The Lulzbot 3D Printers: Mini vs Taz

Updated 05 July 2017

Hailing from Aleph Objects in Loveland, Colorado, the Lulzbot range of 3D printers are world renown for their quality, reliability and ease of use. The reason they're so popular? Apart from the gilded Lulzbot technical support (practically 24/7 Worldwide, email and phone support available); the newest and best features from all around the 3D Printing industry are being added to their printers with every new release.

mini-v-taz-6-side-by-side

Some quick background on Lulzbot Printers

Currently, the 6th revision of their large form factor printer, the Taz 6, and their first version of their small form factor printer, the Lulzbot Mini are still relatively fresh to the market. The features that we are seeing packed into each of these machines are impressive, to say the least. Although it isn't surprising when you're working with the budding community of hobbyists, engineers and tinkerers that gravitate to a company like Lulzbot, it's no surprise their printers are still getting "Best Printer" awards left right and centre.

If you wanted to know more about the history of the Lulzbot 3D Printers, there is a pretty cool discussion of the differences between each model (starting with the very first Prusa clones Lulzbot used to launch their brand!) available via the devel.lulzbot.com website.

Printer Similarities!

As above, the two 3D Printers currently under production from Aleph Objects are:

The Lulzbot Mini started production back in 2015, released as Aleph Objects' first small form factor 3D printer. The Mini instantly gained a tonne of attention in all the right circles due to an easy to use workflow. By easy to use, I mean:

  • Automatic bed levelling
  • A self-cleaning nozzle
  • A material called Polyetherimide (PEI) that covers the print bed for superior part adhesion

These were all relatively fresh ideas at this point in time and Aleph has bundled them all up to make the process of 3D Printing easier and easier.

The Taz 6 brought the successes (and minor problem fixes) of the Lulzbot Mini to the Taz sized 3D printer range. Making it just as jam-packed with features but on a machine packing almost twice the print volume. The result? Two incredibly (I really can't stress that enough) easy to use 3D Printers, that reliably produce great quality prints.

The printer bed alone is packed with beginner-friendly goodness, as both printers use the same Borosilicate glass bed with Polyetherimide (PEI) covering to ensure a flat, adhesive surface for printing. My favourite part about the PEI sheet on the bed is that not only does it make it easier to print reliably, but you can also pretty easily replace your PEI sheet if it suffers from wear-and-tear over time.

The Automatic bed levelling sequence at the start of each and every print on the two 3D printer models means manual Z-axis calibrations are a thing of the past. This is such a powerful feature, perfect for makers, educators, and engineers who want to get straight to their prints without calibrating their tool head/printer bed every few prints. To be fair, it does add a little bit of time to the beginning of each print but worry free printing, reliable printing is worth the extra 2-3 minutes. The printers will also clean themselves prior to the Automatic bed levelling sequence. This ensures that your printer won't fail its levelling sequence and that your first layer will go down without tags and issues damaging your first layers.

The design of the tool head on both the Taz 6 and the Lulzbot Mini are also pretty much identical (with some minor differences). At their core is the all metal hot end V2 that enables them to print in almost every single filament type on the consumer market, more specifically the 2.85mm varieties. The only thing you should avoid printing with is carbon fibre filaments as they will degrade the Hot End and Nozzle over time (you can still print them, but you'll be needing to replace your hot end eventually).

Each printer tool head ships with a 0.5mm Hexagon Hot End, however, there are 0.35mm and 0.6mm alternatives that you can use if you're looking for something other than 0.5mm.

The actual tool heads on each machine are modular as well, meaning you can swap them out by simply removing the mounting screws, and flashing the firmware over USB (There's a tool for this in Cura too!). The step-by-step processes for all tool head changes are available for free online via the Open Hardware Assembly Instructions website too, so you're never left in the dark.

These are all of the similarities when it comes to 3D Printers from Lulzbot. To help distinguish the two, we've put together this table (below) to really highlight the differences.

The Important Differences

3d-printer-differences-table

The first thing you'll notice when you do a side by side of these 2 printers is the difference in size, doubled from the Mini to the Taz 6. The print volume is easily the most advantageous difference between the two, however, the print area on a Lulzbot Mini is more than enough for beginners getting into 3D Printing.

Aleph Objects have been far more innovative with the tool heads for their Taz line of printers over their Mini printer. This is probably because the control board on the Lulzbot Mini only supports a max of 1 extruder whereas the Taz 6 board can support multiple. It's pretty safe to say that if you're looking to explore the benefits of dual filament prints, high-volume 3D printing, or flexible filament printing then the Taz 6 is going to be the best choice for you with 5 different tool heads to choose from.

The physical space requirement for 3D printers can be a little bigger than the printers physical size as you might need some extra space for the print bed movements/spool holders. The Mini obviously takes up less space than the Taz 6 in this regard, but realistically it's not really a make it or break it metric when deciding on which one suits you best.

One of the most noticeable and sometimes game changing differences when it comes to these two 3D printers is the way you can control them. It seems like a simple enough thing for a machine, right? But the massive difference that I have noticed is how much I like having an LCD screen/control wheel on the actual printer (The Taz Line of 3D Printers) as opposed to the Mini (USB Tethering Only). For quick and easy printing, nothing is quite as hassle-free as saving G-Code to your SD card and quickly heating the tool head up, swapping filaments and pressing Start Print. That said though, the process of USB tethered printing is often times a little more direct than that, as you can print directly from your Cura window.

As we have a few 3D printers around the warehouse, we tend to use the OctoPrint software on Raspberry Pi's to control all of our printers, however purging/swapping filament on the Mini can be a little painful. It's pretty clear that the Mini was intended to be used as a desktop printer with a PC attached directly to it, whereas the Taz machines suit a workshop environment.

All in all, you can't really put these two printers beside each other and expect a clear winner. It all comes down to what you need for your projects. I'd even go so far as to boil the differences down to the size of the printable area and tool head selection, in which case the Taz 6 clearly takes the cake. But at the same time, the Lulzbot Mini is a fantastic and reliable printer, with enough print volume for most maker prototyping prints. I really hope that this has cleared up the differences and similarities between the two 3D printers, if you need anything 3D printing (or general Maker goodness) don't hesitate to get in touch!

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