Bear Upgrade for the Prusa i3 MK2.5

Out of the constant desire to to improve my printer (and because disassembling and then putting everything back together is fun), I upgraded my Prusa MK2.5 with the Bear Upgrade.

The main improvement is the sturdy aluminum extrusion frame which I got pre-cut and with a nice anodized black finish.

For the upgrade, the whole printer needed to be disassembled and then rebuilt using the new extrusions. Although the alignment of the frame is still not trivial, it is simpler than the original design and I ended up with an almost perfectly square frame.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures from the build process but only the final result.

Since I wasn’t too happy with the tilted print fan design, I decided to upgrade to the bear extruder and x-axis, too. These new parts promised an overall improved design with better airflow and increased rigidity.

The original Noctua fan – although very quiet – does not move much air and cooling the hotend can become a problem. For this reason, I replaced the fan with a slightly louder Sunon fan. In terms of visuals, this is probably an upgrade, too.

So far, the bear upgrade of the frame and extruder have proven to be very solid alternatives to the original design.