Tronxy x5sa -> Franken Voron Build

[piotrb]

Based on some encouragement in another thread Here ...

I'm going ahead with this build ..

So to sum it up:

I ordered a Tronxy x5sa kit (mostly for the frame, and whatever potentially workable components I can salvage) ..
I also already ordered some extra parts from Ali (idlers/pulleys/bearings)
And some gates belts / rails (just 3 for now, the XY set) (from a local supplier which should make sure those are in good shape) ..
And some Din rails from digikey
And now I'm waiting for it all to arrive

The plan:

I don't plan to actually assemble the original machine .. I have my switchwire to print ABS parts as needed.
This will end up some kind of a 1.8/Trident/v0 hybrid.

Since I want this to be a gradual conversion ..
It will start as an open frame build
I'll want to put a Trident style Skirt at the bottom with DIN rails so its got a nice roomy electronics bay
XY Gantry
* I like how the V0 has a funky Hat system .. allowing to maximize vertical build volume .. I'll be trying to replicate that eventually ..
* I think initially I'll start with trying to do a potentially flimsy XY build where there isn't the "second level" where the XY ganty lives, I'll mount it right at the top of the frame .. this may work .. or it may prove unstable ..
* I do want to get the cross-frame bits working eventually though .. so I'll be picking up the right extrusions once I've had a chance to properly examine what I'm working with
* The idea is that in the end, I'll have it mounted a little bit below the top of the frame similar how the v0 does it, and I'll have some kind of a Hat structure on top to fully enclose it ..
* For the X side of it .. I'll want to go closer to the Trident design (v1.8 seems to use 2 rails on the X) .. but I will have to make the Y attachment v1.8 style since I can't put the rails below the extrusion (for now) .. since the linear rods for the Z are in the way .. so it needs to be a top of the extrusion mounted version .. which conveniently v1.8 has the same limitations so those pieces from that should work

Z:
* I'll re-use the original Z mount initially, I'll just have to design an attachment for it so I can mount the motors v1.8 style.
* I do want to eventually grab some additional linear rails and switch to a full Trident style 3 point mount, it seems much superior with the spherical bearings
* the original bed mount sticks out the sides of the frame .. so it'll keep me from enclosing the thing until I replace it .. so I may in look at designing some V1.8 inspired bed mount solution .. I'll have to see ..
* if not .. I'll just keep it open until I switch it to Trident style 3 mount mount ..


I'll try to log things here as much as possible so maybe I can publish a conversion repository when this is done

---

Milestones:
1. Get the parts
2. Start getting some of the ABS parts printing, while starting to figure out the frame (main catch there is that the XY back is a shorter extrusion all connected with ABS parts, so I'll need to get that piece cut to size .. well I'll just get a new piece, since I'll need the original back piece eventually)
3. Get it all assembled and moving (open v1.8 style)
4. If this has not happened yet, move the XY gantry down to a sub-level, I may have to cut the linear rods cleanly somehow
5. (optionally) design a new Z bed mount so its flush with the sides of the frame
6. (any time after this point) start looking at sourcing the correctly cut ABS panels -- but also I may end up using translucent coroplast as a temporary solution
7. (also any time after this) design the Hat .. I want to look into how I could potentially print much of it, so I don't have to get a bunch of extrusions .. its not structural .. and I will panel the hat with corpoplast on the cheap
8. (at this point I should have an enclosed 1.8 style machine maybe)
9. Start sourcing parts for full trident Z system and put that together

(and I'll probably learn lots along the way and need to do extra things)

 

[piotrb]

Still waiting for much of the parts ..
Starting a github repo for this .. I'll update the readme there with more plan details as they emerge

https://github.com/piotrb/tronxy_x5sa_voron

 

[piotrb]

I'm anxiously refreshing all my various package tracking .. some stuff is starting to trickle in ..
I now have my DIN rail, and the power receptacle from DigiKey, I also have the new XY linear rails from Spool3D.

I also went through a tuning pass on my Switchwire, finally replaced janky motors and belts with LDO/Gates stuff .. I swear the printer just seems to work so much better .. best Z probe consistency I've ever had (no idea if just re-assembling half the printer helped there or not .. or if its actually the motors and belts) .. but I feel like my first layers are the best they have ever been)

So now I'm starting to slowly print a bunch of the ABS parts ... starting with Skirt pieces and some of the XY gantry parts ..

 

[piotrb]

So the main Tronxy box finally arrived. I have the frame assembled and I've been busy in CAD coming up with how I'm going to make this all work.



I surprise myself at how decent I've become at Fusion 360 .. there is going to be a lot of work designing a bunch of parts and adapters, and tweaking the sizing of the core 1.8/Trident parts .. but its feeling pretty good so far ..

Huge props to @MatthewSitton on Printables for the amazing Tronxy X5SA base CAD. I'm using it to graft Voron parts onto.

So far I have the Foot/Skirt replacements done .. for now I'm just using a large blank piece in the center front .. not a big fan of the ribbon cable based mini 12864 displays



Working on adapting the Z system now .. and planning what to do with the XY ..

The Z should be relatively straight forward ... I plan to re-use most of the core parts ..

The horizontal bars will get 20mm cut from the their ends so they don't stick out the sides of the frame .. and I'll move that metal plate over a touch (move by 1 screw hole, drill and re-tap the second hole for stability) .. that's the plan .. still moving it all around in CAD to see how it all fits ..

Then I will try to make some kind of custom adapter that attaches to the original screw/rod plate that fits the 1.8 style screw position ..
I will also have to move the rods a little bit inwards .. because the linear bearings that come with the Tronxy are these weird metal heavily flanged things which are 30mm in diameter .. so I need to move them in at least 10mm so again these don't stick outside the frame ..

For the XY I have decided I will go right for the Trident/1.8 style "sub-level" .. just seeing how well I can make the 1.8 style Z to work .. since that will influence what is my extrusion order going to be.



I'll probably get that from Aliexpress .. The theme of this build was trying to build this on the cheap after all

 

[piotrb]

Hey folks!

I need some advice ..

I'm going to need to cut the steel linear rods and Z screws .. is there a best practice for doing this? High speed cut (Dremel)? Low speed cut (hacksaw)? .. etc ..

 

[piotrb]

Also the linear bearings that came with this have giant flanges .. if I could safely remove those .. then I'd have more options .. something like a 1.8 style mount would actually make more sense ..

Anyone have experience with removing flanges from flanged linear bearings?

 

[piotrb]

Question to some of the Admins .. I intent for this to qualify for a V1.8 Serial number initially .. and then with a bunch more tinkering I'll get it to qualify to be a Trident.

How does this work in the community? When some converts a V1.8 to a Trident .. is there a process for a serial upgrade like that?

 

[piotrb]

Yep I have a "in theory" design for how I'm going to convert the frame/Z ..

Things I need to test:
1. Can I remove the flanges from the linear bearings without damaging them internally (I think if I can just cut into them, they seem like they're heat pressed, so cutting the flange should allow it to be pulled off without applying heat)
2. Can I sanely cut the linear rods and screws .. again if I can do this without making a mess of things, great. Otherwise I'll just have to buy correctly sized ones

This test kind of prevents me from ordering my additional extrusions, since I may just tack on some screws/rods/bearings to the order if needed

Oh yea ..

All I have to work with is a Dremel with various cutting/grinding attachments .. and a hacksaw so wish me luck

 

[piotrb]

Ok the flange removal was a success .. the flange is indeed just heat pressed and cutting through it makes it super easy to remove:

 

[piotrb]

This is coming along pretty well. I'm mostly waiting for the few extrusions that had to be ordered for the gantry level pieces .. but the rest of the redesign is coming along pretty well.

I think I have the XYZ stuff figured out .. for a very interesting franken-voron .. I was able to take basically all the Trident XY parts .. and mount them on the V1.8 by mirroring them .. including the newer XY endstop POD design ..

This should also allow me to use the entirely stock Trident hotend mount .. I hope ..

There is also a bunch of finnickying with the Bed to be done .. the default Tronxy mounting basically centers is .. but given that the StealthBurner is a front-heavy hotend .. there will be a bunch of lost print area in the back .. I will eventually see if I can somehow create some kind of an adaptor to shift the bed forward a bit and reclaim some of that space. I haven't really gotten to CAD-ing that up ..

 

[piotrb]

I have the CAD basically complete now .. This is all coming together quite well .. I need to get my extrusions to arrive to really be able to start assembling the next part ..

 

[piotrb]

Good news, I did finally get my Gantry extrusions and its coming together really well.



I re-designed some bits around the Z chain, and I still need to cut my DIN rails to start laying out the electronics bay ..

I realized I can just moved the Z rods forward a bit (since V1.8 was just relying on the little red holders to keep them in place anyways) .. and this means I don't have to build out any fancy "bed move forward" adapter .. I just need to add a piece which will hold the Z chain .. that's much less finicky

On the XY I'm just about ready to start Belting it, its looking all pretty good. Z is close to being ready too ..

 

[jdmontgomery]

would u be willing to share your skirt stls

 

[Dave32]

Question to some of the Admins .. I intent for this to qualify for a V1.8 Serial number initially .. and then with a bunch more tinkering I'll get it to qualify to be a Trident.

How does this work in the community? When some converts a V1.8 to a Trident .. is there a process for a serial upgrade like that?

Interesting question - Did you ever get an answer on this?

 

[piotrb]

would u be willing to share your skirt stls

Yep I'll have it all in a repo cleaned up eventually .. they are mostly Trident skirts though with some tweaks for length in a few spots ..

 

[piotrb]

Interesting question - Did you ever get an answer on this?

Nope ..

 

[piotrb]

Oh yea so the whole thing is way further along now ..

I ended up NOT doing inverted electronics bay .. its too much of a push trying to make that work nicely with this 1.8 hybrid ..

Ended up shifting the whole print bed a bit forward, this allowed me to maximize the access the print head will have to it .. works well anyways since these 1.8 style rod mounts are meant to be moved.

XY is looking good .. I had to do a bunch of hackery around how I plan to do the toolhead .. still not fully settled ..

I ended up using the clockwork 2 .. since I wanted to use the split pcb style toolead mcu .. but I also wanted to have the flexibility of using the AB stuff .. I want to revive my Volcano nozzles but didn't want the whole .. have to print a whole custom front plate for the SB to make that work .. so what do I do .. make a franken-adapter .. merging the SB form factor with the AB upper fan piece .. allowing that to mount the split board behind it .. its not entirely done yet .. but its looking very promising

The chains are a bit of a mess .. the stock Tronxy chains are just clunky .. and there is only 2 of them .. I had some leftover chain from my VS build .. so I'm using that a bit too .. and will swap some of the tronxy chain out as well .. I don't have enough to swap all 3 .. but 2 is nice ..

The Tronxy power supply is a bit shit .. its a 360W some random brand thing .. with deceptive labelling .. like it says it has temperature controller fan .. no .. its always on .. so I did already get a meanwell 350W .. hopefully the bed is not too much of a power draw that the 10W doesn't make that much of a difference ..

still trying to do all the custom mounts for using the magnet based endstops that Trident/2.4 can use .. this took a bit of hackery and mirrorring a bunch of parts .. and making some weird custom adaptations to the CW2 cable chain attachment so it can hold a magnet .. but overall it seems like it should work ..

I've not played with the Tronxy leveling sensor yet .. close to being able to though ..

I'm basically close to doing endstop tests .. and then stepper tests .. so its very close now

 

[jdmontgomery]

Thank u working on a tronxy 400 to trident conversion i found parts for ender 5 i am using to make open air pla machine cant figure out cad yet

Yep I'll have it all in a repo cleaned up eventually .. they are mostly Trident skirts though with some tweaks for length in a few spots ..

 

[piotrb]

Thank u working on a tronxy 400 to trident conversion i found parts for ender 5 i am using to make open air pla machine cant figure out cad yet

For a Tronxy 400 you'll have a lot more gap to deal with with the stock skirts .. I'm converting the 330 size one I never quite figured out how the Voron team exactly does those parts .. they are a bit funny in how the hex cutouts integrate with the rest of the model

 

[piotrb]

Good news. Today was the day of the maiden stepper movement for this printer.

I got the fancy magnet based xy endstop working .. had to make a little breakout board for it .. got the tr black leveling sensor working from the tronxy .. surpassingly enough if your mcu can do a pull up on the signal line it just works without any extra work. I got that working to do the Z limit and got the Z steppers working .. I really gotta check them over .. I had to configure one to be different steps per rotation than the other .. maybe one of them was the extruded motor .. but after adjusting that the z steppers are moving properly .. and in sync. That allowed me to even get z tilt adjust working ..

now I just have to finish getting the hot parts .. the bed should just work .. but I did not test it yet .. and I need to finish all the crimping for the hot end and get that working ..

I do have my AB/SB hybrid tool head fan system .. I’ll post a photo of it .. it’s pretty neat actually

Oh and I did source the remaining acrylic panels .. I just have to order and pick them up from a local plastic place.

I’ll then have a somewhat protracted phase of collecting all the custom models I made and turning this into a guide someone else could follow