Switchwire Revival

[mvdveer]

Well time has been a problem. What is the saying - "Work gets in the way with play" or "time waits for no one". And then there are the chores at home to keep wifey happy. In the process of repainting the inside of the house, so my printers had to find a new home. Build a bench in the garage and relocated them there for the time being.

Whilst doing that, saw the neglected Swithchwire and had a ping of guilt - never liked that printer ever since I build it. Time to show it some love, I think. 

I have a few projects lined up, with all parts needed for the work - just need to prioritise.

I think this will be the order of events. (for now) 

1. Switchwire (VS.486) Revival - Canbus conversion, Voron Tap installation with bed mount mod, replacing BTT skr3 mini with Octopus board and removing the key back by installing the Z-motor Brake.

2. Voron 2.4 300mm (v2.4008) - Convert to Canbus, install chaotic labs TAP, reprint some parts that I am not happy with.

3. VZBot 330 - rebuild to new version, Upgrade printer control board from BTT SKR 3 EZ Max to Octopus pro with TMC5160 drivers, Canbus and Rapido hotend.

4. Rat-Rig V-Minion build - kit been lying around for some time now. (including mods suggested by @Penatr8tor). Waiting for some more ASA/ABS  filament from the local supplier in V-Minion green ) - out of stock at present. Once filament arrives, will start printing the mods ready to rock and roll. One thing I noticed whilst unpacking is that the linear rails are absolutely soaked in oil.

5. Voron Micron 180mm build - LDO kit arrived from Fabreeko (now this kit really impressed me - starting from the packaging) - needed a challenge after reading the experience and following the build of @Maurici.  Did not follow the live build of Steve, but have watched his stream. So set to go.

6. Vorron Tridex 300mm build - kit arrived from Formbot - must be better option than ERCF for multicolour printing. Would probably definitely use this more than the ERCF. (I know for sure as the ERCF is already packed in a waterproof tub and stored away.)

 

7.  Ender 5 - Conversion to Voron 2.4 or Mercury one. (These have been done and have joined the discord channels) May even consider a conversion to a Trident. Why would I want to convert? Because I can. Already have linear rails and afterburner toolhead on the printer)

8. Ender 5 Plus - As above - Have already converted to linear rails and afterburner.

9. Ender 3 pro - Switchwire conversion (Release 2) - Already has linear rails and afterburner

10 Ender CRX - Swithcwire conversion - Hardly ever used this printer - only upgrades done are Bondtech extruders and improved cooling for the toolhead (Bowden setup)

AS you can see the Creality Clan has been stored away for some time now. Time to get them functional again

This should keep my busy for the next couple of months years.

Well onto the Switchwire revival.......

 

 

[mvdveer]

Started fiddling with a possible solution to have a more robust bed for the Voron Tap. 

1. Fist thought were a triple linear rail mount, keeping the original Y-motor position in the middle - the movement force on the bed will be centralised.

2. Did think of moving the motor mount in line with the outside rail, but am worried about binding due to the belt not running central and the force on the bed is only one sided.

3. Next thought was to design a belt path to allow equal pull on both sides of the bed. This will involve redesigning the motor mount to incorporate pulleys.

Options 2 and 3 will require some CAD work in Fusion 360 - not my strong point. Will I take the plunge?

For now option 1 looks good to me.

But - have to try other options - lets see how my fusion 360 skills develop.

 

[PFarm]

Looking at all of those projects one would think that you have an obsession LOL! Nice collection of printers. Talking about obsession I'm having withdrawal with the 2.4 being down! What under the car cover? 

[mvdveer]

2 hours ago, PFarm said:

What under the car cover? 

[PFarm]

Very nice must be a fun ride!

 

[mvdveer]

21 minutes ago, PFarm said:

Very nice must be a fun ride!

Certainly is. An oldie but goodie. 1998 911 carerra cabriolet. Officially a classic car this year September. 

[Maurici]

7 hours ago, mvdveer said:

Didn't know the max power thing got to 911's. Nice!

 

Your priorities are wrong. Micron for the win.

Then switchwire.

Then... burn the enders.

 

Ps. What is the bed mounting mod for the switwire?

I understood that tap with a swinging bed wasn't a good idea... so i understand the mod has something to do with it? Enlighten me!!!

Edited June 3, 2023 by Maurici

[mvdveer]

4 hours ago, Maurici said:

I understood that tap with a swinging bed wasn't a good idea... so i understand the mod has something to do with it? Enlighten me!!!

I don't think the issue was the slinging bed but rather the pressure on the bed enforced by tap. The switchwire bed mounts on a central rail, thus the corners will "give" under pressure of the TAP probe. From what I have read, by supporting the corners, TAP works just as good as on a fixed bed. I may be totally wrong, but only time will tell.

[mvdveer]

4 hours ago, Maurici said:

Then... burn the enders.

Not a bad suggestion - May well come down to that! 

[Penatr8tor]

On 6/3/2023 at 6:16 PM, mvdveer said:

I don't think the issue was the slinging bed but rather the pressure on the bed enforced by tap. The switchwire bed mounts on a central rail, thus the corners will "give" under pressure of the TAP probe. From what I have read, by supporting the corners, TAP works just as good as on a fixed bed. I may be totally wrong, but only time will tell.

I would say that the only limiting factor for using TAP would be bed flex under a given load. As long as the bed remains rigid in the Z axis under the load of TAP, 500-800 grams, then you're good to go. 

@mvdveer I like the triple rail idea but, I think there will need to be a longitudinal stiffener on the right and left sides of the bed as there could still be flex at the corners if they're left unsupported.

[mvdveer]

On 6/6/2023 at 12:49 AM, Penatr8tor said:

I like the triple rail idea but, I think there will need to be a longitudinal stiffener on the right and left sides of the bed as there could still be flex at the corners if they're left unsupported.

Good point - will have a look at that

[mvdveer]

Stripped the switchwire and basically started from scratch.

Printed some of the upgrade parts - Y tensioner, Motor Covers, nevermore filter,  a more robust belt path, some electronics mounts, the R8 version of TAP for the swithchwire and the BTT PiTFT43 enclosure from @ken226 (Thank you).

However had difficulty fitting the screen (very tight fit- was concerned about the top cables being damaged) or damaging the brightness dial and JST connector.

Been lazy and used the slicer to add a negative multiplier and cut out the bottom edge to allow the dial and connector to slide in - not the most elegant solution but it works. Will fill those in with the accent color (white)

Never gave this machine the time it deserved. In doing so noticed most of the bolts were rusted so replaced ALL with stainless steel bolts.

Decided to go with the triple rail - drilled the bed mounting plate and looking at designing some stiffness for the corners if needed. (thinking of aluminium)

Rerouted the bels and this is where I am at, at the moment.

Decided on the electronics:

Printing the Stealthburner and mounts for the LGX Lite with SB2040 Canbus

Time is my enemy - slow revival but hopefully worth it in the end.

[mvdveer]

Slow progress. Redesigned and printed the bottom plate to fit the 3 rail setup. Belts all done but having some issues with the TAP rail. Had one left ordered from Aliexpress and the carriage is extremely tight on the rail, despite thoroughly cleaning and lubricating. Have ordered some LDO rails and hope to have those by tomorrow. 

As it is winter in Oz, work is beyond control, thus not much time for play. 

 

[mvdveer]

Progress so far. Mounted the carriage and the Voron TAP backplate. Secured the belts. Don't know if anyone noticed in the previous pictures, but I had the XY joints mounted incorrectly on the X-Axis initialy. Wondered........ - NO actually got agitated and totally pissed off , that the belts did not want to route properly. Took me an hour to figure it out! All well now. Sighhhhhhh

Rebuilding the toolhead with LGX Lite and  SB2040 CanBus.

[mvdveer]

Printer is up and running and initial checks passed. Installed the Octopus 1.1 board with Canboot, the Mellow Fly SB2040 canbus toolhead board, and R8 of Voron TAP. Added another accent color - 3dBro ABS Sparkle - Light Blue. (Not as much sparkle as I would have liked) Still need to finish the enclosure, including camera and LED mounts.

Then Tuning and the obligatory bench and Voron Cube.

Electronics Bay

Before fitting the enclosure:

Decided to stay with the cable chain as the umbilical would have interfered with the Z Travel. (The belts run horizontally in front of the top bar and travel with an umbilical would have cut 100mm of the Z-Travel.)

Next enclosure and finishing touches

 

[mvdveer]

Revival success. Printer up and running, passed all initial test. Only issue was getting error on extruder and had to swap two wires on the motor. TAP working with probe accuracy on all 4 corners and centre giving values between 0.001 to 0.0008. One thing I noticed is the movement of the X-carriage during probing (Z-Axis) - not horizontal. It seems the Left side moves more than the right, accounting for the difference in probe accuracy. Will do some further testing. Have tested the bed with 1kg weights on the corners and there is no deflection, so it seems the triple carriage is actually stabilising the bed.

SB2040 canbus had no issues at all

SB LED's working as expected

Doing a Voron Cube now - celebrating with a dram

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next: Cameral (USB, I think), then enclosure with LED's

Initial observation: Trust the Voron Dev Team - somehow I think, even with the ridged bed setup, TAP is going to prove a headache on the switchwire !

[ken226]

12 hours ago, mvdveer said:

Revival success. Printer up and running, passed all initial test. Only issue was getting error on extruder and had to swap two wires on the motor. TAP working with probe accuracy on all 4 corners and centre giving values between 0.001 to 0.0008. One thing I noticed is the movement of the X-carriage during probing (Z-Axis) - not horizontal. It seems the Left side moves more than the right, accounting for the difference in probe accuracy. Will do some further testing. Have tested the bed with 1kg weights on the corners and there is no deflection, so it seems the triple carriage is actually stabilising the bed.

SB2040 canbus had no issues at all

SB LED's working as expected

Doing a Voron Cube now - celebrating with a dram

 

IMG_4966.mov 4.06 MB · 0 downloads  

Next: Cameral (USB, I think), then enclosure with LED's

Initial observation: Trust the Voron Dev Team - somehow I think, even with the ridged bed setup, TAP is going to prove a headache on the switchwire !

 

In your earlier pics, i thought maybe your screen was in the housing upside down.

Then I started to wonder, maybe BTT changed the design of the Pi tft43, or possibly yours is correct and I somehow installed mine upside down.  

 But this last pic, the screen is flipped, and you no longer have the clearance cutouts.

 

I gotta ask:  Did you get a different screen than the BTT PiTFT43?  Or, was the screen in the earlier pics a different brand or something?

Edited July 9, 2023 by ken226

[mvdveer]

2 hours ago, ken226 said:

In your earlier pics, i thought maybe your screen was in the housing upside down.

It was upside down (flipped) as at the time it was the only way to get it fitted. (My own stupidity - noticed it once I activated the screen)

I reprinted it after adjusting tolerances in the slicer and the original screen is fitting perfectly - as you intended and designed. Thank you!

2 hours ago, ken226 said:

Did you get a different screen than the BTT PiTFT43?

No same screen, just fitted it as it should be

 

2 hours ago, ken226 said:

Or, was the screen in the earlier pics a different brand or something?

No, I was just stupid - could not get the screen to fit as intended as the top JST connector prevented it from sliding into its slots. Thus I flipped it with the cutouts - bad decision as the screen was now upside down. DOn't do thins in a rush or when you're tired. Lesson learned.  

 

[ken226]

4 minutes ago, mvdveer said:

It was upside down (flipped) as at the time it was the only way to get it fitted. (My own stupidity - noticed it once I activated the screen)

I reprinted it after adjusting tolerances in the slicer and the original screen is fitting perfectly - as you intended and designed. Thank you!

No same screen, just fitted it as it should be

No, I was just stupid - could not get the screen to fit as intended as the top JST connector prevented it from sliding into its slots. Thus I flipped it with the cutouts - bad decision as the screen was now upside down. DOn't do thins in a rush or when you're tired. Lesson learned.  

I'm glad it all fit up. It certainly looks good in those colors.    That's a great looking Switchwire build.

[mvdveer]

10 hours ago, ken226 said:

looks good in those colors. 

Thanks, first time I tried the "Sparkle Blue ABS" (the lighter blue of the toolhead and screen housing),  from a local Sydney supplier (3DBro). Prints well but not much sparkle in my opinion.

[mvdveer]

Initial calibration done as per Ellis guide.No resonance calibration as yet,  Reprinted Voron test cube and happy with the results so far. Photos taken under harsh light.

     

 

 

Next will be a full plate - to see how TAP performs on the conversion.

[Penatr8tor]

Really nice work @mvdveer. I think I'll revisit my Switchwire build and add a touchscreen, camera and the enclosure which is still in the box. Good thing about building your own 3D printers... there's always something you want to change, add or improve. 

[mvdveer]

Finished the "revival" and I think for the time being I am going to persist with the Voron TAP.  Printing beautifully after tuning. Enclosure done - just need to be cleaned. Static Electricity is a killer on these Acrylic panels.

Gone from This:

to this

Thanks for following.

 

 

[Maurici]

On 7/16/2023 at 11:50 AM, mvdveer said:

Printing beautifully after tuning.

Balls. I´m not the only one with a switchwire that just works now... I felt special for a bit.

 

On 6/4/2023 at 12:19 AM, mvdveer said:

On 6/3/2023 at 7:50 PM, Maurici said:

Then... burn the enders.

Not a bad suggestion - May well come down to that! 

where are we with the bonfire? I´m happy to source the can of petrol.

 

Its a really beautifull build. I now kind of regret I went "all mcgyver" in my switchwire... However, to make her work in my active enclosure and so... had to be like this. but seeing your final result, how compact and neat she looks... Lovely, Really really lovely.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Maurici

[mvdveer]

9 hours ago, Maurici said:

Lovely, Really really lovely.

Thank you kindly. Don't think the enders is worth the fuel or even the match. Have stripped the wires from the red and Yellow 2.4r2 (300mm)  and currently fitting Canbus (SB2240), replacing the printbed with a magnetic Mandala Rose bed and fitting a Chaoticlabs TAP. Also had some under voltage problems with the Raspi pi - from what I read - the problem may occur if their is not constant power to the 5V pin on the GPIO header and the solution is to use both pin 2 and 4 for the 5V supply. That I have done and in preliminary testing - no more under voltage.

Then on to the Micron, I think......