Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
Hello Prusa Printing People! My name is Will and I am in Sydney Australia. This is my first post here.
I would like to buy the Prusa Mini - as I don't think I can afford a large/better printer - I was looking at the Ender 3 pro. I have loved Prusa for a long time, but I realised that I need to ask some questions from all you Prusa Experts here, before I buy....or not.
I would like to use some more exotic filament materials. but I do not know if the Mini is capable of using them - or being modified to be able too. Specifically I would like to use these filaments:
Carbon Fibre or hard, tough Nylon. WAX (for lost wax method jewelry moulds) and other materials - like the 'metallic' ones.
This is because I would use the pieces I make to be part of musical instruments - such as Cello's, violins and Double Basses, and their Bows.
I am constrained by price - as I am disabled so buying expensive machines is out of the question at the moment.
What do you think? is the mini CAPABLE or CHANGEABLE for some of these filaments?
Thank you VERY much for taking the time to read this. I am very appreciative and look forward to suggestions. Again, I really want to use Prusa - but perhaps this is not the right one. I simply need to know.
WillB xx
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
The Mini supports all filaments that can be printed with 280°C or lower. That does include Nylon.
Carbon Fibre is not a printing material. But there is carbon-filled PLA, PETG and Nylon. For filled filaments, it is recommended to use a bigger and hardened nozzle. For example the e3D 0.6mm NozzleX.
When you say WAX, I assume you are talking about something like Moldlay? Maybe you will need to reduce the extruder tension, but it should print fine.
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
The Mini supports all filaments that can be printed with 280°C or lower. That does include Nylon.
Carbon Fibre is not a printing material. But there is carbon-filled PLA, PETG and Nylon. For filled filaments, it is recommended to use a bigger and hardened nozzle. For example the e3D 0.6mm NozzleX.
When you say WAX, I assume you are talking about something like Moldlay? Maybe you will need to reduce the extruder tension, but it should print fine.
Thank you for your reply, that makes me happy. The other option would be an Ender3 pro, but I hear that the MINI is more stable and backed up by all that Prusa experience.
so being 280 degrees is not much of a limitation then? Also the LOST WAX filament is for casting metal, the molten metal melts the wax to gas - a standard technique for casting using ‘Green Sand’ as the mold material. And wax as the item to be cast. Like this stuff:
thanks.
WillB Xx
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
Hi WillB
There is a section in the filament guide for your choice filament that reads
Here are a few startup recommendations to help get you started. Please keep in mind that these suggestions can be dependent on both your printer design and the geometry of the object you are printing.
a. Extrusion temperature = 140°C-150°C
b. Bed temperature = 80°-90°C
c. Shells = 2-3 (for most models)
d. Print speed is typically 20 to 70mm/s
e. Prints best when layers have enough time to cool. This can be achieved in several ways. A skirt/brim with all layers, active cooling fan (on low), printing multiple identical items, sacrificial pillar, or extra pause time between layers. A caution here is to not cool too fast. This will cause exaggerated warp.
Item a May be a difficulty for you,as the prusa may have a minimum extrusion temperature set in Firmware on the Mk3S I believe this is 170C, I expect the mini will be similar...
you may need to add
M302 S130 ; Enable Low Temperature Extrusion down to 130C
to the start Gcode before you heat the extruder
Regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
Hi WillB
There is a section in the filament guide for your choice filament that reads
Here are a few startup recommendations to help get you started. Please keep in mind that these suggestions can be dependent on both your printer design and the geometry of the object you are printing.
Regards Joan
Hi Joan - Long time since I've been in Halifax. I was born in Leicestershire, certainly closer than I am now (Sydney Aus.)
Thanks for that - yes, I actually came from reading that - seems it's more fiddly but quite workable. Of course - I could simply carve the piece out of wax...the traditional way!
It is beginning to look like ordering a MINI is getting closer. I have to ask here - Is there a reason to NOT get one (a Mini )? I mean I would love one of the larger ones or the new resin based ones but they are unobtainium right now. I know about the size, I now know it's 280C (the ender 3 pro is 255C) I DON'T know the pros and cons of a BOWDEN head. But as a machine for making sturdy (nylon, carbon etc) and soft, small pieces would this be a good machine to go for? In your (or anyone else's) opinion
Or should I be investigating further? All I really know is that Prusa have a great team. And a great base of users.
Soz if these are dumb questions.
Cheers
WillB Xx
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
Hi Will,
I have not got a mini, myself, so i am not aware of whether this filament has been tested with one.
Best wishes, Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
I say as i heard in a youtube once, the best printer is one you can afford to buy twice.
Once for the machine itself, and once for the cost of maintenence, upgrades and spare parts.
As for the filaments you want, that may require upgrade to the ender hotend.
My jurney started with a used Tevo Nereus from a person in the next town over. (for 200euros)
I also asked the seller for a demonstration so i knew what to do with the machine.
I'm currently working on upgrading this machine with either the Mosquito/Copperhead or a Pheatus Dragon hotend.
The stock bowden setup have worked really well with the titan extruder (mine have a genuine titan).
Apart from this, i got a Delta as second printer but i would not recommend one for the first printer (due to more complex motionsystem to troubleshoot).
Abit more expensive, but if you ware going to do alot of wax-casting, another option might be a resin printer, do mind the build volume is much smaller on resinprinters.
Prusa Mini+ kit. BondTech extruder. FW 5.1.2
Prusa MK3S+ kit. Stock. FW 3.11.0
Prusa MK3S+, used. Stock. FW 3.13.3
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
You can find a range of materials that work with the MINI. You can find alternative filaments like for example you could avoid using Nylon filaments which will push the nozzle temperature to the limits and use Taulman 3D's Bridge Nylon Filament instead. Also you can use PETG for stronger constructions. The only limitation that bowden systems have is for soft materials like flexible filaments but at the moment I have printed a lot of stuff with a hardness of 94A with success.
If you want to print carbon fibre you need a better machine. But have in mind that even with a Prusa MK3s you still need a lot of maintenance after using such materials. Like changing nozzles and reprinting printer parts because of the high temperature.
Original Prusa Mini + Smooth PEI
Prusa Slicer 2.6.0
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
@geoper2
Thanks very much for that reply - ver informative. One of the materials I wanted to use is a softer WAX filament, for ‘Investment Casting (lost wax casting). It sounds like the Bowden head is not ideal for this?
I’m talking about filament like this:
Thank you again,
wxx
RE: Is the MINI able to use other filaments. Yes - I am very new here.
Hi,
I am also still in the discovery phase and no experience. My favorite is the Mini, because it is compact and inexpensive.
If I understood correctly, I import my model into PrusaSlicer and define the filament and quality, the parameters are then set automatically.
Do I then have the possibility at all to set a nylon filament in the Mini? Or how are unsupported filaments configured?
Tonitom