koz

koz , 21 days ago

@jamie Which ones are left?

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Does that vat use some kind of unusual screw type?

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie I guess that's the risk of steel screws in aluminium, but wow.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Yeah, exactly. I really wish the M7 would get a Hoopat release some day. For this, among other, reasons.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Nah, that's the M7 Pro. The M7 is just a slightly different vat design, which makes it incompatible with the M5 series vats, despite being almost exactly the same.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Which is weird because in every other respect, the M7 is a fantastic printer. If they'd just kept M5 vats, they'd save themselves (and by extension, me) a lot of hassle.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie There's kind of ... less to fiddle with when it comes to SLA printing? The main improvements lately have been various smart features (pressure sensors to detect junk in the vat, smart lifting, etc), or just better build quality (heated vats, a pouring spout that isn't awful, etc). FDM on the other hand is an endless fiddle fest: it's just now, the manufacturers do most of the fiddling. Unless you're me.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Heated cure stations are something that could do with being more common, since this can increase both clarity (for translucent resins) and strength. Prusa of all people have numbers to back at least one of these up, because they're one of the few vendors of such units.

I'd just like a wash station I can just plonk my plate into.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie It's because almost nobody on Youtube is doing SLA prints that aren't minis. I've done it a few times, and it's pretty damn useful in some niche cases, which is where heating for strength could be super nice.

A good example? Printing out of a tough resin, then heated curing for strength in return for some flexibility loss. Still very good impact resistance, but now it won't bend in a stiff wind.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Yeah, resin lacks a DIY scene.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Yeah, the Chitubox monoculture isn't ideal. It is slowly changing, but ultimately, we're still mostly stuck with it.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie And, at least IME, resin printers have been a lot less janky. Maybe FDM just hates me or I've been unlucky, but both of my Anycubic resin printers have... just worked?

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie Bambu printers are an unacceptably proprietary solution for me. However, that's not the point I'm making here. What I meant was that the uber-cheap Anycubic Mono 2, which is in the same category as, for example, the Neptune 3 Pro price-wise, worked way better and with way less stupid hassles, than said Neptune 3 Pro. More generally, resin printers, even at the very low end, seem way more reliable than equivalent low-end FDM machines.

koz , 20 days ago

@jamie At this stage, my K1 Max can reliably hit 65C chambers and print amazing ABS and PC prints, so those days are long behind me. But it's still weird to compare my low-end FDM experience with my low-end resin experience for 'it just works'-ness.

koz , 1 month ago

@jamie Thanks, I have been! Been setting up my new CNC, which of course involves mods and wiring. It's now Boxing Day here, and thus I went to get myself the most absurdly named saw blade in existence.

How's yours going?

koz , 4 months ago

@jamie A very fitting setting!

koz OP , 5 months ago

@3dprinting So, slight rethink. I decided that I'd rather use the Z axis Speedys on the Y with this dual-Y mod: https://www.printables.com/model/520947-ender-5-plus-dual-y-axis-motor-mount/files . In the process, I discovered that the only way to tension the Y belts on the Ender 5 involves throwing your frame out of square. Yes really. You have to remove a structural component to tension the belts. Wtf Creality.

So yeah, more frame stripdown!

25/n

Front part of an Ender 5 frame, with the idler bearings and mounts removed, as well as the top front crossbar. The top extrusions are visibly not square relative the Z pillars.

koz OP , 5 months ago

@3dprinting In the meantime, I've been making progress on the EVA3 I'm going to use. The next step is to make mounts for the dual 5015 fans for part cooling, and also the duct, which will likely be the Tri-Horn. The duct will be made of ASA, as PETG isn't really up to that task. I also need to mount a Biqu Microprobe I have lying around, which will involve both a BLTouch mount and an adapter, because the jank will never cease.

26/n

Partially-assembled EVA3 toolhead, viewed where the 4010 fan for hotend cooling would normally go. The parts for the toolhead are made of a shiny red material, and there is an E3DV6 mount and hotend held inside the partially-assembled toolhead with a human hand. The hotend has an orange silicone sock on its heaterblock.
A TriangleLabs drop-in K1 extruder replacement with a small pancake motor attached. It is screwed to a red printed part, designed to sit atop an EVA3. There are four wires coming out of the motor, looping behind, out of view.

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Today has been a day of... interesting progress. The dual-Y mod is mounted, but is currently quite loose, as I cannot attach it from the top and bottom. The reason? The same M5x10s I need to finish reinforcing the frame.

I think this is the first time I've had a build bottlenecked by fasteners. It's kind of absurd. More are on order, but Aliexpress takes a hot minute.

As an aside, this build is starting to look like something Ivan Miranda would make.

27/n

An Ender 5 printer frame with a lot of upgrades, viewed from the side. There are multiple additional parts made out of a bright red plastic: * Reinforcing corner brackets on all the bottom corners * A new tensioner mechanism on one upper corner * A dual-Y mod mounting two motors * An additional motor, oriented upward, on the rear right corner, in a printed mount

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting I'm kind of freestyling here, as I don't (yet) have the idlers I need to do the mod properly. I also have to re-belt the Y, but that can wait until I can do the proper Stage 1 work.

One 'fun' discovery is that the Y assembly is weirdly structural on the Ender 5. This is most notable when looking closely at the dual Y. That bearing there is supporting nothing, but I can't remove that part, because it ensures the corner doesn't come off the pillar!

28/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed that the Speedys are gone from the Z axis. This is indeed what has happened, as the dual-Y mod is definitely a better use of Speedys. I managed to find some random garbage motors I could use there instead. Their shaft lengths aren't quite the same, which I suspect will come to bite me later, but that's a problem for future Koz to worry about.

29/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting The wise among you might be scratching your heads right now. "How the hell is he planning to run dual Y and dual Z off a Cheetah?"

Yes, that could be a problem for sure. However, I already figured out a solution to this, in probably the stupidest way possible. I'll explain that next post.

Meanwhile, let's skip even more steps and print the mirrored Y tensioner from Stage 2. Otherwise, I have a very loose corner, and it bothers me.

30/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting To explain how on earth I plan to run 6 motors, we need to consider power. The Ender 5 comes with a single LRS-350-24, which is definitely going to fall short with all my upgrades. I do have an HS-250-24 lying around, which would give me the power I need, but the Cheetah only has one input for power.

The solution? Double up with the original board! I can run one with the LRS, the other with the HS.

Sounds crazy? Yes, but let me explain.

31/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Given that the heated bed wants 220W, I can drive it from the original board with the HS-250-24. In addition to that, I can drive the E motor from that board, as the poor little 0.9 degree pancake I'm running there is 1A peak, which means something like 0.7A RMS. That's pushing my luck a tad, but should fit into the HS.

32/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Everything else can come off the Cheetah, run using the LRS-350-24. This gives me four steppers, one of which has two motor connections. That means I have a dedicated driver for each Speedy, and then I can share the garbage Zs.

I am a touch bottlenecked given such mighty motors here. The Cheetah has soldered-on TMC2209s, which have 2A peak current, while the Speedys can tolerate 2.5A peak. This will limit their performance some, but hey, this whole build is jank anyway.

33/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Now, my original plan was to have a swingout electronics box with a 7 inch touchscreen I had lying around. Obviously with all these boards, this isn't really viable anymore.

However, with those feet, we now have an actual electronics well, which should fit both the PSUs and boards, just. Then, the swingout electronics box can just house the BPi running Klipper and the screen.

Easier wiring, less designing, perfect!

34/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting With that in mind, I need DIN rails, as well as a way to cut them. Luckily, we can crib lengths from the Mercury One project, and I do have a local source for DIN rail.

Guess who is also the proud owner of a new reciprocating saw?

35/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting One rather annoying aspect of the Mercury One is that their electronics enclosure (or well) has zero documentation attached to it. No BOM, no instructions. While you can get the CAD through their base Mercury One repository, this took me some searching to find.

I'll have to pull the CAD model to find out both what mounts they're using for their DIN rails, and how long said rails have to be. Nice to see this project also apes awful Voron documentation practices.

36/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting While I wait for filament, I finally got the idlers I needed to finish Stage 1. I haven't bothered putting the pulley on the X motor, or belting anything, because I'd have to un-belt everything for later Stages anyway.

37/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting I also decided to try using my new reciprocating saw to cut some DIN rails. I wasn't particularly successful, as I simply could not workhold anything against this saw's might. Ended up using a hacksaw, some 3-in-1, and a lot of patience.

These are square and parallel, the camera just makes them look like they're not. Might change them later.

38/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting One tip I got taught when doing tricky idler stacks involving shims: use a hex key to hold everything in place, then bolt down from the opposite end, displacing the key. This proved especially useful here, as the thin shims I was using would have certainly shifted otherwise.

39/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting I also discovered that I did, indeed, have two flex couplers for lead screws, so I installed them too. The Z motors have slightly different shaft lengths, so I will likely have to adjust them a bit. They look very cool if you give them a little nudge, as the springy couplers make them wave.

I can't do the rest of the Z assembly, due to missing 10mm rods. Until I get all the stuff I'm missing, I can't really continue.

40/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Mounted the Y rails while I wait for parts. This is a bit of quite confusing documentation from the Endorphin project. According to the pictures, the written instructions and the CAD model, the right rail goes on the outside of the frame. According to the instructional video, on the inside. So which is it?

Opened an issue about it: https://github.com/endorphin3d/endorphin/issues/31

For now I followed the video, so it looks a bit goofy. Can always remount once I have the printed parts.

41/n

Left inside of a stripped-down Ender 5 frame without a Y crossbeam. There is an MGN12 linear rail mounted on the outside of the top extrusion, with two orange rail stoppers.

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting The Stage 2 instructions also aren't particularly specific on where the rails are supposed to go exactly. This is definitely not obvious, as each rail is non-trivially shorter than the extrusion it mounts on.

For anyone reading this as an #Endorphin guide, it's 15mm from the rear brackets.

I might just go sensorless on Y and design some 15mm spacers/stoppers. Spoppers? There should be more than enough space there to M3x8 and hammer nut something in place.

42/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting More filament arrived today, which means more work on the #Endorphin. Several things have happened today.

First, rail stuff. I moved one rail to the outside of the frame, then designed and added some rail stops. These are both spacers (ensuring the rails are symmetrically placed), but also sensorless homing targets. As per the meme of this build, they fasten with M5 hardware, because what else.

These are fun to bump with the carriages.

43/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Next, we finally have a second Y tensioner! This is a redesign by me, because the original was held in place by one screw, which meant it was neither holding the corner together (like the original tensioner) nor particularly well-constrained (as it could rotate around that screw). My design fixes both.

44/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Third, as you probably noticed, I restored the top front extrusion. While I admit it gets in the way, I simply could not justify not having it when I realized that I couldn't reinforce the two side top extrusions with corner brackets. This is because the Y belts would have nowhere to go then, whoops.

I stuck some small corner brackets on it just to be sure though.

45/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Last, but by no means least, I have replaced the toothless idlers with toothed ones for the Y idlers, and the idler opposite the X motor. These not only better match my colour scheme, but should also help with precision. Having to redo the shim stacks was a bit annoying, but ultimately felt worth it.

46/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Next on the agenda is completing Stage 2, which means mounting the two parts holding the X axis on the MGN12 carriages. The original parts have... suspect belt clamping, so I'll probably test-print the parts first to check if they actually can hold a belt under tension. If not, I'll have to modify them too.

I'll also have to finally thread and tension the Y belts too, since those mounts will stay with us into Stage 3. This is the easier belting step at least.

47/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting I also need to finish mounting all the reinforcing brackets, but for that I'm going to need a lot more M5 fasteners. They are arriving soon. I'll also need to properly mount the Y motors (those mounts have quite a bit of vertical play at the moment), and most likely will need a different reinforcing solution for the rear top frame corners, as my original brackets collide with the Y motor mounts. I have some options for those, but they'll need test-printing too.

48/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Also, somewhat tangentially, I'll need to finish the Z axis. While I can't do this yet (still waiting on some key parts), this will determine a lot of other things, including where the electronics will go. I'll have to print some parts for this as well, but I decided not to even think about that until I have the rods and extrusion in hand.

49/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting #Endorphin progress picture! I've (mostly) finished Stage 2 at this point: only the X tensioner remains. I've also added (and tensioned) both Y belts, which was a lot more annoying than I expected.

I did some other stuff besides, which I will explain in subsequent posts.

50/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting One of the additional things I did was mount both the top and bottom Z rod brackets. I had enough metal ones upcycled from the original to do the bottom, but the top ones had to be modified from the Mercury One. These aren't likely to be their final positions, as I won't be able to judge that until I get the rods and extrusion to build the axis.

Also, the clearance between the top brackets and the moving parts of the Y axis is super close. Like, millimetres.

51/n

Close-up view of the top of a heavily-modified Ender 5 frame, with many bright red printed parts, viewed from below. Two parts are in very close proximity: a bracket for inserting a Z axis rod and a mount for the X rail, designed to move on the Y axis.

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting These belt clamps are simultaneously wondrous and terrible. They're wondrous because, in spite of repeated attempts to pull them loose under tension, I couldn't. They are held in with nothing but friction against the belt teeth.

They're terrible because there is no way in hell to thread belts into them once the axis is mounted to the rail carriages. Seriously, I tried, it can't be done. Had to disassemble the entire axis to get those damn belts in there.

52/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting So, after the X axis tensioner, what's left?

1. X linear rail (easy).
2. Z axis (fairly easy, blocked on parts).
3. LED mount (fairly easy).

... and then the suffering begins, because I have to build and wire the toolhead, set up (and wire) the electronics well, and probably figure out the skirt. All of these will require custom parts and crimping.

Send help.

53/n

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting Been a few days without an update, but not because I haven't been working! I've since mounted the X rail, (most of) the X tensioner, and even started on the toolhead. However, I'm bottlenecked right now, because the belt clamps don't align with the belt path. The fix for this should be easy enough, but I've been a bit stalled because of that.

54/n

Bottom-front view of a modified EVA toolhead on a modified Ender 5 frame. There is an E3D V6 hotend mounted into the toolhead, with a black pair of cooling ducts either side. The hotend has a bright orange silicone sock. The cowl of the toolhead is made of a bright red plastic. You can see part of an extruder at the top, as well as a 4010 cooling fan inside the cowl.
Front view of a modified EVA toolhead on a modified Ender 5 frame. There is a modified K1 extruder mounted to the top, and a 4010 fan inside the cowl. You can make out some black cooling ducts and a little bit of bright orange silicone sock on the hotend, though the hotend itself isn't visible. All the printed parts (apart from the ducts) are made of a bright red plastic.
Top-side view of a modified EVA toolhead on a modified Ender 5 frame. There is visible misalignment between the belt clamp mounts and the channel of the 2020 extrusion where the belts are meant to run. An extruder, a hotend, and a 4010 hotend fan are mounted into the EVA, but there are multiple holes with brass heatsets in them still visible. All the parts (other than the ducts) are printed out of a bright red plastic.

koz OP , 4 months ago

@3dprinting The observant members of the audience are probably yelling something like 'WHERE ARE THE CAT EARS KOZ', which is a fair question. I'll definitely have some, but I'm not 100% sure if this cowl design is the one I'm going for. To save myself potentially re-doing a bunch of work, I'll first figure out how all the parts fit, and then remix as appropriate.

55/n