Oh my… where to start with this POS? Specifics, I guess. I have the KingRuin KRAP1 210x210x210 model, with the Cheetah v2.2 mainboard and the also terrible Makerbase “touchscreen” that is useless without a stylus. This is all important, because there’s also a KLP1 210x210x210 with an LCD screen, a KLP1 210x210x210 with “touchscreen” and 2.1 mainboard, a KLP1 210x210x210 with “touchscreen” and 2.2 mainboard, a KLP1 210x210x210 with “touchscreen” and 2.4 mainboard, and now a KLP1 230x230x210 with who knows what combination of crappy, stripped down versions of Makerbase SKIPR boards they cooked up now and a supposedly much improved extruder and hot end. 230x230x210, eh, whatever. But an extruder that promises to extrude and a hot end that promises to get hot?!? That’s the bees knees, yo! But wait! I almost forgot the stupid hacky version(s) of the Makerbase THR toolboard! That also has a bunch of versions with minor tweaks designed to prevent interoperability with their own products and frustrate owners to no end. I never thought I’d be thankful for Creality’s approach of Ender 3, Ender 3 ABC, Ender 3 XYZ, Ender 3 ABC V2, etc. At least you know the damn things are different!!
Aside from the sketchy-at-best print quality one gets from the terrible tool head on the KLP1, the extruder sucks at extruding. I had multiple times where the filament had wound itself around the inside of the tool head cover to the point of having to disassemble it to get it unstuck. Then after some more cursing and sub-par prints, I made a mistake that ended up with the nozzle crashing into the bed so badly that it ruined the magnetic base underneath. Replaced the PEI plate, magnetic base and nozzle and then… BAM! BLOB OF DEATH like 2 (crappy) prints later. I bought a “New Latest Version” KLP1 tool head from AliExpress and was pleasantly surprised with an even worse, older model tool head with a THR 1.0 board. *grumble*
So begins my saga to un-KingRuin this printer, much like my old Elegoo Neptune 4 and OpenNept4une before it (also featuring a stripped down SKIPR board!). Thankfully most of the core Klipper config related to kinematics will transfer over, and a little bit of tweaking will come from replacing the not-SKIPR with a proper Bigtreetech board and BTT Pi V1.2 combo. Where this gets interesting is replacing that tool head. I haven’t found a single STL or GitHub repo that would lead me to believe that someone has tackled this particular task. After a bit of research and deal hunting, I settled on the LDO SmartOrbiter V3.0, as I thought perhaps I could reuse the mounting approach that KingRuin had, where the pancake stepper fed through a cutout in the mounting plate, conserving the little bit of front Y axis space this chassis has. After ordering the SO3 and then printing a mock up version (thank you Róbert Lőrincz for providing the Fusion 3D model!), I realized I couldn’t do what I planned, but the SO3’s small footprint still gave me options. I’m currently working on piecing together the SO3 and Orbiter 3 toolboard with whatever I can cook up in Fusion 360 for a mount. Also, an incredibly big thank you to LP3d on Printables for making a perfect model of the KingRuin extruder that I could use as a base for building a SO3 mount!
Unfortunately, I have a few projects I’m bouncing between (wrapping up an Aquila S2 Klipper conversion, FINALLY finishing an Alfawise U20 Plus rebuild) and some big projects at work, so we’ll see how quickly this gets done. I’m just glad for the fine folks at Bambu Lab so I have a dependable workhorse printer that will churn out parts for this Frankenstein’s monster of an “inexpensive, entry level” CoreXY printer.