LGX CW2 Bowden Extruder

Note: I was unable to find where I saved the 2020 mount but should be easy to make you own.

In the quest for reliable multicolor printing on my Voron 2.4 I decided to purchase a Mosaic Palette 3 Pro. The Palette is pretty awesome but it has a long filament path with a lot of resistance. Combine that with the need for very consistent extrusion to insure the two machines stay in sync I had to slow the Voron way down. In order to try and get the speed back I decided to try adding a “feed” extruder. 

My goals for the project were to 1. Have a latchable extruder for easy loading and unloading 2. Have the same gears as the primary extruder for easy tuning 3. Include a filament motion sensor. Thanks to other creators sharing their work I was easily able to find what I needed and my adaptation was born.

Operation tuning

If you plan on using this in a dual extruder setup as I am there will be some tuning to consider. Nothing is prefect and expecting the two extruders to move the exact same amount of filament isn't going to just happen. To address this I have set up the feed extruder to feed just slightly faster then the primary extruder and at less power. The thinking behind this is that by feeding faster I know that the primary extruder wont have to fight to pull the filament and with the feed extruder at less power as the pressure builds up between the two extruders it will start to under extruder and a equilibrium with be met. This is largely trial and error. First make sure whatever power level you set the feed extruder to it can reliable feed the filament at the speeds you print. Next you can run a print with the ptfe tube not completely inserted into the primary. Measure the gap from the tube to the extruder before and after the print. If it increses you know the feed ex is moving more and also gives a idea of how much. When set right there will be a pressure between the two extruders but you will not have any skipping.

Building/Config

Printing is straight forward with maybe only minimal supports needed. Just be sure to print encoder wheel in black. If using in dual extruder setup ensure the ptfe connector at the encoder and primary is secure.

Details on the encoder can be found on the linked Github and this is the gear set and style bowden connectors I am using.

https://github.com/mneuhaus/EnragedRabbitProject/tree/main/usermods/Binky

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BY4Z8K6T?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099NQNMYT/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B099NQNMYT&pd_rd_w=FfKK1&content-id=amzn1.sym.f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_p=f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_r=NHT1YJ1X4108EHNNFJVR&pd_rd_wg=ZDcET&pd_rd_r=5fcdfd31-cad9-44f6-bfcd-fbe2da494664&s=industrial&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw

As for setting up klipper I am far from a professional but I will share what I found to work.

Finally to show the consistency I have been able to achieve at my normal print speeds here is a snap shot of the pings from the Palette on the print I currently have running.

Modified to work as a bowden extruder with attached encoder as well as changing some tolerances to work better with with knockoff gears