Comment on If you had $1500 to spend
AliasVortex@lemmy.world 1 week ago
The new printer, hands down (unless your goal is to push the viper beyond its limits). That kind of budget puts you far beyond entry level machines, and usually comes with marked improvements in quality, reliability, and speed. For example, with 1.5k you could probably swing one of the big Vorons 2.4 kits on sale (+printed parts), a Trident kit at retail (also with printed parts), or go the out of the box route and comfortably pick up the Core One (or go Bambu if that’s your jam).
For context, I can run prints on my 2.4 what would take something in the neighborhood of 4 times as long on my old ender 3.
For context, I can run prints on my 2.4 what would take something in the neighborhood of 4 times as long on my old ender 3.
I would put the difference even higher between my 2.4 and my old i3 clone, but I’m also running a 0.6mm nozzle and print with 0.9mm extrusion width / 2 walls and 0.3mm layer heights. My limiting factor is volumetric flow, which I’ve found to vary between materials (ASA = way easier to print fast than PETG).
How fast are you printing? I’m very close to finally pulling the trigger on a 2.4, and would love a bump in speed. my current printer (Anycubic bedslinger with klipper) is printing PLA/ASA at 200mm/s with 6000mm/s2 accelerations and 300mm/s travel while retaining pretty good quality.
My biggest annoyances with my current printer is that despite the probed bedmesh (inductive probe) it doesn’t compensate properly on the first layer across the entire bed. There’s a 0.1mm difference between highest and lowest probed points, i would think this could easily be compensated for since it’s decently flat. But it always ends up with bad sections where it’s clearly not compensating correctly while others are perfect. I also always need to tweak Z-offset between powerdowns, which is a bit annoying since i usually need to restart the first print of the day at least once.
Speed
Print duration is dependent on two components:
My print speed is often limited by volumetric flow - not the actual speed of my print head, so I haven’t bothered chasing higher ceilings. Granted, tend to print I print large/chunky/functional things so my goal is to lay down as much material as possible. If you’re chasing lots of fine detail, a smaller Voron can go faster than what I have but isn’t going to be that much faster than where you are now.
Print Quality
Thanks to a combination of CoreXY (rigidity) and Klipper (pressure advance, input shaping), I have basically zero ringing/ghosting show up in prints. It is worth talking about quality expectations though. Harsh lighting can reveal that layer lines are not perfectly aligned layer to layer. Not sure if this is a Voron thing or is it’s just more obvious now that my layers are a lot more noise free.
First layer
Automated gantry leveling (Klipper will get the bed and gantry to be ‘perfectly’ in plane thanks to 2.4s being able to mechanically move the four corners of the gantry independently - trident does similar, but moves the bed instead), a klicky probe and a Z calibration macro, and bed mesh make my first layers extremely consistent print to print.
One caveat: because the printer is enclosed and big (if you go for a 350), if you print sequential objects without letting the printer fully heat soak, the first layer will progressively get a touch higher and higher between prints as the printer expands in the z-axis.
Do you have any suggestions for upgrading the base kit? There are so many options.
I assume you mean “what mods do I recommend out of the box”?
… Off the top of my head, those are the big ones
I believe the official Voron recommendation is to build the printer stock first and then upgrade/ mod from there. Which is solid advice, the stock machines are very competent and don’t need upgrades to print well.
The only real day-1 upgrade I’d recommend is called the Klicky switch (or the PCB variant so that you don’t have to do any soldering, just crimping). The stock BoM calls for an inductive probe, which works, but is prone to thermal drift (it gets less accurate as the printer heats up, so you have to do your bed mesh at the same temperature every time). Klicky replaces it with a limit switch- generally more reliable and accurate regardless of temperature.
I might also recommend a belt tension gauge (totally not needed, but more convenient than trying to measure the sound frequency). I use a remix of this one (assembled, kit), but realistically, anything repeatable will do the trick.
Everything beyond that is going to depend heavily on your kit, printer, and needs. For example, the LDO kits actually come with the mechanical parts for the Klicky switch among other nice to haves. Or alternatively, if you’re doing a 350 2.4 and planning on long running enclosed prints (ABS/ASA), extension backers for the flying gantry may be a good idea (the steel linear rails and aluminum have different rates of thermal expansion, which can cause them to bend as the internal volume of the printer warms up), but they’re not especially necessary if you have a smaller printer or only ever work with PLA.
The official Voron discord is also a phenomenal resource. Plus most vendors run their own discord servers for help/ questions (I’m partial to Fabreeko, because their customer service is above and beyond, but West3D is also really good).
Thanks for the great info! I have a bunch of questions -
So the Klicky Switch is the probe? I see there is a Clicky Clack door kit. Don’t want to confuse them. Also, the belt tension gauge. I see some one Amazon, is any one good enough. They seem to be about $30 I don’t see anything about a extension rails for a flying gantry. I do see LDO rails, but when I pick that option it tells me "Includes 6 MGN9 rails and 1 MGN12 (recommended) - Option to choose 8x MGN9s. Are these kits CoreXY and self leveling? Also the kit has options for the controller board and display, which is Octopus and Mini123864 (matched w/brand of board). That means I don’t need to order a Raspberry PI?
I was thinking about upgrading the extruder to an Orbiter 2.5, and the hotend to a Mosquito Magnum, heater to Slice 50w, Thermistor cartridge to Slice PT1000.
I know you said the default setup is perfectly fine, but I’ve been eyeing the Slice products for a while now. I’m willing to pay the extra money and go above the $1500 to have them. Do you find this overkill?
mickeyripple@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I’m looking at the Vorons now. I like that I can build it to spec.