With its new K2 Plus Combo, Creality is now trying to catch-up. This time they listened to their users and went through a lumpy Kickstarter launch. IMHO they listened to other communities too. K2 Plus seems to be the ultimate machine, but is it just a bigger X1C? Let’s find out.

K2 Plus vs. X1C – the specs

When you are a challenger you have to give more and Creality does give more for a similar price. Here are the specs of the two machines:

Creality K2 Plus seems to have better performance in many areas, however let highlight the most important advantages over those that are just marketing.

K2 Plus – performant hotend, chamber and bed

The 350°C max hotend temperature is a real advantage, because it gives you access to more engineering type filaments. The K2 Plus hotend is also high-flow, which is important when using nozzles > 0.8 mm on big prints.

The K2 has a heated chamber which combined with the high temperature HF nozzles allows to print the new Polymaker Fiberon™ filaments, like the Fiberon™ PET-CF17 and the Fiberon™ PPS-CF10.
The heated chamber maintains 60°C steady and the heated bed goes to 120°C.

The Bamboo Lab X1-Carbon doesn’t have a heated chamber, which is a clear disadvantage when a controlled temperature is required. It has a small volume though and the heated bed is generally enough to heat the enclosure.

The chamber has a glass door on top, similar to the K1 max, but the hinges have been improved and feel more robust.

K2 Plus – activated carbon rear filter

When working with ABS or engineering grade filaments there are number of various malicious particles in the air during the extrusion. The activated carbon filter, similar to the one on Voron 3d printers is used for filtering the air from the enclosure before it is expelled outside.

The X1C comes with a carbon filter as well – so no advantage here, just a must have on modern higher-class printers.

K2 Plus – speed and velocity

Creality says K2 Plus can handle speeds up to 600 mm/s and acceleration up to 30000 mm/s². I want to see that speed/acceleration on a big print – I believe something will break, because the K2 toolhead is pretty heavy. For me it is just a marketing argument with no value. The K2 Plus is able to deliver consistent prints at 200 mm/s and 3-5k mm/s² acceleration though, which is fine.

K2 Plus – the motors/fans noise

Creality did a really good job in making a well sealed enclosure and deployed high-quality FOC steppers, which suppressed all motors and fans noise. It results in practically noiseless machine.

If you are interested to add the multimaterial CFS system though the noise there is not optimised (gear/motors).

K2 Plus – the print quality

Probably the most important question is about the print quality of the K2 Plus. Well, let’s just say it is not the major strength of this machine – you will get some issues you may expect from a printer that big – especially the Z-banding artefacts.

The z-banding could be reduced if Creality would have listened more to what customers want and would have implemented a better z-axis motion system – like the 3-leadscrews on the Rat Rig V-core or Voron Trident large printers.

K2 Plus – conclusion

Should you buy the Creality K2 Plus printer?

It is certainly a very capable enclosed machine that will make your life easier by laying a perfect first layer every time. It gives access to a multitude of engineering filaments, including Nylon and PPS-CF. Printing ABS and PC is also easy.

It is solidly built and despite the z-banding issue it is winning against the X1C in terms of versatility and performance.

If you missed the Kickstarter price, you can visit the official store – K2 Plus sales for just 1299$ until December. If you add the color 3D printing option (the Combo) the price is 1499$.

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Check MZE price on Aliexpress

Check MZE price on Amazon

What are the advantages of MZE?

• Cost – for just few bucks you can increase the flow capacity of your standard V6-compatible hotend. The Melt Zone Extender sales for 5 to 13 USD, depending on the quality, which is much less than a new HF hotend like Rapido or Magnum. It is cheaper than most CHT nozzles as well.
• Compatibility – the MZE is compatible with all V6 based hotends – e3d V6, Dragon, Dragonfly etc. You could even mount it on a Rapido if you want.
• Easy installation – take out the nozzle, screw the MZE in the heater block, screw the nozzle back in the MZE. Done.
• Sustainability – unlike CHT nozzles it won’t wear and will last much longer.

Melt Zone Extender – the drawbacks

Probably you guessed it already – the MZE increases the height of your hotend. For example the ZS-MZE from Trianglelab, which is the product I have, increases the size with 8.4 mm.

This means you will have to redesign your toolhead for this bigger hotend, or at least the cooling fan system and the ABL probe location.

Another downside is the poor performance with retractions, which is a common issue for all high-flow hotends.

Our advise

If you have an original E3D V6 it has a 30W heater. We advise to use more powerful 40W+ heater with the Melt Zone Extender.

Melt Zone Extender – the performance

How much will your flow increase? My test with the standard ZS-MZE on a e3d V6 hotend gets me close to my Volcano setup – aprox. at 30 mm3/s. Other users report between 40% and 60% flow increase on different type of hotends. If you install the MZE + CHT nozzle you can go easy to 45 mm3/s.

The Melt Zone Extruder is a simple and cheap upgrade. If you are after fast printing or printing with big layer height/large nozzle, test the MZE before investing in more expensive HF options.

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This review examines the 3 best high-flow (HF) hotends based on their design, performance and compatibility with most 3d printers.

Do you need a high-flow hotend?

Upgrading your 3D printer with a high-flow hotend can significantly enhance your printing experience, but it’s essential to evaluate your current setup and needs before making the investment.

Here are some factors to consider that can help you determine whether an upgrade is necessary:

1. Current Speed Limitations: If you’re consistently facing longer print times when reaching the flow limit of the current hotend, a high-flow hotend may help you achieve faster printing times. There are two case scenarios – normal printing speed at big layer height or fast printing speed (200+ mm/s) at high-resolution (0.2 layer height or smaller). In both cases an HF hotend could overcome the the under extrusion issues and assure consistent layers.
2. Filament Types: If you frequently use materials that require higher flow rates and large nozzle sizes (such as flexible filaments or composite materials), a high-flow hotend is designed to handle these conditions more effectively.
3. Compatibility with Upgraded Extruders: If you’re considering or already use a high-performance extruder, upgrading to a high-flow hotend can complement the extruder’s capabilities, leading to improved overall performance.

To sum-up and provide easy go/no go criteria, you will benefit from HF hotend if you use at least one of those:

• large nozzle (0.6 mm+)
• high layer height (0.3 mm+)
• fast printer (delta, corexy)

High flow hotends have a larger melt zone. This means more molten plastic in the hotend, which leads to less performance with retractions (more stringing than standard flow hotend).

Top 3 HF hotends in 2024/25

Our review focus are HF hotends within the E3D ecosystem – the largely adopted form factors for nozzles and hotends. It means each of these can be easily interchangeable and they can use the same nozzles.

1. Rapido Hotend

The Rapido hotend is engineered for high-speed printing, with a focus on efficient material flow. One of its key features is its innovative heat zone design, which allows for quick heat-up times and consistent temperature control.

• Design: The Rapido HF/UHF features a modular design that simplifies maintenance and upgrades. It incorporates a unique nozzle system that supports various filament sizes while reducing the risk of clogs, enabling users to seamlessly transition between different materials.
• Performance: With an impressive flow rate, the Rapido can handle speeds of up to 500mm/s, depending on the material used. It excels with soft and flexible filaments but also performs well with standard materials like PLA and PETG. The dual heating element ensures that the filament reaches the ideal temperature swiftly, contributing to reduced print times.
• Applications: The Rapido is particularly favored in applications requiring rapid prototyping and high-volume production. Its ability to maintain print quality at high speeds makes it suitable for industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, and part manufacturing.

The Rapido range of high-flow (HF) and ultra high-flow (UHF) had many iterations since the initial launch in 2023. The latest Rapido ACE (end of 2024) offers design innovations that improve the maintenance, the compactness and the cost-effectiveness. That is why the ACE equipped with a PT1000 probe is our first choice.

2. Slice Engineering Mosquito Magnum

The Slice Engineering Mosquito Magnum hotend represents a significant advancement in high-flow 3D printing technology, designed for both professional users and advanced hobbyists.

Technical Specifications:

• Nozzle Size: Available in configurations ranging from 0.4mm to 1.2mm, catering to various extrusion needs.
• Max Temperature: Capable of reaching temperatures up to 300°C, allowing for a wide range of filament compatibility, including high-temperature materials.
• Heat Break: Utilizes a specialized heat break that minimizes heat creep, ensuring better thermal stability and reduced risk of clogs.

Design Innovations: The Mosquito Magnum features a compact and modular design, making it easy to disassemble for maintenance or upgrades. Its unique thermal management system optimizes heat distribution, which is critical for high-flow applications. The hotend incorporates interchangeable components that allow for quick adjustments in flow rate and filament types.

Flow Rate: The Mosquito Magnum can achieve impressive flow rates, reaching up to 45mm³/s or more depending on the nozzle size and filament being used. It excels with flexible filaments, enabling smooth and consistent extrusion at high speeds, which is essential for producing high-quality prints quickly. When used with standard materials like PLA or PTFE, users can expect enhanced speeds without compromising detail.

Benefits for 3D Printing Speed: By significantly increasing flow rates, the Mosquito Magnum reduces print times, making it an attractive option for those involved in rapid prototyping or production environments. The ability to print large volumes or detailed designs quickly without sacrificing quality enhances overall efficiency.

Drawbacks: One notable downside is its high price point, which may deter some users. However, the investment can yield substantial improvements in speed and versatility for serious 3D printing applications, solidifying its place as a top choice in high-flow hotends.

3. Phaetus RAPIDO HOTEND 2

Probably you expected to see e3d Revo HF or Dragon hotend in the top 3 HF hotends? Well, this is another variation of the Rapido hotend – the Rapido V2 UHF PT1000 that gets the 3rd place.

If you are performance first – this is probably the best choice. With flow up to 75 mm³/s the UHF Rapido V2 is the unbeatable beast for large nozzles, big layer heights and fast speeds.

Conclusion

In summary, high-flow hotends are revolutionizing the 3D printing landscape by enabling faster production times while maintaining print quality.

Of course other options for 3d printing speeds boost are available to fine tune your setup and upgrade cost. Here we can mention the V6 upgrades – especially the one with CHT/HF nozzle.

Ultimately, the choice of hotend may depend on the specific printing requirements, types of materials used, and desired print speed. Each of these hotends contributes to the evolving capabilities of 3D printing, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in additive manufacturing.

The post Top 3 High-Flow Hotends upgrades for fast 3D printing appeared first on 3D Printing Best.

What is the Stealthburner?

It is a performant DIY dual-drive direct toolhead developed by VoronDesign. It supports all latest hotends. It was developed for Voron 3d printers. There are community-designed carriages that allow to install it also on budget printers like Ender3, CR10, etc. Check Thingiverse for adapters for your printer.

The Stealthburner is illuminated by 3 RGBW neopixels – one for the Voron logo in the center and two for the nozzle). Users can set whatever custom colors they like or different colors for the logo and for the nozzle. It is possible to change colors with gcode and have different color codes for various printer states – standby, heating, leveling, meshing, printing, etc.

The most difficult stage in Stealthburner assembly is integrating the LEDs in the SB front cover. There are 2 ways to prepare your LED wiring assembly: DIY or buy a pre-wired/pre-soldered LED wiring harness.

DIY LEDs wiring

If you are good at soldering, you can buy RGBW LED PCBs and prepare the wiring yourself. There are 15 solder points and one connector installation.

The advantage of doing the wiring assembly yourself is that you can choose the type of wires and connector. For example, in the photo above I use PTFE-isolated wires, but I did also projects with soft silicon-isolated wires.

The big disadvantage is that the LED PCB buttons are very small and you need decent soldering iron and skills. Moreover, if you make a mistake, like a wrong connection or bad measurement of wire lengths, you may need to redo several soldering points.

Pre-wired LEDs for the Stealthburner

For my 3rd Stealthburner toolhead project, I decided to use pre-wired and pre-soldered Stealtburner LEDs. I found them on Aliexpress and I’m pretty sure this product wasn’t available a few months back.

The good: soldering is well done, the LED’s are working, and the wires are the right length.

The not-so-good: The wires are Teflon (PTFE) isolated, however, the isolation is not as flexible as a normal brand PTFE, but rigid. I had a hard time installing it on the SB front cover. It is surprising for me to choose an expensive and wear-resistant wire for a static installation. A soft silicon-isolated wire would be a better choice.

The wrong: The connector, which I thought is a standard JST type is something else. It is smaller and doesn’t fit a male JST connector. Afterward, I saw it is PH2.0 standard. Probably this connector fits in Voron PCB connection boards, however, the manufacturer could have included one male connector for those that rely on traditional wiring.

These minuses are minor compared to the big advantage of a ready-to-install Stealthburner LEDs wiring harness and I can recommend this product to those who don’t feel confident in soldering.

Will I buy it again? Probably not, because I prefer to use different wires and connectors. But the end result is the same – a beautifully illuminated toolhead.

The post Pre-soldered and pre-wired Stealthburner LEDs appeared first on 3D Printing Best.

Triangle-lab offers the same nozzles in V6 and MK8 formats. V6 is compatible with E3D V6 assemblies, and most of the modern hotends like Dragon, Dragon-fly, Rapido, Mosquito. MK8 is compatible with Creality hotends on Ender and CR-10 series of printers.

Before reviewing the best Trianglelab nozzles and their applications, let’s see why choosing the right nozzle is essential for your 3d printing experience.

Selection criteria for nozzles

Here are the top considerations when buying a nozzle in order of importance:

1. Filaments that can handle the nozzle. There are universal nozzles that can handle all types of filament and there are cheaper more limited nozzles for abrasive/non-abrasive filaments, sticky filaments, and different ranges of temperatures.
2. Nozzle size. It determines your printing speed and print details. Smaller nozzles mean smaller filament output and lower flow rate, but give you great detail. Larger nozzles allow printing at higher layer heights and flow rates, but you sacrifice some resolution. The choice of nozzle size depends also on the filament. Generally, composite materials with particles (wood, metals, CF, etc.) would require at least a 0.6 nozzle.
3. Machining quality. The smooth internal surface and geometry are key for good printing quality and for the lifespan of the nozzle. The boring machining of tough metals like hardened steel is difficult and here you can see the excellent workmanship of Tringlelab nozzles.
4. Thermal conductivity. It depends on the nozzle material. Brass has better heat transfer than steel. Copper is better than brass. It basically shows how reactive is the nozzle to temperature changes and it becomes very important for temperatures above 280℃ in order to assure tighter temperature control.
5. Price. Though it is the last consideration in this list, for many hobbyists it could be a more important characteristic. Some people buy expensive universal nozzles for peace of mind or because want to have the best equipment. If you print PLA or ABS only a cheap $3 good brass nozzle will do the same job. Well, it will die faster. So, if you don’t mind changing nozzles often, you can better manage the budget by using products limited to your filament.

What Triangle-Lab nozzle to choose?

Here is our selection of the best Trianglelab nozzles per application.

Best universal Trianglelab nozzle

Universal nozzles are compatible with all filaments and temperatures (up to 500℃). These high-end nozzles are designed to last. They are great if you want to minimize maintenance and never install another nozzle.

Our recommendation for the best universal nozzle is the Trianglelab plated copper-ruby nozzle. This is a high-quality nozzle, designed to print abrasive materials while retaining the excellent heat conductivity of copper.

The Trianglelab Ruby handles a huge range of filaments. PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS, CPE/PET, Nylon, and composite filaments with abrasive particles (CF (carbon fiber), metals, wood, etc.) It works up to 500℃ and could print even PEEK.

The nozzle is from nickel-plated copper alloy for great heat transfer (3xbetter than brass) while the ruby mounted at the tip can print even the toughest filaments. Moreover, the copper alloy is hardened and processed to minimize copper oxidation at high temperatures.

To take full benefit of the ruby nozzle we recommend a size of 0.6mm. It assures you’ll be able to print materials with abrasive additives without clogging.

Check the price
V6 – e3d v6 + hotends with v6 nozzles (Dragon, DragonFly, Mosquito, Rapido, etc.)
MK8 – Creality hotends (Ender/CR10)
MK10 –  all Micro Swiss MK10 products

Note: Trianglelab has also a diamond V6 nozzle if you are hunting for the best of the best. It is more expensive though, and we believe Ruby offers the optimum cost/value ratio.

Check this review for more information and tests of the Trianglelab HT Ruby nozzle.

Best Trianglelab nozzle for non-abrasive filaments

The plated copper alloy HT T-V6 nozzle is our recommendation for printing non-abrasive materials. The copper alloy is hardened and more durable than brass while offering 3 times better thermal conductivity. It is nickel-plated and can handle sticky filaments.

This nozzle is the right choice for printing PLA, PETG, TPU, ABS, Nylon, PC. It can go up to 500℃, so PEI shouldn’t be an issue if your chamber allows it.

Check the price:

Best Trianglelab nozzle for abrasive filaments

Hardened steel nozzles are a classic for abrasive filaments. They are robust, durable, and reliable, but with low thermal conductivity. Their performance depends on how good was the machining. Trianglelab hardened steel nozzles are well-machined and with smooth internal surfaces. This helps to minimize chances for clogging not only with abrasive filaments but also with other non-sticky filaments like PLA and ABS.

Here we can mention the excellent normal hardened steel nozzle or the DLC-coated hardened steel nozzle (similar to e3d’s NozzleX).

Our choice however is the ZS nozzle.

The ZS nozzle has a nickel-plated copper body and a hardened steel insert with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coating. Like the other copper alloy nozzles it offers great heat transfer while the DLC-hardened steel tip can handle highly-abrasive composite filaments. We recommend buying the 0.6mm size.

Check the ZS nozzle price:

Conclusion

I use personally all nozzles presented in this review. The copper Ruby nozzle is in constant use for 2+ years and though the external coating is somewhat degraded the print quality is still perfect.

Copper nozzles for non-abrasive filaments are installed on all our other printers (mainly for ABS). The ZS nozzle is working for less than a mount and so far it performs beautifully. TBH, I print very occasionally abrasive filaments (some Wood and CF), but the ZS also handles well standard filaments and PC.

Reed also why a custom V6 assembly is still a hotend to consider in 2023.

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Dryer box vs. Dry box

The filament dryer box dries filament with an active heater. Typically, it is a polycarbonate box equipped with a heater and instrumentation to measure humidity and inside temperature. Most filament dryers can reach 50 to 70℃, which is an optimum temperature range to chase humidity from PLA, PETG, or TPU materials.

How do filament dryers work? Depending on the material and how wet your filament is, you’ll need to dry it for 2 to 24 hours before the print job. Modern filament dryers replace the spool holder and have an output for the filament. It means that during the print your extruder is supplied directly from the dryer.

What is a dry box? A dry box doesn’t have active heating. It is just a storage box that keeps your open spools of filament dry by maintaining a low-humidity environment. A dry box can not dry filaments that have already absorbed humidity. It is easy to DIY a dry box and there are a few interesting projects published on Thingiverse.

Do you need both dryer and dry boxes? It depends on how much you print and in how many colors. If you have just one or two spools opened at a time a dryer box is enough, as it can also be used for storage.

In case you have many open spools to protect you may want to invest in both dry boxes and filament dryers. How many dryers do you need? I would guess an equal number to your simultaneously working printers.

Hygroscopic filaments

PLA, PETG, TPU, Nylon, PC are very hygroscopic filaments. ABS also degrades with humidity, but it is less critical. The worst hygroscopic filament I had was PLA with wood particles.

Are dryer boxes efficient for all filaments? Not really. The higher the filament softening temperature is, the higher the drying temperature should be. For example, PC filaments need an hour in the oven at 100℃ to eliminate moisture.

Budget filament dryers excel mainly in drying PLA, PETG, and TPU filaments.

Selection criteria for a filament dryer

Before investing in a filament dryer take into account these considerations:

1. Max temperature of the dryer. PLA dries at 40+℃, PETG at 50+℃, ABS at 60+℃. So, based on the filament you work with select a dryer with the relevant temperature.
2. Heat repartition. Drying the filament evenly is essential; the best dryers can distribute the heat 360 degrees around the spool.
3. Controls and instrumentation. Precise and responsive sensors for humidity and temperature ensure an optimum dehumidifying environment in the box. Regarding the controls, they should be user-friendly and allow for setting up the right drying program. Some dryers on the market are limited to a few hours of operation (4 or 6), which may not be enough.
4. Sealing. As most users would want to use the dryer as a dry box when not turned On, the sealing capability is of major interest. It enables you to keep your spool filament in a safe, low-humidity environment. Check the box specification carefully, because there are many dryers on the market that don’t offer good sealing.
5. Noise level. These devices work for hours and some of them come with loud fans. If you share space with your filament dryer, this criterion becomes vital.
6. Manufacturing quality, fire and electrical safety. The box should have a casing from self-extinguishing materials. Check if the device is certified for your local regulations.

Based on these considerations, here are the dryers we recommend in 2023:

1. SUNLU FilaDryer S2

2. Sovol3D – Double dryer box

Conclusion

Filament dryers definitely help in improving print quality and keep the filament dry. We are still looking for other products to recommend and this review will be evolving. A possible candidate is the 3dgenius Filament Dryer, which is close in performance to the FilaDryer S2, but we haven’t tested it yet. We also looked at the Creality Dehydrator Box, which unfortunately has mitigated user feedback and it doesn’t seem robust enough.

There are of course other dryers on the market. Still, we eliminated already some either because they don’t assure good sealing for storage or because are too loud, or because their electric system seems not safe enough. If you know a good dryer to test please leave a comment below.

The post Best filament dryer boxes for PLA, PETG, and TPU appeared first on 3D Printing Best.

Measurements precision and repeatability are key for good ABL and Bed Mesh. They depend on:

• The precision of the sensor;
• The sensor’s resistance to magnetic or other perturbations and to high temperatures. As sensors are installed generally on the toolhead they are close to the heated bed during the measurements and may suffer from magnetic interference from the fans or the magnetic bed (if used).
• The right association of the probe type and the material of the build surface.

What types of sensors and probes could be used for ABL?

FDM 3d printing machines are nowadays mature and most types of probes have been already tested. Still, there are new inventions popping out from time to time, like the latest deployment of optical sensors. The objectives in sensor development for ABL are to achieve better measurement, easier installation/replacement, and universal use for various types of build surfaces (metallic/non-metallic/metallic with magnetic fluctuations, etc.). Let’s see the major types of ABL sensors and probes and how they answer these objectives.

Inductive sensors (a.k.a proximity sensors)

Inductive sensors are contactless. They create a magnetic field with a coil and detect changes in the magnetic field when in proximity to a metal object. It means they can’t detect glass or other non-metal build surfaces. Currently, inductive sensors are still largely used in 3d printing in association with flexible spring steel sheets with PEI/PET/PC coating.

SuperPinda is a temperature-independent inductive probe by Pepperl&Fuchs integrated by Prusa in their MK3S. It has replaced PINDA V2, which was also an excellent sensor with an integrated thermistor to compensate for thermal perturbances. Many consider SuperPinda the best inductive probe.

The Omron TL-Q5MC2-Z was the Voron choice for its Afterburner/Stealthburner toolheads. Unfortunately, its lifespan on printers with a powerful hotbed was short and many users preferred to implement either SuperPinda or a mechanical solution like the Klicky probe.

A typical inductive sensor for ABL has a small detection range (5 or 8 mm) in order to minimize measurement errors. The issue is it has to go close to the hotbed in order to detect it, and this raises its temperature. Unfortunately, most inductive sensors generate an additional error in measurements at higher temperatures. Additionally, sensors in plastic cases can literally melt down when probing or staying close to a bed at 100C+.

Should you install an inductive sensor on your printer? If you intend to use only a spring steel sheet for the build surface, inductive sensors are OK, but currently, there are more universal and better-performing solutions.

Hall-sensor touch probes

Hall sensors detect magnetic fields. They are often used to replace mechanical enstops and provide contactless operation. For auto-bed leveling, the design adds a mechanical moving part – a pushpin, actuated by a solenoid switch. In order to probe the bed with touch, this pushpin is extended and retracted with magnets.

BLTouch from Antclabs is the most largely used hall-sensor touch probe. It has been on the market for 7 years and is well-documented. It was a must-have upgrade for older budget printers, supplied with a glass build platform. Still, it is probably the best-supported universal probe. Check the current price on:

Aliexpress

Amazon

The hall-sensor touch probes work with any build surface, as probing is based on physical touch. They are however prone to perturbations from other magnetic fields and shouldn’t be installed close to the toolhead fans or on printers with beds having magnetic fluctuations (magnetic sticker is OK, plates with magnets are not).

Optical touch probes

Optical ABL sensors detect changes in light intensity. A mechanical probe on the printhead probes the bed, moves up when touching the bed, and breaks a beam of light. This technology is simple, reliable, digital, and assures precise measurements with very good repeatability.

Optical sensors for ABL were developed in the last few years, and widely spread through Creality’s bestselling printers.

Creality’s CR Touch is currently the most used optical touch probe. It is used on the new Sprite direct toolhead. Though externally it looks similar to the BLTouch, the CR Touch doesn’t detect magnetic fields and is absolutely resistant to electromagnetic perturbances. A simple optical sensor detects the end position of the touch pin. Check its current price:

Aliexpress

Amazon

Though Opto sensors could be disturbed by very powerful light sources, the design of the CR-Touch uses an internal light source inside a non-transparent casing, which makes such disturbance impossible.

Should you use the CR-Touch optical touch probe on your printer? If you have 32-bit Creality board or if your board supports CR Touch – go for it. It is a better option than BLTouch and inductive probes and assures reliable positioning accuracy range of 0,004mm.

Voron Tap is a DIY optical probe developed for Voron Trident and Voron 2.4 R2.
It is a nozzle-based and the entire printhead moves to trigger an optical switch.

According to Voron devs, a well-built Tap is capable of achieving a precision of 0.4 μm (0.0004 mm) with great repeatability. This is way better than any other existing ABL sensor.

Voron Tap also provides crash protection. As the whole printhead moves up on a small linear MGN09 rail, you are protected from minor crashes on the bed.

Though it is easy to adapt Tap for other printers, it will work reliably on securely mounted build platforms only.
It won’t work with cartesian printers with light beds, nor on printers with cantilevered beds, because when the whole toolhead is probing, the force applied in the contact point will shake these less stable beds.

For now, Tap is a Voron-only solution, but this concept is very interesting and probably we’ll see similar solutions from other manufacturers.

ABL probes with mechanical microswitches

Microswitches are mainly used for homing axes, however, they are also reliable as ABL probes. Some older Delta printers were using microswitches for ABL by design. The inconvenience was that after the probing the user had to manually move or remove the microswitch before the print job starts.

What precision can achieve a microswitch? Actually, the precision of a quality micro-switch is good – 0.025 mm (range – the difference between min and max values of 10 consecutive measurements at the same point).

Now, take into account that a microswitch costs around $2 and that it works for every type of build surface. Interesting, right?

Today, there are clever DIY designs that use magnets and gcode commands to undock, attach to the printhead, and dock the microswitch probe. Here we can mention Quickdraw/Klicky probe.

Conclusion

There are other types of ABL probes based on piezo, capacitive, or infrared sensors, however, they are either more difficult to set up, or become less precise in time.

What is the best ABL sensor? It depends very much on your printer. I use both CR Touch and BLTouch on my cartesian machines and microswitch probes on my CoreXY 3d printers. Though inductive probes like SuperPinda are reliable, I print also on non-metallic surfaces and I needed a universal ABL sensor.

The post Best sensors and probes for ABL appeared first on 3D Printing Best.

In the PLA era, why would you want to print ABS in the first place? PLA is a largely adopted and easy material, however, it has weak temperature resistance and limited post-processing options. These are the areas where ABS excels. With a softening temperature of above 90 C and resistance to oil products, it is perfect for functional parts in many applications. It allows post-processing like no other filament – you can sand it, drill it, smooth it with acetone vapor, and paint it with nail polish. Finally, ABS is even cheaper than PLA.

KSFs for 3d printing ABS

In order to determine the best budget 3d printers for ABS let’s see what are the key success factors for worry-free ABS 3d printing.

1^st KSF – Enclosure

The first and most important KSF for printing ABS is to use an enclosed printer or to make/buy an enclosure for your existing open-air printer.
The most hated property of ABS for 3d printing is that it shrinks when cooling down. While printing, the lower layers cool down and shrink which creates bending forces. These forces are relatively small if the part is small and become important if the part is bigger than 5 cm (2 inches). They can wrap the print from the hotbed or if the adhesion is very strong they can literally separate the upper layers. The only possible solution to minimize this force is to print ABS at a stable high temperature in the surrounding environment. At t_env > 45 C the bending forces become negligible.
Unless it’s summer and you live below the 35th parallel, you’ll need an enclosure to keep a steady temperature around the print.

2^nd KSF – Heated bed and build platform

Regarding the build platform, the ABS is a bit pickier than PLA. ABS adheres well on PEI sheet, PC sheet, Kapton tape. It is also possible to use various dedicated sprays on glass.

A hotbed temperature above 80 C is required. However, if you count on the bed to heat the air in your enclosure to at least 45 C, you may need a hotbed that can continuously work at 100 to 110 C (depending on the enclosure’s volume). Alternatively, you can implement an active heater in your enclosure (DIY).

3^rd KSF – Air filtration

Extruding ABS filament releases nanoparticles and odors in the air. Long-term exposure to these particles is considered dangerous for health. The good practice is to use a 3d printer equipped with HEPA 13 air filter or a more sophisticated air-purification system.

These are the most important criteria. All-metal hotend is welcome, but not required. Most hotends nowadays can handle up to 250 C, which is enough for ABS. ABS works well with both brass and hardened steel nozzles.

Top 3 budget 3d printers for ABS – stock & DIY

Based on the above success factors, a budget, enclosed 3d printer with a powerful heated bed is in the $700 – $1200 range, which is 2 times more expensive than budget open-air machines. Here is our selection of 2023 budget 3d printers, that excel in printing ABS:

1. FlashForge Adventurer 4
2. Voron Trident
3. QiDi X-Plus Ⅱ

Flashforge Adventurer 4

The Flashforge Adventurer 4 is a performant compact desktop machine. It has all modern features like auto bed leveling, integrated wifi, cloud printing, print resume, etc. It was selected for our top 5 3d printers chart.

What makes it perfect for printing ABS?
Here are its unique features:

• Fully enclosed
• Heated bed up to 110 C.
  It can heat the air in the enclosure up to 55C.
• Flexible PEI Build Plate
• Integrated HEPA 13 air filter

Check the current price:

Aliexpress

Amazon

Voron Trident

Voron Trident is a solid CoreXY 3d printer that is not only the perfect ABS printing machine but its parts are printed from ABS. It is an ultra-versatile device supporting all modern hotends and control boards, so you can build it according to your needs and budget. Starting at around $900 it is cheaper and easier to build and maintain than the famous Voron 2.4 and offers the same performance.

Features for ABS 3d printing:

• Fully enclosed
• AC heated bed with flat casted 8mm thick aluminum plate and PEI sheet. It can work continuously at 110 C (possibly 120 C – depending on the quality of the AC silicone heater). The air temperature in the enclosure is reaching 55+ C.
• Integrated air filter (HEPA/activated carbon)

You can source all the parts yourself based on Voron specifications, however, it is easier and cheaper to buy them as a kit. Check the prices at these Voron kit suppliers:

Formbot

Fysetc

QIDI X-Plus Ⅱ

Selling at just $700 at the time of writing the X-Plus 2 is the good ready-to-print option for an extended number of materials, including ABS, PC, flexibles, Carbon fiber, Nylon, PLA, PETG.

With robust reverse cartesian mechanics and dual Z, ABL, two exchangeable dual-drive direct extruders, WiFi/Lan, print resume, and all other modern features, the QIDI X-Plus II is a reliable and easy-to-use workhorse. The only minus for ABS is there is no air filtration.

Check the current price at:

Amazon

Aliexpress

There are of course more advanced and performant industrial printers if budget is not an issue. Here we can mention the Ultimaker S3, the Dremel DigiLab 3D45-01, the QIDI i-fast, and others.

Other options for printing ABS on a budget

If you already have an open-air 3d printer it is relatively easy to upgrade it for ABS 3d printing, by building/buying an enclosure and replacing the heated bed with a more powerful solution (if your stock bed is rated below 100 C).

Some major manufacturers like Prusa and Creality have solutions to enclose their open-air printers.

Conclusion

Printing ABS is easy with the right equipment. Key success factors are enclosure, a powerful heated bed, and the right choice of build surface (ex. PEI sheet). The air filter is nice to have, especially if you share space with your printer.

You can either buy or build an ABS-capable 3d printer or upgrade an existing open-air machine – the total cost would be similar.

The post Best budget 3d printers for ABS in 2023 appeared first on 3D Printing Best.

Why upgrade to a direct-drive toolhead?

Bowden or direct? Both setups have advantages and drawbacks. Bowden extruders allow using lighter toolheads and achieve a higher speed/print quality ratio. Direct extruders give you more control (small retractions, fast reaction), and better handling of TPU and flexible filaments. Their speed/print quality ratio depends directly on their weight. Less weight equals higher print quality at the same speed.

This means our criteria to define the top 3 direct drive toolheads for Ender-3 are primarily based on the weight, but also on the extruder and cooling performance.

1. Sprite direct toolhead

Sprite is the stock toolhead used on Ender-3 S1 and S1 Pro 3d printers. This is a Creality product and is also sold as an upgrade for older machines. Upgrading to the Official Sprite Extruder is the easiest modification and Creality made it as simple as possible to implement.

At only 288g, the Sprite direct-drive toolhead is an easy upgrade for users that value stock and supported products. Relatively light, it delivers modern extruder/hotend/part cooling performance, superior print quality, and the ability to print flexible filaments.

2. Apogee ToolHead

The Apogee direct-drive toolhead is a DIY device for more advanced users. The Apogee project is sponsored by the stepper motor manufacturer LDO. It seems influenced by VoronDesign concepts and it targets the whole Ender-3 printer. Its first stage is to deliver powerful direct toolhead design. In the pipeline are also upgrades to linear rails and belt-driven Z axis (similar to Voron Switchwire). So, if you have a more holistic approach to Ender3 enhancements, check out Apogee.

The Apogee toolhead is relying on the new Orbiter V2.0 dual-drive extruder. It supports the stock Creality MK8, but also more advanced hotends like      Dragonfly BMS, Rapido HF, E3D Revo Voron edition, Slice Mosquito, and Microswiss MK8.

3. Trianglelab DDE V2.0 TBG

The DDE from Trianglelab is a 3d printed modular toolhead. It supports E3D V6 or Rapido HF hotends. For ABL could be mounted a touch probe or inductive sensor. The direct extruder could be TBG Lite, Orbiter V2.0, or a BMG dual-gear extruder. In our top 3 chart, we considered the version with TBG Lite extruder. It is a dual-drive extruder with large gears, which provides excellent grip and torque.

Trianglelab is selling all components including 3d printed parts and provides installation manual. Check the current price here.

Sprite, Apogee and DDE are the 3 top recommendations for upgrading your Ender3 to direct-drive extruder. All of them are supported, documented and relatively easy to install. Ender3 community is huge, and you’ll find many other user-contributed toolhead designs on Thingivers.

Considerations when upgrading to direct-drive Ender3 toolhead

Direct toolheads are heavier than bowden because they integrate the extruder stepper motor. For Ender-3 models supplied with single Z motor is advisable to implement a second Z-axis lead screw. Creality is selling an official Dual-Z upgrade kit for Ender-3, Ender3 Pro and Ender V2, which is the easiest way to reinforce your gantry.

During the direct-drive upgrade you will have to install a new cable (Sprite) or to extend wires for the other toolheads. It is good time to consider upgrading your stock motherboard to a modern one. Such upgrade will give you more control options over your machine, UART, silent stepper drivers and other goodies. Check the 2 control boards we recommend for older Ender-3 printers..

The post Top 3 best direct-drive toolheads for Ender-3 appeared first on 3D Printing Best.

Why upgrade Ender-3 control board?

The number one reason to upgrade your Ender3 mobo is to add new functionalities or extensions to your printer. Stock control boards are designed with “just enough” capabilities to operate your Ender-3 model.
Imagine you built an enclosure for your Ender and you want to measure the inside temperature. You will need an additional thermistor, but also an additional thermistor input on your board. If you implement an active heater in your enclosure or if you want to shut down your printer after the print job, this could be done with relays controlled by the motherboard, however, your control board should have additional outputs to control these relays.
Point is that almost every 3d printer enhancement (ex. ADXL for input shaper, relays control, PT1000 support) will require hardware ports stock Ender-3 boards don’t have.

Other reasons to upgrade the Ender3 motherboard are:

• Better motion control algorithms – not all Ender3 mobos support UART.
• Being able to replace stepper drivers. Unfortunately for Ender3 users, Creality decided to cut costs and solder stepper drivers directly to the control board. It would be still OK, if the drivers were at least TMC2209, however even the latest V2.4.S1 mobo for S1 and S1 Pro has the inferior TMC2208. No linear advance, sorry.
• More processing power. It allows you to turn on all desired features of your firmware and assures printing with no hiccups.
• Replace faulty board with better one.

Ender-3 motherboard upgrade options

Hereafter is a selection of modern motherboards compatible with Ender-3, Ender3 Pro, Ender-3 V2, Ender-3 V2 Neo, Ender3 S1 (with wiring mod) and Ender-3 S1 Pro (with wiring mod). All of them offer an improvement over stock Ender-3 control boards and better processing power.

BTT SKR MINI E3 V3.0

The SKR MINI E3 V3.0 motherboard is a good and economic upgrade option for Ender3 3d printers. Technical specs and benefits:

1. 4 integrated silent stepper drivers TMC2209. The drivers are soldered to the microcontroller, like in stock boards (not replaceable). They are newer generation though, allowing higher currents and advanced control algorithms like linear advance. Connected in UART by default.
2. Better drivers cooling with common heatsink.
3. 32-bit mobo with a fast STM processor
4. Double Z-axis connector
5. Supports filament runout sensor, print resume, and touch probe, and it adds Printer shut down control and RGB light control (controls Neopixel color lighting on your printer with gcode commands, separate 5V power supply recommended for LED stripes).

Check the current price:

Aliexpress

Amazon

SKR V1.4 / Turbo

Recommend a 2 year old board may be considered blasphemy in the dynamic 3d printing market, yet the SKR V1.4 (Turbo version or not) is still a great upgrade option for all Ender3, Ender5, CR10, and similar cartesian 3d printers in 2023.

It has it all: 32-bit, 100/120Mhz LPC processor, 5 sockets for removable stepper drivers, UART/SPI/STEP/DIR drivers control selectable with jumper, Neopixel control, Touch probe, two extruders, etc.

This board is proven mature product. Though is not a one-to-one replacement for Ender3 board, you’ll find printable adapter mounts/electronics cases for your model on Thingiverse. Tons of information on how to configure it with various firmware, including Klipper, is available on YouTube and Reddit.

Buy it from:

Aliexpress

Amazon

Other motherboards for Ender3

There are other control boards that are suitable for motherboard upgrades of Ender-3 printers. but they are either overkill like the SKR Pro V1.2 or suffer little support and community help. The SKR MINI E3 V2.0 is almost like the V3.0 and would be a good choice if you find it cheaper.

The post Ender3 mobo upgrade – best alternative control boards appeared first on 3D Printing Best.