The Voron kit build thread

[AlanB]

Good question. It wasn't what I wanted to do, actually. When my Voron parts were printed with the Voron PIF program a few months back, Stealthburner had not been released, so my parts are for Afterburner. I was planning the LGX at the time so they provided the LGX adapter for the Afterburner. So I'm working with what I have. I did make one attempt at printing some ABS+ with my Prusa MK3 in a temporary enclosure, but adhesion was terrible and rather than debug that now I decided to go with the parts I have on hand. Once the Trident is up and running I'll probably print Stealthburner parts, though perhaps I'll focus on the Salad Fork parts first. The main advantage of Stealthburner is for printing PLA, due to the better cooling setup. Afterburner is a good printhead but falls a bit short on the cooling for fast PLA printing. So while I definitely want the Stealthburner it isn't a priority now. The LDO kit I have was released for Stealthburner with Clockworks 1 (a slightly odd combination), normally the SB uses Clockworks 2 but it can work with CW1. But the LDO kit doesn't contain printed parts, so I'm working through a puzzle of parts combinations from PIF and LDO and my own collection of bits and upgrades. Once I get a viable ABS printer going I'll choose a different path.

LGX is compatible with Stealthburner. I do have the parts for Clockworks 1 that normally goes with the Afterburner, but there are advantages to the larger LGX gears, plus it's less effort to use it than to build up a CW1. The LGX Lite might be a better choice, this LGX was purchased when they came out, before the Lite was released. My LGX Lite is going on the Railcore which is waiting in the wings for me to order some more parts and finish it off.

I did order and receive the connectors for the LGX motor which uses a 2.0mm JST and the LDO cable set doesn't expect that motor so didn't come with a connection for it, and the LGX itself didn't come with any cables or connectors at all, surprisingly. I've got a crimper coming in soon so I'll probably wait for that and between that and the collection of crimpers I already have something should be adequate to get the motor cable done.

The motor adapter above was PLA which won't last very well, I did reprint it in PETG. It's weird that PETG adheres just fine at 85C and ABS totally failed at 100C, even with Aquanet. It acted like the nozzle was too high, perhaps it had to do with the enclosure elevating temperatures. It wasn't very convenient working with the MK3 in the enclosure so I didn't really spend any time trying to recalibrate it. It instantly and reliably works with PLA, TPU and PETG and completely fails with ABS+.

I see Digikey had some Raspberry Pi CM4 boards this evening while I was out. They didn't last long. Pi boards continue to trickle out.

 

[Ken226]

Good question. It wasn't what I wanted to do, actually. When my Voron parts were printed with the Voron PIF program a few months back, Stealthburner had not been released, so my parts are for Afterburner. I was planning the LGX at the time so they provided the LGX adapter for the Afterburner. So I'm working with what I have. I did make one attempt at printing some ABS+ with my Prusa MK3 in a temporary enclosure, but adhesion was terrible and rather than debug that now I decided to go with the parts I have on hand. Once the Trident is up and running I'll probably print Stealthburner parts, though perhaps I'll focus on the Salad Fork parts first. The main advantage of Stealthburner is for printing PLA, due to the better cooling setup. Afterburner is a good printhead but falls a bit short on the cooling for fast PLA printing. So while I definitely want the Stealthburner it isn't a priority now. The LDO kit I have was released for Stealthburner with Clockworks 1 (a slightly odd combination), normally the SB uses Clockworks 2 but it can work with CW1. But the LDO kit doesn't contain printed parts, so I'm working through a puzzle of parts combinations from PIF and LDO and my own collection of bits and upgrades. Once I get a viable ABS printer going I'll choose a different path.

LGX is compatible with Stealthburner. I do have the parts for Clockworks 1 that normally goes with the Afterburner, but there are advantages to the larger LGX gears, plus it's less effort to use it than to build up a CW1. The LGX Lite might be a better choice, this LGX was purchased when they came out, before the Lite was released. My LGX Lite is going on the Railcore which is waiting in the wings for me to order some more parts and finish it off.

I did order and receive the connectors for the LGX motor which uses a 2.0mm JST and the LDO cable set doesn't expect that motor so didn't come with a connection for it, and the LGX itself didn't come with any cables or connectors at all, surprisingly. I've got a crimper coming in soon so I'll probably wait for that and between that and the collection of crimpers I already have something should be adequate to get the motor cable done.

The motor adapter above was PLA which won't last very well, I did reprint it in PETG. It's weird that PETG adheres just fine at 85C and ABS totally failed at 100C, even with Aquanet. It acted like the nozzle was too high, perhaps it had to do with the enclosure elevating temperatures. It wasn't very convenient working with the MK3 in the enclosure so I didn't really spend any time trying to recalibrate it. It instantly and reliably works with PLA, TPU and PETG and completely fails with ABS+.

I see Digikey had some Raspberry Pi CM4 boards this evening while I was out. They didn't last long. Pi boards continue to trickle out.

I print ABS with the bed at 110 and the nozzle at 235. Set the nozzle pretty close. I go about .025 mm above the plate. 110 puts it just above the glass transition temp for ABS.


Alcohol wipe pei plate before the print. No aqua net. I use aquanet for PLA, but it seems to act more like a lubricant at ABS temps. I have no adhesion trouble at all with my West3d plate.

Oddly, the pei plate that came with my Voron kit sucks. ABS won't stick to it at all. It's laying in a drawer now. It will probably going into the trash soon.

I suspect I may have ruined it early in the build process when I had calibration mishap and put down a layer of ABS so close it wouldn't come off without acetone.

 

[AlanB]

This is the original Prusa smooth PEI with 3M adhesive sticker. Works perfectly for everything but ABS, though I use some Aquanet on it for PETG and TPU. 110C is warmer than I like to go. Some things (like the 3m adhesive) are not rated much above 100, I just have used the Prusa settings which were 100C. I have some other plates but decided to deal with that later and use the excellent parts I already have. No reason to risk damaging the MK3 now. It's my only working printer.

I have read others use Aquanet for ABS, but with the enclosure it looked to me like the nozzle height was too high suddenly which doesn't make a lot of sense since it works fine on PETG which is almost as hot. Anyway I made a couple of tests and set it aside since I had other ways of moving ahead. One thing I don't want to do is take the Prusa out of action by cooking the PETG parts, which some have experienced. I need that printer to be reliable at least until another printer is reliable.

I would think acetone and ABS would leave an excellent surface for ABS to adhere to, it is often used for that.

 

[Ken226]

I have read others use Aquanet for ABS, but with the enclosure it looked to me like the nozzle height was too high suddenly which doesn't make a lot of sense since it works fine on PETG.

I've found that PETG sticks really really well, to just about anything.

Before I started using Aquanet as a release agent for PETG, I always reset my Flashforge z offset to a bigger gap for PETG.

After discovering Aquanet, I can use the same Z offset for PETG that I use for ABS (.2mm)

Before Aquanet, my first PETG prints on the Flashforge ruined the build plates, because with the .2mm gap the part stuck so tightly that then couldn't be removed. The part literally pulled the pei off with it.

Before Aquanet, I used a single sheet of paper as a feeler gauge to calibrate the nozzle height for ABS or PLA.

I used 2 sheets for PETG.

 

[AlanB]

I damaged a build plate with PETG on the Lulzbot Mini. I tried glue stick, Windex and settled on Aquanet for PETG and TPU, and even a little AQ with PLA when the build plate PEI gets old and tired and needs some adhesion help (AQ is easier and works better than sanding...) I have not had to change Z height between PLA, PETG and TPU with the AQ on the MK3. PETG and TPU really like to stick to smooth PEI. I've heard it's not a problem with the fused PEI textured build plates, but I haven't experimented much. The PLA doesn't stick too well to the textured plates that were ISO cleaned, at least the one I tested with. I didn't try AQ on the textured plate. The smooth plate has worked so well I've just used it, and used it, and used it. I'll have to experiment with textured plates again. I also have a matte textured plate which I hear is a good surface for PLA, but it's still in the package.

 

[Ken226]

I damaged a build plate with PETG on the Lulzbot Mini. I tried glue stick, Windex and settled on Aquanet for PETG and TPU, and even a little AQ with PLA when the build plate PEI gets old and tired and needs some adhesion help (AQ is easier than sanding...) I have not had to change Z height between PLA, PETG and TPU with the AQ on the MK3. PETG and TPU really like to stick to smooth PEI. I've heard it's not a problem with the fused PEI textured build plates, but I haven't experimented much. The PLA doesn't stick too well to the textured plates that were ISO cleaned, at least the one I tested with. I didn't try AQ on the textured plate. The smooth plate has worked so well I've just used it, and used it, and used it. I'll have to experiment with textured plates again. I also have a matte textured plate which I hear is a good surface for PLA, but it's still in the package.

I love the textured plate. My Iron red stealthburner, @110c bed, 235 extruder, and the z_endstop_calibrate set so the nozzle gives a firm friction drag with a sheet of regular notebook paper:

I've been quite happy with my Voron's print quality.

I printed the first layer using the Hilbert curves infill pattern. Its just barely visible behind the textured surface.

 

[Ken226]

The Voron made short work of the Benchy test. 45 minutes with 3 wall layers, 3 top and bottom layers and 20% infill.





Interesting how much small lighting differences change the color. The stealthburner and the Benchy are from the same filament.

 

[AlanB]

The Voron Design group introduced the new Voron Zero.2 udpdate today on a Livestream as they usually do. The actual file release will be in the coming week or so. This includes a Mini Stealthburner toolhead, a new top hat for the Zero, and a number of other smaller changes. Kits should be released from the usual suppliers very soon after the design files are released. They have been presented with the information they need some weeks ago.

Voron Zero.2 Intro Livestream

At 120mm build volume I'm not planning to build a Voron Zero size printer. I've got a Salad Fork kit waiting with a 160mm build volume that will suit my "small printer" needs a bit better. That's very close to the same print volume I had with the Lulzbot Mini which was just sufficient for most of my parts. I have other larger printers at 250 and 300mm so having a small printer is appealing. Perhaps eventually this will be the only printer in my office area, the rest will be in a room off the garage. The small printer is also good for taking places and doing demos, which I used to do with the Lulzbot, but it was a bit heavy and I no longer have it.

 

[Ken226]

The stealthburner to CW1 mate-up doesn't look bad, but definitely not as clean as the stealthburner to CW2 mate-up.

I want to keep the machined aluminum cw1 extruder, and was tossing around some ideas to clean up the look.

Most of the solutions I thought up didn't pan out for various fitment and interference reasons, but I was able to modify the PCB cover to fill in some gaps.







I think I'll run this awhile, and see how it holds up.

 

[AlanB]

Keep an eye out for wear on the wiring in the cable chains.