The Original Prusa i3 MK3S is Prusa Research’s flagship 3D printer, descended through many iterations from the Prusa i3, which was sold by the company at its founding in 2012. As befitting a 3D printer that emerged from the RepRap tradition and that has been consistently improved over the years, the i3 MK3S is simple to use and consistently produced good-quality prints in our testing. It is an easy Editors’ Choice pick for a mid-priced 3D printer for hobbyists and makers.

The Anatomy of Prusa’s Flagship

Unlike the Original Prusa Mini, which ships exclusively as a kit, the i3 MK3S is available either as a kit ($749) or fully assembled ($999). Our review unit was the latter, shipped from the Czech Republic. (Note that on purchases of more than $800, U.S. customers may have to pay an import duty on receipt.)

This red-and-black printer measures 15 by 19.7 by 22 inches (HWD), excluding the spool and the spool holder, which sit atop the printer. It is considerably larger than the Original Prusa Mini, which measures 14.6 by 13 by 15 inches (HWD). The i3 MK3S also has a larger print volume, 9.8 by 8.3 by 7.9 inches, compared with the 7-by-7-by-7-inch print volume of the Prusa Mini. The i3 MK3S’s print volume is also larger (at least in two dimensions) than the 6.7 by 10 by 6 inches of the Editors’ Choice-winning Dremel DigiLab 3D45 (a feature-rich but pricier 3D printer), and considerably larger than the LulzBot Mini 2's printing space (7.1 by 6.3 by 6.3 inches).

The basic form of the i3 MK3S is a square arch, with the build plate below it in the middle. On each side, extending from the base to the top of the arch, are two vertical metal dowels. The inner dowels are threaded and support a carriage holding the extruder assembly, which can move either vertically (Z-axis) or from side to side (X-axis). The build plate rests on a carriage and can move either toward or away from the user (Y-axis).

In front of that carriage is a control panel with a monochrome LCD, from which the user can load and unload filament, select a file from the SD card and launch a print job, access settings, and run a calibration routine...

Behind the arch on the right is the power supply, which accepts an AC cord and has an on/off switch. Behind the arch on the left is an electronics box containing the motherboard and accepting a variety of cables. On top is the USB Type-B port.

The Setup's a Cinch

As mentioned, our i3 MK3S test unit was of the prebuilt variety. The only thing that required any assembly was the spool holder, and even that was simply a matter of snapping three plastic pieces together and attaching the works to the top of the printer. The holder can fit two spools at once, but can feed from only one at a time, as the i3 MK3S is a single-extruder model. To switch to the second spool, you have to unload the filament already in place, load from the second spool, and extrude until the filament from the first spool has been flushed from the extruder and the new color appears.

Although our test unit was not a kit, and we can’t speak to it as such (other than that Prusa Research says that it should take about 8 hours to assemble), it did come with one kit-related item that I recognized from the Original Prusa Mini:  a package of Haribo Goldbären—better known in the U.S. as Gummi Bears. With the kit, you eat them as rewards for completing certain steps as specified in the assembly guide. No such dietary restrictions apply to the pre-assembled version.

The i3 MK3S comes with the 3D Printing Handbook, the user manual for the i3 MK3S. Unlike most 3D printer manuals, which tend to be spartan, the 3D Printing Handbook is a beautiful, professionally printed guide. The handbook is the user guide for both the preassembled version and for the kit. (To actually build the kit version, though, users are directed to the online manual.)

Our preassembled Prusa i3 MK3S arrived already tested and calibrated. There was even a completed test print—the Prusa plaque—on the print bed. Unlike the Original Prusa Mini kit, which took me a long time to calibrate before it would print successfully, the i3 MK3S worked fine right off the bat. Once I loaded the filament, selected a test object, and launched a print job, it was off and running, and never looked back. It printed all of our test objects without a misprint, and in good quality. 

Filament, Connectivity, and Safety

The i3 MK3S supports a variety of filament types, including but not limited to PLA (polylactic acid), PETG (polyethylene terephthalate enhanced with glycol), ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), ASA (acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate, an alternative to ABS), and Flex. The i3 MK3S includes a 1-kilogram spool of PLA. Prusa sells its filament (which it dubs "Prusament") for $24.99 per 1-kilo PLA spool and $29.99 per PETG or ASA spool. You can also use third-party filament, which should be more cost-effective than having Prusament shipped from the Czech Republic.

Connectivity is to a computer over a USB connection. The i3 MK3S has a USB 2.0 Type-B port, the kind commonly found on ordinary printers. It also supports printing from an SD card. Indeed, it comes with one that is filled with test files.

As the Prusa i3 MK3S is a totally open-frame printer, it’s important to keep children and pets away from it during printing, as well as any objects in materials such as plastic or paper that could conceivably melt or ignite should they come into contact with the hot extruder. Fortunately, once a print job is finished, the extruder and build plate automatically cool down. Another plus is that the Prusa i3 MK3S is relatively quiet, which isn’t always the case with open-frame printers.

Barely a decade ago, 3D printers were hulking, expensive machines reserved for factories and well-heeled corporations. They were all but unknown outside the small circles of professionals who built and used them. But thanks largely to the RepRap open-source 3D printing movement, these amazing devices have become viable and affordable products for use by designers, engineers, hobbyists, schools, and even curious consumers.

If you're in the market for one, it's important to know how 3D printers differ from one another so you can choose the right model. They come in a variety of styles, and may be optimized for a particular audience or kind of printing. Preparing to take the plunge? Here's what you need to consider.

What Do You Want to Print?

Tied into the matter of what you want to print is a more fundamental question: Why do you want to print in 3D? Are you a consumer interested in printing toys and/or household items? A trendsetter who enjoys showing the latest gadgetry to your friends? An educator seeking to install a 3D printer in a classroom, library, or community center? A hobbyist or DIYer who likes to experiment with new projects and technologies? A designer, engineer, or architect who needs to create prototypes or models of new products, parts, or structures? An artist who seeks to explore the creative potential of fabricating 3D objects? Or a manufacturer, looking to print plastic items in relatively short runs?

Your optimal 3D printer depends on how you plan to use it. Consumers and schools will want a model that's easy to set up and use, doesn't require much maintenance, and has reasonably good print quality. Hobbyists and artists may want special features, such as the ability to print objects with more than one color, or to use multiple filament types. Designers and other professionals will want outstanding print quality. Shops involved in short-run manufacturing will want a large build area to print multiple objects at once. Individuals or businesses wanting to show off the wonders of 3D printing to friends or clients will want a handsome yet reliable machine.

For this guide, we will focus on 3D printers in the sub-$4,000 range, targeted at consumers, hobbyists, schools, product designers, and other professionals, such as engineers and architects. The vast majority of printers in this range build 3D objects out of successive layers of molten plastic, a technique known as fused filament fabrication (FFF). It is also frequently called Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), although that term is trademarked by Stratasys, Inc. (Although they are not strictly 3D printers, we also include 3D pens—in which the "ink" is molten plastic and the user applies it by drawing freehand or using a stencil—in this roundup.) A few 3D printers use stereolithography—the first 3D printing technique to be developed—in which ultraviolet (UV) lasers trace a pattern on a photosensitive liquid resin, hardening the resin to form the object.

What Size Objects Do You Want to Print?

Make sure that a 3D printer's build area is large enough for the kind of objects that you intend to print with it. The build area is the size, in three dimensions, of the largest object that can be printed with a given printer (at least in theory—it may be somewhat less if the build platform is not exactly level, for example). Typical 3D printers have build areas between 6 and 9 inches square, but they can range from a few inches up to more than 2 feet on a side, and a few are actually square. In our reviews, we provide the build area in inches, in height, width, and depth (HWD).

What Materials Do You Want to Print With?

Most lower-priced 3D printers use the FFF technique, in which plastic filament, available in spools, is melted and extruded, and then solidifies to form the object. The two most common types of filament by far are acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA). Each has slightly different properties. For example, ABS melts at a higher temperature than PLA and is more flexible, but it emits fumes when melted that many users find unpleasant, and it needs a heated print bed. PLA prints look smooth, but they tend to be on the brittle side.

Other materials used in FFF printing include, but are not limited to, high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), wood, bronze, and copper composite filaments, UV-luminescent filaments, nylon, Tritan polyester, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethylene terephthalate (PETT), polycarbonate, conductive PLA and ABS, plasticized copolyamide thermoplastic elastomer (PCTPE), and PC-ABS. Each material has a different melt point, so use of these exotic filaments is limited to printers designed for them, or ones with software that lets users control the extruder temperature.

Filament comes in two diameters—1.85mm and 3mm—with most models using the smaller-diameter filament. Filament is sold in spools, generally 1kg (2.2 pounds), and sells for between $20 and $50 per kilogram for ABS and PLA. Although many 3D printers will accept generic spools, some companies' 3D printers use proprietary spools or cartridges. These often contain an RFID chip that allows a printer to identify the filament type and properties, but this only works for that manufacturer's compatible printers. Make sure that the filament is the right diameter for your printer, and that the spool is the right size. In many cases, you can buy or make (even 3D print) a spool holder that will fit various spool sizes. (For much more on 3D printing filaments, check out our filament explainer.)

Stereolithography printers can print at high resolutions and eschew filament in favor of photosensitive (UV-curable) liquid resin, which is sold in bottles. Only a limited color palette is available: mainly clear, white, gray, black, or gold. Working with liquid resin and isopropyl alcohol, which is used in the finishing process for stereolithography prints, can be messy and odiferous.

Metal 3D printing has been a hot topic for a while now, and that’s no surprise given the technology’s incredible potential. Yet, despite the industry’s growth, prices of printers seem to be a bit of an unknown.

Manufacturers of metal 3D printers don’t usually list prices online, and nor can the values be easily “Googled”. The main reason for this is that manufacturers usually tailor quotes specifically to clients’ needs. Indeed, a metal 3D printer can’t simply be ordered online like your typical FDM 3D printer; chances are you’ll need to arrange multiple calls, emails, and meetings.
All of that said, we can at least begin to answer the question in the title. As you might expect, metal 3D printers are expensive. Generally speaking, prices for professional machines range from $50,000 to $1 million, with the final amount being highly dependent on a printer’s size and performance.

Only Half the Battle
Very important to keep in mind with metal 3D printing is that the cost of the machine itself often represents only a fraction of the overall cost. In some cases, the printer’s price may account for as little as 40% of total expenses, which include not only equipment ownership, operation, and maintenance, but also material and post-processing costs.
Though not all metal 3D printers use metal powder, a kilogram of this material alone can cost between $300 and $600. Similarly, post-processing requirements depend on which technology you use. For example, a station for debinding and sintering is required for metal binder jetting. Powder bed fusion doesn’t require the same add-ons, but as supports are needed, the specific tooling used in post-processing can also become expensive.

As a final note, metal 3D printers aren’t plug-and-play machines, meaning they must be operated by trained workers. To sum up, it’s all big numbers with metal 3D printing.

Surveying the Market
In this article, we’ll present a few of the market’s most popular metal 3D printers and their prices, starting from low to high. Where possible, we’ll also highlight secondary costs like machine add-ons.
Before that, though, we’ll discuss how it’s possible to have something metal 3D printed without having to invest in the necessary equipment, material, and training.

3D Printing Test Fixtures Custom Robotic End Effectors

The reliability and performance of prototypes and their subsystems need to be repeatedly tested to verify that their functionality meets expectations. Part of this step involves creating supplemental testing hardware such as brackets and workholding for the parts being assessed. It is inefficient to machine this hardware; geometries tend to be complex and change throughout the prototyping process. Lead times can be especially detrimental at this stage in the product development cycle because they may delay the prototype from being pushed to mass production.
Hardware for tests must be durable and rigid to ensure that results are repeatable. Markforged’s printers combine the ease and speed of additive manufacturing with the strength and reliability found in machined metal parts to produce test fixtures that are robust enough for a testing environment. In addition to added efficiency, 3D printers help speed up the whole iteration process. As systems are reworked and geometries evolve, new fixtures can be printed overnight without the pain of machining custom parts.
ProCobots recognized the need for a streamlined solution to integration of robotics in lean manufacturing. A traditional robot cell performs one specialized function, so factories spend months integrating multiple expensive, monolithic cells to serve an entire production line. ProCobots produces a standardized machine tending cell utilizing an EasyRobotics Pro Feeder and Universal-Robots UR10 collaborative robot. It can be adapted to serve multiple functions by simply swapping out 3D printed end effectors, and reprogramming on a single graphical user interface within minutes. 
Job shops cannot predict what end effectors they will need each week to build unique products. 3D printing enables overnight production of custom workholding without outsourcing parts or consuming machinist time. Markforged Onyx is the only 3D printed material with sufficiently high strength-to-weight ratio and tight tolerances, and continuous fiber reinforcement elevates it further. CEO Brian Knopp loves how the combination of cost-efficiency, functional quality, and lean customization provides clear value. He says, “We’re printing the end effectors in our hotel room during an installation. This blows the customers out of the water.” 
he Creality Ender 5 builds on the immense success of the CR-10 and the Ender 3. It is a cubic-framed printer, as is often used for core XY printers, but uses Cartesian movements during the printing process. Like its popular predecessors, the Ender 5 proves to be a successful printer capable of great detailed prints, but it is not without flaws.
To help you improve the performance of your Ender 5 3D printer, we’ve found an assortment of Ender 5 upgrades and mods for you to purchase or 3D print. The selections featured on this list are must-haves for those looking to add new features or improve the overall functionality or safety of their Ender 5.

With a formidable build volume of 220 x 220 x 300 mm and surprisingly speedy print speeds, the Ender 5 is an ideal 3D printer for budget-conscious consumers looking for great print quality at a low price. It’s relatively easy to assemble, has unique features like a removable magnetic print bed, and best of all, there are tons of ways to upgrade and mod your Ender 5 to make it even better!
After the Ender 5 received notable success on the desktop market, Creality refined its popular machine, culminating in the Creality Ender 5 Pro. This new and improved machine featured enhanced safety features, a new silent mainboard, and improved filament tubing.

However, no 3D printer is perfect. There’s a wide range of upgrades and mods for the Ender 5 and Ender 5 Pro that you can either buy or 3D print yourself. The specs and frame design of the Ender 5 and Ender 5 Pro are essentially identical, so most of the following Ender 5 upgrades and mods are compatible with the Pro model.
The smallest CNC machine from our company!
The Next 3D ® NANO PMF80 is a smaller derivation of Next3D milling machine and to replace equipment series,

our always popular hobby PCB.
With this new development we are talking to customers,
who want to work on small warkpieces and have the greatest demands on accuracy.
Simple operation and maintenance, versatility, complete facilities, complete equipment,
maximum working dimensions with the smallest possible dimensions of the device, and an unbeatable price and design,
are the strengths of the Next3D series, you no longer find themselves on the world market so.



Special features of the machine:



• Mixing engines Nema 16 and Nema 23 guarantee a better price.
• Integrated T-Nut plate simplifies and accelerates the clamping of workpieces.
• Integrated intake for a variety of accessories, such as extraction and cooling systems.
• Very small dimensions make the machine particularly compact.
• Built machine weighs only about 6 kg.
• Trapezoidal drive with ball-bearing spindles made of steel and brass nuts ensure long life.
• Complete with ball bearings, linear guides stretchable ensure backlash-free, accurate drives.
• Fully ball bearing-mounted precision spindles with trapezoidal thread and 3 mm incline per revolution ensure the quickest possible runs and utmost accuracy.
• For a reliable and smooth-running drive modern, integrated actively cooled 3-axis ensures control electronics.
• Expandable to a fourth axis to multiply the possibilities.
• Integrated electronic 5A Spindle control simplifies operation.
• Reference switches for all axes facilitate the setup of the operation.
• Simple, direct actuation by means of PC software, either via parallel port or USB.
• Tilting of the portal thanks to dual, coupled spindle drive is not possible.
• Compatible with all major CNC Programs like Linux CNC, Mach3, CNC Studio, WinPC-NC and many others.
• Wide range of accessories abailable.



For the machining of suitable materials



The Next3D range is suitable for the machining of plastic, wood, perspex, carbon, DIBOND®, electronic circuit boards, engraving works as well as for small-scale work in non-ferrous metals.




Delivery condition



You can order the Next3D NANO as a kit or as a finished machine from the menu you can see "Delivery condition" Make your choice.




Technical data.



• Working area X 165mm , Y 295mm, Z 80mm.
• Installation area 290mm x 470mm.
• Total Machine height 300mm.
• Clamping surface 165mm x 410mm.
• Passage height 100mm.
• Resolution 0,00375mm (shortest step)
• Repeat accuracy 0,03mm / 300mm.
• Backlash -+0,08mm (can be reduced by software to 0)
• Microstepping operating in 1/2 clock (can be set up to 1/8)
• Maximum Speed 4500 mm/min
• Repeat accuracy
• Operating voltage 19V -35v (19V Power Supply included)
• T-Nut Aluminium tabletop
• Weight with packaging about 11Kg (depending on model)
Manufacture Smarter with Custom Tooling

Lean Machine is a metal fabrication job shop in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, specializing in custom machining with a 5-axis CNC mill. A job for a customer required Kurt vises to hold a component while the mill cut the part. To avoid collision between the mill head and the vise, the stock would have to be clamped 12-14 inches from the cutting area. This was not an acceptable option, as a cantilevered part takes longer to machine and results in a less accurate cut. The team considered building their own metal custom vise, however they could not justify the $6,000 price tag.
The addition of a Markforged Mark Two led Lean Machine R&D Engineer Josh Grasby to use 3D printed components to build a cost-effective, custom vise/soft jaw combination. Comprised of over two dozen 3D printed continuous carbon fiber reinforced components combined with off-the-shelf parts, Lean Machine’s custom printed vise can clamp 1.5 inches from the end of the extrusion, as opposed to 12-14 inches. The company has since taken on more complex jobs, all while applying a design for additive manufacturing approach to solving other problems they come across.
Labeled as the ‘Pro’ version, the MYSWEETY CNC 3018 PRO is a slightly different version of the Sainsmart Genmitsu CNC 3018, but essentially has the same design. It reportedly has an upgraded control board, as well as an offline controller, which means it doesn’t have to be tethered to a computer.
Staying true to its name, the MYSWEETY version has the same work volume of 300 x 180 mm and a Z-axis depth of 45 mm. It also comes with a775 spindle motor and a sturdier frame made of aluminum and nylon. At a slightly higher price, it’s worth comparing the 3018 CNC machine iterations released by MYSWEETY and Sainsmart.