Prusa XL finally shipped to the first customers. The company also presents a number of design improvements and novelties…

Original Prusa XL – the long-awaited large-format 3D printer of the Czech PRUSA Research, finally reaches the hands of the first customers. Presented for the first time in 2021, it is a professional 3D printer, intended for completely different audiences than the other flagship models of the manufacturer – Prusa i3 Mk3 and Mini. The first batch is relatively small, but PRUSA assures that it will gradually increase production to ship thousands of orders from the first day of accepting pre-orders over the next few months.

The first XL models that leave the factory are assembled, single-head versions. Multifunctional versions will be sent for beta testing to external testers in two weeks. Third-party beta testing will continue for another month, and it will take another month to incorporate all feedback from beta testers. The first multitools are expected to be shipped to customers in May 2023.

PRUSA says the company received thousands of orders within the first few minutes of the pre-sale launch. With the current production capacity, it will take several months to catch up. By May, PRUSA expects to ship less than a thousand units.

This almost six-month wait for the XL model – which is so far the only chance for PRUSA Research to enter a higher level in the hierarchy of global 3D printer manufacturers, is a thorn in the side of Josef Prusa. Therefore, to appease its customers and the wide community that has formed around the manufacturer, the company decided to add freebies to XL. All pre-orders (not just the first day) will receive two gifts: an extra build plate sheet (double-sided textured sheet), which can be exchanged for the default satin sheet. The second gift is a Nextruder nozzle adapter for V6. The XL uses a special nozzle with a metal filament guide (so no more PTFE tubes inside the extruder) and any V6 compatible nozzle, including high flow models, can be mounted with this adapter.

The flood of orders for new 3D printers is one thing – PRUSA has independently introduced a number of improvements in the design of the device based on the requests received from beta testers as well as as a result of its performance tests:

• the overall stability and strength of the entire 3D printer has been improved by using stiffer metal profiles and more robust printed parts
• plastic handles replaced with metal ones for increased strength
• fan cover adjusted
• plastic parts of Nextruder have been improved
• adjusted filament sensor to prevent filament jams
• replaced the X-axis profiles with stiffer ones and adjusted the size of the X/Y-axis side panels to make more room for RGB LED strips
• tool changer mounting parts redesigned to facilitate future upgrades
• improved some plastic parts (X/Y axis).

The entire menu of the 3D printer has been redesigned, which has been based on the Original Prusa MINI interface. It aims to be easier to navigate and a new section called Control has been added which groups together actions and tests that directly affect the 3D printer’s movement or temperatures. The Settings menu has also been redesigned with more advanced options (customizable UI, RGB status bar, special heating options) as well as experimental features.

One of the key features of the XL is the modular heated bed. The heating control software and fully automatic first layer calibration have been improved to ensure that no matter what material you choose, you will always get a perfectly smooth first layer.

The company introduced new Prusament spools, which is now also offered on 2kg spools. For starters, this includes PETG Jet Black, PETG Prusa Orange, PLA Prusa Galaxy Black, PLA Lipstick Red. More colors and types of filaments will be added successively.

Finally, with the first XL shipments, PrusaSlicer 2.5.1 was also introduced with factory-tested 3D printing profiles for this 3D printer. You will have to wait for version 2.6.0, which has been available for testing on GitHub for some time…

Source: www.prusa3d.com
Photos: www.prusa3d.com (press materials / all rights reserved)