So I decided to upgrade to a larger printer. My Ender-2 is a fantastic little machine, but the print area is rather small. This is not a review and I simply sharing my experience. The printer was paid for by myself.
I wanted something, open source, direct drive for TPU printing and a large printing area.
- The Sidewinder X1 the Marlin firmware has been provided. (Although the firmware related to the touch screen has
not)
- It has a direct drive extruder based on the e3D Titan Areo (So easier to buy replacement parts if needed)
- A large printing area of 300 x 300 x 400 mm.
These photos below are ones I took.
Really, the packaging was great, no complaints here! Also the postage was decently fast enough for China.
Good to have spares. However a part removal tool and a spare nozzle would also be great to include.
They included a genuine Australian plug, which was nice.
This 3D printed part that came with the machine was warped.
The nozzle showed a test print had been done on my printer. However, the nozzle was inserted incorrectly, allowing this mess.
The part cooling duct that came with the machine wasn’t attached properly on mine, so I had to glue it back in place. I ended up designing my own version.
A strain relief was one the first things needed to made.
Time to bend the strain relief bracket into shape.
Fits nicely!
Safety first!
The 90 degree bend on this sheet metal was done differently on each side, so it’s impossible to have them line up correctly. This means that spools of filament do not roll smoothly. I have asked the company for a replacement.
First prints were rubbish.
I was eventually able to get better prints, but they are not up to the standard of my Ender yet.
Not all the cables were pushed into their sockets correctly.
A bolt was missing from the filament spool holder.
This bolt was loose on mine, make sure you tighten it in the correct direction. It needs to be nice and firm so that filament is gripped by the direct drive extruder.
The hot glue on everything, is great to keep things wired in. However hot glue was on one of the stepper drivers, so I haven’t been able to remove it.
This little guy was the culprit, the cause of my Z axis movement issues!
Here is my custom part cooling duct that I’m working on. This was printed on my Ender-2 (ssshhh…)
My part cooling duct is available on thingiverse. I was working on this before my Z axis movement decided to go full retard. Once I receive new stepper drivers to get my printer running again, I’ll continue to develop it. At the moment, it’s not blowing air in the exact centre and evenly from each side. Also, in my test, I think I had it a tiny bit to low, as the air is blown down on an angle.The other thing I’ll change out is the volcano nozzles with a clean brand new one.
