Prusa MK4 Announced

[TylerD321]

Summary

Prusa announced their new 3-D Printer Model today - the MK4. This new model boasts many improvements as compared to the MK3 model. It offers many exciting new features such as no first layer calibration (due to a Load Cell sensor), quick swap nozzles, decreased printing time, and automatic filament loading. There is an optional addon which will allow printing with up to five different colors/materials at the same time! This new model of printer seems to have all of the best features of the MK3 and Mini+, along with many more features that make this printer a massive improvement to either.

 

 

Quotes

Quote

"I usually start these announcements with a bit of a backstory and some broader description. Allow me to skip all that today and give you a quick rundown of the main features of the new MK4: it’s built around our new 32bit connected architecture, it has the next-generation extruder (Nextruder), it lays down a perfectly smooth first layer every time without Live Adjust Z and it has support for high-speed printing with Input Shaper and Pressure Advance. We also improved the safety features even further. Plus, there are a ton of useful things, such as quick-swap nozzles, built-in support for remote printing and webcams, and many more. And it’s still beautifully quiet." - Josef Průša

 

Quote

To hit the major points quickly, this newest machine boasts:

• A new 32 bit main board
• updated Nextruder
• Input Shaper
• Pressure Advance
• quick swap nozzles
• remote printing
• higher precision stepper motors

 

My thoughts

To me, this new model is extremely exciting. I really enjoy some of the UI changes on the new screen - especially the progress bar. Another neat thing about the UI is the ability to modify it to your liking, only showing the things that are important to you. I would consider the best feature of the MK4 to be that there is no required first layer calibration. This greatly simplifies the set up process and should allow people to get into 3-D printing without some of the hassle of the other models. This post only covers what I consider to be the most exciting aspects of the MK4, feel free to look through the sources and video for more information.

 

Sources

https://makezine.com/article/digital-fabrication/3d-printing-workshop/prusa-announces-new-flagship-3d-printer-the-mark-4/

https://blog.prusa3d.com/announcing-original-prusa-mk4_76585/

https://blog.prusa3d.com/the-state-of-open-source-in-3d-printing-in-2023_76659/

https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-mk4-2/#samples

 

 

As @Wardus pointed out, the LTT screwdriver made an appearance in the announcement video at 2:50 in.

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by TylerD321
Added LTT Screw Driver

[Wardus]

6 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

Summary

Prusa announced their new 3-D Printer Model today - the MK4. This new model boasts many improvements as compared to the MK3 model. It offers many exciting new features such as no first layer calibration (due to a Load Cell sensor), quick swap nozzles, decreased printing time, and automatic filament loading. There is an optional addon which will allow printing with up to five different colors/materials at the same time! This new model of printer seems to have all of the best features of the MK3 and Mini+, along with many more features that make this printer a massive improvement to either.

 

 

Quotes

 

 

My thoughts

To me, this new model is extremely exciting. I really enjoy some of the UI changes on the new screen - especially the progress bar. Another neat thing about the UI is the ability to modify the UI to your liking, only showing the things that are important to you. I would consider the best feature of the MK4 to be that there is no required first layer calibration. This greatly simplifies the set up process and should allow people to get into 3-D printing without some of the hassle of the other models. This post only covers what I consider to be the most exciting aspects of the MK4, feel free to look through the sources and video for more information.

 

Sources

https://makezine.com/article/digital-fabrication/3d-printing-workshop/prusa-announces-new-flagship-3d-printer-the-mark-4/

https://blog.prusa3d.com/announcing-original-prusa-mk4_76585/

https://blog.prusa3d.com/the-state-of-open-source-in-3d-printing-in-2023_76659/

https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-mk4-2/#samples

My favorite part is the LTT screwdriver they used a couple minutes in.

[Bananasplit_00]

is it using a Revo hotend or have they come up with their own hot swap crap?

[TylerD321]

3 minutes ago, Wardus said:

My favorite part is the LTT screwdriver they used a couple minutes in.

Good catch, I didn't even notice that at first! I will throw that in the post.

 

4 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

is it using a Revo hotend or have they come up with their own hot swap crap?

Appears to be proprietary.

 

Quote

One of the most important parts is the large aluminum heatsink which doubles as the body of the Nextruder. Two quick-release thumbscrews on the side of the body hold the nozzle in place. This time, we’re using special nozzles with an all-metal filament guide. This means that the entire path of the filament through the Nextruder is all-metal, no PTFE tubes anywhere. This improves the overall reliability of the printer and makes changing nozzles much faster. If you have your favorite V6-compatible nozzles, no worries – we’re offering a simple Nextruder-to-V6 adapter. Once you install it, you can use any V6-compatible nozzle including hardened and high-flow models. We’re, of course, offering a range of various nozzles (from 0.25 to 0.8) in our e-shop with more models coming later.

 

 

[TVwazhere]

Gonna stick with BambuLab being my next printer at this rate. Quick swapping Nozzles is nice but it's not hard to do on most printers, and everything else feels underwhelming for the price. 

[Bananasplit_00]

2 hours ago, TylerD321 said:

Good catch, I didn't even notice that at first! I will throw that in the post.

 

Appears to be proprietary.

 

 

 

.... At least its somewhat compatible with the V6 ecosystem I guess...

[SorryBella]

8 hours ago, TylerD321 said:

the MK4

[GhostRoadieBL]

For the price it will end up being >$1000, the fact it is still a bedsliger doesn't make sense anymore. They have a corexy in the XL and really should be leaning on that design more since there is a hard limit for how fast you can sling a bed around.

They're already outpriced for similar print quality and material compatibility with Creality printers.

Were left in the dust for speed by Bambu and Voron at similar prices.

First layer calibration is nice and all but when you are spending over a grand for a printer, you already should have an idea how to get a good first layer or will pick it up quickly since it's not hard to do.

5 colour changer is pretty good, if there weren't already tool changer printers giving you even more options like changing colour without a purge tower, using multi material prints with different nozzle sizes (that one gets into pro gear but it's already out there)

 

Bottom line, if you really want a prusa you could always get a Bambu and some noctua fans for the same price.

 

[Bananasplit_00]

1 hour ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

For the price it will end up being >$1000, the fact it is still a bedsliger doesn't make sense anymore. They have a corexy in the XL and really should be leaning on that design more since there is a hard limit for how fast you can sling a bed around.

They're already outpriced for similar print quality and material compatibility with Creality printers.

Were left in the dust for speed by Bambu and Voron at similar prices.

First layer calibration is nice and all but when you are spending over a grand for a printer, you already should have an idea how to get a good first layer or will pick it up quickly since it's not hard to do.

5 colour changer is pretty good, if there weren't already tool changer printers giving you even more options like changing colour without a purge tower, using multi material prints with different nozzle sizes (that one gets into pro gear but it's already out there)

 

Bottom line, if you really want a prusa you could always get a Bambu and some noctua fans for the same price.

 

The attractive part are the upgrade kits, the 3.9 upgrade seems pretty nice if you already have several mk3 printers in various states of disrepair

[GhostRoadieBL]

19 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

The attractive part are the upgrade kits, the 3.9 upgrade seems pretty nice if you already have several mk3 printers in various states of disrepair

totally agree, if I was going from a Mk3 it's a no brainer. I'm expecting people are like me and still looking at how they launch the XL with the tool changer head since that looks like the best open air system with a large bed and how they are going to compare to the Bambu & Ender5plus being their toughest competition for speed and price respectively.