Bench Hardware ~ Prusa Mini
Day one
First print running, the manual still open on the desk.
My husband (boyfriend at the time) bought the Prusa Mini for us in December 2022 as a Christmas gift (I was always talking up the Prusa to him). We used it once we got back from travels. My mentor back when I interned at Dedicated Computing had Prusas and always talked about how much better they were. I also like the vibe the company has.
The photos from that first night show the screen at 0% and the first layer going down, so this is day one. We ran the test prints first to confirm it was behaving, then a few benchmark-esque prints.
What it has made
This is a pretty handy little printer. I tend to only use it for small enclosures or jigs.
The enclosure for my hacked grow light came off this bed in June 2023, lid lettering and all. I have also been attempting to print a small robot arm on it, the PAROL6 from Source Robotics, but it has been a slow project.
My husband also printed legs for the Prusa, using the Prusa. That is when the first big failure happened. The printer appeared to stop listening to the g-code and crashed full speed into the print.
The USB problem
The main problem was print files getting corrupted on the USB stick. Invalid g-code streamed to the printer, and it acted erratic, plunging the head into parts. It turned out to be one specific flash drive, one with the metal jacket. It overheats, and then the readback of the print file becomes corrupted. Other flash drives behaved fine.
For a while I had used a Raspberry Pi 3B+ as a Wi-Fi bridge, first to get around any future corruption issues. Printing over the network is the better way anyway, since the printer sends telemetry back. That Pi has since been reassigned to BEADZ. The current setup at my new place has a network switch right there near the printer, though eventually I need to get it on its own lab VLAN.
Trinkets
Printed bearing
The bearing was printed in white PLA just to see if we could. It’s kind of cool that you can print with bits inside that break free and can then move around. A little bit of Vaseline to lubricate everything and it spins okay. I found it on Thingiverse, but the exact model is lost to time.
Pug
A little pug in black PETG. It’s Buddy, Josef Prusa’s pug, one of the sample prints that came from Prusa.
Whistle
A whistle in yellow PLA, also a Prusa sample print.
Giant nut and bolt
A giant nut and bolt in plain PLA, another Prusa sample print.
Candle holder
A candle holder in white PETG, with an LED tealight in it. The model is lost to time.
Prusa logos
The Prusa logo three times over, from the same sample prints. The copper is silk PLA, the white is PLA, and the black is PETG.
Grow light faceplate
A prototype faceplate for the grow light, printed in PLA. I kept it around as a trinket.
Articulated sharks
Two articulated whale sharks, one white and one copper, both in PLA.
Parts scraper
A little parts scraper in PETG. It’s better at getting PLA parts off the bed than PETG parts once the bed cools to room temp.
Drawers
A small set of modular drawers in PETG. This took many prints since there are the outer shells, drawers, and connector brackets. Took some tuning to get the PETG not to be stringy.
Filament clip
A filament clip in white PLA. Really handy little thing. I need to print more.
Spool holder
An adjustable filament spool holder in PETG. It’s the MINI’s stock spool holder from Prusa’s printable parts. We printed another one of these.
Filaments
Most of what the Mini prints is PLA, with a few detours into silk PLA and PETG. I want to do some wood filaments with it. I have a hardened steel nozzle, so it should handle the particle wear-and-tear. I also played with silk PLA on it. That got stringy, but I think that’s just silk PLA taking on moisture from the air. For draft prints I mostly use cheap white PLA. Anyway, refer to the table below for my (not up to date) list of filaments I have tried.
PETG took a full metal hotend upgrade in place of the plastic tube, so it could reliably print at the higher temperatures PETG needs. It was pretty invasive surgery.
| Material | Link | Colors | Nozzle | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PETG | Printed Solid Jessie PETG | Black, White | ? | Printed | Needed the full metal hotend upgrade before the Mini would print it. |
| PETG | Prusament PETG | Jet Black | ? | Printed | |
| PLA | Overture PLA | White | ? | Printed | Cheap white PLA for draft prints. |
| PLA | Prusa sample filament | Yellow, Silver Gray | ? | Printed | Sample amounts that came with the printer. |
| Silk PLA | Geeetech Silk PLA, 3-pack | Copper, Silver, Gold | ? | Printed | Got stringy, probably from taking on moisture from the air. |
| PETG | Prusament PETG | Ultramarine Blue | ? | Planned | |
| Wood PLA | Creality CR-Wood | White Pine | ? | Planned | The hardened steel nozzle should handle the particle wear-and-tear. |
Now
A Bambu Lab P1S has since joined the shop. The print quality is amazing and the multi-filament mux is a game changer. Reprinting the robot arm parts on it was faster and cleaner, with less head plunging into failed prints.
I still keep the Prusa around as a drafting printer, or to try out an odd filament.
