The K1 was Creality’s most enjoyable new 3D mannequin launch in years and most opinions had been constructive, however many house owners of early revisions skilled critical under-extrusion issues. Creality did supply an extruder alternative to these individuals, but it surely doesn’t appear to be accessible anymore. Jón Schone of the Correct Printing YouTube channel is without doubt one of the K1 house owners that didn’t get the alternative when it was nonetheless accessible, so his K1 was just about ineffective. To carry it again to life, he designed a completely new extrusion system for the Creality K1 that fixes under-extrusion and improves performance.
The Creality K1 comes with a direct drive extruder, which is generally a sensible choice for reliability and consistency. However the unique K1 extruder lacked energy — in all probability as a result of the extruder motor was small to maintain shifting mass down.
One answer would have been to swap that extruder motor out for one thing extra highly effective. Which may additionally require a completely new extruder design. However doing that will have added lots of weight for the K1 to throw round. That may improve inertia, decreasing acceleration and print high quality at excessive speeds. As a result of the K1 is constructed for quick printing, such a sacrifice can be unacceptable to most individuals. Jón’s answer was to change the K1 to Bowden extrusion, which permits for a really highly effective extruder motor and that really reduces shifting mass.
By relocating the extruder and extruder motor to the again of the K1, Jón eradicated many of the weight on the shifting extruder carriage. Now it’s simply the new finish, with the Bowden going into the coupler. That dropped the load from 155g to 15g. However a beefy Bondtech QR extruder pushes the filament, so under-extrusion is now not a problem. A low-friction Capricorn Bowden tube and a Bondtech CHT nozzle additional enhance stream.
Jón’s repair solely requires just a few 3D-printed components and fasteners. It would work with many various extruders (not simply the Bondtech QR), so customers can reap the benefits of extruders they have already got. And the modification is solely reversible. If a consumer decides they wish to return to a direct drive setup, they will simply try this.
For Creality K1 house owners experiencing under-extrusion, that is the proper answer. It addresses that difficulty whereas additionally decreasing shifting mass, enabling even sooner print speeds. In reality, Jón was in a position to full a velocity Benchy in simply 6:50.
