RE: Metal printed part replacements
I too would love to hear some feedback on this. I am seriously considering trying them out.
RE: Metal printed part replacements
I've installed almost all of what's available from Funssor in aluminum, including the X carriage. It is a big improvement in print quality, ghosting is basically gone. It isn't quite straightforward, though.
Y mounts: make printer somewhat louder, but precise alignment of the Y rods is much easier to achieve.
Z mounts: require a completely new assembly and alignment procedure to get the most out of them, but given that they're precise and lock the Z smooth rods in place using set screws and lock the Z threaded rods in place using bearings, they stiffen both the frame and the X assembly. Makes Z axis very loud during fast moves as the vibration from the LDO motors is transferred to the frame and desk the printer is standing on.
X ends: needed to get the most of the Z mounts. Without these, you should remove the top bearings from the Z mounts. These give you a rigid and a strictly parallel X axis. They may need re-drilling and then filling the the rod holes with magic steel epoxy if their depth is not correct. Having a precisely correct depth so that the X rods are bottomed out in the X ends and at the same time the X ends are parallel is needed for these to be a benefit. Otherwise alining the Z rods is not possible. Also, a double-bearing, toothed X idler is worth installing.
X carriage: the version I received from Funssor was machined wrong (I can explain more if needed), Funssor is promising a new version. I ran mine through a mill to remove most of the metal, making it lighter, but still very precise and rigid and replaced the removed metal with custom printed parts. I can provide photos and STLs if there is interest.
Y motor mount: Much more solid than the plastic one, allows for better tightening of the Y belt without skew.
Y idler mount: Works well with a double-bearing toothed idler. They have a fixed and adjustable version. I went for fixed.
Y belt holder: I like it. I broke the plastic one.
Nylon Y bearing holders: I like them. Much less hassle than the U bolts.
I have also reinforced the front and back plates of the printer with Funssor aluminum parts in addition to the Prusa ones, because they were visibly bending under full Y belt tension.
But once you do all these, and possibly also Misumi rods/bearings to match, and the loose-belt and ringing (ghosting) artifacts are all gone, you'll see the artifacts caused by the E motor. Once you get a geared extruder (BNBSX or Bondtech) and possibly a better E stepper, you'll see that the LDO X and Y steppers also leave a lot to be desired. So new steppers (Moons or Trinamic) go in ... it's a never ending story once you set on this path. 🙂 But the results are really good.
Pictures of my printer, possibly a more detailed writeup and a test print (choose your object and material) available on request. 🙂
RE: Metal printed part replacements
I suspect it is primarily looks, the existing parts are quite rigid in that regard so any gains would probably be minor compared to flex/rigidity elsewhere in the design (rods, frame)
RE: Metal printed part replacements
Nylon Y bearing holders: I like them. Much less hassle than the U bolts.
Do you have a link to these y bearing holders? I have some that I printed myself but still haven't installed yet. If there's better ones available, might do that instead.
RE: Metal printed part replacements
Yes. Funssor bearing holders. They may need to be cut a little on the Mk3 if they don't have enough clearance to the frame, though. A sharp knife fixed that quickly.
RE: Metal printed part replacements
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Pictures of my printer, possibly a more detailed writeup and a test print (choose your object and material) available on request. 🙂
I'd love to see those photos and read that thread! For test prints, I'm partial to a 3DBenchy in grey PLA for general purpose and an XYZ calibration cube in shiny black PET to highlight surface finish and ringing. More crafty prints are fun, too, and it's always interesting to see what people like to print.
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Y motor mount: Much more solid than the plastic one, allows for better tightening of the Y belt without skew.
Y idler mount: Works well with a double-bearing toothed idler. They have a fixed and adjustable version. I went for fixed.
Y belt holder: I like it. I broke the plastic one.
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Super dumb question: with all the fixed Y-axis parts, how do you adjust the Y-belt tension?
RE: Metal printed part replacements
The biggest disadvantage I see on the metal parts is that they are pretty expensive and not upgradable.
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram