Update info (15th March 2023): We have updated the article with some additional information:

  • The paragraph about gifts has been updated – we decided to add gifts to all preorders, not only to day-one preorders.
  • FAQs were updated with questions regarding reviews, upgrades, and printing speed.
  • We have added more info about input shaper for readers who haven’t heard about this feature yet.

 

Finally, the first production units of the Original Prusa XL are ready to leave the company and head to their new owners! Today, we sent the first batch of e-mails with instructions on how to switch XL preorders to regular orders (see FAQ below for more details). Right now, we can fulfill only the orders from the first few minutes of the pre-sale, because the interest in the XL was crazy. The first shipped batches will be smaller, but we’ll gradually ramp up the production. We will need several months to ship the thousands of Day-1 orders. I also have news about the software and hardware changes, shipping info, and more, so let’s jump right in.

Single-tool XLs are on the way with two gifts!

The first units leaving the factory are the assembled single-tool XLs. As for the multi-tool machines, we’re planning to send the beta testing units to our external testers in about two weeks. We will run an external beta test for a month and then take about one month to incorporate all the feedback. The first multitool units are expected to be shipped in May 2023.

I’m not gonna deny that we didn’t manage to stick to our planned schedule. We’ve been running intensive testing since last September and ramped it all up in December when we sent a large batch of XL 3D printers to external beta testers, resulting in a lot of useful feedback and new tasks we wanted to tackle before shipping the printers to you. So it was incredibly busy during Xmas and while we thought everything was going to be wrapped in January, we needed a few extra weeks to ensure the changes were properly tested. It was pretty stressful but I think in hindsight, it was definitely worth it. Kudos to the entire team who managed to see the project through to the end!

We want to make it up to you guys for waiting longer than expected. All preorders (not just day-1) will receive two gifts: an extra print sheet (a double-sided textured sheet) so you can hot-swap it with the default satin sheet. Thanks to the Loadcell technology, you don’t have to tune Live Adjust Z for each sheet – it’s so convenient! The second gift is a Nextruder-to-V6 nozzle adapter. The XL uses a special nozzle with a metal filament guide (so no more PTFE tubes inside the extruder) and using this adapter, you can still mount any V6-compatible nozzle, including high-flow and hardened models.

Meanwhile, we were finishing plenty of other things – print profiles, firmware, PrusaSlicer, and Knowledge base articles… there’s a lot of work to be done with every 3D printer release and it’s much more than just hardware. And when we change one thing on the printer (e.g., based on the feedback from testing), it is often like dominoes – it affects print profiles, help articles, the handbook and so on.

Hardware changes

Speaking of feedback from testing, let’s talk a little bit about what has changed since December – it’s quite a lot of things, actually!

We improved the overall stability and firmness of the entire printer by using stiffer metal profiles and more robust printed parts. To be more specific about what we did:

  • Replaced plastic handles with metal ones for increased robustness
  • Adjusted the shroud for the print fan
  • Upgraded plastic parts of the Nextruder
  • Adjusted the filament sensor to prevent jams
  • Replaced 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
  • Redesigned the mounting parts for the toolchanger to make future upgrades easier
  • Improved several plastic parts (X/Y Axis)

…and more! These are not major changes but mostly small tweaks and quality-of-life improvements. I already covered some of these in a recent video blog, so check it out if you haven’t already. You can also compare the printer in the video with the photos of the final product and see how much has changed since we published it. 😉

Software changes and Input Shaper

Just to give you a little glimpse of what we changed software-wise in the past few months:

We have finished the redesign of the entire printer menu, which was based on the Original Prusa MINI. Now it is easier to navigate and there’s a new section called Control that groups together actions and tests that directly affect the movement or temperatures.

The Settings menu has been redesigned, too. It now features more advanced options (customizable UI, RGB status bar, special options for preheating) and also experimental features. But there were also a ton of changes under the hood – we’ll probably give you a proper look at the technology in a separate dev diary because there’s a lot to talk about.

One of the most awesome features of the XL is the modular heatbed. We kept improving the firmware controlling the heating and the fully automatic first layer calibration (Mesh Bed Leveling) to make sure that no matter what material you choose, you’ll always get that perfectly smooth first layer.

Achieving this was more difficult than it sounds. Even though the heatbed tiles have expansion joints, the massive print sheet and the bed carriage still have a tendency to bend slightly as they heat up. For instance, if you place a small object in the middle of the heatbed and print it from polycarbonate, we could theoretically activate only the heatbed tile directly under the object. However, the temperature difference between heated and unheated tile would cause the print sheet to bulge out. This is why we also heat up the neighboring tiles slightly to lower the temperature difference. For this reason, PrusaSlicer automatically places printed objects in the front left corner to make it more energy efficient.

Differences in temperatures (heatbed vs carriage vs print sheet), heat dissipation, and transfer can also affect the initial Mesh Bed Levelling. We added an “Absorbing heat” function to MBL that waits until the heat from the heatbed is at least partially transferred to other parts, and only then the Nextruder performs the MBL procedure to achieve a perfect first layer.

And these are just a few things we added to make the overall experience in line with our other printers – make it super easy to set up and run and give you access to advanced stuff you can play around with.

I’m sure many of you are also waiting for another piece of important info: for the last several months, our devs have been working on Klipper-inspired Input shaper and Pressure Advance implementations. This is our own implementation for the STM32 bare metal, not a direct port of Marlin – Klipper has a more precisely implemented input shaper and pressure advance and that’s what we’re after. We’re not quite finished yet, but we hope to share some videos with you soon. 😉

As always, launching a product is not the finish line for us – we’re gonna keep improving the XL further and further, the same as what we do with all the rest of our machines.

With the XL, we’re also releasing PrusaSlicer 2.5.1 with factory-tested XL print profiles. I know that many of you are already using 2.6 alpha because of the awesome organic supports and other new features. We need a bit more time to finalize 2.6, but if you want, you can, of course, use it with the XL, too.

2kg Prusament and accessories

The XL can easily chew through an entire spool of filament in no time. With the filament sensors built-in, you don’t have to worry about failed prints. However, you need to keep in mind that you need to switch filament during the print.

This is why we are starting to offer 2kg spools of Prusament filament. We’re kicking it off with the most popular materials, but we will gradually expand the range. Right now, these are:

We’re also adding accessories for the XL to our eshop – most notably additional print sheets and nozzles with various diameters (from 0.25 to 0.8 mm) along with the V6-nozzle adapter that allows you to install any V6-compatible nozzle into the XL. We’ll also expand the offer of nozzles with new types soon (such as hardened variants for printing with abrasive materials). We’re also going to offer a combo of the nozzle along with the heater block, so you can literally swap nozzles in seconds.

Shipping information

In the first few minutes of launching the preorder, we received thousands of orders. With our current production capacity, it will take us several months to clear the backlog. We expect to ship less than a thousand units by May.

Here’s when you should expect to receive an e-mail from us: Once your printer is close to being shipped, we will email you in advance that your reservation is now ready to be turned into a final order. You can edit the shipping address (you can change the ZIP, but not the country), add more items to your order, and select the shipping method. You can’t increase the number of XLs, but you can decrease it. There is no deadline for converting the reservation into an order right now. The reservation date is decisive; as soon as you complete the payment, you will jump into the right place in the queue.

However, if you wish to upgrade to multiple toolheads, you have two options. You can finish the order of singletool printer right now and purchase additional toolheads as an upgrade later or you can wait until we start shipping multi-tool head printers. We will send you an e-mail reminder when they are ready.

After the shipment of multi-tool printers starts, you will be able to adjust the configuration of the XL: the number of toolheads and other parameters, such as choosing semi-assembled or fully assembled, etc. Please keep in mind that if you add more toolheads to your existing order, your order will take longer to process.

The semi-assembled version will start shipping in May 2023. The process of manufacturing a semi-assembled printer is different and requires a new set of testing machines – these could not be built until after we wrapped up the hardware on the final XL. We expect to have the testing machines ready by the end of April.

We’ll also publish an updated shipping table once the production is more stable.

So, that’s it for now. We’ll bring you more XL news soon!

Happy printing!

 

FAQ:

Q: What nozzle is pre-installed on the XL?
A: A 0.6mm nozzle – it offers a great quality/speed ratio, allowing you to print large objects faster. With the Arachne mode in PrusaSlicer, the quality of the print is actually similar to 0.4mm nozzles.

Q: What other nozzle sizes will be available? What about compatibility?
A: We will offer all usual nozzle sizes (0.25mm – 0.8mm) and we’ll have a Nextruder-to-V6-nozzle adapter available on our e-shop. Hardened and high-flow nozzles are coming later, but you can mount any compatible V6-type nozzle with the adapter.

Q: What is the default steel sheet option for the XL?
A: The default option is the satin sheet.

Q: Is the draft shield included with the printer?
A: The shield is not included by default; it’s an upcoming optional accessory. The price will be specified later.

Q: Will there be an enclosure for the XL?
A: The enclosure will be made available later this year; right now, we want to focus on the production of the XL. We will publish more info about the enclosure later on.

Q: What is the PSU configuration of the XL, and how does it change depending on the number of toolheads?
A: The XL has two built-in PSUs by default (for the single-tool version). The two-PSU configuration is enough to run up to two toolheads. If you want three and more toolheads, it is necessary to install an additional PSU due to power requirements. Of course, we supply the printer with EU/US/UK plugs depending on the country of destination.

Q: Can I upgrade from a single-tool XL to a multi-tool? Can I do it gradually (e.g., purchase one extruder and later another extruder?)
A: Yes, we will offer upgrade kits later after we start shipping the multi-tool version.

Q: What are the plans for Klipper / Pressure Advance / Input shaper?
A: We’re preparing and testing our own Klipper-inspired Input shaper and Pressure Advance. This is our own implementation for the STM32 bare metal, not a direct port of Marlin – Klipper has a more precisely implemented input shaper and pressure advance.

Q: What is Input Shaper and Pressure Advance?

A: Input shaping is a technology used for resonance compensation. As the printer moves and changes directions quickly, these movements can translate into artifacts on the printed objects called ghosting. With input shaping, the printer can effectively eliminate or minimize these artifacts, resulting in cleaner, nice prints. Pressure Advance is a technology that calculates how exactly should be molten filament pushed out of the nozzle. It follows a formula to boost the velocity of the extruder at the start of a line and reduce it at the end, plus it looks ahead for corners and makes other adjustments to ensure a smooth and consistent travel. Input shaping combined with Pressure Advance allow for noticeably higher printing speeds.

Q: When will you publish printing speeds for the XL?

A: Once we have Input Shaper and Pressure Advance up and running. We need a bit more time to finalize everything, but publishing current printing speed values would not fully reflect what the XL is capable of. We’ll have numbers for you soon!

Q: Does the XL extruder have an accelerometer built in?
A: Yes, it does – it’s vital for correct Input Shaper configuration (see above).

Q: When I decide to upgrade the XL gradually (start with a single-tool version and later add more extuders), will it be more expensive than buying a standard five-toolhead XL?

A: There will be single toolheads available for purchase, but we will also prepare upgrade kits that will minimize the price difference.

Q: When can we expect reviews?

A: Our production capacity is extremely limited at this point. We want to prioritize our customers, so review units will be available later along with the multitool version of the printer.

Orders / Shipping FAQ:

Q: Will it be possible to change the number of printers in my order?
A: It is possible to decrease the number of ordered units, not increase it

Q: When will shipping estimates be available?
A: In the upcoming weeks, once the production stabilizes

Q: When will the email confirming my preorder be sent?
A: Email calls asking you to complete the payment will be sent once your XL is getting ready to be shipped. You still have your place in the line, so even if you don’t complete the order immediately, you will jump into the correct position in the queue once you do.

Q: Will there be a cheaper shipping option when ordering from Printed Solid?
A: We want to make it possible in the future, but with the current production capacity, it is not possible at the moment.