Printing a Voron is a dream venture for a lot of makers, requiring ability, time and a great chunk of change. Not like common 3D printers, Vorons are constructed by the person following Open Supply blueprints supplied freed from cost by the volunteer Voron Design Staff. These precision machines are supposed to be quick, enjoyable, quiet, and most significantly, dependable. They are often absolutely enclosed to be able to print temperamental supplies like ABS and Nylon.
As a result of Vorons are a group venture moderately than a for-profit product, they’re infinitely customizable and unbeholden to the whims of a company backside line. The Voron Design Staff’s mission is to make reasonably priced precision 3D printers with no compromises for high quality. The top person will get to buy round for components, and might select the place they need to skimp or splurge.
The printer we’re reviewing is the Voron 0.1, a small Core XY machine that’s moveable and matches on any desktop. Though you possibly can supply your individual components from a listing discovered on the Voron Design web site, our machine was constructed utilizing the LDO Motors equipment and supplied by Matterhackers (opens in new tab). It is a premium package deal with chrome steel rails and wires which are pre-cut and pre-assembled. The equipment included an all steel Phaetus Dragonfly BMO Hotend.
Vorons are undoubtedly a venture for superior makers. With a view to construct one you might want to have a 3D printer that may produce high quality ABS or ASA components. You additionally have to be useful with a soldering iron and have a primary understanding of electronics. As soon as it’s assembled, it’s important to set up Klipper and tune the printer following instructions on-line.
Whereas it’s attainable to buy pre-printed components – or perhaps a complete machine – that’s not within the spirit of the Voron venture. We took a number of weeks to print and construct this machine earlier than placing it to the check. Regardless of the small dimension it was in a position to print precision components for 2 RC autos we’ll be racing at this yr’s RepRap Festivals.
The LDO Voron 0.1 equipment is $629 from Matterhackers. This value doesn’t embody a Raspberry Pi or the filament you want for components. Matterhackers supplied two rolls Professional Sequence ABS (opens in new tab) for this construct and we scrounged across the workshop for a spare Raspberry Pi. We additionally added an non-obligatory show display, which we bought from Printed Strong. The whole value of this printer as proven is $805, assuming a retail value of the $45 for a Raspberry Pi 4 Mannequin B.
Specs: LDO Voron 0.1
| Construct Quantity | 120 x 120 x 115 mm (4.7 x 4.7 x 4.5 inches) |
| Materials | PLA/PETG/TPU/ABS (as much as 300 levels) |
| Extruder Sort | Direct Drive |
| Nozzle | .4mm V6 |
| Construct Platform | PEI spring metal sheet, heated |
| Mattress Leveling | Guide |
| Filament Runout Sensor | No |
| Connectivity | WiFi |
| Interface | Headless, non-obligatory display |
| Machine Footprint | 250 x 360 x 365 mm (9.8″ x 14.2″ x 14.4″) |
| Machine Weight | 5.6 kg (12.5 lbs) |
| Laser | 1.6 Watt |
LDO Voron 0.1: Included within the Field
The LDO Voron 0.1 is a printer equipment that arrives fully unassembled. This venture is for superior makers and solely comes with just a few primary instruments for printer upkeep, similar to hex keys and a wrench. It does embody a soldering tip for brass warmth set inserts.
You get all of the non-printed components for making a 3D printer, like steel rails, stepper motors, screws, springs, followers, all electronics (minus the Raspberry Pi), wiring, and a Dragon Fly BMO hotend. You will want to supply your individual Raspberry Pi (any Pi 3 or 4) and all of the printed components. Elements must be printed in ABS or ASA for warmth resistance and can take round 2 spools of filament.
Construct directions are on-line at VoronDesign.com.
Design of the LDO Voron 0.1
Vorons are in contrast to some other FDM printers we’ve reviewed. These machines are made from 3D printed components, off the shelf parts and good ol’ sweat fairness. You don’t “purchase” a Voron; you make one. You select what coloration and materials your printer will likely be constituted of, in addition to what hotend it is going to get and which construct plate materials you’ll use. As a result of Voron Design is an Open Supply venture, you may as well select to customise your printed components with your individual emblem, design tweaks and upgrades.
The Voron 0 is the smallest printer from the design group, created as a tiny components manufacturing facility. Its cheaper price, when in comparison with the remainder of the Voron household, additionally makes it an “entry stage” machine for individuals who need to construct the printer extra for bragging rights than sensible printing.
It is a belt pushed Core XY machine, which guarantees further velocity and precision. Just like the Bambu Lab P1P, the mattress strikes alongside the Z axis whereas the device head zips across the X and Y on the prime of the body. Extra acquainted Cartesian fashion printers, just like the Ender 3 S1 Professional, have a device head that strikes on the X and Z axis and a mattress that strikes on Y.
We had been in a position to run the Voron 0.1 with out tuning at 150mm/s whereas reaching superior prints.
The printer may be very naked bones. There’s no auto leveling, no buttons past an influence swap, no SD card slot, no USB slot and no display. It has a direct drive with an all steel hotend, a reverse Bowden to get filament from the rear mounted spool holder, by means of the again of the machine and into the enclosed house.
The Voron 0.1’s lack of a show, management buttons and file entry is sort of maddening. The machine is utilizing a Raspberry Pi to run Klipper, which is tucked away contained in the machine and isn’t accessible. The one solution to get information to the printer and management any of its features is thru Mainsail, an online based mostly interface. Whereas that is nice in a house or workshop, it makes the printer troublesome to make use of away from residence base.
Additionally, making an attempt to make use of Mainsail to load filament, stage the mattress and even cease a print in a rush is inconceivable until the machine is sitting proper subsequent to a pc. You would use Mainsail on a wise machine, nevertheless it’s not likely optimized for small screens.
We solved a part of the issue by buying an non-obligatory LDO Motors Voron Show from Printed Strong. We discovered instructions on learn how to print a case, set up and configure the display on Greg’s Maker Nook.
We selected black and pink for our coloration scheme and opted for a Mini After Sherpa device head, moderately than the normal Mini Afterburner. It is a extra open design that’s simpler to service and was somewhat simpler to print. It nonetheless used the direct drive Phaetus Dragonfly BMO that got here with the equipment.
The equipment got here with precut acrylic panels to kind two sides, a detachable “prime hat” and a door that snaps shut with a magnet. The again is a black acrylic panel to cover the electronics. The enclosure retains warmth and prevents drafts, making ABS and Nylon simpler to print.
The acrylic will be troublesome to maintain clear, particularly when you’re setting the printer up and shifting it round so much. The highest hat is detachable to supply air move whereas printing PLA, which doesn’t do properly in a heated chamber. There is no such thing as a heater or air filter contained in the chamber.
The tiny 120×120 mm print mattress isn’t the smallest we’ve labored with; these honors go to the ToyBox, nevertheless it’s surprisingly helpful. We printed numerous small components for RC automobiles, in addition to some toys and fashions. The equipment got here with two PEI coated versatile beds – a powder coated floor that gripped PLA properly and a easy PEI floor that was superb with ABS and Nylon.
Assembling the LDO Voron 0.1
Not like different printers in the marketplace, Vorons are a DIY venture constructed from scratch. You may supply your components from a Invoice of Supplies supplied by the designers or purchase a equipment from a number of completely different producers. Our check printer got here from Matterhackers (opens in new tab), who sells a premium LDO Motors Equipment. LDO is taken into account a superior equipment for its top quality components from LDO Motors, Bondtech and different well-known manufacturers. This equipment additionally consists of chrome steel rails, a Meanwell energy provide, and a PCB wire duct.
All of the wires are pre-crimped and marked, which is one thing you gained’t discover in cheaper kits. This may prevent hours, if not days, of labor. It additionally comes with T Nuts for the linear rails which don’t require printed spacers, one other large time and frustration saver.
Constructing Voron 0.1 is a venture that may take days of printing and meeting time, particularly in case you’re taking your time to make handsome, practical components. ABS or ASA is advisable for a lot of this construct as PLA and even PETG will soften below the excessive temperatures of a Voron in motion. Among the components farther from the hotend and heated mattress will be printed in PLA. Since we solely had one enclosure – the Ender 3 S1 Professional camped out in a Creality tent (opens in new tab) for this construct – we might velocity up the print time by letting different printers work on extra ornamental components. The Bambu Lab P1P printed the skirts, and the Anycubic Kobra Max printed the highest hat in a single piece.
It is also advisable to make every half very stable, with 4 partitions and 40% infill at a minimal.
Full meeting directions are past the scope of this overview. Instructions for constructing this machine can be found from VoronDesign.com. We relied closely on tutorials from YouTuber Modbot and Klipper recommendation from Youtuber Nero 3D, who’s a member of the Voron Design group.
Tuning the LDO Voron 0.1
Not like different printers you’ll must tune your Voron after it’s constructed to get the perfect efficiency. Because the LDO Voron 0.1 is working Klipper, you possibly can entry your printer’s features by means of the Mainsail interface in your PC. There are a variety of checks you possibly can run that are all outlined within the Klipper Guide.
One of many benefits of Klipper is having the ability to use Enter Shaping and Strain Advance tuning. Enter Shaping compensates for the mechanical vibrations behind ringing and ghosting, whereas Strain Advance tweaks the move of filament throughout acceleration and deceleration actions. Instructions for tuning your machine are included within the Klipper Guide however in case you want simpler to know instructions, take a look at Ellis’ Print Tuning Information.
Leveling the LDO Voron 0.1
The Voron 0.1 doesn’t have auto mattress leveling, however the floor space is so small that it’s not a lot of an issue. It has three adjustment screws below the construct plate. If you happen to haven’t put in a Klipper Display screen, you’ll must kind a collection of instructions into Mainsail to maneuver the device head across the construct plate.
The command is: Mattress-Screws-Regulate to maneuver the nozzle to hover over a mattress screw. You then slide a bit of paper below the nozzle and regulate the screw till you begin to really feel friction. Faucet Adjusted to maneuver the nozzle to the purpose and full not less than two passes across the mattress. When you find yourself pleased with the place, faucet Settle for for every level.
Mattress leveling is made less complicated when a display is put in as there isn’t any must kind instructions.
Loading Filament on the LDO Voron 0.1
Loading and unloading filament with Mainsail controls is somewhat sophisticated. You’ll must heat up the extruder from the Temperatures menu – there are presets, however you’ll must set them up your self from the Interface Settings.
Push the filament into the Bowden tube till it reaches the hotend. Take the lid off, push the lever on the extruder to launch stress, then push filament into the hotend.
As soon as the Extruder is over 180, you possibly can click on “load filament” within the Macros part, which is able to pull filament into the hotend. Put the Bowden tube again into the extruder, put the lid on and also you’re performed.
If you happen to set up the show display you should have atypical temperature and advance filament controls at your fingertips.
Getting ready Information / Software program for LDO Voron 0.1
The Voron 0.1 doesn’t include slicing software program of its personal, however there are many free choices that you would be able to obtain from the web. Cura, PrusaSlicer and Bambu Lab all have profiles for the Voron 0.1.
Information are sliced within the regular method, saved, then loaded into Klipper’s Mainsail interface to add to the printer. There’s a useful Klipper app referred to as Moonraker that you would be able to set up in your Raspberry Pi that sends information immediately from Cura to Mainsail, together with a thumbnail picture.
Printing on the LDO Voron 0.1
After weeks of printing, reprinting, constructing, wiring and tuning, the Voron 0.1 was prepared for its first check print. The equipment doesn’t include any filament, so that you’ll positively need to examine our information to the highest filaments right here to refill.
It’s custom to begin with the Voron Design Dice, which will be discovered on GitHub with the remainder of the Voron information. The dice exhibits how properly your printer is calibrated. The dice ought to measure 30x30x30mm and the higher gap can match an ordinary 625 2rs bearing (in case you have one). There’s bridging in the course of the dice, overhangs within the lettering and naturally you possibly can examine for ringing or ghosting within the print.
Our dice was printed in Matterhackers Professional Construct Pink ABS (opens in new tab) and turned out fairly dang good with none tuning.
We printed numerous sensible components on the Voron for an RC drag racer we’re taking to the Rocky Mountain RepRap Pageant. These had been printed in Overture Simple Nylon (opens in new tab), utilizing a .2mm layer peak, with a beefy 4 partitions and 20% infill. The components are robust and lightweight, and solely took 1 hour and 9 minutes to print at 150mm/s.
For PETG, I printed Aria’s Dragon, which was truly too tall at 100%. This model is shrunk all the way down to 88%, making it the total 115mm construct peak. There’s a pair little zits on the neck and little or no stringing. The element within the claws look nice. This took two hours and 28 minutes with a .2 layer line and a conservative 65 mm/s and makes use of MicroCenter’s Inland Inexperienced PETG. (opens in new tab)
For a PLA print, I picked my favourite bounty hunter, Mando. It is a assist free print that may look a little tough if the cooling isn’t excellent. It is a superb print that’s solely 4 inch tall with crisp particulars, and few droops. The digital camera actually picks up the layer traces, which is a disgrace, as a result of it seems to be a lot smoother in individual. It printed in 3 hours and 9 minutes with a .16mm layer peak and 120mm/s. This used MicroCenter’s Inland Silver PLA (opens in new tab).
TPU didn’t work out on this printer. Its direct drive ought to have labored, however I wasn’t in a position to get it to feed. This can be an issue with the construct, and a hazard of hand constructing your individual extruders.
Backside Line
The Voron 0.1 is a superb little machine when you’ve gotten over the trials and tribulations of constructing it. As our first Voron construct – and first venture utilizing kilos of ABS – it was fairly the problem. It was a fantastic instructing expertise and now I do know a bit extra about sensible prints, electronics and Klipper. The prints are implausible and I can preserve it loaded up with ABS to print robust sensible prints whereas my Ender sticks to mad dragons.
The LDO Motors Voron 0.1 Equipment brings the products on the subject of high quality, however actually lacks in high quality of life options, like a show display and place to plug in your stl information. We had been in a position to repair the display by buying one from one other supply, however we’re nonetheless left and not using a solution to load new information once we take it on the street to festivals.
If you happen to’re not constructing this printer for the data and bragging rights, a Voron is now not probably the most reasonably priced choice for a top quality machine. With a retail value of $629 ($805 with filament for components, a display and an affordable Raspberry Pi) you may want take a look at the pre-built Bambu Lab P1P for $699. An alternative choice for the same value can be including a Creality Sonic Pad (opens in new tab) to an Ender 3 S1 Professional, one of many greatest 3D printers.
MORE: Finest 3D Printers
MORE: Finest Resin 3D Printers