The LulzBot Mini, the high-performance desktop 3D printer is perfect for plenty of purposes.
It finds a use for home users, makers, architects, designers, engineers, and anyone looking for an easy-to-use desktop 3D printer.
With its official release more than three years ago, the LulzBot Mini comes at a balanced price to make it attractive to home users.
It also has good flexibility to print in multiple materials. It’s serious about the quality when it comes to 3D printing that makes it the perfect midrange 3D printer.
Contents
Exclusive features:
The LulzBot Mini now comes with a lot of under-the-hood upgrades. It has the support for flexible printing materials as well as faster printing. The suitable conditions make it the best 3D printer ever.
• there’s no availability of control panel and an SD card slot. All you’ll get is just a power button and a USB slot So, it comes with the requirement of tethering to a PC for operation. It works best when you have a dedicated or spare PC computer for the task.
• The Print surface is made from heated borosilicate glass.
• The print area is a massive one of 152 x 152 x 158 (6 x 6 x 6.2 in)
• The print volume of the model is 650 cm3 (223 in3) of usable space
• The top print speed you can attain with this model is 275 mm/sec (10.8 in/sec) at 0.18 layer height
• Layer thickness ranges between 0.05 mm to 0.50 mm (0.002 in – 0.020 in)
• You can get the availability of standard usable filament sizes of 3 mm (approx. 0.1 in)
Design
The Mini 2 has the same spare, and industrial look as original Mini from LulzBot. With this new model, you will get more focus on printing rather than aesthetics.
The availability of anodized aluminum frame and 3D-printed parts make the Mini 2 a clean, and functional 3D printer. Besides, there is a new, new modular print bed; more flexible printhead; faster motors; and a larger print bed.
The printhead has the quality of feeding squishy filaments in without problems.
It makes use of the E3D Titan Aero nozzle with the redesigned feeding mechanism.
The printer has the capability of handling flexible materials like Ninjaflex.
Previous models required an upgraded printhead to print these since they use a different method of feeding the material into the nozzle that heats and melts the filament.
The printhead of the Mini can feed in these squishy filaments without problems. The modular print bed works best on a surface made from plain glass. You can use materials like ABS.
The fabric at the back of the print bed removes any stray material on the printhead.
Controls
The Mini gains control through an LCD screen or via the free LulzBot edition available with Cura. You will get access to the controls and features with the LCD screen and dial control.
You can also choose to turn the knob and press it in for stepping up through the menu system to load filament. You can also set temperatures.
The stand-alone device will give you the convenience of printing without connecting it to a PC. It is compatible with OS like Windows, macOS and Linux.
There is an availability of programs for loading 3D models in formats like.STL, OBJ and others.
Noiseless machine
Once you prepare the model along with its parts, you can print it over the USB connection. You will also get the convenience of saving the print file to an SD Card.
You can directly insert that into the printer. With such compatible parts and organized setup, you can find that the printing process is simple and generally free from problems.
according to customers, these aspects let the 3D printer stand out from dozens of other 3D printer models. It will never face instances of a couple of failures when the print material doesn’t adhere to the print bed.
All you can hear is the low squeaking noise as the printhead moves around.
Print Materials
The printer is compatible with a wider range of print materials than most other printers. You’ll never find restrictions based on the type of 3mm filament.
Besides, with the printer, you’ll get an excellent set of guidelines. The availability of upgraded extruder and modular print bed makes the printer significantly flexible than most 3D printers.
So, it attains the ability to use filaments like Ninjaflex or PolyFlex. When you use these materials, you’ll see that your resultant product will be soft and flexible.
It also has the capability of handling materials like Nylon, stone and wood filaments.
Faster print Speed
The Mini is significantly faster at printing. You can print a 4.5-inch-high Thinker model within just 3 hours when the printer is working at high-speed mode.
If you want quality, that same model will require 6 hours and 37 minutes. So, it is much faster than many printers. The LulzBot Mini 2 is a combination of high speed at high quality.
This significant time-saver will save you from printing over 21 hours.
Excellent Print Quality
The Mini produces high-quality prints across the board. It has the capability of yielding excellent prints. With it’s printing quality, you’ll get good detail and very few issues.
Besides, you can see for the layering on the fast-print modes is quite visible. The Mini displays no problem with sharp edges and points. Thus, it has the ability to produce smooth edges and sharp points.
Rating
The LulzBot Mini works in the form of an open-source desktop 3D printer.
You can use it on a day-to-day basis. The customers claim that this printer is a high-end model when compared to the competitors.
Pros:
- This printer is a great one for beginners with the robust design
- It will give you excellent documentation with the custom version of Cura software
- It will deliver reliable, and consistent results
- The printer is quite hackable, and expandable
- You’ll get more convenience with the autocalibration and autocleaning nozzle
Cons:
- The printer lacks onboard controls
- The printer requires PC tethering
- According to some users, the build volume is quite limited and isn’t optimized for speed
- It is quite pricey when compared to some others.
Verdict
In the wonderful world of 3D printing, the LulzBot Mini is nimble yet sturdy. The open-source hardware helps to accurately handle the tasks assigned to it.
You can get a good workflow that makes it a favorite design choice. The LulzBot Mini is perfect for printing big and fast. The top-quality desktop 3D printer is remarkable in terms of single extrusion.
Engineers design it with specifications and devote love, care and attention to making the printer a genuine pleasure for the users.
Over the years, LulzBot has developed a strong reputation for this 3D printer. The 3D printable components satisfy the requirements for open-source hardware and software.
Most users find it useful for the DIY 3D printer kit. The range is fully assembled parts to ensure that the users can print with it right from the time of unboxing.
While writing this review article, we’ve focused on the ease of use, accessibility, specifications, quality, and everything else.
For that, we have taken into consideration the valuable points of both the manufacturers and the users. All we can claim that, in regular operation, the users will never be disappointed.
The premium price tag is worth the excellent quality of the well-built 3D printer. You will always get the comprehensive documentation and technical support.
The technologically updated model LulzBot Mini deserves two thumbs up.
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