After a couple of days printing with the MK3 I’ve had more success than months with my A8. I’m not complaining because I purchased the A8 to learn about 3D printing and it accomplished that goal well. I am simply lamenting on how nice it is to just print and not be looking at what upgrades I could print to make my printer better. I believe the MK3 is a trend-setter and now with a little experience with the printer I am more convinced than ever that Prusa has delivered again.
MK3 – Second Day Impression
Getting used to new equipment is usually a challenge and I’ve found the MK3 is no different. It is a lot like working with an infant. You have to give it what it needs, when it needs it, and it doesn’t know how to communicate well. It is simply clear that it needs something.
For example, it is cool to load and unload filament on the MK3. That also means always having to use menus, some of which are not always available. I’ll talk more about those in another post.
Yesterday I discovered that for some filaments, specifically my Crystal Series transparent orange PETG, doesn’t properly register with the filament sensor. That is to say, it sees it only part of the time. I must turn off filament sensing to print with this filament. I suspect this may be a problem with other translucent and clear materials.
Eliminating the filament detection also helped me deal with auto-loading. I’ve found, at least while I’m getting used to the printer, I like to make sure the filament is through the tube and down to the gear before engaging. I’ve found some filament is harder to get through than others, especially if it is the curvy from being the end of a roll. Turning off Auto Loading simply means you must push the button to load the filament. When Auto Loading is active as soon as the filament is detected it will beep and start loading. Sometimes I had trouble getting the filament through the tube and down to the gear fast enough and would have to cycle it again. It is nice to have an option.
Summary
I am very pleased with my Original Prusa MK3 printer. I’ve been printing with PolyCarbonite (PC) and absolutely loving the results. The bearing races for air-soft 6mm BBs I printed spin and spin. I printed a fidget-spinner and am seriously impressed with how well it works.
With my A8 I printed parts. They were rarely of the quality I was looking for and printing was not consistent or easy. I spent a lot of time tuning, researching, and working on upgrades, and got in only a little printing.
In contrast my almost everything with the MK3 has been stellar. The build, first printing, tuning, and more. Moving on to other materials I am getting to know the printer better and truly enjoying the results. I have absolutely no need to upgrade anything.
I’ll leave upgrades to the MK3 with Prusa. I have the Multiple Materials kit (MM 2.0) on pre-order which is now scheduled to release in May. It sounds like that is a ‘bolt on’ rather than conversion so I the printer remains the same even with the kit.
The MK3 is a solid machine. I am impressed with the quality of the equipment, detailed build instructions, and overall operation. I am very pleased with my new printer.
