The Prusa XL Review!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ม.ค. 2024
- FINALLY - my review of the @Prusa3D XL 3d printer. I've had this for MONTHS and my review is based on my experiences with the machine. I focus on my use with multi color and show you why I think it's in a class all by itself. Is it worth $4,000? Have a look.
Buy a Prusa XL ▶ 3d.pn/prusaxl
Murder Corn ▶ than.gs/m/939120
Clockspring3D ▶ www.printables.com/@Clockspring
MERCH! ▶ the3dprintingnerd.com/merch
Patreon ▶ 3d.pn/patreon
FloatPlane ▶ www.floatplane.com/channel/3d...
Bambu ▶ 3d.pn/bambu
Glowforge ▶ 3d.pn/glowforge
Prusa ▶ 3d.pn/prusa
Puget Systems ▶ 3d.pn/pugetsystems
Slice Engineering ▶ 3d.pn/slice
MATERIALS 🦇
Polymaker ▶ 3d.pn/polymaker (aff)
Printed Solid ▶ 3d.pn/printedsolid
Amazon ▶ geni.us/shopatamazon (aff)
Matterhackers ▶ 3d.pn/matterhackers (aff)
Proto Pasta ▶ 3d.pn/protopasta (aff)
Nikko Industries 3D Printable Models ▶ bit.ly/3lK0WHi
THE TEAM! 🤟
Host: Joel Telling ▶ / joeltelling
Executive Producer: David Tobin ▶ / david_tobin
The Website ▶ the3dprintingnerd.com
--------------------------------
Find Me Socially!
--------------------------------
Twitch: / joeltelling
Twitter: / joeltelling
Twitter 3DPN: / 3dprintingnerd
Facebook: / 3dprintingnerd
Instagram: / joeltelling
Instagram 3DPN: / 3dprintingnerd
Discord: / discord
--------------------------------
Want to send me something?
--------------------------------
3D Printing Nerd
PO Box 55532
Shoreline, WA 98155
USA
Music in Episodes Comes From:
Epidemic Sound - 3d.pn/epidemicsound
Future Vega - futurevega.sourceaudio.com
Audio Micro - www.audiomicro.com/royalty-fre...
FTC Disclaimer: A percentage of sales is made through Affiliate links - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Hi Joel, it gave me a little heart attack when I found out you are getting the show printer back then 😅
I have a few notes and tips 💡⤵
- For the correct generation of the organic supports on multipart objects, you just merge them (select objects > right click > merge). It cannot be done automatically because of some edge cases for now, but we are getting there.
- IF you are big into multi-material painting of objects, get a cheap pen tablet (like Wacom One S, but any will do), and it will change your life.
- I also want to point out the Smart Fill feature, which automatically detects edges when you paint a model.
- I love how you are not shying away from the very complex things like mixing together tool changing and filament swapping! We'll fix that M600 tool selections asap, good catch. Do you have any more of these “integration hell” use cases in the pipeline?
- Most people just keep forgetting that XL is not just the 5 head toolchanger, there is 2 head variant for $2500 which you can always upgrade later on. It's the perfect choice for 95% of engineering purposes, with the single tool coming in even cheaper.
- As for the tip what to try out, it would be incredible to see your take on some tool. Imagine 3DPN Screwdriver with a core printed from PCCF so the bit can be held securely and flex over molding for the nice cushy handle 🤔
I am super happy you are enjoying the XL and cannot wait for your multimaterial adventures! 🫶
So has the "layer shift" issue been fixed (tool heads, on change, do not always sit 100% the same every time, and require a "bump" or tuning/tightening) on new units shipping out? its still a very expensive machine to not work 100% "out of the box" :(
Happy printing 👋
When are toolheads for upgrading 1 or 2 tool variants going to be available?
Ship it with bigger gummy bears! The 5 pound tri-color gummy bear would be perfect!
@@marcusone1 as the video explains, the layer shift is fixed by lubricating the pins, it takes 30 seconds to do and makes all the difference! We have meassured the before and after here. It is not possible to lubricate them here, it needs to be done after the toolheads are attached and typically it only needs lubrication after the machine did some hours of printing.
Multi material is the primary reason why I decided to get XL 2T. Not trivial to use, but it's been great overall. Worth the price, IMO. PETG-PLA support mix (either way) is awesone, not to mention mixing in TPU with harder plastics for true multi material prints.
I was printing dual color PETG & PLA yesterday when I realized they don't stick together 😅
That's they way many scientific discoveries were made, by accident. :D @@Skylar0198
Have you tried any more exotic combinations? From working with objet printers some of the most interesting prints were flexible materials simulating overmolding. Would be really interesting to see those combos.
@@MrFerrariF360I'd love to see Nylon with TPU
Why didnt you just get a bambu labs x1c or p1p
I could get on board with the price tag, IF this printer worked reliably and flawlessly. I have had my 5 tool now for a few weeks and still fighting major noise and vibration issues when the tool head travels along the y axis in the middle of the build plate, major stringing issues, I had tool head crashing issues(which I think I fixed), firmware errors, this was a factory assembly printer and I’ve reached out to prusa support 4 different times now, still no solution and the last time I reached out they said they would get back to me and never did. I was a prusa fanboy, but after waiting 2 years and having lots of issues,this has changed. I hope someone comes along and makes a large multitool that just works, I’d still pay 4k for one, just not for this one.
Totally agreed with you, got a 2T factory built back in Aug. was working okay for a time, but then a linear rail started to fail on the z-axis. It's taken Prusa 4 MONTHS to get it back to me in working order, and now they forgot to send me back the calibration pin, so it gets to sit a few more weeks while they decide to ship me a new one, which they still haven't confirmed. So much frustration over what is a lot of raw potential.
That's the thing that a lot of these reviewers never say (except 3DMusketeers) is that the support the reviewers get is infinitely better than the support an end-user gets. Reviewers are on a 'priority 1' support list, i.e. they get instant replies and support because they know they will help sell their product (even if unknowingly as in 3D printing nerds case) or help the product to fail (as in sales). Real world support can be non existent for an end user, and reviewers can give a false impression of that support.
I'm in such a similar boat!!! I was a fanboy after having an amazing experience with my MK3 but the MK4 I bought new from them is a lemon and Prusa Support just keeps brushing me off telling me stuff like, "oh that isnt an issue" regarding the head twisting filament so rapidly & badly that it knots up after about 20 minutes. I would say thats very much an issue!! (and yes I've rebuilt it, reprinted the parts, adjusted everything 20 times, etc...). Another issue is that all of my prints warp to failure no matter what settings, plate, filament, etc. In response they recommended me an article about print temps/warping. I know how to print!! Not only have I run the gamut from below all the way above the recommended range for both the filment and the bed, I've printed the same model with the same filament at normal temps just fine on my MK3 so why am i even having to do that?!?!
At the end of the day I have done hours(!) of my own research and trouble shooting, reprinted loads of the printers parts (using my MK3), and done all the tedious things they have asked me to do like send them a bunch of pictures (every chat) of the printer and failed/warped prints just so they can say, "Printer looks good, read some articles, on you go!"
I shouldn't have to recite a dark incantation and scribe runes on my fancy new printer to get it to effing work. Its been infuriating and completely burned me on the brand. At this point it just makes me even more mad when people actually get working machines and rave about how good they are. Must be nice. 😤
prusa is honestly just getting by because of the name these days. it's like Apple, their fanbase is convinced that they are the best because they were at one time, but the competition is way cheaper and better in most ways now.
Great review Joel! I appreciate you takings us thru the intricacies of your print issues. I myself have had a few hiccups with my XL single tool as well but have also had some great prints and fun with this machine. It was indeed worth the wait overall. Looking forward to playing with the new input shaper configs in prusa slicer. It’s been promising in the few prints I’ve done so far.
I've kept an eye on this printer for some time and hoped a lot of the growing pains would be resolved after coming out close to 3 years later. I'll wait until the current version is a bit more polished! But a very interesting machine indeed.
Been waiting for this! I got my preorder in on the first day as well and been printing with it since August! I had some issues at first, but I've been loving it since
Wow... you went DEEP! And I love it. So glad you took the time to run the machine through its paces. Also, amazing that you're already pushing the envelope by shining a light on the support generation limitations and the M600 color change options. This is the kind of feedback that helps the software get where it needs to be. More... more... I want to see MOAR XL!!!
MOAR!!
@@3DPrintingNerd XLMOAR even!
Phrasing?
I like and appreciate how honest this review is, thanks Joel!
Great review. I still have a lot left to explore with my XL so it's really inspiring and helpful to see your deep dive. Thanks a lot!
Appreciate the honest review.
Great review. Look forward to seeing what you can mix with flexible filament.
Excellent video…your delivery looks just effortless! Love it!
I have my XL/5 since mid-november. And I can confirm the findings of Joe. I did not yet lube those screws, but will do it soon, since I now understood why. (That's the downside of a semi-assembled vs a full kit like my MK3: for that machine, I knew every screw...)
What's also a big plus: cleaning of the nozzles. I started to do once a week a cleaning: place a protection on the build sheet, pull out a toolhead manually and lay it on the sheet, let it heat up to 230° or so and use a brass brush to clean the nozzle. All easy reachable and fast cleaned.
Great video Joel! Thanks for featuring my solution for the layer banding issue. I'll definitely be trying the lubrication method to see if that helps instead.
I'm surprised you haven't done an update video yet about that situation. My 5 head doesn't seem to have this issue...? And I haven't had to lube mine either. So now I'm curious why yours is doing that. I'm very maticulous when I set the docks and calibrated them, so my stuff seems to be spot on. Have you tried checking the mounts and recalibrating the docks again?
This was a good video, lately I have been skipping a few, but this is awesome. Keep up the great work.
Awesome review! I can't wait to see what people will do with the XL. PETG with FLEXible soft touch handles, print in place rubber seals, PLA with PETG supports! Woodfiil with PETG-CF for amazing aesthetics! So many possibilites. :)
Great review, thanks for hitting some the key points alot of people seem to miss, which is there really is no other machine out there like this.
Thanks for this review Joel.
Me still on a 1 toolhead but really want to upgrade to more (hopefully to 5) when they will have those available in the near future. Changed my 0.6mm nozzle to 0.4 already for this one. Can't wait for the other fully 0.4mm nozzle 5-toolhead review/compare video.
Wow, thank you for this awesome review, i am glad that you show pluses and cons of this monster. I cant wait to see this beast on my table. I am fascinated by the small waste tower for such a big models in compare to other printers on market.
I really looking forward what you will do next with this maschine.
Great review! Patiently waiting for the email from Prusa for the order I placed a year ago :)
I think one thing that it should have is that the slicer should be compatible with different nozzle sizes in the same model , that way you could have multicolor prints with really nice details , and in my opinion that would make the machine as a whole better
That and if it came with an enclosure I'd consider it one of the best on the market.
Good overview and agree the XL has huge potential still to be unlocked. One weakness is the tool mount fixing at the back. A single screw in a captive part in the back extrusion. If these aren't tight then the tool dock won't remain in an ideal position. This can contribute to the uneven layers you have/had. I hope they improve this part of the design. Some threadlock and ensuring the mounts are correctly aligned as well as tight will help. I'm loving my XL, the ability to reliably print large parts as well as full beds of parts make it worth the money to me.
I had the same problem / concern. I had to return my x y carriage to Prusa, The number one hole was stripped. They need to make this at least a two position mounting system, three would be even better, tow bolts and a alignment pin.
@@woodwaker1 I think since peo0le have complained they have fixed it
@@Cone_GamingYTAre you saying they’ve changed the design of the captive plate at the back? I’ve not seen or heard that but very interested if that’s the case
@@GuyH77 I mean prusa isn’t bad as anything but I would think they have fixed it. Also, I am buying one my slef but I don’t know what to get. The 2 tool head or the 5. And will there be upgrades to add tool heads to the 1 and 2 ones?
@@Cone_GamingYT If you can afford it then get the 5 head. Lots of people on the forums with 2 wishing they had more, not necessarily 5 but currently that's the choice. Prusa will offer tool upgrades in future but they're still working through the backlog so not sure when that is. Also, the 5 tools need an extra board and PSU. They've not improved the tool dock fixing and it is an area that can be improved. The docks can work loose over time. Then you're scared to strip the insert as replacing it involves disassembling the printer....
Love your channel, but please can you put the time it took for each of those awesome prints and how many grams of filament was used? Always curious about that
I would disagree regarding it having an “early adopter” tax. You could say that about the E3D toolchanger. Even for the E3D TC, it still was using mostly old tech from industrial 3D printers or CNCs. Prusa really is stretching how much they should charge for this and it shows with their pro line of printers getting closer in price. I think the Prusa XL is an incredibly interesting printer but they’re trying to charge a Pro price when this is still a hobbiest machine with its limitations.
Great honest review. There's not many tool changer designs available, and now it's the only commercially available tool changer. I agree it's an early adopter platform, there's so much potential undiscovered yet.
Thanks for watching!
I've been waiting for this review for months. Great video! I will get my 2 TH XL in a few days and I cannot wait to start printing on it. Do you know if the XL could receive hardware upgrades in the future, like the I3 Prusa does? Because I guess if it does, the price is even more justified by giving it more longevity than your normal cheap printer. And for me, a European guy, it's awesome, that it's built here. I love the dinosaur flexi print. Does anyone know where I can find the file for that?
That's a solid looking printer! Also, I love clockspring's stuff! Good things
Great review, and looking forward to more exciting XL hijinx!
"This could be horrendous and still be successful, just like me!" - Classic!
Solid review, Joel!
Thank you!
I really enjoy mine, got a set of 0.4 nozzles I'm going to switch to for increased detail. Would love to be able to have 0.25 on two of them and have the slicer be able to use them in one print for small features in a print. Also worth to highlight is the fact that switching between heads and priming is so fast compared to the MMU or AMS!
I'm hoping that the next version of Prusa Slicer will give us the ability to mix nozzles within a single STL. I thought it did, because the options are available in 2.7.1, however, someone pointed out to me that it doesn't work and gives an "invalid" text where "slice" would normally be, and I tested it and they were correct. So figures 🤞 for the next iteration.
Yeah , multi-head will always be faster than a single nozzle doing color changes , also it barely produces any waste , which is a big plus
The price is fine.
2 headed model will be useful for most people who don't need multicolor just for the sake of support material without purge. Superb investment if you have space and resources.
But I barely found space for my X1C and I love the drybox ams, so I'll just stick with it. It does all I need and I also don't do many multicolor prints.
Thanks for another interesting video. I appreciate that you show the bad with the good. I wish I had your positive outlook. You roll with the punches of tech issues better than I do. My experience with the Makerbot 15 years ago were so horrific, that I still don't trust 3D printer companies.
I'm glad I waited to get the Bambu X1C until recently because I've seen what people went through early on, and most of those issues have been figured out.
I will be doing the same with the Prusa XL. I will wait until the main issues are worked out, and by the time that happens, there may be other companies making tool changer based printers that are large, so there may be other options. I love the X1C, but I would love to print larger, and be able to do color changes much faster and with a lot less waste.
I was looking into getting the tool changing printer from E3D many years ago, but I don't think it's available any more. Did Prusa buy the rights to the tech and that is what became the XL?
High-5!
I love my MK3S+ and would love to get my hands on an XL but that price is just to much for me to justify. I know as you said this is the premium you pay as an early adopter and I fully agree. I wonder if in the future we might see a core XY option from Prusa which is scaled between the MK4 and XL build volume with 3-4 tool heads in the $1.5k-$3k price range.... Perhaps that's wishful thinking but its something I would 100% be interested in.
Love your videos Joel, keep up the great work.
Maybe 2 toolhead XL for $2500 could be an interesting option for you. It unlocks multi-material options and you can always upgrade later if you run out of toolheads.
Good review. XL still has teething issues but I'm confident it will be optimized. It will take a "village" of users to perfect. Multi color/material is definitely the next frontier. Still have my beloved and heavily modded CR-10 BUT saving my money for a core XY replacement - unsure who that will be yet, but looking forward to regaining some bench space.
I’m super excited for the multi-material potential of this approach! Much too pricey for me right now unfortunately, but I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye on it and future iterations
I have had my XL 5 head for a couple months now and have yet to have a priming tower stick to the bed, prints single just fine, wondering if you are having the same problems.
Just an update, I did use Prusa multi-prints that come with the printer,
Lots of people are having issues with multi-headed printing. The system just isn't working well due to the print heads not seating properly with the magnet system.
There are a lot of videos outlining the issues with the XL. So far Prusa has been ignoring the issue, it appears.
I did not know I had been watching your videos for so long until you showed the hairy lion model, I remember that video like I watched it yesterday. High Five for keeping up the great work!
I'm trying to convince my boss to buy a xl 😃
I would also like a xl mini, with only 2 toolheads or dual extruders.
More real multi material should be tested.
Definitely go .2 layers with a .6 nozzle to get better overhangs. Maybe randomise seams and just tune linear advance well. I've finally got a bigger workspace now, so I'm still deciding what big corexy to build to go with my Anycubic Mega x, Prusa mini, and voron 0.1. Leaning towards a vzbot or voron trident still though.
I’d like to see some multimaterial support prints. Either with dissolvable or easy break away due to print temp differences.
Could it not do the purging priming thingy within the infil to make it less wastefull?
IIRC there is an option for that in the latest Slicer versions.
it can but u have be careful you will see it bleed threw in some cases
A lot of money and well out of the way of home users. Even at £1300 the X1C is expensive but the P1S with AMS for £800 is a good deal. The Prusa looks a nice machine but I worry about the price and its not even enclosed and the filament is out where it can hydrate or get dust on it. It has some great plus points but seems to be lacking in some essentials as well. I think its time to go back to the drawing board.
Also, the Bambus can do 16 colours for less money.
Glad you're having luck with the XL. Got my 2 head XL early Dec 23 and it hasn't printed anything yet. Yes, I'm working with Prusa and have the current firmware. Have not been able to even do a test print. So far I can't get it to calibrate the filament sensors on both heads, then when calibrating the nozzle alignment it says BOTH nozzles "Don't seem to have a round cross section". These are brand new, never used , out of the box. Then it suddenly pops a big message saying MODULAR BED ERROR Unexpected invalid current. This is new, never used. It came with a test strip saying this machine was tested before shipping. Was it? I don't know. I probably should have waited on the purchase till they get the bugs out and get the software fixed. My almost 5 year old MK3 is a champ and works anytime I need it. Hopefully Prusa can fix this. I'm almost ready to send it back.
Thanks for your XL review! Looking forward to your 0.4 mm nozzle review and hopefully a print quality comparison w/ the mk4.
I am just waiting for the shipping times to be reduced and the odd bugs to get worked out (growing pains). As it stands, I need at least a few XLs it in my farm to reduce print times for the certain stuff I sell. Great and honest review. Thanks
Try PETG with PLA supports
then you'll see why i find it a wonderful machine
2024 maybe even more exciting year than last year, as far as 3d printer tech and models. Can't wait to see more and more multi-color and multi-material projects popping up to try out.
Yes. Multilateral with the XL is exactly what I want to se.
as many many people have pointed out, my example was with a single item. The bambu does slightly better the more items are on the bed, but it still wastes a ton
Can you please link where you bought the torch for furry prints?
Right here! hacksmith.store/en-us/products/pre-order-mini-saber-gen-2
Great Review Thank You!
Great and honest review about the Prusa XL. I said at SMRRF to Rudolf that I really would like the borrow a XL for a while, since I don't have any budget soon for a XL... He was laughing about is, he said that this was an very original request that he didn't heard before...
Great review. I have always preferred multiple tool heads over filament changes.
Where can I find the dino model printed in the video? Loved the video as always.
I was nervous to complete my preorder, but I'm glad I did, my XL is performing darn near perfect. I haven't had to lube my 3 contact points at all and I never have alignment issues. Being able to print with different materials is so much fun. (Albeit, a whole new learning experience as well.) I did, mix and match nozzles for the time being. Would be nice to see some nextruder nozzles offered from diamondback or maybe some tungsten carbide nozzles in the nextruder so we don't need an adapter. I did notice that on bigger prints putting out a lot of filament, that the overture spool wore a grove into my spool holder. Not a big deal but the abrasive nature of the cardboard is a little harsh on the spool at higher speeds. But all in all... I'm 95% satisfied.
Great review have you seen the proforge 4 it's also a toolchanger that's currently shipping but I haven't seen any reviews or coverage of it really
Where can I find that flexi dino? I was looking at clockspring's stuff, but have not found it.
Sooo, no fix for the layer shift while toolchanging?
What's that model at around 2m50? It seems like something from Clockspring3D but I can't find the actual model.
Good stuff 😊 but fo you think prusa too to long to get this to market considering all of others, offerings has now?
Its a different beast. The ams system different compared to this. This looks like it could do flexible materials a lot better. Also the bambu is fairly restricted in settings you change. Bambu is like an apple computer and the prusa is a pc. Depends on how much control you want over your item.
yeah prusa wont have all the bug out of it before cheaper clones hit the market
Please test loads of multi material, please include couple weird combos like PC and TPU or PP with PVA supports.
In general I'd like to know how is it with large prints out of ABS, ASA, PA... is lack of enclosure a problem?
Will purge tower work with PP, which doesn't stick to anything, or soft TPU, that barely holds its shape?
Really want to see Nylon/TPU prints. The possibilities are almost limitless
Does multi-head mean it can work on the same print together and get done quicker?
So I agree when something is a class of its own you can charge whatever you want. I also agree that if competition happens the price will go down. What I am thinking is whether it is possible to upgrade a base XL with additional tool heads later?
Yes, just costs more.
@ShotGunner5609 I'm more concerned about how much time it takes to add the additional tool heads. Like, is an easy end user upgrade, or is it really involved.
Is it possible to print with ASA on one extruder, PLA/PETG on another extruder, also two completely different models at the same time?
Finally a TH-cam reviewer that read the manual and adjusted the nozzle seals correctly. This pretty much matches my own experience with the 5-XL. Fantastic machine that's currently in a league of its own when it comes to multi-material printing.
I'd have to look it up and check them. But I got the fully assembled version, so I didn't touch the seals during my assembly. Should I have? They seem to be working just fine, but they are pressed down when seated against the nozzle.
@@grantdeisig1360 Yes, I'd check them. Having them properly adjusted makes a huge difference, as hot nozzles will otherwise ooze filament when parked. Even the fully assembled version requires you to attach the individual toolheads to the frame, at which point you should check the seal is parallel to the nozzle you're using. It's just a few turns with a screwdriver and only takes a minute, really.
@@fribbledom5256 ok, I'll check out Prusa's site and see the height it recommends.
@@fribbledom5256yes, but almost nobody knows this. Prusa has to improve the Communication towards their users 😳
Joel great reviews as always! People comparing this with the also excellent Bambu Lab printers are missing these are two very different printers with different intended uses and customers. I cant print multimaterial (only multi colour) on a Bambu Lab..and I infortunately cant cost justify this for just printing ornamental stuff.
I need a multi-material printer with an enclosure for printing high temp nylon, ASA and ABS.
Looking gorward to the reviews on the rumoured new Ankermate V6, 6 tool head printer (not sure how reliable this rumour is) and other tool changers no doubt soon to come on the market.
How does this printer compare to the bamboo labs x1 carbon overall. Disregarding size which is more versatile a trouble free? Am I better off saving longer to get the pursar?
PLA Support for PETG prints is a game changer.
Waiting for my 5 tools upgrade to try a mix of easily removable support, flex and colors in one part.
Can't wait to see the Bambu response for half the price with none of the problems.
I would like to see you do future videos that explore functional multi-material prints, strategies for multi-material supports, and tradeoffs and benefits for when to use 0.4mm nozzles or 0.6mm. I ordered an XL for large prints, so understanding speed versus quality is important to me.
Hi, could you give the link to the articulated t-rex model ? Thx a lot
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/flexi-factory-print-in-place-skeleton-t-rex-dinosaur
@@3DPrintingNerd excellent, thx a lot
Hello, where can I find the flexible Dino model? Thank you 🙂
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/flexi-factory-print-in-place-skeleton-t-rex-dinosaur
@@3DPrintingNerd Thank you.
Are you going to do a review on the kobra 2 max ?
Now when you tested the pursa xl and bambu x1. If you could pick one, what would you pick?
If the build size was not a variable.
Is the price also a variable or not? :p
Hmmm its a less variable. Buying it to a company. So get some tax reduction.
So was thinking on a 2 head pursa xl in that case.
I prefer multi material over multi color.
Is there a 3-D printer featuring a head changer with nozzles of varying diameters, allowing the use of smaller nozzles for detailed work and larger ones for areas where detail is less critical, or employing a larger diameter for infill and a smaller one for outer layers to enhance printing speed?
The XL hardware supports that already, but the slicers aren't there yet.
Solid review! You're right about the price IMO: I don't want to spend that much, but I also don't have a need for this machine's USPs so it all works out. With some tricks, you can get pretty nice multicolor prints even with a single extruder, but multimaterial is really the cutting edge right now.
Great review, good to see you not say it's perfect or the best printer out there because that (as you know) doesn't exist. $4,000 is a tough pill to swallow for me and maybe one day when it hits the $2,500 range it would be an interesting printer for me.
PrusaSlicer and slicers derived from it such as Bambu or Orca build supports independently for each object. Parts of a multi material print have to be specified as part of a single object for the supports to build without colliding with object parts.
Well covered review. There is so much to cover on what to do in a printer, especially at this price point. Let me get the weird/annoying stuff out of the way first...
An example of a complaint I've seen: "For that price, it should have a camera!" like the rolling shutter one on the Bambu X1C? Or the 1FPS one on the P1 and A1 series? What if I don't like the camera angle? What if the lighting doesn't look good? Do you now go "good thing this came with a camera, I'm going to ignore it outside of checking print progress and setup a better camera and print that riser so I can put a light bar in there"? I own a single tool XL, a "semi-assembled" model, which I've had for around 6 months now. I chose 1 tool because 99% of what I print is 1 color and I planned to do multi-color and multi-material another time. But it had an interesting side effect: most of the complaints people had on the XL, I didn't have. Did it string? Yes. Did it string like it didn't know how to extrude plastic? No. Did it string as much as an out of the box X1C, P1S, A1, Ender 3 V3, the dozen of Vorons I've seen, etc.? Yes, yes it did. There's a lot of drama in the community right now, and having seen (and probably contributed to) it, I think it's come down to a very fine line that is person dependent: when is it pointing out an issue/desiring improvement and when is it vitriol/fanboyism/hate? I want people to print cool things, but I also want prior people's work to be respected and for credit to be given where it comes from... I see a lot of "well they innovated this" and it's become very Apple vs. Android where you can point to something that occurred in one of them, sometimes years before the other got it, and then people viciously defend the brand they own/chose when called out for claiming they created it when it's demonstrated they didn't. I think it's also a lot of human factor: people don't want to be told they made the wrong choice, and they don't want to hear their choice isn't perfect. How many hours did you work to make the money to purchase something? How would you feel if you couldn't get those hours of life back but you purchased V1 and a week later V2 came out?
I think that handwavy topic that could be much deeper, needs to be mentioned. The Prusa XL is not perfect. I am happy with my purchase and it works well and for what I wanted it for. But as an owner, I'm going to be critical of it. One of the unique issues I had was that my heated bed had electro-magnetic interference that caused the tiles to error when preheating. I worked with Prusa Support for around 4 or 5 hours, they asked me to check every wire for proper crimping (which I felt was not appropriate for something that had QR codes all over things for quality assurance, and that since Prusa has said publicly "this is not for consumers", a prosumer or business owner is gonna balk at that amount of time to check something like wire crimping). In the end, they said "we unfortunately need to report this to engineering and will have to get back to you". 2 weeks past, with me pestering every couple days for a status update. Eventually they came back, they apologized, they offered to send me a spool of filament in addition to the fix (my mind was blown when they offered marble prusament instead of galaxy black). I had to contact them 2 more times before they actually shipped it. But in the end, I got a metal plate... and I installed the metal plate between the electrical contacts and the heat bed... and my issue went away. It blew my mind that via some text and a set of pre-heating tests, it was determined the issue was EM. But here we were. I told people about this, and had plenty of people say "this printer is a failure. It shouldn't have been sold. It's DoA" etc. And I met one at ERRF 2023 who went "wait... what do you mean it's working?" "support figured out a fix and sent me the parts and instructions. I installed it and it's now working" their face said "no way, they got it to work?" I complained, I told people of it's problems, and the most important aspect of it all: I contacted support. When it made little bumps on the heatbed, I contacted support. When it made noise I didn't like, I contacted support. I contacted support on average of 4 times a week for a month for every little thing... and I had the cheapest $1500 version. I didn't have it out for Prusa, I didn't throw it in the trash and make 5 dozen Tweets saying how disappointed I was as if I already had made up my mind on the printer. I said "hey, this isn't working... please help" and they did.
I think Prusa stumbled, I think shipping needs work. I think the firmware could use improvement... I literally used the touch screen on a Prusa User Group event and it worked fine... why is it still not out? I made Github tickets for the First Run setup, on cancel object, and more. I have even more tickets for PrusaSlicer and think it can be improved greatly. I want the team to stop dancing around the request and actually do multi-bed support (they stated they are working on it, but for the longest time they said no, no, no, it already exists, we can't because we don't know it's origin, we can't do it. People people didn't take that as an answer and they're working on it now). I'm hoping when they start selling extra tools, I can do different size extruders with different materials and M600 swaps and more... and have it just work. And just like how people had tons of issues with the MK3 when it came out... they eventually got fixed and it became the nearly unstoppable printer. There are still people buying MK3s... and advised someone if they're gonna get a Prusa, get the MK4... they said "meh, the MK3 is cheaper". And even when pointed out there are other brands with the feature sets... they said they were getting a Prusa. They weren't naive or stupid... they had a set of requirements and the MK3 met them. So when we have issues, we can let them fester in our mind. Speaking them only to close friends... or we can let them know in support, with tickets, or calling them out online to draw attention to it. I'm going to keep glaring at the enclosure not being around, hope they put a camera on it, release some way to do input shapping (if anything, to quiet those that believe it can't be done from a factory... contrary to what some names in Voron/Klipper community have said), and keep contacting support and making requests. And you should do the same for your Bambu, either for a bigger one or for better security and not overlogging (which is a real thing, stop pretending it's made up), or Creality, or any machine.
So I'm glad Joel that you have had great success and greatly enjoyed the XL. I would love to see if the out of the box experience for the review unit is better, worse, or the same. If you don't lube the pins, does the review unit have some of the same issues? I hope that painting improves (smart fill only goes so far), M600 improves, and more because software is easy to fix... just give it a couple weeks for larger stuff, but smaller things can be done in hours or days. I look forward to seeing what comes next, because the closest I've seen to a tool changer like this is nearly the same cost, but is built from scratch and doesn't come with support or warranty. Hopefully it gets faster, some sound dampening is applied (printing is quiet, travel moves... not so much), and more come. I'm sure it will, and with new machines, we'll see what people do. I also would love to figure out the intersection line of how much waste needs to be created before a tool changer becomes more effective then a single tool. Also... MMU on XL? Hint hint, nudge nudge Prusa... 25 color options... purchased as needed/desired... no, I'll let someone else figure out how to setup 25 spools for something like that...
That very same support issue in prusa slicer happens in creality print, it's almost like supports are reaching a point where someone needs to make them generate as a separate model that could even be saved as an stl. Would solve a lot of cross-slicer issues if one slicer could make better supports and you could just export it to another slicer that maybe does invisible seams, or maybe has better advance overhangs etc.
When you get the review unit, please include comparison of the XL basic (one color) print quality with it's 0.4mm nozzle to something like the MK4. Existing reviews based on the 0.6mm nozzle and earlier software showed issues. I am interested in knowing if the nozzle change and other tweaks have improved things.
How is it compared to your Voron, ignoring the tool changing. I am really on the fence because most of the MM prints I have done are purely novelty items so it is quite a lot to spend just for that. I do have a MK3S and love Prusa so it is hard to move on from them.
Great video Joel - did you have any of the issues others, like @tada3dprinting have been struggling with? A lot of her models and scenarios seem very basic but the quality is not great, curious if you had a similar extended or arduous trial & error period as she's been experiencing? It seems like you are working with an entirely different setup (even though the printer is the same) - thanks for the review!
No, I never had basic things with bad quality. it started decent from the get go.
"Very Intensely watches a review of a machine i will NEVER need, or BUY." lol. Love it.
Multi heads may be better for some circumstances but as you show in your own video, you have have 12 different colors at the same time in the Bambu where as the Prusa can only do 4. That's also 4 heads to potentially go wrong. Adding complexity means adding more areas of failure.
yeah thats price is a lil high, i know it not an xl size but they are not the only ones doing it ankermake has the v6 with 6 head an 6 nozzles coming out its 300 or 400. i know a beta tester an he said the new model is amazing so far.
Can you try some flex Filament up to 60A on the Nextruder?
Can you link the STLs for the things that you show off please? :)
What is the weight comparison difference between this XL printer vs the bambu lab X1C or even P1S ?
*Weight in waste
In the future, could you have made the eyes yellow in the slicer since that's the filament you were swapping out?
It looks like Prusa is adopting thew same current paradigm of 'let the customer be the beta tester for us, and pay for the privilege.'
Do owners of the first wave get the upgrades for free or do they have to buy more parts?
I’ve seen a lot of videos showing different issues, and all reviewers seem to get much better results over time.
The one thing I haven’t seen is a fix for the prime tower coming loose.
Is there a fix for that?
What's there to fix? Never had a prime tower coming loose on my XL.
Hey Joel, great review as usual! I agree with everything you said except with all the time it took the deliver the Prusa XLs plus the sheer size of the company Prusa is that they didn't have a more polished printer for $4000. Did I say $4000!!! I had one on order but after all the reviews I canceled it. Prusa is just not delivering the quality as with their past printers. Thanks again for keeping it honest in the review, I know you and Joseph are close. I look forward to your next video.
I'm confused can someone explain what I am missing? I look at Prussa website and it looks like that printer is "only" $1,999. Does that one not come with something this one has? What am I missing here? I thought it might be an older video and checked again and it is like a day old.
There are different versions of the XL. From single head to multi head. This version is the semi assembled 4k version.
1 print head $2000
2 print heads $2500
5 print heads $3500
add 500 for the assembled version(still needs some assembly.
and about 100-150 for shipping.
@@ashleys3dprintshopAh that's why. Thanks. Their site makes it look like it has all the print heads for $1999. Good to know.
Where do I find that Flexi-DIno?
Talking about purge towers and extra filament waste, is it possible to use infill as your "purge tower". I don't have a machine capable of multi materials yet, but for multi-colored materials like red and blue PLA, wouldn't using the infill be much more efficient as in most cases no one will see them and you don't have to retract and move the nozzle away from the print.
You can get rid of the purge tower, I don't know all the details.
I was confused at first. I looked up the Prusa XL assembled and it was $2500. However, I realized that the base XL only comes with 1 extruder. Kick that up to assembled with 5 extruders and you get your $4k price tag.
I have a printer with a 300x272x320 build volume, volcano hotend with 40w heater and reaches tool head speeds of 450mm/s 4000K acel very reliably but i printed at 200-250mms @3K due to a hybrid hardened+copper nozzle volcano I made for functional parts. And a few months ago Micro Swiss came out with the volcano CM2 nozzles, so i figured it would flow more over all so just get a 0.6mm, which was amazing and prtined at about the same speeds as flow jumped from 12-20 (28 max) to 16-26 (36 max) but since the nozzle was pushing was 50% more it was still slowing the tool head. On top of that, I found after some time that i was using more filamemt than i would have thought 🤔 walls where much thicker but i could get away with single wall without artifacts from internal support for the most part but generally would comsume about 20% more filament. Even after compensating with less walls/infill
So, i picked up a 0.4mm volcano CM2 and went to town. Same print flow of optimal 16-26 (34 max, my extruder started skipping at 36) and then i figured why not just print faster. Now im having near the same print times, but not all the time as sometimes the 0.6mm nozzle would simply outclass the 0.4 BUT even though I didn't notice the quality difference going from 0.4 to 0.5 earlier, the jump to 0.6 really hurt part fitment and started to be noticable on the surface and corners. Then going back to 0.4 after a few years the parts fit so much better than ever. This I think has to do with under the hood tuning for the slicers for 0.4 nozzles, purely scepulation tho... Anywho!! Im printing perfect parts at 250-325mm/s @4.5K acel now
Personally i found any faster acceleration has issues with the thermal mass and PID tune limits, i had a K1 (newer upgraded parts) and would see heavy temperature fluctuations on both the screen and the parts. This is where the Bambu has a big edge on print quality at faster speeds with there pressure sensor, but imo helps visual part quality but probably not integrity, idk.. Victor speculation 😊