What a difference a machine makes
I'm not new to 3D printing or building printers from kits and I was hesitant to spend the extra on an original Prusa MK3S, but having decided to, this is my setup experince.
All I can say is if I was I might have been overwhelmed when I first opened the box, but first impressions don't mean anything in this case. I read and followed the build manual and somewhere between 5 and 6 hours later my printer was ready to be turned on.
The initial self test was a nice touch and re-assuring for those who might be unsure or wary of their connections.
The initial cailbration was so easy I thought that cannot be all there is to it (bearing in mind I have built other kits and pained over the inital cailbration), even with kits with self levelling sensors, my experience of the setup was night and day.
First layer calibration, what a dream and so nice to have a quick test for your setup before you print anything of any size or change filaments, what a great option to have on the printer and so easy to use.
The second day (first day of doing any real prints), using the silver PLA provided, printed the whistle and benchie from the SD card so I could benchmark my slicer settings against something sliced specifically for the machine, perfect prints first time. Then I sliced a flexible jointed dragon (one i have printed on previous machines) and printed from Simplify3D, again a great print first time, then I printed one of the minin 3D printer tests from thingiverse and it printed the entire test upto a 80 degree overhang, 25mm of bridging and no stringing, so surprised with this having done no advanced calibration except the out of the box intial setup and calibration, I decided to try and print the tolerance test from makersmuse and I was amazed that it printed and even down to 0.15 clearance the parts still moved as designed.
Third day, having had such a good previous day, I decided I would try PETG, so a quick unload filament (wow how easy was that) and then an autoload (I am now wondering how I managed in the past), having changed the filament I did a first layer calibration to check and adjust to the new filament, slight adjustment done to allow for the difference in adhesion and lay down of material, right away I sliced and printed simple whistle with no issues.
This printer really does perform well and in my eyes is worth every penny.
Thank-you Josef!
RE: What a difference a machine makes
The MK3S kit was my first foray into 3D printing and after a few gremlins got it printing well.
Did you use the smooth steel plate for PETG? Tried it once and it stuck like the proverbial to a blanket! marked the plate removing it although the plate still works fine. I tried the powder coated plate and it didn't stick at all. Not gone back to it yet (plate or PETG) to try again.
RE: What a difference a machine makes
@stev-19
I did use the smooth plate yes, no special preparation except the cleaning, waited for the plate to cool before flexing to remove the part. I do have the textured plate as well and will prob use that in future but i have previously had issues with PETG on the first layer so i thought for the first test I would use the smooth plate.
RE: What a difference a machine makes
+1. I still have my other printers sit around but they're mostly gathering dust now. With the Mk3S things just work. Auto bed leveling, the awesome steel sheets, auto load/unload, pauses for filament change that actually work, live Z adjustment, perfect results with PLA/PETG/ABS, just a great package.
@Stev-19 mentioned the smooth steel sheet and PETG. In my hands, a good rub with Windex, followed by a thin layer of Layerneer, and waiting until the print has cooled down, makes PETG pop off easily. I've had a lot more issues with the textured sheet, having a hard time getting a good first layer unless I slow things way down, so I pretty much stick with the smooth sheet for my prints.
RE: What a difference a machine makes
Mark, that was my experience as well. Very few issues in assembling or doing initial prints.
I've found that the MK3S is as close to a true first-time-most-of-the-time printing experience. Very few failed prints over the last 7 months with it.
RE: What a difference a machine makes
Because of my experience with building my old machine, I had Prusa do the set-up for me. I didn't trust myself. LOL
But "What a difference a machine makes" indeed! A near perfect Benchy (that I could never get with the old one), 2 color prints & print in place items that actually work. And I'm loving the magnetic build plate.
My only regret is that I didn't get one sooner!