Experiences with Sherpa / Orbiter 2.0 on Mini+
Hi, I'm interested to convert my current Mini+ extruder system from bowden to direct drive. I'm wondering whether anyone here has experience doing so with the Sherpa or Orbiter extruders. I have a few questions.
Was your printer easer to use?
How were your print results?
Did you notice significantly more vibrations caused by the heavier weight?
Did you use other mods to counter the effects of the direct drive conversion?
RE:
I have an orbiter v2 on my mini, but it's a mini bear. This means 2 Z rods + motors.
So all i can talk about is print quality of the extruder itself.
Bowden is not only bad stuff, it has positive sides compared to direct drive. One of the good things about it is that vertical walls are nicer than direct drive (my experience) The Orbiter is better than the original Mk3 direct drive extruder, due to the fact that it has larger extruder wheels and not a 1:1 drive, but has a different gear ratio.
Personally i would stick to bowden on a mini. Not only gives bowden a beautiful print, but is also lighter than to carry a motor. One of the (my) issues with the Mini is skew, which would be worse with that extra weight.
RE: Experiences with Sherpa / Orbiter 2.0 on Mini+
I've currently got the sherpa and revo installed on my mini - so i can't really comment on which part provided the quality and consistency boost. Installing the sherpa it was straightforward and i've not noticed any additional ringing to the prints. I did have to craft a few new parts to support the filament path out of the sherpa though, again, pretty easy and straight forward once it was installed. It is quieter, quicker and a bit more reliable (well, was, until i blew up the revo themistor by letting the filament run out).