Prusa i3 MK3S

[Mark W]

We're a border collie family too!

Awesome!  Mine's too shy for rail fanning, but he loves helping with the small trains. 


https://i.imgur.com/8HFxueJ.jpg

And featured in one of my favorite modeling photos.


https://i.imgur.com/wrASV9u.jpg

[AlwaysSolutions]

Or he could be smelling the gummy bears, a crucial component of the kit. 

Ok...gummy bears, orange tape, clearly excited - gotta be a Prusa i3 mk3?!

Mike

[Mark W]

Let's begin!

What's in the box?  It's a Prusa i3 MK3S filament printer kit!


https://i.imgur.com/zbt1YnR.jpg


For an extra $300, you can purchase this printer pre-assembled, but who wants to miss out on this 204 page build manual?  Not me!  Building the kit is going to be so much fun!


https://i.imgur.com/8EORL7F.jpg


Inside the big box is a bunch of smaller boxes.  One includes hardware, one is 3D printed mounts, a few others are metal brackets and extrusions, motors, electronics, and... yes... gummy bears!


https://i.imgur.com/7sNIhA0.jpg


Did I mention gummy bears!?


https://i.imgur.com/Jzcz3I5.jpg

[AlwaysSolutions]

Man I'm jealous.  Congrats!  I'd love to have one of those to handle my FDM printing.  You'll have to let us know how easy it is to start a print once you get it all built up and ready to get working!  I didn't realize it was an extra 300 to have it built - used to be 100 I think a couple years ago?  Anyway looking forward to hearing about your experience with it...

Cheers -Mike

[Mark W]

Time to unbox the frame and start the first assembly! 


https://i.imgur.com/3jgsTWF.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/wTO1u2a.jpg

So far, two things immediately stand out.  first, the quality of parts are outstanding.  Several mounting parts are inception printed with another Prusa.  While they're obviously functional prints (cosmetically rough), the tolerances are perfect. 


https://i.imgur.com/0AFVlug.jpg


Second, the experience is incredibly well thought-out.  Bags are clearly numbered and even reverse packed so that you remove them in the order needed!  Along with that, the instructions are so exceptional that a fifth grader could follow!  Not only is each part clearly labeled, pictured, and color coded, the individual hardware bags even have 1:1 drawings for matching size.


https://i.imgur.com/ulQDFqy.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/LEUKI5N.jpg

[Mark W]

Time to pull out the first stepper motor.


https://i.imgur.com/1idF6sC.jpg


Hooray, we've reached the first gummy milestone!


https://i.imgur.com/8IxZEZe.jpg


A few more 3D printed brackets for the X axis.


https://i.imgur.com/lJ1Wx2w.jpg


And already another bear marker with the Z axis installed!


https://i.imgur.com/bHpCgxA.jpg


Well at this point, we're already 3 hours in!  I think we'll ration the fun and call it a night. 
Oh look.. snow!


https://i.imgur.com/R2ZGfcu.jpg


To be continued!

[Chris333]

Some say the Prusa slicer is the best one for the Photon. I downloaded it, but haven't played with it yet.

[peteski]

Nice new toy Mark!

Did someone mention Gummi Bears?  See https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=48217

[cgw]

congratulations on the mk3s.   I purchased one,   which grew to two,  which grew to three and now I have a mini coming soon.     These are nearly indestructible My units typically run 24/7 cranking our parts.  the photon most of the time is gathering dust.    if you want to print N with the mk3s get a 0.25 nozzle.  The prints take longer but the detail is finer.   Hopefully you purchased the smooth and also the grained steel  bed sheets.  PLA works best with the smooth sheet,   PetG & ASA work with the grained sheet.   Wipe down the sheets with 99% IPA before use to keep the sheets clean and you will have no adhesion issues.  no need for build tak, glue sticks etc.       The only issue you get addicted to the gummi bears.  You see a pack of gummi bears you keep thinking of prusa. ........time for some more gummi bears .

[Mark W]

Thanks for the insights.   I got the smooth bed for now.  I intended to get the powder coated sheet, but had some difficulties ordering.  (BTW their LiveChat reps are very helpful!)  When the ordering issue was resolved (via cancellation) and I went to re-order, I forgot to re-select the powder coated sheet.  By the time I realized 4 hours later, they had already shipped the order! 

Yes, the .25 nozzle is coming too.  I intend to use the Prusa for the wind turbine blades and towers, which are the final parts left on Shapeways.  And I'm excited to experiment with functional prints as well!

I think I'll be safe from gummi addiction.  Though it is Halloween, and "worms in dirt" is a Halloween classic....   
 

[cgw]

Make sure you get the 0.25 E3d nozzle or a similar one with the correct height.    If you don’t it may dig in and ruin the pei coating on the removable platen    My son found out the hard way on one of my machines.    Tech support helped with the recovery and I had to buy another removable platen. 

[Mark W]

The build continues.  Tonight we start with the extruder and hot end.


https://i.imgur.com/cqxehYG.jpg


Time to open up the roll of fillament!  A small length is used to check alignment of the extrusion gears.


https://i.imgur.com/NqRxLSS.jpg


Four individual 3D printed brackets come together to mount the hot end to the extruder motor.  Everything is held together with geometry, then screws clamp everything together using the stepper mounting holes.  The engineering on these parts is beyond expert.


https://i.imgur.com/RA45pIp.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/ppnvKas.jpg


Time to mount the assembly to the X Axis rails!  It is first zip-tied to the top rail allowing the assembly to remain in place while some cable management is performed, then the final bracket is screwed together.  Quite clever.


https://i.imgur.com/I9PGvph.jpg


The "Toughest Chapter in Prusa History" is now complete!  Gummi Bear time!


https://i.imgur.com/1ERWrIy.jpg


It's starting to look like something now!


https://i.imgur.com/fVyH5k4.jpg


Tomorrow's goal is to finish assembly and, if time allows, begin calibrations!

[daniel_leavitt2000]

How detailed does this printer get? I always thought extrusion printers were not capable of getting the quality we need for models. Did they get better in the last few years?

[AlwaysSolutions]

How detailed does this printer get? I always thought extrusion printers were not capable of getting the quality we need for models. Did they get better in the last few years?

It depends on what you're modelling but to answer the question of quality, oh yeah, they've gotten better in the last couple years.  The Prusa is one of the best of this class.  Still, you wouldn't use it necessarily to print an engine shell, but you could easily use it for printing buildings, bridges, wind turbine blades and other items that don't require a highly detailed component or could be sanded easily to give a nice finish.  These printers are nice for doing bigger objects for sure.  And, if you wanted to dress it up with detail parts the resin printer fills that need.  You could also use this type of printer for printing non-model stuff, brackets for wiring, containers for spare parts, accessories for the resin printer, repair parts for around the house.  Mentioned earlier there are smaller nozzle sizes you can use to up the ante for detail work on these printers, but I think at that point I'd just chuck a part in the Photon rather than have an FDM do it.

Edit to add: Here's a pic of a Prusa clone print using a .2mm nozzle to give you an idea of the detail you can get on these today:

[Mark W]

IT'S ALIVE!! 

We finished the build last week, but we made a quick trip up to Minnesota over the weekend for a joint Free-moN layout, which turned out to be even larger than the 2018 NTS layout in KC!  More on that in the layout thread. 

Here's the final steps of the Prusa build:
The last session started with attaching the heat bed and stuffing the extruder cables into the textile sleeve.


https://i.imgur.com/Fm5hXxZ.jpg


This left us with quite a mess of cables, and now it was time to organize them.  Thinking back to hard wiring decoders, I really dislike cable management.  Did I cut it too short?  Leave it too long?  Will it fit in the shell?
Well there were absolutely no worries here!  All cables were the perfect length, and the instructions were crystal clear on where and how to place and secure each cable, including how much slack, if any was required.


https://i.imgur.com/T6klRNM.jpg


And that was it!  The final bears were consumed.


https://i.imgur.com/rNNqV0S.jpg


Now the real test, will it pass the self-checks and calibrations?
Yes!


https://i.imgur.com/V84Fs5V.jpg


First line!


https://i.imgur.com/BADzGN0.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/6VveNH6.jpg


While on the way back from Minnesota, I had a lot of time to think on uses for my new printer.  One of them was a Power-Pole terminal to secure plug ends for transport.
Tonight I quickly drew up the model and ran a test print.  Success!


https://i.imgur.com/kQYScXH.jpg


The terminal is two interlocking parts, to be fixed with a single screw to the back of a module's endplate.  Each part will be printed in red (stacked orientation) or black (side by side), corresponding to Free-moN standards for track and accessory bus.


https://i.imgur.com/ZGOl83b.jpg


And most importantly, they fit!


https://i.imgur.com/93oTWE9.jpg