Hi, I am brand new to 3d printing and I think it’s something I’d like to get more into. The only issue is I have extremely limited space, and I travel for work.
I am wondering if there are any 3d printers that would be practical for this type of lifestyle. I was eyeballing the prusa mini +.
Are there any 3d printers that pack/travel well?
I’ve experience with 2 printers: Ender 3 orig and the prusa mini. Of those 2 the prusa wins. It wins on every front but certainly space/portability.
If you find a box that fits it, pad it a bit. I can see this totally working if handled with care. You can lift the thing with one hand steadily with the z motor. Spools with the holder are going in another box. 👌
Don’t buy an Ender 3 or something of the same category. These are only good to thinker with and brute force learn stuff. They absolutely do not travel well and take a lot, A LOT of space/money/time/frustration compared to the mini.
3D printers are 10ish kg so not that easy to carry them in hands, but not hard to move. You dont have to look for anything specific, but if you move it you also need filament and some tools probably. Small cabinet on wheels would be perfect for you
take a look at the ender 2 pro, seems to be what you’re looking for. my experience is with the ender 3 pro but if it needs to be light weight, it looks like a decent beginner printer to learn and tinker with.
also keep in mind there’s tons of mods you can print to better suit your needs.
Check out the Positron! It’s the most portable one I’ve seen. The guy behind it, Kralyn, been providing the plans to the community so you can make it yourself.
https://github.com/KRALYN/PositronV3
Since he’s released it to the public, it’s possible that you might be able to find someone else selling them commercially rather than having to build it. The latest version is V3. It’s so small it can fit into a filament box!
I also travel for work and have been missing my mk3s back home. I’ve been eyeballing the Bambu Labs printer to bring on the road with me. My company will ship things around for me as I travel to different sites, so I don’t have to worry about fitting it in a suitcase. I just have to worry about it being packable and shippable, which my mk3s in it’s diy enclosure is absolutely not. The bambu is marketed more like an appliance than a project, in that it’s practically ready to go straight out of the box. Presumably, this means it should be able to go back in the box and ship off to the next site.
