SW More Robust XZ Belt Paths

More robust Voron Switchwire belt routing

This mod was created because the original stock parts didn't work well for me. The major part are the moded stepper cages. The stepper cages got tilted usually during tensioning and leading to the axle of the stepper not being parallel with the horizontal plane, which lead to yawning of the belt and increased wear and tear of the belt. Additionaly, the cages parts a and b had the tendency to open up in the bottom, especially when the tensioning screw is one or two mm too long.

The modded version has a through-screw in the bottom and additional screw slot on the top to attach it to the vertical extrusion, to help with proper leveling of the stepper axle. You'd probably be able to address these issues without if you were careful and knew about them. Using this design is just much faster.

It has been noticed by people helping within Voron community with Switchwire builds on regular basis, that the uppermost screw supposed to fix the stepper mounts to the vertical extrusions might actually cause issues if the frame is not perfectly square. Please make sure your printer has its frame fully square and proceed at your discretion -- use of the uppermost screw is solely optional in any case. (Credits for this observation go to Hymness1 on Voron Discord).

Additional mods

The xz blocks have a slot for M5 button head screw that can be used to fix tilting of the blocks w.r.t. the plane defined by the X gantry extrusion. The original blocks have already some measures to prevent this, but apparently those were not sufficient in my case (I was worried about tightening the screws too much, as the plastic already started to give and yet there was still a bit of tilting play).

The upper xz blocks/supports were modded just to help more carefuly define in what position and orientation the blocks should stay. These have the least effect, IMO.

With these, I had printed almost 400 hours without any belt-related issues and the belts look still fresh, no signs of fraying. There exist also similar unofficial mods on Voron discord addressing similar issues but I think this is the most exhaustive version.

Print Instructions

Print Settings: Standard Voron PIF sttings -- at least 40 percent infill, 4 perims, 5 solid layers top and bottom

Quantities: Quantities are noted in the filenames -- each part needs to be printed only in single copy.

Installation

Install should be fairly straightforward, the naming of the parts should follow the original naming, so you could follow the SW manual. Few pictures Please note that the last picture contains an old revision of the upper XZ block (that was reducing the Z travel), but the provided version installs the same way and does not reduce the Z travel. Generally speaking, I suggest tightening the screw attaching the stepper to the vertical extrusion as a very last step.

Overal BOM

• 6x M5x10 BHCS
• 6x M5 T-Nut for 3030
• 2x M3x16 SHCS
• 2x M3 Threaded Insert (standard "Voron")