I travel for work, a lot. By that I mean I travel some place new every week. I’m in Wisconsin now, will be in Alaska next week. So, this really limits my time to print stuff as I am only home weekends and I need to do other things.
I have a CR-10 and a Sovol SV05 as well as an Elegoo Saturn S. None of these are easy to travel with, however when going by car, I have taken them.
I just purchased a Kingroon KP3S to take with me. (Amazon Prime Days $119!). I plan to take this with me in my checked baggage.
Has anyone here done this before? If so, what has been your experience?
I have, and want to buy some 3D printed R/C car files. These files take 13+ days total to print. With my current schedule it will take me close to a year to get these printed. I figure wit a travel printer I can set it to go in the hotel while I am working.
As for size, the 180180180 is fine for the files I plan to print as they were made to fit the Prusa Mini.
Some people have converted bed slingers into collapsible models that fit into a suit case.
I have a Kingroon KP3. It has been pretty solid for me, although I have done a few upgrades. The KP3S probably wouldn’t need much in the way of upgrades. I have never traveled with a printer, but one concern I would have would be that it would need adjustment after each trip. Primarily bed leveling likely, but things might get jarred out of square, especially since it is a cantilevered design. Another concern would be if the motel would be OK with you running a printer unattended for hours on end. True, printers don’t catch on fire very often if well maintained and if they have thermal runaway protection, but they still can be a potential fire hazard. Maybe that wouldn’t be something the motels would be concerned about, but I wouldn’t be too sure.
Thanks. I am aware I will have to set it up each time, and likely this will involve adjustments from time to time.
As for the hotel, in the past I have just stuck the “Do not Disturb” sign out. Just because I didn’t want the staff to come in and think that I am maybe “illegally printing” something, or have them have no idea what the thing is and freak out.
I chose the KP3S due to is compact and modular design. The separate power supply makes the base smaller and I think I can fit the parts in my suitcase better.
BTW, I will take it apart each time and it will go in my Pelican 1560 hard case.
I own a kp3s at home and its honestly a great machine! I do almost exclusively ABS printing on it because it requires such a small enclosure (a rubbermaid bin lol) but I have put many kilos of PLA through it too.
You could possibly set up some sort of quick detach fittings to attach the 2 pieces together, but I don’t know how much that would affect the stability of the printer. I agree with @MicroFarmModels about having to constantly re-adjust it, so you may want to add a bltouch to it. This would allow you to be a little bit sloppier with your bed leveling. Another thing you may want to add is some belt-tensioners. I have seen some models for them over the years, but I have never tried it out.
Matthew
I’ve always thought there was a need for a carry along FDM printer although I have no idea what the market would be for it.
The ideal would be something that folds up into a fairly flat package and expands when you get to your destination/hotel room.
I agree that you need something like a BL Touch for the Z axis but I’d also think that you would want a self leveling bed (ie Voron 2.4) otherwise every time you set it up you’ll have to manually play with the thumbwheels.
Interesting concept, probably wouldn’t be cheap and I have no idea how many people would want one.
Kingroon has a great video/instructions for adding a 3D Touch. So i ordered one of those.
I fully understand that after banging aroung in a suitcase it will need to be fully checked and adjusted before i throw a print at it. This i am prepared for.
I guess a travel 3D printer is just not a big thing yet. I will be modifying it if possible to make it easier to transport.
Just throwing this out there as I do not know how experienced you are at 3D Printing, but there actually has fairly recently been a project that has been made specifically with this idea in mind.
The printer is called the Positron V3, and it folds up into a filament box to allow for easy transportation. It can be set up and printing in a matter of minutes, and it has fantastic print quality. You can self source the parts or you can buy kits off of places like aliexpress, I know there was talk about doing an LDO kit, but I’m unsure of any progress that has been made on that.
I have been considering one of these to take with me to university, but at the moment I just have too many projects on the go! Gotta finish some up before I start something new 
Yes, i have seen it, watched the videos, etc. 2 issues i have with it.
- It is just too small of a print volume. I need 180x180mm for a big multi part project.
- Time. The positron is a project in itself. I just don’t have the time source all the parts, have PCBs made, aluminum parts cut, etc. If it was ready as either a full %100 parts included kit, or fully assembled printer, i might buy it and build it in the hotel. But it is not there yet. I hope it will be someday, when it is, i will get one. My 180mm project should be done by then.
Setup Octoprint with Octoeverywhere (or your own VPN) on a raspberry PI (or equivalent) with a camera and configure a TPlink plug so you can power up and auto-shutdown when your print is finished. You just need someone at home to remove the print and wipe the bed between prints (maybe you can train the cat 
). You can slice and send your Gcode to the printer from anywhere - you plan on running your printer unattended in the hotel room anyway. You can check on your print with your phone. You could do this with all 3 of your printers and run them simultaneously. If you are worried about potentially burning your house down, get something like this:
They do actually sell full kits with everything now,
All that you will need is the raspberry pi if I remember correctly, everything else is included in the kit. If you are having trouble finding an actual Pi there is the BTT CB1, I have a couple of them and they work fine.
Matt
Whoa, $400 for the kit and $100 shipping? That is an expensive solution. I just paid $119 for my KPS3. I think i will see how that works for me first.
As i have a pelican case and I’m not attempting to carry it in a backpack, the larger size should not be an issue for me.
But, i am glad there is now a kit. It has been a few months since i last looked into it.
That is a solution, and i was going to buy an X1 Carbon or P1P. However this is still just a hobby and when I say I “need” to print something, I’m talking about an R/C car, or a part for my real car. Id like to print some 1:24 scale truck/trailer parts. So, investing $500+ to over $1500 for me to print “toys” just seems crazy.
When i get to a point where it is earning some income, even a little, then i can justify the larger expense.
I also just like the hands on experience of having the printer with me to watch and tinker with. Instant gratification if you will.
Yeah it is certainly a bit more pricey than your current solution,
I have messaged sellers in the past and gotten discounts on the items, so if you were interested in purchasing in the future you could give it a shot. Keep me updated on how this goes, if you have success I might have another project lined up haha!
Thanks,
Matthew
Yes… That enclosure is a bit overkill. I print “remotely” all the time but I just did some basic safety measures. Having your printer setup on a steel workbench or concrete floor with any flammables out of the way would go a long way.
Well, so far I have been traveling with my KP3S. It is going well. I can fit it in my Pelican 1560 case and it only takes a few minutes to set it up. However, I am working on a few things to make it even better. Stock firmware is junk, it allows for a BLTouch(3DTouch), but no way to set the offset without changing it in the firmware and reloading. So, going to go with a new Marlin build. However, that requires a new screen, as the touch screen didn’t work with the offset. So, I got a new screen.
Well, the stock main board won’t allow for the new screen, no connections. I happen to have a BTT Octopus in the stash, so absolute and complete overkill, but I have it and it does fit.
I am also swapping out the hot end to a BIQU H2 V2S Lite, small, light, and again, in my stash of unused stuff.
I also have an SKR V1.3, but it does not have enough fan outputs and a few other issues.
This weeks project. Keeps me out of the bars.
Man I think your printer is having a bit of an identity chrisis
Keep us updated on how it goes!!
I came across an old Road case (for Audio equip). as soon as I saw it I was “travel printer” Its will not be light by any stretch of the imagaination however… It will be portable and fairly large. If its something I move forward with I will keep you all updated.