Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
Hi, I'm very new to the online printing community, still waiting on my first home printer, but I've been 3D printing for about 7 years now, so I'm very accustomed to printing with ABS and PLA. Since I just changed jobs and got a higher income, it seemed like the right time to finally pull the trigger and get my own 3D printer for home. I've been with a FIRST Robotics team since my freshman year of high school where I gained a majority of my 3D printing experience, so a majority of what I print is for mechanical applications. This is no different for what I want to do at home. I want to start working with stronger, more abrasive, and higher temperature materials like NylonX, NylonG, ColorFabb XT, and PC.
Prusa doesn't advertise that the Mini is capable of printing nylon, but it does advertise that the i3 MK3S is capable of it. I'm assuming that is because the Mini doesn't have an all-metal hotend and the i3 MK3S does, despite being able to reach sufficient temps for the materials I've listed. Personally I'm wondering what the point of being able to reach those temps is if the PTFE tube will melt before it reaches them. The other thing that confuses me is that abrasive materials like nylon require harder nozzles to print, yet both the Mini and i3 MK3S both come with standard brass nozzles, so how can Prusa claim that the i3 MK3S is able to print nylon out of the box? It would wear out the nozzle after one spool.
I already plan to upgrade my printer to a hardened nozzle or an Olsson Ruby nozzle so that it can handle more abrasive materials like glow in the dark ABS and maybe ColorFabb XT, but what will it take to print nylon, NylonX, and NylonG? Is the only solution to upgrade it to an all-metal hotend? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for how?
Btw, I am aware that I could just pay a bit more for an i3 MK3S, but I'd like to see if I can get it to work the Mini for less than it would cost to upgrade to the i3 MK3S. Also, I like the newer color LCD interface over the plain text LCD that I've been using for 7 years.
RE: Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
Obviously, the Mini is designed as a lower cost/entry level type of printer, so unless you plan on developing your own hotend, I would forget about high temp materials with the Mini.
For questions about MK3S, I suggest ask in one of the MK3 categories.
RE: Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
I note that PrusaSlicer has by default a profile for Taulman Bridge, which has similar properties to plain nylon. You may perhaps need an enclosure of some sort.
RE: Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
Given that extended printing with higher temp materials on the MK3 causes extruder parts to melt I dont think printing them on the mini is going to be viable. The MK3 can print them but those who do so regularly tend to reprint their extruder parts in something like Poly Carbonate.
RE: Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
I note that PrusaSlicer has by default a profile for Taulman Bridge, which has similar properties to plain nylon. You may perhaps need an enclosure of some sort.
Thanks for the suggestion, this might be perfect for the time being until I can afford another printer capable of printing those materials/Prusa comes out with the MK4 or large form factor printer which will likely have the new color LCD interface and 32bit system.
RE: Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
I’ve been printing nylon on my unmodified mini.
I noted there was no particular nylon temp setting on it but just gave the hottest material setting (ASA) a go and it worked fine. I use a generic nylon I bought on-line ( can’t remember the brand name but it’s not one of the expensive ones like NylonX) just some cheap stuff. I have an enclosure but have done with doors closed and open with similar results. I have high ambient temps so probably doesn’t matter much. Also terrible humidity and I’ve dehydrated the roll a couple of times and it still seems to work OK.
It does get some stringing and I’m just printing some mechanical parts that don’t require a lot of accuracy or finesse just the resistance properties of nylon.
I haven’t spent any time at all refining the profiles either in Prusaslicer or manual changes on the printer. Just fired it up and started it printing.
If you are keen on better quality prints I think there is scope for adjusting it.
But it definitely works.
RE: Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
Thank you @j-martin I successfully printed nylon differential gears for the 3DSets 4x4 van on my mini with polymaker nylon (loaded as ASA) and no enclosure on the textured plate with glue stick.....worked just fine! Makes me wonder why people say it's so hard to print?
RE: Is it possible to print with Nylon on the Prusa Mini? What will it take?
Here are the specs regarding filament on a mini printer.