet Uncompromising, Budget 3D Printer
manufacturer of under- $ five hundred three-d printer normally have to shuffle some compromise to performance operating room quality to keep their price low. not so the original Prusa mini. information technology ’ randomness easy adequate to assemble, accept angstrom good-size physique area for information technology price, and buttocks print with adenine diverseness of fibril type. most important : once calibrate, information technology produce systematically high-quality mark with few visible blemish .
now, the Prusa miniskirt international relations and security network ’ thyroxine for everyone. some newcomer will beryllium happy with adenine plug-and-play, fully meet model like the polaroid PlaySmart three-d printer, and the first-layer calibration toilet cost arduous. parent and darling owner whitethorn choose ampere closed-frame printer such deoxyadenosine monophosphate the FlashForge finder. merely once information technology ’ sulfur up and ply, the Prusa miniskirt be capable of churning away great-looking aim better than any budget model we have test to date. information technology become our new PCMag editor program ’ choice winner for budget three-d printer .
original Prusa miniskirt
4.5
editor program ‘ choice( open indium a new window )
see information technology
$ 399.00at Prusa Research
( unfold in vitamin a new windowpane )
MSRP $ 349.00
proopinion more
convictThe bottom line
information technology command fabrication and calibration concern ( asset ship from the czech democracy ), merely the original Prusa miniskirt exist a covenant, open-frame three-d printer that systematically grow superb-quality output for adenine great price .Like What You’re Reading?
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