So it starts - Voron 0.1 build

[mvdveer]

42 minutes ago, smirk said:

I'll get around to refitting them tomorrow and then back off round the tuning cycle again.....

Mind those wires.... I cannot begin to tell you how many fans I destroyed through fumbling finger and small spaces

[smirk]

7 hours ago, mvdveer said:

Mind those wires.... I cannot begin to tell you how many fans I destroyed through fumbling finger and small spaces

Damn, everyone is reminding me I'm old. I went for a haircut yesterday and the barber actually age checked me so he knew if I deserved the OAP discount (which I don't)!

But you're right, given the trauma I had with the first fans. However, I've learned from that experience, I now have even more wisdom on my side.....still got the same old sausage fingers......what could possibly go wrong?!

[eugen360]

Man, I had such a good laugh reading all this topic... (not to be understood in a wrong way!!!) But smirk your "poetic" expressions just made my day!

And I thought I'm the only one who has completely dismantled 3 times (exactly) the umbilical cable to replace sensors, heaters and fans and the hot-end itself... just because when I've started the build I decided to not use some connectors for an easy hot-end group replacement...

[smirk]

3 hours ago, eugen360 said:

made my day

Glad it made your day. Inspite of being a GOM I do think it's important to see the funny side of things otherwise it would suck all the joy out if we were too serious.

Yup not much fun having to dismantle something (especially when you weren't expecting to have to take it apart). I was so careful going forward, checking all the connections and operations at each stage......but needs must I guess.

[atrushing]

2 hours ago, smirk said:

Yup not much fun having to dismantle something (especially when you weren't expecting to have to take it apart).

You can say that again. I am in the process of rebuilding the gantry on my V0.1. Both left and right XY joints developed cracks and were causing some serious print quality issues.

[claudermilk]

I was in the same boat a couple of weeks ago. Not much fun. But it is nice once you have the printer back together and it's back to its old self, making awesome prints. 

[smirk]

Apparently fixing a Voron isn't a priority (something to do with the time of year, I dunno must be Hogmass or something),but I got the fans refitted, and ..... <drumroll> ... they still work (and the wires didn't drop off this time).

 

Clearly I've got to reinsate all the wiring and hide all that splicing and solder (thank goodness for heat-shrink); reinstall the electronics bay (had to remove that to give me some slack on the cable). One benefit has been adjusting the umbilical  so it's not quite so "prominent" which might give me a chance to get the top-hat on....well here's hoping.

At some point I think I'll need to replace the x-carriage and the motor mount - reffiting the Mini-AB was a complete pain (even worse than the first time). Despite having spare x-carriages I did not fancy replacing the belting (as I probably trimmed the ends a little too short to even be able to grip them (remember fat sausage fingers) and retension. Guess I can keep that for a future project.

 

[eugen360]

5 hours ago, smirk said:

something to do with the time of year,

Happy Holidays smirk !

[mvdveer]

7 hours ago, smirk said:

Guess I can keep that for a future project.

I know you just want to continue tinkering!

[smirk]

15 minutes ago, mvdveer said:

I know you just want to continue tinkering!

You mean "will"....

[smirk]

C'est fini!

Or is it? Like all good movies there'll be a scene after the credits with V0..2265 spewing molten plastic and sinking through the crust of the earth...

So going by my first and last post in this build diary it has taken me a little over 6 months to build a singular V0. Clearly, I've got a long way to go to challenge the prodigiousness  of either  @Buurman or @mvdveer . That's probably a good thing as I only have so much house space, and apparently no one wants to sleep velcro'd to the wall no matter how cool it would be to pretend to be on the ISS.

What have I learnt from this experience? Well........

• I'm a hell of a lot slower than I think I am. My powers to procrastinate are now near superhuman coupled with my gnat-like attention span really conspires to draw things out. Oh look there's spider crawling up the wall......
   
• Where was I?....
  My eye sight is a heck of a lot worse than I think it is. I don't make New Year's resolution (why bother lying to yourself, you're not going to go to the gym, no washboard abs for you!) but I might will  have to  go and get my eyes tested. Having seen some of the family photos at Chistmas I can no longer delude myself that I'm ruggedly grizzled - I'm simply old and haggard.
   
• I really enjoyed the diary process. It was in part cathartic and in part a useful aide-memoir but above all supportive. Thanks to everyone for their feedback and good humour.
   
• I am pleased with the BTT SKR PICO board and Raspberry PI Zero 2W combo. It makes for a very nice neat little electronics package. I had some concerns about the thermal "management" on the PICO board as it has the motor drivers built in (and the heat-sink on the wrong side of the board to be blunt). It's basicallly the same issue with the SKR E3 Mini boards (which I suspect many of us have a pile of them never to be used).
  
  On the whole  (for me) the PICO has  performed well without any of the driver overheating issues of the E3. The documentation does indicate if you are going to be running the drivers at 1Amp and over then you need active cooling otherwise you can rely on passive cooling. I think that's a tad optiistic, even if you don't live in a tropical country like Scotland. As I've pushed the board more I've noticed it does need active cooling to keep it sub-30C. As it gets into the 30's and low 40's (centrigrade) there are a few missed steps and layer shifts.
  
  In the spirit of every-day being a school-day, I only realised yesterday that the PICO does have an inbuilt thermistor so you can monitor the MCU temperature. I had presumed it would not have had one (being so small and cut-down).
   
• I didn't go OTT with the mods for this printer, just three  really. The  Klicky Probe is brilliantly simple, effective and means I've got a consistent first layer. The Magnetic Panels are a life-saver being able to remove the panels to work on the machine is great (without the faff of undoing nuts). The kirigami bed whilst good in theory (and I would use the idea again) was such a pain in the ass to get set up, to be fair I think I suffered from a poorly built model.

So what next? Beyond rebuilding the X-carriage and motor mount (as I've clearly muffed them up since stripping and refitting the  mini-AB was non-trivial) my mind naturally turns to other Voron related projects....

• My first V0 needs a rebuild, I was never entirely happy with it and just the other day it decided to "clog" up and stop printing. When I've stipped the Mini-AB I found the fillament drive gear on the main gear has come loose. Oddly the grub screw goes not keep the gear in place but is firmly stuck in place so is impossible to remove (so still cannot get the loose gear off the shaft)! So the entire printer needs stripped and rebuilt. My Christmas present to myself was some replacement rails, and other items so I thinik that will be the next project.
   
• When looking through my pile of spares and extra bits I've realised that I've actually got enough left overs to almost build some more printers (I'll retire some others to make space). I'm thinking of another V0 (yeah, yeah perhaps a V0.2 if hell freezes over soon) and a Switchwire. Clearly these will both count as self-sourced given the scavanged nature of some bits + bits I need to order. So my Christmas present to myself.....welll....grew a little.
   
• Since i'm spiling my guts (and confession is good for the soul).......erm.....I've actually got a V2.4 kit in the attic, that I've been too scared to build (hell it's taken me 6-months for one little V0).

[mvdveer]

Brilliantly said and what a pleasure it was to follow this build. I have learned a lot from your comments and in has never failed to cheer me up. All the best for 2023. So yeah - lets build a V0.2  

[smirk]

7 hours ago, mvdveer said:

So yeah - lets build a V0.2

Well, if it appears before I get to my third v0 then that'll be a 0.2......I feel  that may come back to bite me when I find out the hot-end is made of unobtanium

[Buurman]

11 hours ago, mvdveer said:

Brilliantly said and what a pleasure it was to follow this build. I have learned a lot from your comments and in has never failed to cheer me up. All the best for 2023. So yeah - lets build a V0.2  

Nothing to add there!! my thoughts exactly! Thanks for this Smirk, really enjoyed it!

[Buurman]

20 hours ago, smirk said:

.I've actually got a V2.4 kit in the atti

Uhm... what better start of a new year? you dont own a 2.4 yet.. right?

I can tell you, its an easier build then a V0... so dont worry by that, and it will give you positive feelings about thick fingers, they just seem better compatible  

[claudermilk]

Go on, do it! You've built two V0's, how hard can a V2 be? What could possibly go wrong. For the spare parts...be like the cool kids these days and have a look at the Rook; seems like everyone and their brother is planning or in process of building one right now. I'm in the first group.

[mvdveer]

5 hours ago, claudermilk said:

nd have a look at the Rook; seems like everyone and their brother is planning or in process of building one right now. I'm in the first group.

Didn't even know about it - well have to add it to the list now - just because I can

 

[mvdveer]

7 hours ago, Buurman said:

I can tell you, its an easier build then a V0..

It certainly is, especially for fat fingers like us GOMS