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Details/Documentation for the Formbot V0 Kit

Formbot-V0

Details/Documentation for the Formbot V0 Kit

Detailed Review

Formbot V0 Kit Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUrcIFF510

Stream Series

Check out my full build stream series here: Formbot V0 Kit Stream Series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwWNdxHVFVf1DbI2nGngUB0O9TWeXn2Sx

Voron DB Entry

Voron DB Entry https://vorondb.com/printer/V0-3207

Formbot V0 Kit

Features

Note: For each of the features/mods please make sure to go to the repective documentation to download and print all of the necessary STLs.

  • Kirigami Bed Frame
  • BTT Pi V1.2
  • BTT SKR Pico
  • BTT V0 Display
  • CHC V6 Hotend (Upgradeable to Dragon/HF)
  • Double Sided PEI Sheet
  • Crimped Wiring Looms
  • Moons Motors
  • Stainless Steel Rails
  • MIC6 Cast Aluminum Build Plate
  • Polycarbonate Panels
  • Gates Belts
  • Vivedino 60W Silicone Bed Heater
  • Stainless Steel Hardware
  • Umbilical Board + Harness
  • NOT Makerbeam XL Extrusion!!! LDO Style
  • Meanwell 150W PSU

Aliexpress Listing: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dk19GYN

Formbot Listing: https://www.formbot3d.com/products/voron-v02-corexy-3d-printer-kit-with-high-quality-parts?DIST=RkFPFVk%3D

Disclaimer: Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Ballistic Tech.

Helpful info

Most of this is set in the printer.cfg file I've provided: https://github.com/SrgntBallistic/Formbot-V0/blob/v0.2/Firmware/bigtreetech-skr-pico-v1.0.cfg

Replace the entire contents of your printer.cfg file with the contents of the file linked above. Follow the instructions in the comments to add the serial Ids for your MCU and Display.

Motor Models

Helpful for the Autotune TMC Klipper Plugin

  • A/B - MS14HS5P4150-11
  • Z - LE174S-T0808-200-0-S-065
  • E - CSE14HRA1L410A-01

Link: https://github.com/andrewmcgr/klipper_tmc_autotune

Max Motor Currents

  • A/B - 1.5A
  • Z - 0.65A
  • E - 1.0A

Motor drawings with current ratings

A/B - https://github.com/SrgntBallistic/Formbot-V0/blob/v0.2/Images/Motors/a-b-motors-drawing.jpg

Z - https://github.com/SrgntBallistic/Formbot-V0/blob/v0.2/Images/Motors/extruder-motor-drawing.jpg

E - https://github.com/SrgntBallistic/Formbot-V0/blob/v0.2/Images/Motors/extruder-motor-drawing.jpg

65% Run Currents

Voron recommends 60-70% (0.6-0.7) to start I chose 65%. Increase as needed but try to stay below 80-90%

Run Current = rated_motor_current x 0.707 x 0.65

Plug the max currents above into the equation with your desired percentage

  • A/B - 0.65 x 0.707 x 1.5A = 0.69 (NICE!)
  • Z - 0.65 x 0.707 x 0.65A = 0.3A
  • E - 0.65 x 0.707 x 1.0A = 0.46A

Thermistors

  • Formbot Bed - "Generic 3950"
  • Formbot V6 CHC Hotend - "ATC Semitec 104NT-4-R025H42G"
  • Check Klipper docs for the correct sensor type based on your thermistor/hotend

Extrusion Identification

All of the extrusions in the Formbot V0 kit are tapped on both ends. This means that using the V0 Manual extrusion identification diagrams can be a bit confusing. For 4 sets of extrusions where the manual differentiates them by tapped ends, you can consider those extrusions to be identical.

Extrusions Identification

Identical Extrusions

  • A/B
  • C/H

No Drop Nuts

No Drop Nuts

No drop nuts are very helpful for preventing preloaded M3 Hex Nuts from sliding around or falling out of the frame during assembly. They also allow you to pre align the nuts and hold them in place while you attatch parts to the frame.

The Formbot Extrusions are NOT MakerBeamXL profiles. They are closer to LDO's 1515 Extrusion. As such the no drop hex nut mods designed for LDO's kits work well with the Formbot kit.

Formbot vs LDO Extrusion Above: Left - Formbot Extrusion, Right - LDO Extrusion

Be Careful

I used them and found them very helpful. One big thing to note is that using the normal no drop nuts for the magnetic door latch can cause an issue. The spacing for these printed parts is such that using no drop carriers will cause them to be too far apart.

V0 Manual Door Latch

I used normal no drop nuts for these and had to essentially break apart the nut carriers to have them align with magnetic door latch parts.

There is a specific version of the No Drop Nut that is designed to be used here:

https://github.com/VoronDesign/VoronUsers/blob/master/printer_mods/zruncho/V0_No_Drop_Nuts/stl/NoDropNut_Door_Latch_x2.stl

Door Latch No Drop Nuts

Kirigami Bed

Kirigami Bed GitHub: https://github.com/christophmuellerorg/voron_0_kirigami_bed

Manual: https://github.com/Kagee/kirigami-bed-manual

LDO Kirigami Docs: https://www.ldomotion.com/p/guide/18295873486461670

Remixed Formbot V0.2 Kirigami Frame Nutblock: https://www.printables.com/model/659769-kirigami-bed-stealth-nut-block-remix-to-fit-formbo

Remixed Formbot V0.2 Kirigami Frame Chain Mount: https://www.printables.com/model/659415-kirigami-bed-chain-mount-remix-to-fit-formbot-kit

The Formbot kit only comes with the Kirigami Frame. There's no LED/PCBs/Wago connectors, etc... included with the kit. You can source these yourself, find a partial wiring kit that includes them, or just leave them out and hard wire the bed components. See my My Mods section for the kit I bought.

The Kirigami bed frame is a great mod/upgarde that comes with the kit. It replaces multipe extrusions and printed pieces with a single rigid bed frame. The LDO Docs and Kirigami manual by Kagee provide some great info on general installation of the bed.

I had some trouble with the provided bed. I was able to get through all the issues with small DIY fixes. Other people have also noted they've run into these issues on the Voron Discord as well as the Kirigami GitHub. YMMV

Issues

  • Frame Thickness
    • My frame measured about 2.3-2.5mm
      • I think this is due to the thickness of the paint on the frame
    • Spec is 2mm, max tolerance of 0.2mm
    • Caused the frame to not fit the printed Kirigami "stealth" Parts
      • Stealth Nut Block
      • Steath Chain Mount
      • Can file the gaps in these parts or modify them in CAD and reprint if they don't fit
      • Can also use some of the legacy non stealth parts

Kirigami Frame Thickness

For the chain mount Voron Discord/Printables user Tommy Vercetti remixed the part so it fits well on the Formbot frame

Alt text

GitHub Issue: https://github.com/christophmuellerorg/voron_0_kirigami_bed/issues/16

  • Frame holes
    • Again likely due to the thickness of the paint
    • Caused some slight over constraining of the frame when attached to the Z carriages
    • My mounting screws barely fit through the holes
    • No wiggle room to allow the frame and carriages to self align in a well enough that the frame and carriages would fall under their own weight
      • Didn't completely bind the frame movement
      • Just wasn't as smooth/free as after fixing
    • Compounded with the frame not fitting in the nut block well
    • Solved by filing out the holes in the frame
      • This reduced the constaining and allowed the bed to fall easily

Kirigami Frame Nutblocks

Non Stealth (Left) and Filed Stealth Nutblock (Right)

  • Thermal Fuse Location
    • When I went to adjust the bed screws so they bed was just close enough to the nozzle I couldn't get the bed springs to compress enough
    • The thermal fuse was running into the frame
    • I could have reduced the Max Z so the bed wouldn't come up as high after homing
    • But didn't want to lose any Z height
    • Solved by filing away a tiny bit of material on the frame where the fuse was interferring

Thermal Fuse interference

There are mounting slots in the Kirigami frame that allows forward/backward movement of the bed screws. The LDO Docs include a link to a set of spacers that allow locking the heated bed in the forwardmost or rear most position.

Position these such that the nozzle is able to reach the full extent of the front and back of the bed. For me that was with the bed towards the rear.

Alt text

BTT SKR Pico

GitHub: https://github.com/bigtreetech/SKR-Pico

Manual: https://github.com/bigtreetech/SKR-Pico/blob/master/BTT%20SKR%20Pico%20V1.0%20Instruction%20Manual.pdf

Flashing (From Pi without PC): https://docs.vorondesign.com/build/software/skrPico_klipper.html

BTT SKR Pico

The SKR Pico is a nice small footprint Main Board. It trades some IO/connectivity capability for its compact size. Ex: there's no input of the chamber thermistor that comes on the V0 Umbilical frame PCB. Also there's no extra fan ports to hook up fans for something like the Nevermore filter. An Extra MCU like the Klipper Expander would be necessary to get some of this IO back.

SKR Pico Compile Params

There's some new compile params for the RP2040 in Klipper MenuConfig. Here's what worked for me

  • MCU: Raspberry Pi RP2040
  • Bootloader Offset: No bootloader (for USB, 16Kib for Canbus)
  • Flash chip: W25Q080 with CLKDIV 2
  • Communication interface (USB)
  • USB IDs: USB Serial number from CHIPID
  • GPIO pins: Empty

BTT SKR Pico Menuconfig

BTT V0 Display

GitHub: https://github.com/VoronDesign/Voron-Hardware/tree/master/V0_Display

V0 Display

Flashing Docs: https://github.com/VoronDesign/Voron-Hardware/blob/master/V0_Display/Documentation/Setup_and_Flashing_Guide.md

Biqu Listing: https://biqu.equipment/products/voron-display-v1-0

Ali Express Listing: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBvhC7R

Features:

  • 1.3" OLED Display
  • Rotary Encoder
  • Neopixel
  • STM32F042F6P6 MCU
  • USB Connector

Small simple display with a neopixel onboard to change the LCD Color.

Fixing OLED Lines/Smears

V0 Display with Smear

Some OLED displays can have a bit of a "smearing" effect on them. There is a line in the [mcu display] section of the config you can uncomment and modify to help with that. Timmit the developer of the V0 Display recommends a value of 31 (0 is the default).

V0 Display Smear Config Fix

V0 Display Fixed

BTT Pi V1.2

GitHub: https://github.com/bigtreetech/BTT-Pi

BTT Pi V1.2

Manual: https://github.com/bigtreetech/BTT-Pi/blob/master/BIGTREETECH%20Pi%20V1.2%20User%20Manual.pdf

Biqu Listing: https://biqu.equipment/collections/control-board/products/bigtreetech-btt-pi-v1-2

Aliexpress Listing: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DmQwZ0V

Useful features:

  • ADXL SPI Port for Input Shaping
  • 12-24V Power terminal input
  • 5V USB-C Power input

The BTT Pi V1.2 is a nice alternative to Raspberry branded Single-Board-Computers that have frequently shot up in price. It has some nice 3D Printing specific features and numerous ways to power it.

Flashing Image

The BTT Pi uses the same images as the BBT CB1 compute module. You can follow instructions for installing it.

BTT has 2 versions of the Kernal. A Minimal image and a Klipper image. The Klipper image has Klipper, Mainsail, Crowsnest and most other dependencies pre-installed. They just need to be updated after. Images: https://github.com/bigtreetech/CB1/releases

By Default the host name for the image will be "btt-cb1" and it can be accessed with "btt-cb1.local" if you don't know the IP Address for it yet.

V0 Umbilical

GitHub: GitHub: https://github.com/VoronDesign/Voron-Hardware/tree/master/V0-Umbilical

V0 Umbilical

The V0 Umbilical is a great mod included in this kit. It makes wiring much easier. All of the signals/power to the toolhead goes through a toolhead PCB breakout board, down to the back of the frame via a pre-made wire harness, through a second frame pcb breakout board and finally down to the SKR Pico.

Forbmot has precut and crimped most of the wires that go from the mainboard to the frame PCB. They've also made most of the wires that hook into the toolhead pCB the correct length as well.

Be sure to print the V0 Toolhead PCB mount and strain relief found here: https://github.com/VoronDesign/Voron-Hardware/tree/master/V0-Umbilical/STLs/V0.2

Wiring

General Wiring

Stock Formbot V0.2(r1) Wiring Diagram

This is a general wiring diagram for a Formbot V0.2(r1) kit. The only thing specific to the V0.2r1 is the Filament Runout Sensor (FRS) which gets plugged into the E0 Endstop input on the SKR Pico (next to the RGB/Neopixel). Otherwise it should serve pretty well as a general V0.2 build.

Since the V0.2 uses sensorless homing on the X-Y/A-B axes there's no endstops plugged into either of those inputs. In fact it's important to ensure that nothing is plugged into these inputs. Otherwise sensorless homing will not work.

Kirigami Bed Wiring

The Formbot kit does NOT include any wago or inline conectors!

The Kirigami Bed Frame alows splitting the wiring coming out of the bed so that the bed can be removed and worked on without being tethered to the printer.

Voron recommends using Wago connectors to allow easily disconnecting the wires. The Kirigami bed mod includes mounts for the Wago connectors.

Since the Formbot kit bed heater doesn't include an integrated thermal fuse it needs to be connected inline with one side of the bed wires.

Bed Wiring

Generic Formbot Wiring

Generic Formbot Kirigami Wiring

An inline connector can be used to split the Thermistor wires under the bed.

Formbot Wiring + LDO Kirigami Wiring Kit

Generic Formbot Kirigami Wiring

The LDO wiring kit includes 2 Wago mounts, a Thermistor breakout PCB and an LED PCB. A third wago is needed for the Formbot Thermal Fuse. The LDO V0 repo has stls for mounting its PCBs and the wagos. See the Kirigami Manual for more info.

BTT Pi Power

Formbot provides a precut, pre-crimped wire harness to go from the BTT SKR Pico's top right pins over to the BTT Pi V1.2's VCC and GND GPIO Pins. It provides 2 5V wires and a single ground. I think these were design to work with an original Raspberry Pi 3/4 which has it's GPIO on the right.

Pi Power Wires Janky

Since the BTT Pi has it's GPIO on the left the only way to get the wires over to those pins I had to stretch them across both boards. I felt the looked bad and worried about the tension.

Pi Power Fixed

To solve this I used their JST connector and repinned/crimped the some longer wires with Dupont connectors on the opposite side. With the wires longer I can pas them under the edges of the boards and through the cable management channel in the middle

BTT Pi to BTT SKR Pico Uart Communication

By default the Formbot kit connects the BTT Pi and SKR Pico by USB cable. This works well and is easily set up. However, it does limit the number of open USB ports to two (one is also taken up by the V0 Display). Since I also added a Klipper Exander and USB camera that meant all four ports were used. Leaving none for things like a USB Input Shaper Accelerometer.

Connecting the Pico and Pi via UART opens up a spare port again to help with this.

As noted in the section above the Formbot kit powers the the Pi via two +5V and a single GND set of wires going from a JST port on the SKR Pico to the GPIO Pins on the Pi. This is actually the UART comms header on the SKR Pico so we can easily add two wires (Green and Yellow in the Wiring Diagram) to free up the USB Port.

One end needs to be crimped with a JST XH connector and the other needs to be female duponts. Since this will only be transmitting data the guage isn't hugely important. You can use already crimped female-to-female Dupont bread board wires cut to size and crimped with a JST on one end. OR in my case take a pre-crimped JST wire and crimp a Dupont (harder to crimp) connector to the other end.

Then plug the extra two wires into the 5 pin JST connector housing on one end, and the Dupont connects onto the pins adjacent to the power pins on the Pi GPIO.

UART Wiring

You'll need to shut down the Pi remove the SD Card, plug it into a computer and open the BoardEnv.txt file on the boot sector of the card. In that file change the line with console=and set it to console=serial to tell the Pi to talk via it's UART interface.

From there you can put reconfigure the Pico firmware to use UART0 GPIO1/GPIO0 for it's communication interface. Flash it via USB. Disconnect the USB and connect it via the new UART cable. Finally in your printer.cfg change the serial: portion of the MCU definition to /dev/ttyS0.

You should then be able to reboot the Pico and communication between the board and the Pi should work as normal

Products Used

Phaetus Dragon HF

This is an optional upgrade on some Formbot listings. It offers single hand nozzle tightening and much higher Max Flow Rate compared to the default Formbot V6 CHC nozzle.

Ali - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DlBBu2d You have to buy all the parts separately...

Dragon HF

Bondtech 0.4 CHT Nozzle

This further increases the flow rate of the Dragon HF.

MatterHackers - https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/bondtech-cht-m6-nozzle/sk/MEH3UZ0N?aff=7617

CHT Nozzle

Fabreeko cPIF V0.2 Printed Parts

Fabreeko cPIF: https://www.fabreeko.com/collections/v0/products/voron-v0-2-s1-printed-parts-by-pif?variant=43678271570175

I found the cPIF parts pretty nice. I've since replaced a couple of of failed parts but I don't attribute the failures to the quality of the prints. More to some inherent issues in the part design

cPIF Parts

EP2 Grease

Product Links:

I originally greased the rails with White Lithium lubricant but bought this and regreased them when I redid the frame.

GDS Time Fan Mini Stealthburner Fan Kit

The stock fans are probably the most noticable lower quality parts of this kit. I found the plastic a bit brittle and the leads didn't tuck into the their slots on the body. This cause them to get pinched when I put them in the Mini SB.

RC Style Hex Drivers

I found using any type of ball end and some not very sharp edged hex/allen drivers or bits resulted in stripped screws. In particular on the Frame and rails screws which I ended up screwing and unscrewing numerous times.

I tried my RC style hex drivers which have noticably sharper corners and noticed I didn't have any stripped screws.

Most will probably work well. Fabreek sells a couple different sets

Product Links:

Fabreeko Hex Drivers

Model Links:

Flexible "Drone" USB Cable

This low profile USB cable was usefult to connect the Klipper Expander board to the BTT Pi V1.2. They can be configured with any type of end connectors. I used a 90 Degree Micro USB on one end and a standard Type A USB on the other Flixible USB Cable

Ali Link: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCxyxhJ

Ferrules

I try to use ferrules for every screw terminal whenever possible. If you don't have a ferrule set and/or crimper they're a great pickup for 3D Printer builders

Ali Link: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DnPAwm9

USB Camera

The BTT Pi V1.2 doesn't have a traditional Pi Camera connector. I used a common ELP 4K Pi style USB camera instead. The quality is pretty clear

Product Links:

Ali 4K 170: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DBiftLT

Model Link: https://www.printables.com/model/656391-voron-02-tophat-corner-camera-mount/

Camera + Mount

LDO Kirigami Wiring Kit

Description: "LDO Krirgami LED PCB, LDO Kirigami Breakout PCB, LDO Breakout Wire Kit, Wago 221-412 x 2 For use with Kirigami Beds"

Product Links:

Since the Formbot Kit only comes with the frame I bought this wiring kit to get close to what comes in the LDO kit.

LDO V0 Wiring Kit

Nevermore V6

Description: 3D Printed Activated Charcoal Filter

Mod Link: https://github.com/nevermore3d/Nevermore_Micro/tree/master/V6

Product Links:

Printing ABS (as with most filament materials) can release VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and has a noticabley more noxious smell than other materials like PLA. An active carbon filter can help clear absorb those orders/VOCs and move some air around the chamber for more efficient heating.

Klipper Expander Board

Board allows increased IO and power for mods and upgrades limited by BTT SKR Pico board

  • Neopixels
  • Nevermore Fans
  • Chamber Thermistor

Klipper Expander Board

Product Links:

Fabreeko Honeybadger V0 Metal Toolhead Carriage

Product Link: https://www.fabreeko.com/collections/v0/products/v0-2-metal-toolhead-carriage-for-v0-2-by-honeybadger?variant=44164192338175

Variation: MGN7H

Requires - 4 M2x4 screws (for carriage mount), M3x8 (replaces rear M3x16 motor plate screw)

One of the parts I noticed failing was the X carriage. The hex nuts place on the front of the carriage started spinning in their slots. There was also a couple layer splits in the part when I removed it.

Fabreeko Metal Carriage

Rainbow Matchstick LEDs

Product Links:

Mounts Model By MapleLeafMakers: https://www.printables.com/model/408214-matchstick-diffusers

Rainbow Matchsticks

Becuase RGB LEDs

Rainbow Barf LED Skirts

Product Links:

Model Links:

Rainbow LED Skirts

Oriber Smart Filament Runout Sensor

Orbiter Extruder Project Link: https://www.orbiterprojects.com/orbiter-filament-sensor/

V0 Orbitor FRS

I thought it would be fun to modify the stock V0.2r1 FRS foot and use a smart sensor instead. With the use of a ball bearing and 2 push buttons the Orbiter sensor takes advantage of Klipper Macros to allow features like pausing/resuming, auto extruder heating, auto purging and quick unloading with the press of a button.

My V0 Orbiter Foot Model [WIP]: https://www.printables.com/model/602670-voron-v02r1-foot-orbiter-filament-sensor-wip

Product Links:

Mods Used

Stealth Handles

These replace two of the side panel holders and offer a clean looking way to easily move the printer around

Model Link By MapleLeafMakers - https://www.printables.com/model/481575-v0-stealth-handles

Stealth Handles

V0 Umbilical PTFE Guide + Molex Strain Relief

Model Link - https://www.printables.com/model/404594-v0-umbilical-ptfe-guide-and-molex-strain-relief

PTFE Guide

Bed Plate Guide

This is a little guide to make placing and aligning the PEI Bed Sheet easier.

Model Link - https://www.printables.com/model/497212-voron-v01-pei-sheet-positioning-jig

Bed Aligners

Cable Management Tracks

These are printable versions of the tracks that LDO and other kits include. I recomend printing them in PETG or a similar material that can flex a bit before snapping. I tried printing them in sever ABSs including Fusion Deep Water blue and the guide fingers were very brittle.

Voron User Mod Link: https://mods.vorondesign.com/detail/YTmSPTcWpctfTKQj3bOPg

Cable Managment Ducts 1

Cable Management Ducts 2

V0 Hinged Spool holder and Rear Panel

Mod Link: https://www.printables.com/model/548771-voron-0-hinged-back-panel-w-hinged-filament-spool-

I found that I was frequently taking off the rear panel and often had to lay the printer on its back. This combo of mods makes it easy to work on the electronics of the printer and move it around without undoing a lot of screws.

Vector3D V0 Assembly Jigs

Link: https://github.com/AdamV3D/V3D-Voron-Mods/tree/main/v0/Assembly%20Jigs/STL

I found these Jigs by Adam from Vector3D very helpful. There are some for spacing elements like the linear rails when attaching them to the extrusion.

V3D Jigs 01

There's also jigs for spacing the Pulleys on the A/B Motor shafts which I found easier than the stock Voron tool

V3D Jigs 02

Tuning

To tune the printer I used a combination of:

Things to tune

  • Extruder Rotation Distance (Ellis)
  • Build surface prep (Ellis)
  • First slayer Squish (Ellis)
  • Pressure Advance (Ellis/OrcaSlicer)
  • Tuned EM/Flow-Ratio for the main filaments I use (Ellis/OrcaSlicer)
    • Polymaker ABS/ASA
    • MH Build PLA
    • MH Build ABS
    • Fusion Heavy water Blue
  • Retraction (Ellis/Orca)
  • Max Volumetric Flow Rate (Ellis/OrcaSlicer/CNC Kitchen)
  • Motor Currents (Ellis)
  • Input shaper (Klipper Docs)

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Details/Documentation for the Formbot V0 Kit

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