Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Printrbot Jr. (v1)
Simplicity is a design feature for this printer,
and while it ships assembled, videos of
Drumm quickly disassembling and reassem-
bling the unit demonstrate how carefully the
machine has been reduced to the fewest
moving parts possible.
In his quest for simplicity, however, Drumm
sacrificed some bells and whistles: the Jr.
prints only PLA, doesn't have a heated plat-
form or a fan, and has a simplified gantry
system.
The first prints we rolled off the Jr. were offi-
cially “not bad.” Following these, we took
time to carefully level the platform by eye,
running the nozzle horizontally across the
plate to make sure the path was parallel.
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Written by Lyra Levin and Matt Griffin
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Tested by Lyra Levin, Cliff L. Biffle, Em-
manuel Mota, and Blake Maloof
The torture test printed decently on a third
attempt, but the slicing profile was perhaps
too conservative in terms of layer height, so
the results were coarse; and the printer ex-
truded more plastic than necessary,
resulting in constrained bolt holes and runny
vertical features. The printed nautilus gears
worked immediately upon assembly, show-
ing off the Jr.'s ability to print thin, stable
walls.
One of the tiniest and least expensive 3D
printers, the Jr. is a baby-scale version of the
original Printrbot. (Some of the other print-
ers could probably print a full-scale model of
the Printrbot Jr. in one go.)
When fully open, the diminutive machine fits
easily on a corner of your desk, and most of
its footprint is the 4"×4"×4” printing volume.
When folded for travel, a good third of the
volume is packed in, with most of the fiddly
bits protected by the bed. It easily slips into
a backpack.
The unit comes with a standard PC ATX pow-
er supply, but there's another option for
power: a rechargeable lithium polymer
(LiPo) battery as an optional add-on to sup-
ply power when printing in the field. We ran
some of our final test prints using a LiPo
quadcopter battery (soldering required),
and were amazed to realize we could just as
easily be printing them on top of a mountain
somewhere.
