Prusa MK4 in 2023? 🤷‍♂️

First prints and thoughts as I experience 3D printing with the pre-assembled Original MK4 3D printer by Prusa Research.
3D printer received free of charge: www.prusa3d.com/category/orig...
Chapters:
0:00 Setup
4:56 Printing spatula
7:21 Filament guide addon
9:01 Rocket engine
11:54 Wi-Fi setup attempt
13:50 Input shaping firmware
14:48 Printing Thrall bust
19:46 Thrall bust cleaning
24:42 One minute Benchy
26:00 Low poly wolf coextrusion
28:16 Extruder test
29:05 Final thoughts
3D models used:
Spatula www.printables.com/model/5217...
Rocket Engine www.printables.com/model/4367...
Thrall bust by Fotis Mint www.printables.com/model/3479...
3D Benchy www.printables.com/model/3161...
Low Poly Wolf www.printables.com/model/3863...
Extruder test by MihaiDesigns (premium file) thangs.com/designer/MihaiDesi...
Projects and affiliate recommendations:
bio.mihaidesigns.com/
Bambu Lab X1-CC 3D printer bit.ly/bambu-x1-cc
mihaidesigns.com
Patreon / mihaidesigns
Instagram: / mihaidesigns
Twitter: / mihaidesigns
Buy me a coffee mihaid.com/coffee
#mihaidesigns

[@GeekDetour]

I loved watching this - it was just like hanging out and discovering about it together. Nice video, Mihai!

[@MihaiDesigns]

So glad!

[@duller9430]

Ya my two favourite 3d KZbinrs

[@HerzogJoni]

That's exactly what I always think. It's so pleasant to listen to and just relax. Sure video about details of printer are nice. But I find it pleasant to just try it out together

[@MichaelWatersJ]

I like this style of inner monologue, no hype, no exposition, stream of consciousness review.

[@pbft.j]

Now THIS is the kind of printer review content I needed! Love the shorts but please please please keep this stuff up. Your style is so straight to the point, easy, real. Great editing, also. The amount of time this took is not lost on us.

[@prusafixer]

Love the honest review. You are telling it as it is, no excuses. Stay awesome!

[@sparks-tech]

Thank you for the great review and insights on the MK4. The shorts are great but I love the your long format videos.

[@medyk3D]

30:54 "This would be a great printer a few years ago" - this is exactly what I'm thinking.

[@ohnivejblesk2622]

I love your videos they are SO GOOD you are for sure my fav 3d printing ytber FOR SURE

[@baddan]

Great review Mihai! Thanks for sharing👏👏👏

[@itspigeon8730]

What's really weird is that the LCD is touch screen, just it's not enabled in software (yet)

[@UnwrittenGamingftn]

It's a sign prusa rushed this out so they have something out that can "compete" with bamboolabs

[@kkrizzz]

@@UnwrittenGamingftn Yeah, they did the same with the input Shaper and Pressure Advance that were advertised but not (initially) shipped. Definitely feels like a bit of a rushed released

[@UnwrittenGamingftn]

@@kkrizzz It's like releasing a game half broken and fixing it later. It's a disgrace. Prusa has gotten too full of themselves

[@KieranShort]

Like the unavailable input shaping they pushed this printer out the door because they were freaking out about boobs taking all their market share. It was totally the wrong move. It just makes their printer look more inferior.

[@UnwrittenGamingftn]

@@KieranShort Exactly, it shows just how far behind and unprepared their were.

[@kaasmeester5903]

Nice and honest review. Personally I wanted to move away from Chinese stuff, a friend of mine reported he was very happy with his Mk 4, and ease of maintenance is a plus for me. Those points sealed the deal for me, so I passed on the Bambu and my Mk 4 will be arriving shortly 😊

[@kschaub62]

​@@jmsubs529some people value simple to use and maintain even if there is a premium. Some people also want to avoid Chinese made and/or developed products based on politics. What is great is we should be able to make that choice without judgement.

[@drstefankrank]

@@jmsubs529 A closed source Chinese walled garden cloud only product is indeed inferior to a well known brand with a huge community. The Bambo looks nicer, but the MK4 gives me a way better feeling for long time support and security. Search for "3D printer nightmare fuel: Bambu X1C and P1P started printing while owners were asleep"

[@kailin1496]

@@jmsubs529 I don't know what company to buy from anymore. Definitely not bambu though, I just cannot justify giving away my privacy. I do not agree with them being able to acess the camera in the printer or being sent encrypted logs about my usage. And after the ghost print incident where printers started randomly in the night and many printers were damaged by that I cannot trust a company like that. It is unfortunate because their product does seem really nice. Even in mihai's shorts I see many problems he has with his bambu printers from AMS problems to layer shifts. Once bambu irons out their issues and if they rethink their privacy policies maybe I will consider them again. Prusa's printer sare expensive and reliable with similar features to the bambu machine but with so many other lower price and reliable printers many people might not consider them as well.

[@arbjful]

@@jmsubs529I bought the MK4 myself, it works straight out of the box, and there is no dependency cloud and stuff. The designs stay with you. The best part I like about the MK4 is that the parts are printable and can be replaced easily. I disagree that it’s an inferior product

[@padel24x7]

the ease of use of the bambu printers is lightyears ahead. i start my prints from the phone and observe them from work in case something is not working. its like an apple product in terms of ease of use.

[@prashmakes]

Super entertaining and informative video as always. It's a really interesting time in the 3D printer product life cycle going from specialist machines to consumer goods as you mentioned. It'll be really interesting to see how Prusa react to the newer products making this leap given all the effort that has recently gone into these machines (MK4 and XL). Being a bigger company, their ability to pivot is likely going to be much slower than these new entrants, but I'm really interested to see whether that had preempted this and we will see some results soon (unlikely imo) or what they bring to the table in their next gen printers in a few years given they'll have to skip a generation to keep up with the latest tech. Can't wait to see how it unfolds! Can't fault my MK3s, they do exactly what I need them to do and are super reliable, so they're a win for me!

[@JustinRaymondUtah]

Crealtiy is even bigger than Prusa and they made the pivot extremely quick. Prusa has made numerous statements saying speed is not the future and can't do good prints... well, he has been proven wrong and his stubborness is going to hold back his companies progression.

[@GeekDetour]

Prusa announced they had it free of "Vertical Fine Artifacts"... On the bust-base, it seemed like VFA. EDIT: absolutely, on the pink/blue wolf it is full of patterns.

[@petermarkk1408]

The most printer problems are sitting in front of it!

[@salmanslim]

@@petermarkk1408lol😂

[@ericlotze7724]

Yeah, sadly still there and I don’t like the messaging otherwise (although heavily reduced *may mean* free of to some people, but that seems sneaky). On this note, didn’t someone make a mod for leadscrews that “cured” this? I saw the video in my feed a while back, but haven’t gotten around to watching it yet.

[@AlexanderGutsch]

@@ericlotze7724 VFAs are not cause by the Z Axis, it's caused by the XY motors

[@GeekDetour]

@@AlexanderGutschexactly: the VFA are basically the XY “fingerprint”, when microstepping doesn’t produce a linear output.

[@Bscrooker]

Oh boy this long format Mihai videos feel like Christmas ❤

[@grega.4562]

Great testing. Thank you.

[@DaveEtchells]

I had been waiting for the Prusa XL, but then the Bambu X1C+AMS appeared. I waited a bit to see how it was performing in the real world, then pulled the trigger and bought one. It completely transformed my 3D printing life; 3D printing became a tool instead of a project of its is own :-) The Mk4 certainly seems to print reliably enough, but the Bambu is just *so* much faster, and the AMS is a dream. (I actually only do multicolor prints very rarely, but love having four different filaments to choose from, all kept totally dry and ready to go whenever I want them.m The Mk4 looks to me like just what it is: A well-optimized design from 5 years ado. I’m so glad I went with the X1C.

[@ZFGFZDGDFG]

i dont know why prusa is basically recycling the same machine and improving it slightly. they need to come out with a corexy machine

[@Pavl9k]

Prusa thought they have won the game with MK3, however everyone moved away and Prusa stayed, now I think they will never catch-up....I also purchased a Bambu X1C with AMS and you can't even compare it, two different leagues, we have some MK3s and they have all had problems, we had to service them and wait for parts, meanwhile Bambu was printing almost nonstop

[@ZFGFZDGDFG]

@@Pavl9k my bambu has had a few problems. Only one that was a major problem is that the tool cable shorted and blew up two boards. Bambu however did help me quickly and sent me two replacement boards and a tool head cable free of charge which arrived in 2 days. But yea I agree with what you were saying Prusa can’t ask for 1k* now for a bed slinger when they are printers like the p1p p1s k1 k1 max for a lot cheaper. Which have bigger build volume enclosed faster better quality

[@Pavl9k]

@@ZFGFZDGDFG Our Bambu only got filament stuck in the hotend heatsink, our fault for using old and brittle filament, I took it out and it goes again like nothing happened, I was afraid that it will be very user unfriendly but actually it is well designed and stuff can be serviced quickly with basic tools...don't get me wrong I like Prusa (started printing on MK3s) but I will keep hating until he gets his s...t straight

[@bobograndman]

@@Pavl9k and sadly enough I don't think they will change because from his social media posts, Prusa himself just seems butthurt. He keeps indirectly accusing bambu of things, like when he posted on twitter about how bambuslicer is just a copy of prusa slicer, as if everyone didn't already know that because bambu has been very open about it from the start. Then he was posting on reddit, saying that chinese brands copy ideas, and indirectly accusing BL of the same. The guy just seems like he can't handle that he needs to change his company's ways or else the world will leave them behind.

[@bassam.2023]

In this video: the art of subtlety. BRAVO! 🙌🏼😁😜

[@jackgidalowitz3765]

I like how he has printers brand new just chilling In There boxes

[@petermarkk1408]

I have a P1P/2 MK3S+ and a MK4! Won’t miss any of them!

[@JohnOlson]

Prusa Slicer has a automatic support painting feature that works really well. Putting supports only where you need it. Your Thrall bust looked like it was using the Build Plate only option.

[@theepeo8871]

So glad I canceled my hour 1 mk4 order and went with the X1C instead. Now two of them. Life is good! Love your content Mihai-stay awesome!

[@corlissmedia2.0]

"AUTO-MAGICALLY, i LIKE THAT!"

[@slypork6178]

They just recently released a new firmware for the MMU2 that rebuilt the code entirely. I was having issues with an MMU2 at work, but once I updated the firmware, it basically just worked

[@CharlieBasta]

Love your videos.

[@fwiffo2k]

honestly, I bought a prusa XL more than 1 year ago, and I patiently waited for the availability, that I quickly confirmed. I found the printer at a first glance a bit rushed, but now, with the new firmware with PA and Input shaping, everything is as expected, I also like the fact that this is a first glance use, no headaches, I personally used a fully modified replicator that I had reprogrammed with marlin and modded extensively, I also used a prusa mk2 from a friend of mine...and XL is just in another level, you can't compare to something that can compete but doesn't have all the possibilities and feature that this printer has and could have in the near future.

[@georgestone8099]

It's mad to me that Prusa is still making a bed slinger. It's ancient tech at this point. Even madder is they're charging vastly more for it, than some of the new Core XY's that absolutely spank Prusa in regards to speed.

[@malefactor111]

really like your content & style. completely agree with you, was thinking the same thing the whole time -- this is a fantastic printer, 3 years ago... it's just not good enough now. I was going to buy this, but the long lead time led me to get an x1c. the difference between the two is just so large, and seemingly prusa doesn't even comprehend that. everything about the x1c is refined and makes this look primitive.

[@JanTec3D]

Hey Mihai, nice video. I‘ve seen in the reflection of the screen that you filmend (at least most of it) with your phone. My question is how do you record the audio? Also with your phone? Quality is really good and I’m still looking for ways to improve my own videos.

[@Standbackforscience]

Love my mk4, was worth every penny. Assembly was maybe a bit complex, but once done, its self-diagnostics found my one mistake, and after that it's been printing perfectly. That was the weirdest thing about it, I expected there to be a few days of "getting used to it", but it's been hard at work next to my Mk3 since day#1, not a single failed print. There are still a few software bugs on PrusaConnect, but the printer itself is completely fire-and-forget, including nozzle changing.

[@mynt4033]

What do you think of some of the surface artifacting and ringing? I found them to be less than desirable for a machine that was suppose to have so much time and experience to mature. It doesn't even have true inputshaping

[@Standbackforscience]

@@mynt4033What is true input shaping even? They're using a model averaged from data from thousands of printers, instead of just one. Same result. As for artefacts, yes, it seems to produce a few, but they are within tolerance.

[@mynt4033]

@@Standbackforscience You need an IMU on board to account and calibrate for individual vibrations. It's not a problem you can "just average". It's different for all printers. Even the same build. If the frequency is ever so slightly off, you get constructive interference on vibrations and it makes it far worse. Every review has proven that input shaping results in a fuzzy surface mess for the MK4 and I'm not surprised. Plus, averaging it no longer permits individual customizations, which is a shame considering Prusa encouraged a ton of customizations.

[@Standbackforscience]

@@mynt4033Get a voron.

[@johnmoore5593]

Thanks for this. I have the bambu x1c and love it, but before that had debated getting a prusa Mk3 or an XL. Went with the x1c for price and speed of delivery, and love it. Maybe the XL will be in my future but for now I’m happy.

[@Vipcioo]

I had a rumbling noise like yours while printing. I used a 3 cm garden paving slab on a dense foam pad. All the noise is over. Even the downstairs neighbour doesn't complain about the strange noise.

[@gloriousquads]

Can you also test printing tpu with your printer tests? It will be better showing what printers are capable of

[@ethanlafleur3749]

Great vid as always. Where can I find the cabinet you use? Thanks!

[@thenextlayer]

Thanks for the video. The interface on the MK4 would drive me crazy... so much clicking about and beeping... I've become spoiled with the KlipperScreen and Bambu printers I've been using. Kinda glad I cancelled my MK4... But I DO still want an XL with 5 print heads ;)

[@tejae504]

Watching you print with 1 filament feels like I went back in time 😂

[@ares274shymeyo7]

Always happy when mihai uploads a long vid. 😃

[@7badtothebone]

I love the new lcd, the old lcd is so unpolished and sensitive.

[@oldsalty3d122]

LOL, I just love your humor.

[@paxsonstephens3059]

I've found that the mk4 that I use leaves spots on the bed when leveling. It has been getting worse over time but still prints great.

[@YourLocalRaccoon]

You should try to test how it prints at lower layer heights. Like 0.15mm or 0.1mm with the standard 0.4mm nozzle.

[@NathanBuildsRobots]

PRUSA was going to send me one, but I think he changed his mind 😢

[@AptMantis2278]

Did you cancel your order or anything

[@MihaiDesigns]

😄 thanks for the visit Nathan. Love your content!

[@GeekDetour]

I am not sure I would review it… Honestly I don’t see the point: it is an expensive printer without any outstanding feature. PS: price can be a feature. To me, when I see an Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro at 250 bucks I can recommend it eyes closed.

[@PhillipDRobinson]

Must be because you had him sign your K1 😅

[@BeefIngot]

This is really surprising, because of all the tubers I watch who cover 3d printing, I think you might be the one with the highest opinion on bed slingers in general. Seems like a swing and a miss to me.

[@SirNoviTheChauvi]

I like the results

[@macombiam]

Yep. You definitely need to be patient

[@BillyBonesYT]

way more enjoyable than a boring review, thanks!

[@stevekorzeniewski6895]

I actually went straight to an X1C when starting out and was kinda annoyed by the kinks in the AMS....BUT, after watching this I've never been happier with that decision. I take for granted just how annoying it is to simply change a filament on a MK4.

[@TraitorFelon.14.3]

Annoying to change the filament on MK4??? You are desperately searching for arguments to justify your spyware printer.

[@stevekorzeniewski6895]

@@TraitorFelon.14.3 I mean…I just sit back and it changes itself…so yeah man, this is a downgrade 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@DrHanes]

COPE!@@TraitorFelon.14.3

[@eeropehkonen2370]

This was like a ASMR video of printers

[@mxlje]

I mean aside from the XL this is their current flagship printer, right? It’s the one I see at the top first thing on their website. This is wild. Bambu and this are not even remotely in the same league.

[@TheMikolasZuza]

I mean you are not wrong. The Bambu and Prusa owners are completely different. Really depends on what the user values. Being easy to repair, looking good in the office, open-source vs locked, primarily offline vs primarily online cloud, being quiet vs loud, built-in enclosure...

[@user-fo7mf9nd2h]

@@TheMikolasZuza or prefering prints that are multiple times faster. Or multi-color. Or an actually finished product. Or maybe all of that with a cheaper price point. So many considerations

[@ulaB]

@@user-fo7mf9nd2h Exactly. Different customer groups. I for example do like prints that are stronger, not half of my filament going down a poop chute and not only soft- but also hardware upgrades for years and years. I also like that part of my money goes into Printables and PrusaSlicer, that workers are payed a reasonable wage and other open source projects are supported financially too.

[@MrWizard65]

Passed on Mk4 (after owning a Mk3s for a number of years) and went Bambu. Haven't looked back.

[@logicalfundy]

Took me a couple of tries to figure it out - but at the screen where it tells you to wait and there is a continue prompt - do *NOT* press that continue button. It's a bit of bad UI design, but you are really expected to wait and that button is only if it doesn't work. They can definitely improve the UI, it's pretty weak. That said, still a pretty solid printer and has good support - and I'm into tinkering and not into proprietary, so I like that I can do stuff with it.

[@conorstewart2214]

Connecting to wifi should be a 30 second at most process, with most devices even as low as a few seconds. There is really no excuse for having to enter wifi details on a usb stick or it taking that long to connect. I believe the P1P and P1S may use similar wifi hardware (esp32 I believe it may also be the main controller for the printer, although Prusa may be using an esp8266 based module for some reason) and they don’t have those issues.

[@eliumarquez9791]

It’s not made for speed, but fail proof.

[@stan110]

​@@conorstewart2214the microcontroller prusa uses is not a ESP32 but a STM32.

[@conorstewart2214]

@@stan110 I was on about the Wi-Fi module. Most STM32 microcontrollers do not have built in wifi, the wifi module used in prusas is the ESP01 which is an ESP8266. There is still no excuse for it being that slow.

[@gabrielpursley2812]

"Looks very organized." That comment about the filament made me laugh out loud

[@rotarurazvan_petru4654]

Salut Mihai, ai vrea sa incerci un nou gantry si hotend assembly in stil vzbot? Eu si cu prietenul meu din Germania am lucrat la un design pentru awd si un nou gantry pentru tronxy x5, aceeasi platforma ca vzbot ul.

[@jabrikolo]

that's an interesting benchy shaped object you printed there

[@LibertyNOTPoverty]

The Mk4 is the printer we all wanted 3 years ago....... Too little too late IMO

[@kluupom]

What happens to all the printers when you are done testing them?

[@TheRaulmc]

Better the bambulab print quality or mk4 ?

[@F_K3NT_D]

That is in fact a touchscreen but they didn’t utilize that feature for whatever reason

[@christianeberhard2496]

I have different printers and when printing for days and weeks it is a very great advantage if you can do the repairing, servicing and enhancing yourself with a prusa model.

[@DrEckig]

22:40 I'd recommend long ESD safe tweezers.

[@camestry__6531]

Anyone know what website he uses for those supports on most of his builds. I use this app for 3d printing and it only uses squares as supports for 3d prints and doesn't branch out like his.

[@user-lx9jm1wo3h]

Why are they so rattly and noisy? Also, I never understood why manufacturers have the start gcode where the nozzle is in the air while it heats up. I made my own custom gcode where it puts the nozzle .4mm above the bed right in front of the prime line starting point, and then it extrudes 5mm to make a small blob so it pulls plastic off nozzle as it jumps 10mm to start the prime line, so I never have to fool around with tweezers trying to grab filament off the nozzle while its printing. It makes no sense why such an established company wouldn't have better start gcode to prevent filament getting in the way of the print.

[@facemonger66]

What an excellent video, crazy to see so many little bugs/glitches in the menus and setup processes for such a pricey bed-slinger. Seems like a great printer but all the little issues and the fact that there are now so many cheaper competitors, I don't see myself getting one :/

[@aaronchamberlain4698]

Honestly, a few of these were just him. Like all the filament loads/unloads. I’ve never had an issue with it. The progress bar stays at 99% signaling it’s about to retract for you and he kept pulling it every time. Pretty sure he managed to trick the filament sensor that way a few times in this video. As for WiFi, I’ll admit it’s pretty archaic. I only used it wired, so never had to deal with that.

[@AptMantis2278]

I have a mk4 and I will say it is a good printer, and I really do like it but when compared to other printers like the bambu it doesn’t hold up to them

[@conorstewart2214]

Prusa have fallen behind massively. Their latest flagship is just an mk3 with a few upgrades just about anyone could add. Literally just put a decent mainboard in a mk3 and add Klipper with a raspberry pi and you are probably already just as good as the mk4, even closer if you add a Revo hot end. The mk4 was outdated when it released. Prusa have a lot of work ahead of them to catch up.

[@Volt64bolt]

@@AptMantis2278that is a very subjective opinion, it highly depends what you compare them on.

[@BeefIngot]

@@aaronchamberlain4698 I feel like this I'd a half hearted criticism. He was pretty reasonable and shouldn't have to know about weird quirks of the product. You're buying a 3d printer, you aren't house hunting for a house with "character".

[@erikschmid5602]

I´m just wondering how you´ve mangeged to get these kind of supports on the bust. What are they called?

[@martiniindustries]

“Organic” supports in PrusaSlicer >= v2.6. May be called tree supports elsewhere?

[@TheOystei]

the support on the thrall bust-stand could have been so easily avoided if the model had the ledge be a 45 degree

[@GRINSEK4TZE1]

would love to see mmu3 review

[@rhome2]

Hi, do I need to buy the printer casing if I want to print in pet or is it not necessary? Is the case useful in terms of noise, will it bother me when I'm sleeping if my printer is in my room without a case? Thank you for your answers.

[@MihaiDesigns]

It's perhaps the quietest printer I have. Could help to add a foam material underneath to reduce vibration transfer into the desk. I don't know if a case would make it quieter; could be the opposite.

[@rhome2]

@@MihaiDesigns thank you for your response

[@Chris_Cable]

Prusa needs to figure out the pre-print purge process. My MK3S always left filament on the bed from the probe and had filament oozing on the nozzle. I used some custom start gcode to heat the nozzle to 140c during the probe process to fix it. Example of mine for the MK3S M83 ; extruder relative mode M140 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; set bed temp M109 S160 ; Set extruder temp before bed level M190 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; wait for bed temp G28 W ; home all without mesh bed level G80 ; mesh bed leveling M109 S[first_layer_temperature] ; wait for extruder temp G1 Y-3.0 F1000.0 ; go outside print area G92 E0.0 G1 E8 ; Purge Bubble G1 X60.0 E9.0 F1000.0 ; intro line G1 X100.0 E12.5 F1000.0 ; intro line G92 E0.0

[@ericlotze7724]

Same Problem with my Mk3s too.

[@JohnOlson]

Pretty sure the first prints in the video were with older firmware. Not sure how long it sat in the box, but the purge changed in newer firmware.

[@ericlotze7724]

@@JohnOlson True, i would love an update on how all of the things would have gone with the latest and greatest firmware. Also granted I don’t think it *should be* this was, but if the MK3 is a good clue, even Tom Sanladerer’s Original Review cited all sorts of Software/Firmware issues but they are all solved now, so here’s to hoping.

[@JohnOlson]

@@ericlotze7724 I've had my MK4 kit since June. I ordered day 1, within the first hour. Its been printing a lot. I stayed away from the Input Shaper alpha until version 3?, and its been rock solid. I don't use it for a business but 2Km of filament, 20 days of print via statistics and not a single issue so far. I print mostly PLA, PETG on it. (ASA on my MK3s). I sold my P1P and got the MK4. I'm very happy with my choice. YMMV.

[@ulaB]

Prusa does the bed testing at a lower temperature with the MK4.

[@famafilm473]

Prusa mk4 vs Bambu P1S which one, and why?

[@anmolsinghshekhawat4284]

is it worth the price ? would you suggest this for beginners who are really into 3d printer (that's me) and starting for the first time?

[@legotechniccreationsbygisu7487]

Better get abambu lab

[@arbjful]

It’s a bit expensive, but totally worth it. I bought my MK4 , my first 3D printer. I just wanted something to work without any hassle and the MK4 does not disappoint.

[@padel24x7]

if its your only printer you have nothing to compare it to. bambu labs is far better @@arbjful

[@NOBLE-wo5rr]

for price per performance, get the P1P

[@miciagaming7323]

i am currently using a elegoo neptune 3 pro and for some reason after moving it just never printed thing well or even at ALL ever again so i am considering getting a mk4

[@K8Stuff]

I cancelled my mk4 after it got postponed a few times and got the X1C ... Looking at this I must admit I am glad I did. Thank you Prusa for constantly delaying my order. In hindsight the price is just too much for what it is.

[@you.got.gapped.racing44]

You should be awarded for having the balls to say that

[@georgestone8099]

I've got a P1P, and it's clear how much better CoreXY tech is, than bed slingers. Prusa dropped the ball with the MK4, and now they're completely on the backfoot. It doesn't seem like they have any answer to the new wave of CoreXY printers that are now dominating the market.

[@twanheijkoop6753]

​@@georgestone8099they have one, their just not selling it to the general public.

[@jamesocker5235]

Very nice deal

[@JeromeDemers]

I thought it was not supposed to probe the bed and print immediately because of this new scale sensor.

[@pradonegro683]

I think Prusa in this is a step behind other brands like Bambu Lab o Creality with the K1. I have de mk3s and the prusa mini but if I had to buy a new one I would buy a Bambu lab or some core xy with klipper and modern things. This model is like a generation behind.

[@aaronchamberlain4698]

The K1 is made from cheap plastic and is a huge security risk because it runs a fully managed Linux box that you have no control over. 10/10 would never buy one.

[@adamdewolfe]

An Ender 5 converted to klipper and user modded would probably be better than a k1, lol.

[@conorstewart2214]

Yeah the mk4 is just a slightly upgraded mk3. It wouldn’t take much knowledge or time to upgrade an mk3 or even cheaper 3D printers to be better than the mk4, just add Klipper and you will probably end up with better results than the mk4, that ringing and other artefacts are terrible.

[@dark_xdark132]

The prusa mini is a great mini printer as long as you don't care about speed, I love my mini more than my voron

[@pradonegro683]

@@dark_xdark132 I agree, I love my Mini too, is the printer that I use the most and the more efficient, but for sure new and better printers are coming and I am open to that. I see a new generation of printers and Prusa right now is not in that wave. For sure they will ride that wave but right now none of their printers at least in my opinion is next gen. I saw in printables a very interesting project to make the Mini a core xy that I will try once its mature enought. My comment is not to put hate on Prusa printers. I like them, but I see that right they are behind and now I prefer other type of printers. Meaby I am a little bit dissapointed with them. I was expecting more of Prusa or something new or disruptive, and I think I´m not the only one. But that is because they are the best in what they do and I think they can do much better.

[@DrNerf]

What other printers would you say compete with the MK4(price-wise)? I'm still on the MK3 and very happy with it, but I am considering upgrading soon. I know the Bambulab X1 is great, but I've heard it's very noisy. Can you let it run in the same room while working? Is the MK4 a worthy upgrade or I should just stick with MK3?

[@venados65]

P1S

[@thenamelessone123]

Don't even consider anything other than a Bambu - Prusa is done

[@DrNerf]

@@thenamelessone123 That's sad. I really like Prusa's support and community, but they are really falling behind. I hope they push the MK4 hard with software updates in the coming months.

[@kiwikemist]

Why is everyone here a Bambu fanboy? It's crazy. Get prusa if you want reliability and the best customer support in the business. Get Bambu if you want multimaterial colour prints (not including industrial filaments like PEEK) and fast core xy. Otherwise if you want a good i3 clone, try out a Sovol SV06, it's just cheap so be aware it's not plug and play

[@yskhcl]

I have one MK3S+, a Bambu X1 and a Prusa MK4. My personal opinion, is that these two are different printers, for instance, repairs, service and maintenance in the MK4 it's far way more easy that in the X1C. I was testing some cheap PETG and the X1C was getting clogged every print, the prusa wont. Also, the MK4 it's the quietest print I ever had, even next to it, you would even listen only in the fast movement speeds, the X1C sometimes it's a little bit annoying it's loud as hell. So in conclusion, I have the opportunity of having both but, for those people that only can have one (price, space, time, wife 😅) I would recommend the Mk4 instead of the Bambu, because all the hardware in the Bambu i'ts proprietary and, hard to maintenance by yourself, you can only do a few things, and Bambu every solution the offer it's to you buy a new part. Now if you don't want to deal with repairs and just swap a part go for the Bambu. PS. Resolving a clog with the Prusa vs the Bambu, the Prusa it's a loooot easier. Doing a cold pull (a real one no that bs in the Bambu wiki page) in the Bambu it's dangerous, you may burn yourself. In the prusa you just need to unhook the level idler and do the pull, in the Bambun you need to partially disassemble the extruder, and if any debris gets stuck in the extruder, you would need to disassemble the entire extruder, or change for a new one ( I preferred the first one) Both printers are top of the line awesome prints, but I think that every printers trades things for another ones that make the decision difficult, and you won't be able to have all at once

[@henninghoefer]

I'd love to see some testing with other materials. Every Ender 3 clone can print PLA - if this thing is over 1000€ it should be doing at least ASA in the same print quality.

[@stan110]

As long as you put it in a isolated chamber is should work. I have been printing ASA with my Mk3 for years now.

[@coiledspringofapathy]

I might have buyer's remorse. Part way assembling my Prusa 4. I am hoping Prusa (who used to be a leader), plays catch up.

[@alexzandermanning6094]

Return it?

[@edenassos]

That Josef guy needs to know his price isn't working anymore for what his products offer.

[@AllTheBestVideos]

Please do AnkerMake M5

[@cgwworldministries83]

I would kill for a prusa but they send you free ones? Good lord.

[@Motsai778]

“Left side is the lucky side” never has my ocd bothered me so…right sides the lucky side!

[@dkastra26]

Its the best Printer for the Money. I have the x1c too but if you Touch both you will go for prusa. And better Print quality

[@UltimatePerfection]

How does it work with generic, no-name $1.50/spool filament?

[@arosnett]

It’s drooling 😂

[@sinebar]

The MK4 is made in Europe so it is more expensive than it normally would be if it were made in China. I wish I had known that before I purchased mine. I thought more money = superior product but it turns out that more money = made in a higher cost nation. It makes nice parts though and I think it's open source? Perhaps it can be upgraded.

[@borisbommen]

I had prusa, went to bambu p1p and when i see this it makes me not want to go back. I am sorry but prusa really need to step up their game of they want to be relevant anymore. I really loved my mk3s+ but better times are here.

[@valeriyproklov2868]

The insufficient purge is probably in case you change to a filament of the same color.

[@bunker1213]

Then, why purge at all as a default? And why isn't there two options, one to change without purge and one that purges a reasonable amount for a color/material change?

[@ulaB]

@@bunker1213 There is? It's called "purge more".

[@bunker1213]

@@ulaB and why should I have to do that 2-3 times extra manually everytime I change filament?

[@NOBLE-wo5rr]

@@ulaB for the cost of $1100 there is no reason I should have to stand there and press the button 2-5 times lmfao.

[@ulaB]

@@NOBLE-wo5rr Well. If you pay that much money, just to swap filaments, you might be doing it wrong. ;-) That said - there are a lot of people that don't need to purge more, because they change to the same color. Printfarms for example. That would mean a lot of unnecessary waste. So they would complain instead (and they paid a lot more than you). And it is more difficult to pull the filament back in than to extrude more. What you get for $1000 is the option to change the code yourself or at least report an issue on GitHub. - as others have done instead of just complaining. :-)

[@tiggertailzz]

PURGE MOAR!

[@onurilberkayis]

Me hyped for world's fastest benchy record 5 seconds later me:🥹

[@tombo7719]

You might say this is about 1/3 open source hardware, and the software still open. Prusa being a nice guy, won't keep him in the running printer wise.

[@BeefIngot]

I think its rather simplistic to pretend that their missed step here is anything to do with being open source. You have to remember that their opensource nature is a tradeoff. They got a ton of free work over the years from other people due to it, and now act like somehow its unfair when other people use the other side of the coin, and get their free work too, when thats the entire point of the agreement: no one has to reinvent the wheel. Whats more, the area that they are behind in is clearly hardware, and they are not only open source in name alone (where are the MK4 Cad files? Last I checked they still havent been released), and in that area, none of the most modern printers are copying them, because they aren't at a place to be copied from. So yea, waaaaaaay less about Prusa being a nice guy and waaaaay more about them taking too long and resting on their laurels. I hope that they actually do commit to open source in any practical sense, but their pr suggests they want to move away from it more, which to me, kills any reason for me to like the brand.

[@joeking433]

I wonder if Prusa is going to try to lower their prices? I just bought a Bambu Labs A1. I would have bought a Prusa if they could sell a mk4 for like $500.

[@AshBashVids]

....that's not going to happen. A1 can be so cheap because of Chinese subisidies.

[@joeking433]

@@AshBashVids I don't believe that for a minute! More likely it's because Chinese labor and materials are cheaper. But even Chinese labor is now getting high and manufacturers are looking for cheaper labor in places like Vietnam, Mexico, and Indonesia. I think Prusa is probably seeing really high margins and can afford to lower prices. If they don't I really wonder how long they can compete in the budget printer market.

[@AshBashVids]

@@joeking433 "I don't believe that for a minute! " Facts don't care about your feelings. The A1, if made in the EU, would easily cost just as much as the mk4, if not more.

[@AshBashVids]

@@joeking433 "The average mainland Chinese yearly wage is more than in the Czech Republic, bub! " What... reality are you living in?!? Fucking hell, didn't think I'd see this level of stupidity here. The sheer irony on claiming I'm pulling stuff out of my arse, especially when I'm literally talking about basic facts that you can look up anywhere online. Chinese workers are paid fuck all, especially workers in large sweatshops. Far less than any EU country. Think about it, why do you think the cheapest stuff is all from China, including 3D printers? Low wages and government subsidies/funding. It's why all the major corporations - Apple etc, all have factories over there.

[@Exstaz]

You will break the wire when it’s so close to the wall. You need to print a piece that puts the bed wire at 45 degrees.

[@BeefIngot]

Reason 900 for why bed slinger just don't make sense in current year. There are certain price points at which for most people it's just not worth it to deal with the hassle of a cheaper machine. This one ain't cheap and you still have to deal with this 🤦. Like I know to some this might seem a small critique but seriously, no included chamber (the XL doesn't either) to me has always seemed like a way to subtly raise the actual price just that much more.

[@nkpenn]

So glad I got bambu …

[@sanpedrox2]

"a still shit, and another still shit" 😂❤

[@MKS_Design]

Great printer. It should be half its price though considering the current offering from other manufacturers. Thanks for the review.

[@CandidProle]

I can't believe you still have to use tools to adjust the belt tension. You can get a printer for $150 that has belt tensioning knobs

[@ericlotze7724]

Great Review, granted short of use cases where one would use a MK3S (Print Farms, Legacy Mods like Open5x etc) I don’t see *too much* of a Future for this (although Load Cell may be of use for printing on fabrics etc/the Open5x Conformal Printing) What i am HYPED for is the Multi-Toolhead Prusa XL, i feel it will be like the E3D Toolchanger…but with a large community and support to give it that polish and ubiquity (like the MK3S and Ender 3 have). I sound like an apologist at times lol, but short of the “Project Car” type printers i feel Prusa is a way to go, and there is that “RnD Surcharge, plus (Long Term) Support and No Sweatshops kind of premium). One i have the money to burn i do want to make some water cooled servo motor crazyness like how HevORT, RatRig, and the 247Zero/VZBotz have been going! That’s my rant at least lol. I’d love to hear what others think about all that.

[@alessiopinca8989]

How can the load cell be used to print on fabric?

[@ericlotze7724]

@@alessiopinca8989 Fabric might be difficult, but since it doesn’t rely on magnets, *in theory* it can probe any surface.

[@BeefIngot]

On the idea of there being an end surcharge and no sweatshops, I honestly truly encourage you to look up what Czech people are actually paid vs Chinese people. You'll find the difference isn't as crazy as what you'd expect. The long story short, China had a Baby boom many years ago, and that has since levelled off. The effects have been that they had that time of being the world's cheap labour hotspot, but now have a population whose wages are increasing and who are becoming increasingly technical. For instance, I was surprised to learn that a Chinese engineer gets paid not too far off what an engineer in my country gets paid. Basically I think the stereotype is slowly becoming quite out dated. Of course it remains true in the poorer areas of China, but this 3d printer company is in the heart of Shenzhen, their sort of silicon valley. I also think seeing what Bambulab has made vs seeing the mild updates over the mk3s that Prusa has made really dampens that whole RND money aspect.

[@-FOXX]

If you ever consider getting rid of any of those printers. Keep us in mind heh.

[@timotejmierva4794]

Finaly🥳🥳🥳

[@nickjeffrey8050]

The days are gone of having to remove filament from the bed due to probing Thanks bambu 😊

[@BrazenRain]

Bambu's start sequence is one of the most underrated things about the X1. Being able to confidently start a print and walk away was a hobbyist workflow game changer

[@ericlotze7724]

Granted I’m pretty sure it’s a simple G-Code Fix where you lower the nozzle temp during probing. Pretty sure this was just common knowledge, not magic by the Company Notorious for Using Other People’s Work (and calling it proprietary…)

[@jumadhaheri]

Bambu is amazing

[@3er24t4g1]

The gap between Prusa and Bambu is enormous, and growing! To be competitive, Prusa needs to invest in a mass-production printer design, as well as automation. The Mk4 is too expensive to produce.

[@Chris_Cable]

It also prints too slow by today's standards.

[@ericlotze7724]

Granted valid to an extent (will see how Prusa XL with toolchanger fairs), *BUT* short of the production engineering and Injection Mold tooling, Bambu basically took *existing Open Source RnD* then pretend they did all of it. Short of the *proprietary lidar stuff we will never be able to tinker with/test*, what does the Bambu do that a VORON, HevORT, or RatRig can’t? Again there is nuance to this, but just because they add an Apple Aesthetic to a Voron, doesn’t make them the people pushing the industry forward. The Open Source Developers are.

[@3er24t4g1]

@@ericlotze7724 Bambu successfully mass-produced a high-speed printer: Injection molding, stamping, and robotic welding. Prusa needs to adapt to this or die. Hand assembled craft printers can not compete with automated, high-tooling mass-production.

[@ericlotze7724]

@@3er24t4g1 eh. Despite all that Bambulab isn’t *that much* cheaper; it’s no Ender 3. Also I’d love to have them follow the Open Pricing Standard, but I wonder what the material vs labor vs upkeep costs are for both companies. Also, i doubt this, but as with Meta’s Occulus/Meta Headsets, Subsidies can make prices sneaky. As with the Ender 3 I won’t fault people if they NEED a printer ASAP and can only afford those, but at the same time I’d say buy a Prusa, or one of the MANY Open Source designs that are better than Bambulab’s Stuff (Voron, HevORT, RatRig, VZBot, 247Zero Bot, etc) (Most of what makes the Bambulabs short of the *shiny case* was DEVELOPED by those people)

[@Blei0]

Some people seem to miss that those high speed profiles are just for prototyping. If you want to have robust parts you have to turn down the speed anyway.

[@Enjeenier]

The amount of purge 😭😭