Hi, I am brand new to 3d printing and I think it’s something I’d like to get more into. The only issue is I have extremely limited space, and I travel for work.
I am wondering if there are any 3d printers that would be practical for this type of lifestyle. I was eyeballing the prusa mini +.
Are there any 3d printers that pack/travel well?
I’ve experience with 2 printers: Ender 3 orig and the prusa mini. Of those 2 the prusa wins. It wins on every front but certainly space/portability.
If you find a box that fits it, pad it a bit. I can see this totally working if handled with care. You can lift the thing with one hand steadily with the z motor. Spools with the holder are going in another box. 👌
Don’t buy an Ender 3 or something of the same category. These are only good to thinker with and brute force learn stuff. They absolutely do not travel well and take a lot, A LOT of space/money/time/frustration compared to the mini.
I’m definitely eyeballing this one pretty hard.
I am wondering how easy/difficult is the z axis assembly would be to take apart from the main unit?
Imho that axis is the backbone of the whole unit.
Personally I would not do that: you will disable the whole thing. And while it then can be packed in a flat back I cannot image it will not come at a big cost of stability and loose thingies after doing this over and over.
I would just put in one of those really useful boxes, make sure the bed and other axes cannot move to spare the stepper motors. I image myself using towels or clothes to do this, you know thing that I would have to move anyway.
That said: it’s a great machine at a good price point. You’ll have lots of fun with it!
So, you’re suggesting to just put the whole thing in a box without disconnecting anything and it should be fine so long as I’m padding it appropriately right?
Thank you!
Just my 2 cents but yeah that’s basically it.
🤔
… maybe drop Prusa Support a note with your question. Ask them what they would recommend. Just to get their opinion. Imho can’t hurt!
If you can safely move it without disassemble, I think the re-calibration would be minimal.
—- Disclaimer: I have never done this. Although I believe this is going to be ok, I’m not responsible.
No worries, friend. I’ll make sure I email them if I feel like I need to. I appreciate the help
Check out the Positron! It’s the most portable one I’ve seen. The guy behind it, Kralyn, been providing the plans to the community so you can make it yourself.
https://github.com/KRALYN/PositronV3
Since he’s released it to the public, it’s possible that you might be able to find someone else selling them commercially rather than having to build it. The latest version is V3. It’s so small it can fit into a filament box!
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/ZAPaOevoeX0
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Wow, that is absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing that with me, that’s really exciting and I’ve been obsessively chasing after every piece of information I can find since seeing that. So far there is only one kit that I’ve found, but it’s not really verified so I don’t know if I’d want to chance it for that kind of money… I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one though!
You can add the Kingroon KPS3 Pro to the list of printers you might consider.
I’ll look into it, thanks!
Gotta define by what you actually mean when you say portable. Do you mean pack up for flying? Just driving around? Hotel use? Honestly if you travel that much you might want to just look into maker spaces or libraries.
Driving around. The ability to put it away in a box or protective case would be really nice.
Thanks for the suggestion on makerspaces and libraries, that’s definitely something that’s been on my mind too.
I think the biggest hurdle would be packing it away, putting it back together and recalibrating - that seems like it would get old fast. Someone’s already mentioned it but the ender 2 or prusa mini seem like best bet. That could be small enough you could take the gantry off and put into a foam case
take a look at the ender 2 pro, seems to be what you’re looking for. my experience is with the ender 3 pro but if it needs to be light weight, it looks like a decent beginner printer to learn and tinker with.
also keep in mind there’s tons of mods you can print to better suit your needs.
That seems to be one of the best options for sure, thanks for the recommendation. I’m really torn between that one and the prusa mini plus that someone else recommended.
The lower price of the Ender model is certainly hard to ignore.
Have you done many modifications to yours?
The Cetus Mk3 delux could also be an option if you like the ender 2.
That definitely seems like a really clean and compact design. It seems like there’s not an official place to purchase one though, maybe because of the newest model or something? Resellers seem to be the only options.
They released the Cetus 2 (interesting printer) this year meaning they probably stopped the production on the Cetus 1. Tiertime must have shipped dozens of them as they are often available on the used market, which is not surprising as it is a great printer and they delivered a popular printer before with the Up mini (2013?; great for ABS on a budget back then).
One aspect that sets the Cetus 1 apart from other budget printers is that it used high-quality parts for the motion system (e.g. genuine Gates GT2 belts and good linear rails). There are downsides to it like the belt z-axis dropping when powered down. In later revisions, they added a break for the z-axis to stop this.
I’ve done a ton of mods to my pair of ender 3 pros. A few are aesthetic, some are to fix quality control or design issues, and others are for quality of life improvements or to make some part of the process easier. Everything is done through trial and error and printing long enough to learn all the quirks of your machine.
Here is the stock version for you to compare,
and here are a few pictures of my setup, sorry if it’s hard to make out whats going.
https://files.catbox.moe/bh1v4m.jpg
https://files.catbox.moe/n3homw.jpg
https://files.catbox.moe/dnxosr.jpg
https://files.catbox.moe/xob9qy.jpg
https://files.catbox.moe/lj9o41.jpg
https://files.catbox.moe/9rw1lf.jpg
I’ve named them Blue and Yellow, Blue is the one with Spider-man riding the extruder gear. Both printers have had the plastic extruder arms replaced with the red metal ones as they break down over time. I’ve added glass beds and reinforced springs because of commonly warped beds and weak stock springs. I moved the filament spools to my pegboard to reduce shaking when printing. Corner braces are there to support and to make sure the frame is square/level. I changed the belt tensioners on both to make it easier to adjust the belts. Both printers have had their motherboards upgraded for speed/noise/etc. and they’re controlled by a raspberry pi running klipper.Though they differ, I have also changed the hotends on both printers. All this to show how much is involved in something like this, don’t get me wrong, some of these mods were optional but I am someone who is constantly calibrating and trying to get the most out of these.
If anything take a look here at what other people are making for the ender 2.
Honestly if you’re just trying to print and have the money, go for the Prusa. If you like to problem-solve, figure out how things work. and have the time to learn, try out an Ender! hope this helps~
That is absolutely fucking amazing! Thank you for sharing all of this with me, and I do want you to know that I appreciate how helpful you’ve been. That last part is especially helpful. I am definitely leaning towards the Prusa, but we’ll have to see. I don’t mind tinkering, but I can’t really say that I’ll have the time to… I may respond some more later when I’ve had the time to analyze some of the links you provided.
This is such a cool thing to have discovered! I mean, I’ve known about 3D printing, but I feel like my eyes have really been opened recently. I’m fucking STOKED dude! Lol
I also travel for work and have been missing my mk3s back home. I’ve been eyeballing the Bambu Labs printer to bring on the road with me. My company will ship things around for me as I travel to different sites, so I don’t have to worry about fitting it in a suitcase. I just have to worry about it being packable and shippable, which my mk3s in it’s diy enclosure is absolutely not. The bambu is marketed more like an appliance than a project, in that it’s practically ready to go straight out of the box. Presumably, this means it should be able to go back in the box and ship off to the next site.
3D printers are 10ish kg so not that easy to carry them in hands, but not hard to move. You dont have to look for anything specific, but if you move it you also need filament and some tools probably. Small cabinet on wheels would be perfect for you
Thanks for the suggestion.
