Finished building the MK4 kit and placed it in the enclosure, first few prints have been great.
After a few hickups I finished building my MK4 kit and Tukkari enclosure. The first few prints have been fantastic.
My MK4 kit had a couple bad bearings, so I replaced all the bearings and rods on the X and Y axes with MISUMI equivalents. I noticed that they have a fair bit less slop in the movement and are overall quieter.
I also made a custom G10+steel print sheet, and it's working exceptionally well with PETG. It sticks strongly while hot, and doesn't release until the bed drops below about 40 deg C at which point parts pop off easily. It leaves a super gloss surface on the first layer as well. If anyone is interested in building one, here are the parts I used:
I bonded them together with 3M 200MP double-stick tape (which is thin, strong, and heat-resistant) and filed notches in the g10 to match the sheet. I didn't abrade the G10, PETG sticks perfectly while glossy. I was very careful about cleaning it with iso. alcohol before printing, and I wipe it again every print or two.
The filament dryer is a Sunlu S1 Plus, which has a built-in fan to circulate air for better drying. I printed this guide and used a PC4-M10 fitting and 4mm OD teflon tube with it to reduce friction into the enclosure:
I'm quite happy with the setup. It is a little noisier in the enclosure than just on the table due to the melamine particle board panel vibrating while suspended on its plastic feet. I'll set it on foam and/or a paver eventually to improve this.
I have one and want another Prusa, and not sure if the upgrades are worth it, or if it's better to just get another 3S+ just for the parity and simplicity. Plus 3S+'s are cheaper now.
It's significantly faster, the higher motor resolution reduces vertical fine artifacts, and the nextruder reduces texture that could otherwise be caused by bad drive gears.