Bondtech large gear extruder
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@jens55 I haven’t had the time to finish designing a mount to put the LGX on my printer at the point sadly. It is a great looking piece of hardware and really want to put it through its paces. I did get a copperhead hotend for it.
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@Sindarius, thanks for letting me know. I will be faced with the mount issue in about a week myself (Creality CR10).
I am eagerly awaiting this little gem!
Of course I also need to incorporate my BLTouch and some sort of part cooling fan. -
It seems I couldn't leave 'good enough' alone and ordered a Dragon Mosquito clone from China
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@jens55 said in Bondtech large gear extruder:
It seems I couldn't leave 'good enough' alone and ordered a Dragon Mosquito clone from China
That looks much like the TriangleLabs unit I have.
This is the new unit I am testing - they call it a "Red Lizard" - who knows why aside from it being red.
As you can see it shares the same basic design.
Frederick
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Looks good - how does it compare price wise? I couldn't find it on ebay.
I think the Dragon hot end was reasonably priced (unlike the Mosquito) but the socks are pretty pricey because you have to buy the original one. The Red Dragon's hot block looks more like a standard hot block and might use a regular sock ... maybe .... -
@jens55 , what does 'large gear' mean in this context (what exactly is larger) and what are the claimed advantages compared to a standard BMG?
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@jens55 said in Bondtech large gear extruder:
Looks good - how does it compare price wise? I couldn't find it on ebay.
I got it from AliExpress.
They had a low price unit for $28 and a better unit for $45.
I got one of each to compare.
The $28 unit has an aluminum heat block, the $45 a nickel plated copper heat block.
The $28 unit came with a single finned heatbreak (?), the $45 came the same plus a "high flow" version.
The $28 unit came with a brass nozzle, the $45 with a nickel plated copper nozzle.
They both came with a V6 style mounting cylinder thing to fasten on top but I don't use those.
They both came with socks which look pretty much like V6 socks.
They did not include heater, sensor or fan.
They accept cartridge or "bead" thermistors as well as M3 screw in units.
The heater is held with a set screw.
I've only done a couple of prints but they look just fine.
Frederick
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@zapta said in Bondtech large gear extruder:
@jens55 , what does 'large gear' mean in this context (what exactly is larger) and what are the claimed advantages compared to a standard BMG?
The feed gears are substantially larger than a standard BMG. It gives better grip on the filament.
There are a raft of claimed advantages on this new extruder but you can get the full scoop at Bondtech.
I like the concept of the larger drive wheels, the fact they are much easier to clean, that I have a position on the extruder pressure adjust where the filament feeds freely, I also like the detentes on the feed wheels. Last but not least, I think this design with it's short feed path and exchangeable output adapter is just awesome. -
An update:
Today I received the Phaetus Dragon hot end. I was quite happy with the visual quality of this unit. Unfortunately the practical aspects, until sorted out, make this hot end unusable. There are three different sizes of hex fasteners and three hex keys come with the hot end. The screws attaching the hot end to the heat sink and the groove mount to the heat sink are the middle size and the included hex key is too loose a fit and shows only minimal resistance to turning before the hex wrench turns inside the corresponding hex socket.
Time will tell what the vendor will do to sort things out but I paid $88 US for the hot end and 6 spare socks which is a premium price for a chinese product and it is disappointing to have an issue with a high end product that you'd expect to be perfect.
I will post a follow-up when and how this is resolved. -
@jens55 said in Bondtech large gear extruder:
hex key is too loose a fit and shows only minimal resistance to turning before the hex wrench turns inside the corresponding hex socket.
Is the problem with the key or the socket? Have you tried with a known quality key?
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@zapta, yes I managed to find the correct key and it looks like although the hotend is a premium product, they decided to use third rate elcheapo chinese crap allen wrenches.
I am not impressed.Anyway, I got the groove mount off, was all excited to install the hotend onto the BMG LGX which is made for the Mosquito and Coppertop hotends only to find out that the Dragon hot end is sufficiently different not to fit the BMG LGX.
Now it just means making a new adapter for the LGX so it isn't the end of the world but it is disappointing.
Of course it is my fault for expecting the Dragon to be a direct replacement for the Mosquito without first verifying the finer details
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@jens55 said in Bondtech large gear extruder:
without first verifying the finer details
When did you ever get reliable details from a Chinese product? It's almost always a 'blind date'
What is it, that doesn't match? Hole pattern?
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@o_lampe, LOL ... good description
Yeah, the unit has two hole patterns - one that is four screws and one that is two screws.
There are two mounting holes in the LGX, one on each side of where the filament path is. In the four hole pattern, one would have to use two diagonal hoes to get the filament path to line up but the holes in the hot end only match in the non-diagonal configuration. The two hole pattern does line up but those two holes are not tapped as the mounting screws for the groove mount are going opposite of the way (apparently) of the Mosquito. There are also bosses on the screw holes of the LGX and no matching recesses on the hot end so even if the holes were tapped, the resulting assembly would not be stable (kinda hard to explain without pictures, notes and a lot of hand waiving :)) -
@o_lampe said in Bondtech large gear extruder:
When did you ever get reliable details from a Chinese product? It's almost always a 'blind date'
On Aliexpress you can try messaging them and ask a question. They typically answer though the answer is not always useful. Same for the reviews on Ali, many people give 5 stars just because the product actually arrived.
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I heard back from the vendor and it looks like they will send me a new set of hex wrenches.
I tend to give reviews as soon as an item arrives. It has to be a pretty significant issue for me to give anything other than a 5 star review. Most of my purchases are on EBAY.
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@jens55
Vendors can buy 5 star reviews in packs, so many of the reviews are just plain BS.
So I stopped reviewing, unless I have to warn others from buying. -
I have and lgx wired up at the moment, although I have not printed with it yet as I have to sort out my print bed.
From a first look it's a nice unit, solidly made and assembled and it runs smooth. Looks like they really thought about how to prevent filament jamming and having the hobbed drive bits exposed on the side should be handy.
Obviously just because its pretty doesn't mean it will perform, I shall report back when I have actually used it!
