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!
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?
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.
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
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
You can add the Kingroon KPS3 Pro to the list of printers you might consider.
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
