3D printing has come a long way in recent years, with many people and organizations investing a considerable amount of time and resources into perfecting their processes. If you're not familiar, 3D printing is a method of fabricating physical three-dimensional objects by taking in CAD models and material as input.
Many tinkerers go the extra mile by creating open-source 3D printers that fellow DIYers or newcomers can easily build when they have the right parts and tools.
One such innovator has recently introduced an exciting new 3D printer that combines affordability with impressive functionality, making it an accessible option for anyone looking to dive into the world of 3D printing.
Lemontron: What To Expect?
A brainchild of James Loper, the Lemontron is a fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printer that takes inspiration and a key component (the Positron drive) from the popular Positron V3.2 kit.
As an upside-down printer, it can be used to create high-quality prints for custom parts, prototyping, hobby projects, art and much more.
The key specs of the Lemontron include:
- A unibody chassis.
- An internal extruder.
- A 180 × 180 × 165 mm print volume.
- The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W as the brains.
- Power duties being handled by a 24V power supply.
- And the cooling being handled by 2x 2510 chassis fans for general airflow, 1x 3010 fan for cooling the tool head and heat break, and 1x 5015 fan for pushing air through components like the hotend.
James compares the build plate on the Lemontron to the likes of the Original Prusa Mini+ and Bambulab A1 Mini, with the overall design being quite compact that provides superb portability.
He also adds that the modest price for building a Lemontron is due to the absence of custom CNC parts that usually bump up the cost of such printers by a great deal. This approach allows anyone to build a 3D printer using off-the-shelf parts.
Build Lemontron
Watch the whole thing—top-tier commentary awaits! 🤌
To begin, you can refer to the Bill of Materials (BOM) to get a list of the required parts for building the Lemontron. Expect the total cost to be around $413 (the BOM mentions $411.58) plus any shipping fees and taxes you might have to pay.
Thereafter, you can refer to the official guide (currently in the making) and the YouTube video linked above to build the printer. If you run into any issues, then you can consider joining the Voxolite Discord server, where James is quite active under the Lemontron moniker.
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