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Only 2 motors for Z axis?

captain roast

New member
Now i know that voron 2.4 is a design where money isn't supposed to be an issue and quality is not sacrificed,

But... It kinda is for me

I've been thinking of building one and i have almost everything i need except that i'm missing 2 motors.
Now i know that 4 motors is beneficial to things like auto bed leveling and some other stuff but i'm willing to deal with that.
Now what i'm trying to do is connect the two opposite facing pulleys for the z axis with a shaft, two on each side and have 2 motors for z instead of 4. Has anyone else done this yet? How would you imagine it would (or wouldn't) work? I'm intending to keep the bed fixed and level the bed by loosening one of the grub screws on each side that holds the hard shaft connecting the two pulleys, leveling the bed as best as i can and tightening them again. The left and right still can be controlled by the control board so i imagine that wouldn't be an issue. Also i have some high torque steppers so no issue there.
Any thought, comment or idea is greatly appreciated.
If this doesn't work i'm thinking of building a voron legacy or trident but i imagine the print quality/speed wouldn't be very close to voron 2.x
But i'm really keen on making this work. It'll be cool and special
 
Will not work with a 350 and probably not a 300, but maybe you could do it on a 250. I also don't think it will work unless you do something that will allow you to level the bed on the fly. The reason I say this is you are not going to be level over that kind of distance. When you heat the bed, it is going to bend, twist and move. That is why you should heat the bed to the desired temp, then have the machine run the quad gantry leveling.
 
Unfortunately, cool and special doesn't mean useful and cost-effective. What you've really described here is a Voron 1.8, the previous version of the Trident.

If you're concerned about the cost of 2 steppers ($14 each from Amazon) on a $1000+ printer, you probably should be looking at a less expensive printer, or saving up an extra month to get them if you absolutely must have a v2.4.

The Trident is going to get you the same results as the 2.4, with a bit less cost and complexity. I have both printers (and a v0.1), and they turn out the same quality prints.
 
Unfortunately, cool and special doesn't mean useful and cost-effective. What you've really described here is a Voron 1.8, the previous version of the Trident.

If you're concerned about the cost of 2 steppers ($14 each from Amazon) on a $1000+ printer, you probably should be looking at a less expensive printer, or saving up an extra month to get them if you absolutely must have a v2.4.

The Trident is going to get you the same results as the 2.4, with a bit less cost and complexity. I have both printers (and a v0.1), and they turn out the same quality prints.
I don't really agree on the quality stuff that you said. The belted Z axis of a voron 2.x really helps print quality, no Z wobble and the main reason why i want to build a voron in the first place is Z wobble. This is my first voron printer. I just wanted the fixed bed and belted Z but voron legacy also seems like an attractive option, i have lots of linear bearings and hardshafts lying around.
And actually my price point is nowhere near 1000$. I've recycled lots of parts and heavily modified the design, kept the good stuff. I'll still try to make this work and i'll add the 2 extra motors later down the road.
 
My 250 Trident is faster and the quality is indistinguishable from my 350 V2. But that’s my experience which is different than yours. Please post in the build logs as I am curious to see what you put together.
 
I don't really agree on the quality stuff that you said. The belted Z axis of a voron 2.x really helps print quality, no Z wobble and the main reason why i want to build a voron in the first place is Z wobble. This is my first voron printer. I just wanted the fixed bed and belted Z but voron legacy also seems like an attractive option, i have lots of linear bearings and hardshafts lying around.
And actually my price point is nowhere near 1000$. I've recycled lots of parts and heavily modified the design, kept the good stuff. I'll still try to make this work and i'll add the 2 extra motors later down the road.
I would like to put out there that I'm not speaking from a hypothetical point of view, but from direct experience with my 3 Voron printers, 2 of which utilize screws for the Z axis (Trident and v0.1). Z axis issues are not present in any of them. I respect your opinion, so we will agree to disagree.

I could be wrong, but it kind of sounds like you are taking the Z wobble issues from other printers, and applying it to Vorons. Vorons using linear rails on the Z axis for positioning of the bed, along with the screws not being constrained on both ends, allows for precise movement of the bed along the rails without being at the mercy any small imperfections of a screw. Which is why it works and hasn't been changed out for something different.

I do wish you the best of luck with your modifications, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
 
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