Prusa i3 Mk3 printer build

Yes, we’ve got our exciting new toy, ah, I mean, serious prototyping tool: the Prusa i3 Mk3.

First, there’s the unpacking at Paul’s robot room. Watch the IKEA style packaging!

Then, the basic frame

And the y axis and bed

And the x axis  

  

Really coming together now, with the all important extruder assembly mounted to the x axis

The extruder and clever thought through cable management:

Just needs the electronics, screen and bottom plate now:

ok, so if you look closely you’ll see the stepper is upside down… (Paul!) um, embarrassing, but it shouldn’t affect the operation.

Our first test print… a bit wonky, but not bad for a morning’s work.

Now we have some fine tuning ahead of us.

 

What we liked:

  • good quality instructions aka IKEA, they really take you through every step
  • quiet operation (Noctua fan is whispering)
  • the sd card printing and control panel that allows you to modify the z axis live
  • feeding the filament into the extruder is a seamless operation

What could be improved:

  • we’re not convinced that the 3d printed parts used in the printer are sturdy enough.  We’ll mill some of the parts from aluminium and see what extra stability we get (especially the extruder)
  • the print quality of the supplied parts was a bit rough (0.2 or more) especially the hidden extruder parts
  • the filament spool holder could use some bearings to reduce the drag of a full filament spool
  • it seems like our unit has some kind of issue – it stops printing in the middle of larger prints (more tests to run)

 

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