Comment on The Enshittification of 3D Printers – Are We Losing What Made Them Great?
IceFoxX@lemm.ee 2 weeks agoI can only advise every first-time buyer not to choose a prebuilt but to assemble it themselves in order to learn everything directly and gain experience. I bought the mk4 prebuild as my first 3d printer with enclodure and it worked wonderfully. Except for problems at the beginning due to wet filament etc. but it’s not due to the printer itself. Then I installed the MMU3 later when it was available. After that I had slight problems, especially first layer problems, which I was able to fix. then the release of the mk4s so I ordered and installed the upgrade. Initially had massive problems which I would not have had if I had assembled the printer myself and had experience. The troubleshooting was unnecessarily time-consuming as I had practically disassembled and reassembled the printer but was still successful. At some point (after several successful start-ups and printers) I started up the printer and wanted to print something. Since it had always run smoothly before and never had any really bad problems, I sat at the PC with headphones on until I looked at the printer and saw that it wanted to become a CNC. Printing plate damaged but still usable, nozzle damaged but could be repaired, heater and thermistor destroyed. The support was very cooperative but of course I got the heater and thermistor replaced as they are not wearing parts. I am still extremely happy and can only warmly recommend prusa
Mechanismatic@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I’d actually recommend the opposite. Unless you’re a DIY hobbyist who loves taking everything apart and you don’t want to print immediately upon receiving it, it’s worth it to buy the prebuilt Prusa. There are so many many steps in assembling a MK4S that there are that many steps to get something wrong. Better pay a few hundred extra to get one that has been assembled by a more experienced person. And I say that as a makerspace coordinator who works with a lot of 3D printers.
Assembly teaches you how incredibly complicated the assembly is. I’ve adjusted pre-assembled printers with minor inconvenience. But the first one you put together can take more than the estimated 6-8 hours.
IceFoxX@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Troubleshooting after upgrading from mk4 mmu3 to mk4s mmu3 took well over a week despite help from the Prusa forum and support and in that time I had disassembled and reassembled it several times. In the end it was quite trivial and with the help of additional tools (screw clamp to firmly fix the stepper motor of the y-axis for mounting) quickly fixed. Knowing the localization and the interaction of everything with each other would have helped me a lot and certainly saved time. But I don’t even want to deny that you have to be prepared for several hours and several hours of frustration. Instead, you have to follow the planned and most important steps with the exact number of haribo gummy bears and place them correctly on your tongue and get to the process of enjoying them as quickly as possible. If you also opt for a prebuilt, you could also use the core one
Mechanismatic@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I guess this is the disconnect. I’ve assembled one, but I don’t feel like assembling one necessarily conveys this. The instructions just tell you which part to attach to which other part. It doesn’t explain why much of it is important or how it functions.
The other difference is that I haven’t upgraded any. I have some MK3S+ printers that I are likely to remain that way since the upgrades are so expensive and the process so laborious.
For personal use, I’m waiting on the CORE One from Printed Solid but it’s only available for education, government, etc at the moment.
IceFoxX@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Yes, the upgrades are really not cheap and also cause problems with each other. With the Enclosure + MMU3, the bracket supplied for the buffer plates does not fit into the enclosure. When upgrading from the mk4 to the mk4s, the LCD holder no longer fits at the front of the enclosure and other small things like that, which are quite annoying. Before I bought the MK4, I also thought long and hard about the brand, especially as only OSS brands came into question for me. I quickly decided on Prusa and then had to think about which one (resin was out of the question because of my cats). I initially had my eye on the HT90 and the xl with 5 extruders before deciding on the mk4. Regarding the price, however, I said to myself from the start “I don’t care, I’m supporting other future oss developments” and the fact that it is produced in a neighboring country was also a point in its favor. I only went for the mk4 because I thought I would have too many problems with the xl or even the ht90 as a first 3d peiner.