I routinely print down 0.07mm layers with my Prusa Printers (on a 0.4mm nozzle). Using variable layer tools in your slicer is one of the keys to resolve detail. I usually set 0.2mm as a first layer height. The other key is geared extruder motors. These have finer resolution and control, IMHO.

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Fantastic work! I'm always finding new uses for Prusaslicer. Exclusion zones, variable layers, offsets, etc.

A question. What filament would you recommend for a light diffuser? I've got a nice JJP Hobbit, and one of the diffusers in the popups is broken (diffuser circled in pic, below).

Luckily, some kind soul put the STL files for these on Thingiverse. I'm thinking PETG translucent? Maybe PLA translucent? PLA White? Of course, print parameters are especially important, probably want fewer perimeters with less dense infill (2 + 5%)?

Thanks!

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I tried a couple of settings for light diffusers for the JJP Hobbit. As I had a roll of PETG transluscent, that's what I went with. Anyway, the best settings which made a nice diffuser were: .25mm layer height, 2 perimeters, no infill, and 4 top/bottom layers. The part was plenty strong (no loads on this part), and the light diffusion was nearly as good as the OEM injected molded parts. Happy with the result. FYI.

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Scanning works well for stuff with irregular surfaces. Faces, statues, etc. IMHO, scans on large objects with flat surfaces aren't so great. Plus, a topper is large. There's very few printers that can get the whole thing at once. You'll have to break it up. Again, its just my opinion, but 3D scanning and printing a topper will likely produce less than ideal results.

This particular topper is a combination of both sculpture and flat surface. It may work out, depending on size.

Mk3S is a fantastic printer. I’d highly recommend the Bondtech geared extruder upgrade. Fixes the one issue with the stock Prusa - overheating the head in some situations.

Good looking Benchy! Congrats!

Might want to lower your extruder temp 10 degrees or so. You're getting a bit of sagging on the bridges. Can usually fix that with head cooling or extruder temp reduction.

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When you're just starting out, the number of variables and materials can appear overwhelming. As far as material selection, you can simplify things by choosing from the following:

Most all the time, just use PLA. This is the standard go-to filament for most projects. Only when you have special requirements (below) would you move to a different filament.

If you need a bit higher strength and/or temperature stability - especially if a part will be used outside and might see the sun - then use PETG. PETG is shinier, produces more stringing, and the surface finish isn't quite as nice as PLA.

If you need flexible, rubbery material, then use TPU.

Really, that will cover 99.99% of anything you might want to do. The rest of the materials are all highly specialized and come with significant requirements (ABS, for example, must be printed in an vented enclsoure). "Filled" filaments (like carbon-fiber PLA) have their uses, but nearly all of them require special, hardened nozzles to work.

Good luck, the filaments above are more than enough to get you started.

I disagree completely with this statement. I've had a print farm with three Prusa printers for the last 3 years. I find TONS of stuff to print, and my printers are often all in use for days at a time. There's so much stuff out there, you simply don't need to create your own STLs to get considerable use and satisfaction from a 3D printer.

You initially said:

what you then said was:

These two statements are not the same thing. Of course you can do your own designs and increased the functionality of a 3D printer. But you don't have to do this to gain a tremendous amount of utility. Peace.

I’ve had good luck with “washes” to help weather/color 3D prints. Easy to use: brush on or use a rag/paper towel, then rub off. Here’s the result on that same part on my IM.

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I have 3 Prusa printers: 2 Mk3S and one Mk2S. I’ve upgraded all of these with Bear frames, Bondtech extruders, and linear bearings. Mosquito hot ends resolve nearly all the issues with servicing. One-handed nozzle changes, among other highlights. I’ve been printing with these for nearly 4 years now, fantastic reliability with nearly 10,000 hours of total print time. Highly recommended.

The most important upgrade (IMHO) is a geared extruder. It helps in all sorts of ways. And, if you're getting the Bondtech geared extruder and can afford the extra $150, then get the version for the Mosquito hotend (https://www.sliceengineering.com/collections/mosquito-the-professional-hotend/products/the-mosquito-hotend).

A few pics of my printers with mods.
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And to answer a question I had.

A geared extruder does 4 worthwhile things:

1) Greater torque/pushing power on the filament. With some filaments (such as composite filaments with glint/glitter, wood, etc.), you can get jamming issues when pushing through smaller nozzles. These geared extruders are powerful, and dramatically reduce these kinds of issues (in my case, the only successful way I've found to use glint filaments in a 0.4mm nozzle).

2) Higher resolution (more pulses/amount of filament extruded), which can help with precise extrusion through smaller nozzles (0.25). Some feel it also helps with surface finish, with precise and more consistent filament extrusion.

3) Decouples motor heat from the extrusion gears. This can be a big deal. Folks have had thermal creep problems, traced to hot extruder motors raising filament temperatures and causing all sorts of problems. The gear train removes this thermal path (where the extrusion gear was originally mounted directly on the extrusion motor shaft), while the gearing also naturally lowers extrusion motor temps.

4) The geared extrusion motor is usually a "pancake" type that is considerably less massive than the stock extruder motors. This lowers the overall mass of the extruder, reducing resonance and making possible increased print speed on the X-axis. Reduced resonance may also contribute to improvements in surface finish as well.

Pete, thanks for this as well, so very much! The 5.25” speaker adapter plates are a huge contribution to the community, and provide a great alternative to the $50 adapter plates sold elsewhere. You’re the best!

A couple of things to suggest. For bed adhesion, you can print with a brim. This will help the curling. Your Mando print looks like the flow is slightly over-extruding (the top edge has a bit of a lip, that’s a symptom of overextrusion). I’d dial it back 3-4 points. As others mentionned, tighten your belts a bit, that will help with some of the surface texture.

In my experience, the 3 most important things in dialing in a printer are: a level bed, properly calibrated flow, and proper first-layer height. Each of these has very specific ways of adjustment which you can research for Prusas.

Good luck.

I find I have to rescrub the bed fairly often to get good adhesion. I wash with dish soap and warm water, spot dry with a clean towel (while avoiding touching the plate with bare hands) then finish with a light wiping with electronics-grade isopropyl alcohol (don't use alcohol from the pharmacy, it contains other stuff that can contaminate your bed).

(here's good alcohol for cleaning print beds: https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-824-1L-Isopropyl-Alcohol/dp/B005DNQX3C )

Finally, your prints are over extruding, quite a bit. Your printer would benefit from a proper flow calibration. While a calibration is the best way to set this, you can wing it by lowering and inspecting parts. I'd say to start by lowering the flow roughly 10-15 points (out of 100) based on the picture you posted.

I wouldn't use loctite, no. This is not a high-vibration or load application. Just follow the instructions in the manual, especially all steps involving Harbro. Those are the most important.

I purchased an Mk4 kit and put it together about 5 weeks ago. I've owned many other printers, including an Mk2.5s and two Mk3S Prusas. The Mk4 is fantastic, full stop. Brilliant printer. Absolutely no issues, and the load-cell in the head gives perfect first layers, every time. I've been able to print several item on the Mk4 that were problematic on my other printers.

An example is the Hellraiser puzzle box. This is one of the most difficult prints you can do as it prints in one piece. This is a real puzzle box with a double-maze and very complex to take apart once locked. Takes nearly 40 hours on an Mk3, and doesn't always print properly. Look at the first layer complexity. My Mk3s struggled with this. Takes 20 hours on the Mk4 (without Input shaping) and prints perfectly every time and works brilliantly.

I've also been running the alpha firmware with Input Shaping. This works. A gorgeous benchy prints in 27 minutes. I had heavily upgraded all my prior Prusas, with a geared head being the biggest change. The geared head on the Mk4 is wonderful, and the high-resolution motors do eliminate a bit of the ringing I had in prior prints. FYI. I'm thrilled with the Mk4, and will likely purchase at least one more. It's my current go-to printer.
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0.2mm layer height
2 perimeters
20% rectilinear infill
Prusa Galaxy Black PLA
Rub-n-Buff metallic finish in color of choice

Yes, that's the one.

Using Input shaping, I get a sliced print time around 11 hours on the Mk4, but I don't recommend this. This file is a torture test for your printer, as it has very tight internal tolerances including many close surfaces that must not bond. That said, I've not tried a print with Input Shaping (I've made about a dozen of these as gifts; if you have any puzzle-inclined friends, this print is a fabulous giveaway).

That looks really good. A bit of high-speed artifacts, but certainly usable. It handled the small dots really well. The one issue may be the overextrusion around the seams. As I mentionned, this print is a torture test, and the proof is to print the whole thing then see how easy it is to open up. Most printers struggle here. I can see several seams on that print that are closed are very close to it. That may be an issue. You won't know till you print the entire file. And to be fair, this is likely more a flow calibration issue than the printer itself. I’m very impressed with that result, well done.

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For comparison, here's the bottom surface from the Mk4 print. FYI.
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Looks great! Very impressed at under 9 hours for this. You figured out how to open it up perfectly. I do the same. Separate each “fin”, then use a screwdriver to pop open the middle.

I may give the Mk4 a try with input shaping (11 hours) to see how it does.

Ah, that's a bit of a spoiler. Of the 2 dials, messing with the bottom one (the one on the build plate) can get you in trouble quickly. The top dial can be manipulated without too much risk. Try turning that one to fully close the box. There's one position where it will engage and allow full closure.

BTW, the print files for the box include a little cyliner which is just the double-maze. Worth printing and practicing on if you want to see how the mechanism itself works.

(apologies if this isn't 3D Printing Pinball related: mandatory Pinball content: wouldn't a Hellraiser pin be awesome!)

Looks like several folks are printing the Puzzle box. I've done about a dozen of these, and here's the easiest way to open it.

First, separate each "fin" by pushing pairs in the opposite direction. At some point, the box will open half-way.

Now, you need to fully open it. There's just a single joint that needs to be separated. It's the one closest to the top. See pics below. I use a screwdriver to separate this joint. Pics show exactly where to place your screwdriver (or exacto knife). Good luck.

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If your slicer supports "ironing", turn that on. It will dramatically improve the cosmetic appearance of your top layer.

Absolutely outstanding work, and a wonderful contribution. Thank you! This is a great example of what makes our community so enjoyable. I don’t (yet) have a CC, but when I do, I’ll add this great mod. Fabulous job!

I've been 3D printing for almost 7 years now. I live in the high-desert, arid Southwest. I have a print farm with several printers, and occasionally have them running constantly for weeks at a time.

I've found most of my PETG and PLA rolls will become unprintable if left without proper storage for 6-8 weeks. Nearly all my bed adhesion problems can be traced to trying to use old filament. I now store all my opened filament in sealed bags with dessicant. This extends this life to several years I've found. FYI.

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Great discussion, and you gents have cost me $1500 the last week. I've been 3D printing on 2 heavily modified Prusa Mk3s models since 2017 (note the frames, geared extruders, and linear bearings on the Mk3s in the pics). I purchased an Mk4, and that's a brilliant printer and a significant upgrade on the Mk3S. I read enough here, and pulled the trigger on a Bambu X1c. I appreciate all the insights and dicussion. My main (new) use will be structural filaments, ABS, ASS, nylon, etc. Multi-color will be a bonus. Gets to my place tomorrow. early Xmas, yeah!

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If you want to keep it, send me a PM. I've got a spare Bondtech geared extruder for the Mk3, complete with hotend. I'll not use this, so its yours for free if you want it. PM me shipping details, and we'll figure out a way to get this up to Canada.

At least you recieved your X1c. Mine had some weird shipping issue and now they're sending another unit. UPS trailer in Los Angeles was "unable to be dispatched". Your guess is as good as mine. Theft?

I received my new Bambu X1 Carbon today. Initially, it started fine and printed. I did a test benchy, and was very unimpressed (pic below). This is a pretty lousy benchy by today's standards, not nearly the quality of the speed benchy I've been printing on the Prusa Mk4. Anyway, the SD card reader on the Bambu wasn't working. I tried a half-dozen different SD cards, no joy (with cards confirmed to work in every other device I own).

At the suggestion of the Bambu forum, I reseated the ribbon cable in the color display. It was very loose. Now, the printer won't boot at all. All I get is a backlight on the display on power up and that's it. I've opened a ticket with Bambu, we'll see how they handle this.

A few other comments. It's extremely noisy. Much more so than the Mk4. Print startup is ridiculously long. About 7 minutes to level the bed and calibrate. I keep getting errors that the LIDAR sensor has a dirty lens. I cleaned it according to the Bambu video, but it still gave this error. Finally, I also got an error that the Z leadscrews needed lubrication. I followed the video for this as well, and that error cleared.

Overall, quite unimpressed at this point. Not really faster than the Mk4, lower quality on the few prints I did, and of course, many parts aren't working and now the whole printer is bricked. No doubt my case is an anomoly. That said, I'll see how they handle this for me. Oh, and the printer arrived with a nice, big dent in the corner of the aluminum frame on the left corner. Amazing, actually. Do they QA these things at all?

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Thanks for the updates. I've not given up on Bambu. All my prior printers took a bit of tuning, etc. to become part of my regular lineup.

On closure inspection, it's pretty clear the ribbon cable socket on the display panel has come loose from the board. The solution is another display panel. I'm debating about waiting for Bambu to authorize this, or just order one and ask for reimbursement (or equivalent store credit) later. I think that's the quicker path to getting back up and running.

I've done roughly a half-dozen two-way emails with Bambu customer support to diagnose and recieve parts for my bricked, new X1 Carbon. Just this morning I got a shipping notification. FYI. I would have preferred to not go through this process, and there's no guarantee that the parts will fix my problem, but it is what it is. Sigh.

Have to say, having built and used 4 Prusas (Mk2.5s, 2x Mk3s, Mk4), I never had the slightest issue with any of them. Workhorse printers, with thousands of hours on them over 7 years. Lots of raving about Bambu. The hype hasn't matched my personal experience, yet....

I'll give them one chance at a fix. It's hard enough getting through regular customer service channels to get anything communicated. Plan B is CC chargeback.

After 2 weeks, I finally got the parts to fix my bricked X1 Carbon. Installed a new ribbon cable (total PITA, btw, very delicate and need to heat and remove lots of glue). The good news is the printer now boots and sees SD cards. The bad news is this printer is pretty much a disaster. After much futzing, cleaning, trying new filaments, it has yet to lay down a good first layer.

I'm not a 3D printing novice. I've been doing this for almost 10 years, and have owned 4 different versions of the Prusa Mk2/3/4. All the vodoo the X1 Carbon does pre-print, things like bed levelling and calibration, is just for show honestly. After all this, it still gets bad first layers. No doubt, many of you have had this printer work trouble-free. I'm happy for you. Some of us have NOT had that experience, and dealing with Bambu customer service is a total pain. The few times I've dealt with Prusa, it's been a very positive experience.

Not sure where to go from here. Plan A is contact Bambu customer service again, and possibly ask for a new printer? I'm skeptical that approach is going to work. No plan B at the moment. Let's see if Plan A works...

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Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try some different plates and go from there.

Yeah, I've known you've been right from day one. Only hinderance has been getting this plan accepted by Bambu CS. Still working it. And your last phrase reminds me of a totally off-topic quote from Jonathan Swift:

Big bugs have little bugs upon their backs the bite 'em
And little bugs have lesser still, so ad infinitum

Sorry for the delay. I'm still waiting on a last part. I was sent a new ribbon cable and controller screen and installed those. That solved the SD card reading problem, though replacement of the ribbon cable was very hard (and I'm competant at this stuff). Not for the faint of heart. I still couldn't figure out how to open/unlock the ribbon connector on the little motherboard. If anyone knows how (or has a video), I'd appreciate it. I just shoved it in the slot (/Michael Scott has entered the chat/). I'm concernned it may get loose and fall back out.

It's now buried under several other connectors that were glued in. Here's the pic from the wiki. I tried a half-dozen ways of prying open the thin plastic clip, no joy.

I have to say, I remain totally unimpressed with the Bambu printers. Everyone raves about them. When I finally got mine operating, the prints were noticeably worse and not much faster than those I get off my Prusa Mk4. Serviceability on the Bambu is absolutely awful, completely contrary to the super-easy service on the Prusas. I just don't get why everyone loves Bambu? For those that have owned both Bambu and the Mk4, is my experience a one-off?

I'll be selling the X1 Carbon at a steep discount as soon as the last part (my dented side panel) comes in and I can get it back to as-delivered condition.

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I've had a couple of enquiries regarding sale. I do need to recieve the final part. I may try one more time to get a return via Bambu. If that doesn't work, I'll contact folks that expressed interest via PM, to keep this thread appropriate. Thanks.

Still no comments from others with experience with both the X1C and Prusa MK4?

Pinball content: does Pinside have the ability to host files? If so, we could build an STL repository here dedicated to pinball.

I just sold my X1C w/AMS locally. Sticking with my tried-and-true Prusas. The Mk4 was as least as good for single-color printing, and far fewer headaches.

A question for all the Bambu users. Have you tried the latest Prusa? I’ve been on Prusa for almost a decade, and the Mk4 has been my go-to since it was released. Fast, simple, and gorgeous quality prints. I did order an X1c last fall, and after solving some initial issues, final got it up and running. I was less-than-impressed. Print quality was not at the level of the Prusa, the startup routine was lengthy with all the calibration, it was very loud, I had more adhesion issues with the Bambu plates, and service on the X1c was quite a bit more complex compared to the easy access on the Prusa. It was no faster than the Mk4 as well.

Did I miss something? I know the Bambu have a loyal following. I tried to keep and open mind and tried both. My (limited) direct experience really did favor my Mk4. The only advantages I saw on the X1c were 1) the AMS is a better system for multi-color; 2) it does have a larger print volume; and 3) it is enclosed.

As originally delivered, my X1c had a non-functioning control panel. Bambu also sent a second ribbon cable, and asked me to swap that out as well. The cable swap was fairly difficult, and required removing all the (glued in) cables from the driver board, and then reinstallation of everything. In addition, one of the side panels was dented and they sent a replacement.

I do appreciate all the responses and I do respect all the opinions. My specific quesiton was Prusa Mk4 vs. Bambus. I've now had some extensive time with both. For the reasons I mentionned above, the Mk4 is a better option for me. Most important is print quality. Prints from the Mk4 are visibly superior, it wasn't even close. And this was out-of-the-box (well, out-of-the-kit, I built my Mk4). The new Nextruder on the Mk4 has a load cell that just works. Perfect first layers, no calibration. Excellent flow again with no calibration. I found it as much plug-n-play as the Bambu (well, actually far more so as I had hours of fixes needed on my X1c, but I accept that as a one-off and not indicative). The speed of each was the same; both were very fast printers compared to anything prior.

I would note, I agree with all of you that the Bambu is a superior printer to all the prior Prusa generations (Mk2, 2.5, 2.5s, Mk3s - I've owned them all). The Mk4 is a different beast, and a thoroughly modern printer with cutting edge features to today's standards.

The XL with toolhead change is pricey. By all accounts, its an exceptional printer for multi-filament uses. But $4k, that's a rich entry price, indeed.