Prusa I3 MK3S 3D Printer
5 reviews
A fantastic learning and using experience - update, Feb 2023 – I’ve made many things on my Prusa and still love it. I’ve learned a lot and am still learning. My initial review highlighted the benefit of assembling the machine, this has been proved often. Like all complex machines it needs to be looked after and even then will occasionally break down. E.G, I’ve had blocked nozzles so needed to clear the blockage, dismantle the print head and re-set up. I’ve found that some filament has abrasive’s properties that destroy an ordinary nozzle, so I learned to get different nozzles and to learn which filament may be abrasive.
And so it goes, I now design my own models if I can’t find them online. I’ve made things for the family kids, stuff for my wife and my workshop. E.g, just recently my sons Dyson stick vacuum cleaner stopped working. The start switch in the handle had become loose. A quick look online and I discovered this was a known problem and many people had put online designs for a new and better switch. I printed the switch and fitted it all in under an hour for almost no cost.
It’s a good hobby, I love the the challenge and my family love the stuff it makes.
—————————————————————— I had next to no knowledge of 3D printers before I started with the Prusa i3 Mk3S+ printer that I bought in kit form from an Australian supplier ( S3DP - https://s3dp.com.au) based in Queensland.
I bought it to assist my son who recently got into 3d printing and bought a resin style printer (about as different to a filament printer as you can get). I was now on a steep learning curve during my research on what to buy. It is like Alice going down the rabbit hole. It is a new world with lots of new terms, measures acronyms, opinions and things to do, things to learn and things to buy. A friend of my son advised buying the Ender brand. After research I found that the best machine in the home user space is clearly the Prusa. Comes out of Czechoslovakia, its relies on being high quality and fully "open source". Open source basically seems to mean that nothing about the printers design, software, hardware or operation is hidden behind some form of commercial or other protection. This has caused a huge online presence of makers, users and researchers to post all sorts of information that is freely available, it just needs finding a sorting for relevance to what you need to know.
How good are they? Well, Prusa make many of the parts used on the printer in their own printer farm which gives them a lot of great information on how to use it and solve problems which the always share. Once assembled the printer can be set to work straight out of the assembly process, but with so much you can learn and do and you can have a lot of fun while being more involved in the knowledge process.
Prusa not only make the printer but also have what seems to be considered on of the best Slicers online. What is a slicer you ask. In other reviews in Product Review of this printer several writers have explained the process well but in short, a CAD program is used to design the object and it can save in a file format called "stl" which stands for Stereo Lithography. You load the stl file of the object into the slicer program and when you tell the program what you want it then cuts the object into thin slices from top to bottom and saves that process in file format called "gcode". This is the file type you then give to your 3d printer (via a SD memory card for the Prusa) and it then knows how to make your object slice by slice until it gets to the very top.
There a countless stl and gcode files available online and an awful lot of them are free for you to download and use. One of the places to get them is Thingiverse - https://www.thingiverse.com. Just enter a subject, say gardening, and a huge list of things you can print related to doing gardening is shown. There are many other sites and some sell the files for usually a token amount, but not always. My son does small soldier figure making and some of the files are quite expensive.
There are online free cad programs aimed at the 3D printer. One is Tinkercad - https://www.tinkercad.com. It is aimed at kids and is therefore fairly easy to learn and to use. It has limitations but hey its free and easy. There are a world of other free programs that can help your journey and it seems that there is a program for most levels of expertise as you get more experience.
So back to Prusa. The kit is a little daunting but if you set up your workspace and set aside whatever time is needed, read ALL the instructions and follow them to the letter, use the excellent manual and online assistance you end up as I did with a printer that reported no faults on power up, very pleasing indeed. I took 3 days to assemble mine, I went slow as I enjoy putting things together. I made a couple of mistakes but they were my mistakes not Prusa's and the system allowed me to realise and fix them fairly quickly. The huge advantage of building the printer from a kit is you get to understand how a 3d printer works and gain invaluable knowledge about your printer when it comes time to maintain, upgrade or repair your machine. The parts used are good quality from reputable suppliers and all are supported via Prusa. So far I have had no breakdowns or parts driven failures, so it is reliable. The print quality is as good as you are prepared to give the machine the time to do, it can do very fine work or draft style.
There is an immediate option available that allows the printer to use many different colours or types of filament during the print. I don't have one a can't see me needing one but I haven't seen any other home based machines that offer this. It is used to make a multicolour object, so for instance, the arms in red while the body is in black.
Don't be fooled, there is lot to learn in the use of a 3d printer and each print is a learning experience. The print worked last time but this time it didn't complete, maybe. So far the online support around the internet has allowed me to overcome all my tricky problems. There are so many things that the user can change for a particular object and if just one is a little off the mark your print may fail in some way. You can speed the print up, or slow it down, you can say how high each slice will be, you can say if the model will be made solid or have a hollow inside with supports to keep it strong and so on.
I do woodwork and I've been happy printing aids to my woodwork (like a chisel sharpening jig) while printing various models and things for my son. It is great fun and fascinations to watch.
One thing to note is these things are NOT fast. I'm in the middle of a fairly simple job for my son, it is 5 hours and 59 minutes worth of print, and as I have learned the hard way, you can only speed up the process so much before you regret it.
A last word about S3DP where I bought my machine. I could not give a higher recommendation . Scott, who owns and runs the business was more than willing to help with my many questions and provides full back up for the machines he sells. Once bought the kit arrived in 3 days and Scott is always there on the line when you need him.
You can go online to https://www.prusa3d.com and download the manuals in advance or watch the many online videos on the printer and the process. You do not have to sign up and buy anything to get the manuals.
Purchased in for $1,535.
Great Value For Money – Whether this is going to be your first 3D printer or you’re looking to upgrade from something else this printer is actually worth the hype it receives. There are a lot of reviews and videos on the Prusa printers and I suppose you can also take that as a good sign since everyone is basically saying the same thing. If you’re debating over whether it is worth the money, the answer is yes, it really is. If it’s your first printer and you are feeling like ~$1500 is too much to get into things than you’d be in the same place I was 6 months ago when I bought an Ender 3v2 instead of the prusa. I bought a cheaper “entry level” printer and while it did a good job and I learned a lot about things I was really pleased when I decided to buy the Prusa and realised how much easier it was to work with than cheaper options.
I bought the kit and as so many other people say, the instructions were great and easy to follow. The Kit is definitely not for the faint of heart and you’ll need to be at least reasonably comfortable with putting things together first. The build takes a full day (or two) and requires a fair bit of concentration. If you have kids running around or are going to be constantly distracted I wouldn’t start it. Fortunately the build is broken up into multiple sections based on the different components but there are always a lot of little screws and bolts on the desk and you need to keep track of what you’re doing and pay attention to make sure you are using the right parts. Attention to detail is key and do yourself the favour of double and triple checking things before you more ahead, don’t cut corners it will end in tears. While the kit comes with an instruction manual, the online instructions are the same and have user comments that help when you hit a snag, a rod doesn’t go into a hole, things haven’t lined up, a screen is too short.... just stop and read the comments, usually someone else has already hit and solved that snag.
Once assembled the Prusa i3 MK3s pretty much just works! Automatic bed leveling is such a key feature that people really shouldn’t make printers without it. The Prusa can print just about any material and works at speed with great print quality.
Noise is something that I was hoping would be a bit better and it’s important to know that even in stealth mode you won’t want to sleep with this thing in the same room or even the next room over. During the day I wouldn’t be able to tell it’s running but in the silence of the night it can be quite intrusive. This is one place that I have to admit, the Creality Ender 3v2 was quieter than my Prusa MK3s even with it on a concrete paver. *** Dot matrix printers were still way louder, they just didn’t tend to run for 48hrs
For me, one of the most important features that makes the Prusa worth the cost, is the fact that it is upgradable. I haven’t seen any other printers out there that are as future proof as this one. When Prusa comes up with an upgrade you can buy only the parts needed to upgrade your unit and the new plastic parts can be printed by you prior to disassembling. No other printer offers this. Equally, when Prusa released their MK3s+ update recently they were quite clear that if you have an MK3s that’s working fine, then it wasn’t worth ordering the “+” upgrade package, so they aren’t just trying to push updates to make a bit of extra cash (like Apple has done with it’s iPhone has done for the past 10 years).
The option of adding the Multi-Material Upgrade is really nice and another standout feature for the printer.
Does it stand up against an Ultimaker 2 for $5000 probably not, but it’s really not all that far off.
My recommendation is that if you are considering buying a Prusa vs. something else like an Ender or Anet, spend the extra money on the Prusa. Building the kit will save you some money but more importantly really does help you to understand how it works which is important because things rarely work perfectly every time with 3D printers no matter what you spend on them.
*** When ordering from Australia try playing around with the different currency options and testing them out in Paypal to see what the AUD conversion comes out as. I ended up paying for mine in Polish Zloty (PLN) and saved about $200 because the exchange rate was better. *** Also remember when ordering from Prusa in Czech Repbulic that you will have to pay about $150-$200 extra for duty when it arrives in Australia before it can clear customs. In my research ordering directly from Prusa is still MUCH cheaper than buying from the online resellers in Australia since they can only order the same way and need to make a markup.
Purchased in at Prusa3d.com for $1,500.
A great printer for novices and experienced 3D printers alike – Prusa have been well regarded in the hobbyist/small business 3D printer market for years. The i3 MK3S and MK3S+ are the latest iterations of the popular i3 series. It does such a nice job that many "knock offs" such as the "Anycubic I3" are basically shameless imitations... built with cheaper components to meet a lower price point. So why did I buy the Prusa?
Naturally, I looked at the cheaper end models, such as Anet's A8, but lack of safety features, and after seeing multiple reported problems with starting fires (search online and you'll find several examples)... I was concerned. So I looked at more expensive models with either large build volumes, (such as the Creality CR-10 variations) or high quality prints (such as this Prusa). The build volume for this Prusa is far from huge, but still a very respectable 11,025 cm³ (250 x 210 x 210 mm or 9.84 x 8.3 x 8.3 in).
It really came down to the quality of the printer's components (which greatly impacts safety, reliability, and the quality of finished prints), and of course, the amazing community support both world wide and in Australia. I also liked the included Prusa slicing software that's intuitive to use, and the fact that any component of the printer is easily available commercially, many are independently printable, and/or easily installed due to the serviceability of the design. In fact, if you didn't buy the kit, there aren't many parts that you can't buy yourself and assemble if you want to go that way... although the kit makes it easier in several ways.
Silence is golden.... and this printer is one of the closest.
Another major consideration was the fact that this printer is a LOT quieter than many out there. The higher quality controller smooths the stepper motor movements out, vastly reducing the noise. In normal printing mode, you can easily hold a conversation over it, without it being distracting. However, if you need to sleep near this thing, slowing the print speed down in the slicing software is one option, or you can enable printer's in-built "stealth" printing mode. It still makes noise, but this slows the printer a bit to give you lower frequency noises, as well as less noise overall. However, it will add a little extra time to your print. Where you print, and what it is put on also makes a difference. Many people seeking near-silence, sit it on a large concrete paver, that is in turn sitting on rubber feet/foam, and put the whole setup in some sort of enclosure. If you put it on a wooden table/cabinet.. it can resonate and increase the noise.
DIY Assembly Vs. Pre-Built Prusa options....
The printer comes in a kit, that needs to be assembled from scratch. Unlike the Creality options where you can feasibly be up and running in less than 30 mins. A Prusa kit will take quite a lot of time to assemble the first time.. (I took a little over 23 hours of actual assembly time). Prusa is aware that it's "a journey", so they actually include gummy bears.. as an incentive to reward yourself as you progress through the build. Fair warning though, certain numbers of bears are allotted based on the complexity of each section. It's strange to see "enjoy 5 gummy bears" written down once you complete each stage of assembly. However, most people scoff them all down before finishing... :~) Or in one friend's case, their gummy bears were devoured by certain other members of the family without his consent or even.. awareness.. so you should hide them if you aren't alone.
Unlike cheaper printer kits, you'll find the documentation is VASTLY superior to most of the knock-offs. I've seen ultra-cheap kits with a double sided sheet for instructions... with only 11 diagrams and no text... just don't do this to yourself.. the result will be mediocre at best, and you'll have put yourself through a lot of stress for nothing.
The included manual is very good, but the online version of the assembly manual is even better because it includes the comments (and mistakes) of other builders. Consequently, you can learn from (and avoid) the issues others have had. There's also a great forum, plenty of online videos, and maintenance guides to get you through the build if you want to go that way. Careful construction will yield a printer that not only lasts longer, but prints higher quality prints too.
However, if you're the kind of person who struggles to assemble Ikea furniture or throws manuals away with the box... assembling it yourself is probably not the best course of action, and you can pay someone to assemble it for you. Note: sooner or later, you WILL have to dismantle the printer, replace worn parts, and perform routine maintenance. So assembling it yourself offers you greater insight about how everything works together.
Let's talk about the heat bed.... and the removable "build sheets".
Many older-generation (and some current) printers come with a glass heat bed. Glass works, but it is not removable, and requires the prints to be scraped/pried off. Glass can also be a bit frustrating and time consuming to clean off. Some people with glass heat beds use textured tape to create a sacrificial surface and to improve adhesion.
This printer has a choice of two magnetically attached, flexible build sheets that can be easily mounted/removed from the heat bed, and you can simply bend the sheet and the model will just "pop" off. Sometimes, it will help if you use a glue stick on the build sheet to further improve adhesion, especially if there isn't much contact area on your model. In this case, I recommend using a brim or even a raft as part of your slicer settings.
The textured build sheet is usually supplied by default, but there's also a smooth sheet. I have both, and surprisingly, the smooth sheet often has the stronger adhesion to the bed... and it makes a beautifully smooth side on the model.. if that's important to you.
Buying it for cheap... not what might expect...
I found it cheaper to buy the kit from Australian suppliers than to import it directly from overseas. Import duties, shipping, made ordering direct from Prusa prohibitively expensive, and gaining domestic support by buying "local" were the deciding factors. Australian suppliers might also accept educational or trade credentials for discounts.. as well as offering bundles. I'd recommend buying some extra nozzles, filament, and removable build sheets with the kit as that also saved me some money off the combined price, and offered combined shipping.
Notes on included software....
You won't get Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to design your own models with this kit. However, if you just print pre-designed models from online repositories (such as Thingiverse) then that's not an issue. Simply download the model (usually STL files) and then put the file into (free to download) Prusa Slicer to convert it into gcode files (g code is a series of instructions that tells the printer how and where to put plastic in the print).
Prusa Slicer works on Windows, Mac, AND LINUX. However, I think it only works with Prusa printers. As previously mentioned, Prusa Slicer takes 3D models, and breaks the model down into G-Code. It also enables you to upgrade the firmware in your printer, arrange multiple objects onto the heat bed to print multiple items at once, and manage all aspects of printing, the layer size, the infill, the material being used, support material options, and of course, the speed at which things are printed.
It's really at the "slicing" stage, that most of the options regarding the actual print process are decided. Once you start printing. It's more down to real-world and mechanical issues that will make/break your print.
Printing.... fantastic when it works, but it's not as trouble free as traditional 2D printing.
Assuming the printer is well assembled and maintained, the build surface and nozzle are clean, and the calibration of the printer itself is all good.... there are still several environmental and real-world factors which can impact your prints such as ambient temperature, humidity, quality of filament, and occasionally, even the design of the model can introduce issues that will make or break the print. There's going to be a learning curve, failed prints, and a whole host of other issues. However, once you get a feel for how everything works, the Prusa can do an amazing job.
Things any 3D print beginner should know.
Prints will take a LONG time. Not minutes, (unless the item is very small) but hours, sometimes even days are the norm. The finer your print layers, the more infill you use, the better and stronger the resulting model will be, but this adds considerable amounts of time to the overall print. If you need a custom part, or need things in a hurry, printing is still likely to be faster than ordering it online and waiting for it arrive. That said, many things are still cheaper to order online than to print.
Materials matter!
Differing plastics, have different print needs, result in differing properties (strength, weight, flexibility, UV resistance, etc). ABS is easy and commonly used but would not last outdoors very well. PETG is stronger and somewhat more resistant to UV, but more brittle, and a little harder to print with. ABS (the same plastic as LEGO) can emit toxic smells when printing. TPU is flexible, but is challenging to work with.
Polycarbonate, carbon-fibre/wood/ceramic/metal infused plastics, etc will wear brass nozzles down very quickly. So I'd recommend a steel, ruby impregnated, or similar hardened nozzle to handle the wear and tear.
Nozzles also come in a variety of sizes. The default is usually 0.4mm, but they can go down to 0.2, and some go up as far as 1mm in diameter, the speed will increase substantially with wider nozzles, but the coarseness and lack of detail will be noticeable
Conclusion:
The Prusa MK3S and MK3S+ is a very nice printer, and it prints very well. I've used industrial 3D printers (Stratasys) that cost over $60,000 at work, yet this printer can match the print quality with careful maintenance. However, it should be noted that this printer cannot compete with the print volume of an industrial grade printer. So there are some differences.
I like the fact that you can build the printer yourself, or buy it pre-assembled. I really like the removable build sheets, for the benefits they give in both removing completed prints and cleaning the build surface. I really like the Slicer software, and would honestly rate it up there with many paid alternatives. Perhaps most importantly, is that the Prusa community is a filled with amazing and helpful people, and I've never had to wait very long for my questions to be answered clearly, and effectively.
For everything else, there's the included assembly manual and separate printing handbook which you MUST read if you want to use the printer effectively, and maintain your investment. For actual printing, there are tons of YouTube videos, and dedicated sites to improve your printing skills.
Finally, have a look at putting your printer (whatever model you get) into an enclosure. It reduces dust, noise, and helps printing, especially in colder months/climates as it stops premature cooling of the extruded filament. I've attached an image of my completed printer, inside a home-made enclosure I made from scrap wood and half-empty spray paint cans around my workshop.
Purchased in for $1,826.
I am so glad I started with this printer! – This is my first 3D printer and it hasn't disappointed me. I bought this second hand to save time and money. It was an original i3 MK3 and was upgraded to an i3 MK3S by the previous owner. The fact that these can be upgraded is a great idea and also encouraged by the Prusa team with online guides. The use and setup of the machine took a little while to get use to in order to get perfect prints, but it was well worth the time to understand the machine. Prusa have a lot of instructions and guides on their website and these have been an awesome help. The guys at Prusa are not just about selling their machines but rather aim to ensure clients are happy and have the required support. I am glad I decided on the Prusa for my first printer. I don't intent on changing.
I have learned to run a temperature profile print (Temperature Tower) to get the correct temperature of each and every filament you are using. Also a Z calibration print is necessary to ensure the correct Z height is set. I don't find the original live Z print by the machines own setup wizard is enough to determine the the correct height. Once the calibrations and filament settings have been determined, it is smooth sailing from here.
I had some issues with globs of burnt PLA filament showing in my prints and sometimes causing jams as the nozzle would collide with the glob deposited on the print. However, after some diagnostics I believe the previous owner didn't install the hotend correctly and filament was escaping from the heat breaker. The problem was resolved when I took it apart and followed the instructions online step by step. Now it works like a dream.
Purchased in .
Outstanding product. Outstanding support – I bought a Prusa 3D printer - an original i3 MK3S kit. It is beautifully engineered machine. The assembly instructions were the best I have ever seen in any product, bar none. The machine works a treat and the firmware and software are well designed. I am amazed with this product and the Prusa company which started form nothing in 2010 and in now the third fasted growing tech company in all of central Europe. They sell 6,000 printers per month of which 80% are kits!
The product itself was a joy to put together, even though it took me 2 days (and I am an engineer). I really enjoyed the work. Lets' face it, it is a complicated enough machine. But if you follow the well written step-by-step assembly instructions you should not go wrong. No parts were missing and the kit was superbly presented. Prusa included a bag of Haribo gummi bears to reward the builder gradually as assembly is progressing. How many you eat and when is even in the assembly manual - that in itself is a nice innovation.
Calibration was fairly straight forward and the 3D prints look amazing.
I paid a more dollars to get an original Prusa over a Chinese made printer, because I believe quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. Prusa's machine is well engineered, uses high quality components and as the manual is written in very good English. You have to ask yourself - what is your time worth? I have friends who have bought lower priced printers made in China and they seem to spend endless hours trying to get their printer to print properly.
I ordered the printer from Prusa in Czechoslovakia on a Monday and it was here in Melbourne Australia by the Friday. Excellent service by Prusa and DHL! It arrived in perfect condition, thanks to well designed packaging.
A word of warning though is the freight company DHL will charge you a "GST handling fee" on top of the GST. I ended up paying $83 more than I anticipated on top of the GST, but it was not Prusa's fault. But still, the delivery was super quick.
I do not know how a technically inept person would go putting these printers together. I suspect they could do it, but a good handyman who knows how to use an allen key, screwdriver and pliers should have no difficulty. There is also plenty of support on the web.
One other comment - the hardcopy manual is in colour, but it you want more detailed clarity, download the manual from the web and display it on a computer monitor next to where you are assembling the printer.
I would VERY highly recommend the original Prusa i3 MK3S printer to any DIY Aussie who wants to get into 3D printing with the minimum hassle.
Purchased in at www.prusa3d.com.
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