Where to start?

[Tegguy]

Hello everyone. I am wanting to dive into the deep end of 3D printing but would consider myself a newbie. I've used the PRUSA MK3S+ printers a few times at work and I want something for home use. I have been doing research and the Voron 2.4 seems to be the best thing out there. I'm getting rather lost on where I should start with the whole endeavor (or perhaps I'm crazy for attempting this). I have been on the Voron configurator and I have the generic BOM from there but I'm getting lost on what I should be getting for hotends and Z position sensor (not 100% sure what they're called) and so fourth and so on.

I want to go for the 350mm size build and I eventually want to use a MMS with it as well. I already have a Raspberry Pi 4 8 GB unit that runs a pool controller for me that I was hoping to potentially dual purpose for this effort as well if possible.

Not going to lie I'm a little nervous going down this path but at the same time building something from a pile of parts has a ton of gratification with it as well. Does anyone have any good advice on where to start with this whole project? I have decent mechanical and electrical skills, programming is my weak point though.

 

[NoGuru]

The Voron Documentation is excellent so you should not have much trouble getting one built. Use this link for the build process as well as the manual. https://docs.vorondesign.com/

You can self source or buy kits. Several venders sell great kits. I like to use LDO Docs for resellers https://docs.ldomotors.com/

With that out of the way, the Voron is a great machine but it's geared towards the build, and modding. If you like those aspects, go for it. If you want something that just works out of the box, look elsewhere. But it sounds like you will enjoy the build if you do build one.

If you don't buy a kit, you can look at the .STL's for the standard hotends, but I can assure you, there are files for every hotend on the market for the Voron.
It should depend on what you are printing. I had the Dragon HF on mine and I primarlly print ASA but people have had issues print PLA with it. Currently I have a Phaetus Rapido UHF and love it. It melts plastic very very fast and heats up just as fast.

I think for the Z, the build will start you with Z pin, but you can do lots of different things. If you don't mind loosing a little acceleration the TAP system works great for consistency but you should maybe worry about that later.

Oh, and last thing, if you cannot print the parts yourself in ABS or ASA, there are lots or venders that now print the parts for you.

 

[Tegguy]

The Voron Documentation is excellent so you should not have much trouble getting one built. Use this link for the build process as well as the manual. https://docs.vorondesign.com/

You can self source or buy kits. Several venders sell great kits. I like to use LDO Docs for resellers https://docs.ldomotors.com/

With that out of the way, the Voron is a great machine but it's geared towards the build, and modding. If you like those aspects, go for it. If you want something that just works out of the box, look elsewhere. But it sounds like you will enjoy the build if you do build one.

If you don't buy a kit, you can look at the .STL's for the standard hotends, but I can assure you, there are files for every hotend on the market for the Voron.
It should depend on what you are printing. I had the Dragon HF on mine and I primarlly print ASA but people have had issues print PLA with it. Currently I have a Phaetus Rapido UHF and love it. It melts plastic very very fast and heats up just as fast.

I think for the Z, the build will start you with Z pin, but you can do lots of different things. If you don't mind loosing a little acceleration the TAP system works great for consistency but you should maybe worry about that later.

Oh, and last thing, if you cannot print the parts yourself in ABS or ASA, there are lots or venders that now print the parts for you.

Thank you for the reply. Right now I'm drinking from the firehose with all the information out there. This seems to be a huge community doing lots of modifications and upgrades and it's rather overwhelming as a newbie.

This is probably a stupid question but are there any good resources to help explain the components of the 3D printer? I think I'm getting confused on terminology like hotend vs toolhead. I'm assuming the toolhead holds the hotend but with all the terms and names I'm getting confused honestly and struggling to figure out what option to buy for each thing. Of course there are always the mods to like the CAN bus and all the other modification out there. Or am I over thinking things and I'm better off starting with the base kit and upgrading/modifying after I get that working?

I don't have a fully defined use case for this which probably complicates things and as such I'd like to have the ability to print a range of materials.

I have been looking at the "print it forward" option for the 3D printed parts & the LDO page has a lot of information on it as well.

EDIT: Been doing some research and I'm starting to understand the difference between the hotend, extruder, and toolhead. It seems like Stealthburner and Clockwork 2 are the current recommended extruder's and tool head's.... just have to figure out a hotend.

I also think I understand if I buy the LDO kit + Hot end + 3D printed parts + Raspberry Pi (if needed) I should have enough to build a fully functional printer... am I correct in this?

 

[NoGuru]

Yes

If you buy a Kit, and some let you pick the hotend, or omit it and order your own + RP3 or 4 preferably 4 + Printed parts. That is pretty much all you need. some basic tools.

Now it is recommended to build stock, then modify. I would say do this unless you know you can deviate without issue. That being said, I would install TAP instead of the inductive probe.

I don't know that there is a one stop place for enough resources to tell you everything but here and discord will be beneficial. I keep the Voron discord "modding" section open and try and see what everyone is working on. Sometimes you see some really cool and interesting projects and you can get the files on the fly sometimes.

The Toolhead is anything that is attached to the moving part that hold all the parts. So lets say an Ender3 which is a bowden style, it just has the Hotend and part cooling fans, but that is the Toolhead. With a Voron the Extruder motor is attached to the Toolhead along with the Hotend.
The Hotend is just the part that melts plastic. So Nozzle, heatbreak, and cooling fins make up your standard Hotend.

When it comes to Voron Toolheads we can look at 2 main parts. The Partcooling and the Extruder part. Older versions of the toolhead were named like this. Afterburner: The partcooling portion. Steathburner is the new version of this and is not the standard.
Clockwork 1 is the first version of the extruder and now is called Clockwork 2 or CW2. They typically go together so CW2 and Steathburner. When you have to print the parts for the voron it will give options of what Hotend you are running and you can print or request parts in the Print if forward or pre order parts to accommodate the hotend you have.

Hope this clears up some questions. If you go the route of the Voron or any printer, we can review your parts list and make suggestions as well.

 

[Tegguy]

@NoGuru Thank you!

I've recently joined the discord and am trying to get familiar with it.

Right now I'm eyeing the LDO kit that comes with the Klicky mod according to their website. I have a raspberry Pi 4 that isn't being heavily utilized currently and I was hoping I could potentially dual purpose that for this effort as well but I'm not 100% certain I can run both ( need to educate myself on that piece as well)... just need to convince the wife to let me take this on.

 

[bwingate]

There are several build series videos other there by Nero3d and "Steve Builds" These are long, live builds that go into a lot of detail (and a lot of side information too). Watching these guys gave me the confidence that I could handle this project. The videos help particularly with the electronics, as I feel the manual is a little deficient in this area.

Just playing devil's advocate: Why not get Prusa if that's what they use at work? You'll have a live, built in knowledge base for when you hit problems.

 

[Tegguy]

Just playing devil's advocate: Why not get Prusa if that's what they use at work? You'll have a live, built in knowledge base for when you hit problems.

Valid question and it was one of the ones I was looking at but there were a few reasons... The biggest being that tomorrow is actually my last day with this company and I will not have access to any of these after that so the support/knowledge wasn't going to be there. I was initially looking at the Bambu X1C becuase I liked the enclosure and multi material system but I am nervous about the proprietary piece of it. This left me with the Prusa or the Voron and it seems like the Voron is the best thing out there at this point with a ton of support and upgrades. It's a challenge but I'm never one to really back away from something just becuase it's difficult. I could be crazy and perhaps the PRUSA is a better option for me but the multi material system with them wasn't that good at this point and I wasn't sure about the 3rd party supported options. I could still end up with a Prusa printer but I'm heavily leaning towards the Voron.

Thanks for the video information I've been watching a ton of stuff on Youtube from these folks trying to wrap my head around everything.

Edit: If I'm crazy in going down this path please tell me to go buy something simple

 

[NoGuru]

My understanding is the LDO kit is probably the top tier nicest kit. I am not sure you dual propose the PI for this and I am not really sure you would want to but, the pool controller can probably use a very low end PI like a Pi zero. Also there are many PI like microcontrollers out there that work fine.

Yes, lots of build servers as bwingate has pointed out. I will include Scott Corn, as his are a series, that is right to the point and shows you exactly how to piece each part together. Build it Basement has a series as well. Lots of options.

For Discord, find a channel you just want to understand more about and watch the chat every so often. Or ask, lots of people are very active.

 

[Tegguy]

@NoGuru Good point on the Pi... I wasn't sure how much processing power the 3D printer would need especially as something that probably wouldn't be used 24/7. I just know PI's are hard to come by lately but perhaps an older one would work (I'm still a ways out from building this).

 

[Mike Eitel]

I just finished my 2.4R2.
I think the 20 part step by step series of Scott Corn helped me to avoid errors.

together with the good original documentation it was a pleasurer to assemble the SIBOOR kit.

Mike

 

[NoGuru]

I said Steve, but yeah, Scott Corn, thanks Mike.

 

[lotech]

I'm glad you posted this question.
I'm just starting to figure this stuff out too.
Going through the utube channels, BIB mainly.
And learned a lot from this topic.

 

[Dani Medina]

I think if you are interested in building something fun and useful build a Voron. If you are looking for a printer that is ready out of the box a Voron is not what you are looking for. This community is great. Get on the discord and ask questions as everyone is pretty friendly and willing to help. I decided to self source my first build and it can be overwhelming. I learned a lot. A kit can help you make sure you have everything you need except for printed parts and some include hot ends and/or raspberry pi or comparable. I learned the hard way and having to wait for parts because I forgot parts. Be sure regardless of what kit you get to understand what you are getting with it and do your research on the included parts.
Nero3D and Steve Builds are great YouTube channels and have helped considerably.

 

[Tegguy]

I think if you are interested in building something fun and useful build a Voron. If you are looking for a printer that is ready out of the box a Voron is not what you are looking for. This community is great. Get on the discord and ask questions as everyone is pretty friendly and willing to help. I decided to self source my first build and it can be overwhelming. I learned a lot. A kit can help you make sure you have everything you need except for printed parts and some include hot ends and/or raspberry pi or comparable. I learned the hard way and having to wait for parts because I forgot parts. Be sure regardless of what kit you get to understand what you are getting with it and do your research on the included parts.
Nero3D and Steve Builds are great YouTube channels and have helped considerably.

I took the plung and bought an LDO kit. It arrived last weekend.