LDO Box Turtle Build Complete! (But still more to go..)
The LDO Box Turtle project has been keeping me busy for the first part of this year. Once again, I’d like to thank LDO Motors (and specifically, Jason Bao) for sponsoring this project!
I just dropped the Final Assembly video, which you can check out here. It covers all of the end steps including assembly of the Turtle Neck, General Assembly (Section 6), Flashing the AFC Lite, cutting and chamfering PTFE, and the Final Assembly (Section 7).
It’s taken me a fair bit of time to get the kit together, primarily because I’ve been putting it together in a way that I understand it thoroughly, so that I can create video content for it. I really appreciate the folks in the Discord, and especially @thunderkeys, who not only printed the parts for my Filamatrix (and also supplied some helpful jigs/gears for the Box Turtle), but has also reviewed some of my video content, answered questions, etc. The Armored Turtle / BoxTurtle team also chimes in and are very helpful. If you are building a kit, you’re going to have plenty of support from the community- which is one of the things I truly appreciate and enjoy about open source projects.
Check out my video, but before you do keep reading for a few more thoughts and what I’m working on next!
While the main assembly is “done”, I still need to get it set up on a printer. It’s not quite as simple as plugging and playing. The reason for that is simple- your toolhead needs to be “compatible” with multi-filament printing. Most DIY klipper based machines do not have this native capability, but I imagine future revisions of Voron, VzBot, etc. will start coming that way. What do I mean by this? Well, you need to be able to do things like: cut your filament at the toolhead (for filament swaps), brush your nozzle, kick off filament poop, etc.
I am planning to use the Box Turtle on both my VzBot, and my Voron 2.4. In both cases, I will need to make some modifications.
Voron 2.4
I haven’t done much with my Voron 2.4 since I built it several years ago. I’m running a “beta” version of an LGX Lite + Stealthburner toolhead, along with an older HartK tool board. I still have cable chains. I’m still running the old school Omron probe for QGL, and Sexbolt for Z height. Wow, this printer feels so dated! With that in mind, I am going to do some fairly significant upgrades:
- FIlamatrix Toolhead- this is a CW2+Stealthburner extruder, along with a filament cutter.
- LDO Stealthburner Toolhead (USB). This will replace my older Hartk toolhead.
- Going to install Beacon, along with USB.
- Ditching the Cable Chains and going with an umbilical.
- I am planning to keep my Rapido HF toolhead (for the time being at least).
- Upgrading from a Pi3 to a Pi4. I’m guessing my Pi3 may be able to handle both Beacon and Box Turtle, but I’d rather be safe and swap out to a Pi 4.
VzBot
The VzBot is a bit simpler upgrade. There is a nice toolhead cutter from Discord user @Trev1Ak that you can purchase from Ali Express for about $20: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqhAgzH
- I’ve already ordered it, it’s here, and it’s waiting to be installed. I am going to complete the Voron 2.4 side of it first but very much looking forward to installing on the VzBot also.
Wrapping Up
I plan on capturing content for the Filamatrix, as well as configuration of the Box Turtle with my printer. I also plan to showcase a few of my multi-color prints once I get everything going. Thanks as always for tuning in!
