Artillery Sidewinder X1 3D Printer

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.

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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.

3D PRINTED AQUAPONICS MODS PLUS MORE

This is the bell siphon I designed for my aquaponics set up. The breather tube on the side allows air to reach the top to help stop the siphon. You can adjust it up and down via the thread.

This fitting for the hose is for cleaning out the breather tube on the bell siphon. An O-ring was added to make it seal with the hose fitting.

Cowmole Co. New 225pcs Seal O-Ring Gaskets Set Air Conditioning Rubber Washer O Ring Assortment Kit for R22 R134a Purple Standard Parts Hot

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Simple U-Lock for IBC Aquaponics

This fitting for the hose is for cleaning out the breather tube on the bell siphon. An O-ring was added to make it seal with the hose fitting.

Here’s some extra things I added to and around my IBC Aquaponics set up.

This solar air pump, is usefull for adding extra oxgen to the water for the fish. It’s also a great back up for if the pump breaks.

Anself 5V AC/DC Solar Power Charging Oxygenator Fish Tank Aquarium Air Pump Fishing Oxygen Pump Aerator with Air Stones

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This solar light is used on the ‘bug zapper”‘ mode and I drilled a hole in the plastic bottom. This way at night, insects will get zapped and fall into the water to be eaten by the fishes.

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This float valve is used and connected to a smaller tank to keep the water from getting to low. Very hot summers where I am located, so I get a decent amount of evaporation.

Kerick Valve MA052 PVC Mini Float Valve, Tank Mount, Adjustable Arm, 1.5 gpm at 60 psi, 1/2″ NPT Male

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This great outdoor solar light as some much needed lighting around the garden at night. As long as you have sunny days, they are certainly bright enough.

Solar Motion Sensor Light, JUSLIT 74 COB LED Solar Lights Outdoor, Security Light with Night Light Diming Mode, Waterproof Wireless 270° Wide Angle Motion Detector light for Garage Porch Step(2PK)

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Click to download the 3D Files

Here are the .stl files for download. Let me know in the comments how you go and if you have any suggestions for improving the designs.

Headphone Stand

I designed this simple magnetic headphone stand. Printed at 5% infill with supports and raft. Then I simply glued standard name badge magnets on the back with a 2 part epoxy.

Here’s the STL file

Ender-2 Mods

Check out more at desima.co/3dprinting

I recently purchased an Ender2 3D printer for around $200 and it’s working amazing well! Still learning how to fine tune all the settings.

Here’s the mods that I’ve been making.

Belt Tensioner remixed and inspired by fooyabt

A 8mm diameter brass tube was cut to length and used to hold the bearings in place. The small washes where used on the X-axis belt tensioner to keep the bearing centre.

Place the brass tube through the bearing.
Slide them into place.
I designed my version to give a lot more slack on the belt to make it easier to adjust things.
The Creality Ender-2 with my belt tensioners and a few other mods, that I’ll update here later.
With this set up it’s much easier to get the wheels under the build plate, that often become loose after a few prints.

Desima | Ender-2 Belt Tensioner Files

  Here’s my Cura profile for the Ender-2, based of Nerys.

Here’s the PLA Cura Profile

Here’s my Vase profile, turned out beutifully for this vase that I designed.

Here’s the CURA PLA Vase Profile

  This is by far my favourite upgrade and was totally unexpected. I purchased some Anet A8 Nozzles. I’m not sure if it was just because they are new clean nozzles or just better made then what comes with the Ender-2, but there was a noticble improvement in print quality.

I download and printed this filament guide from Thingiverse, works great to stop the 1.75mm filament from rubbing on the Z-rod. However it made this squeky sound, so I used a short peice of PTFE tubing in the hole and now it runs smooth and quiet.