Slice Teams up with Bondtech to Launch the DDX for Creality 3D Printers
Slice Engineering and Bondtech recently announced the full launch of the “Bondtech DDX Direct Drive eXtruder for Creality” ecosystem.
The expanded DDX ecosystem includes a redesigned version of the Bondtech DDX for Creality; two new Copperhead® Bimetallic Heat Breaks™ for multiple Creality models born from a co-development effort between the two companies; a new 300°C thermistor from Slice Engineering; and a custom Marlin version by Bondtech to support top end DDX users.
The following Creality 3D printers range is eligible for the upgrade: Ender-3 family; Ender-5 family; CR-10 and CR-10 Max; CR-10S family; CR-10S Pro and Pro v2.
Slice Engineering now has the Bondtech DDX and extended Copperhead product ranges available for immediate purchase, enabling owners of most Creality models to:
- upgrade to Direct Drive and Bondtech Dual Drive Technology;
- opt to use the stock Creality fans, hotends, heaters and thermistors;
- upgrade the hotends with Copperhead® or Mosquito®;
- upgrade the heaters and thermistors with units from Slice Engineering.
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“With Bondtech DDX for Creality, we empower users to start with a solid and reliable direct drive base setup – using many stock parts like both fans, heater, thermistor and hotend – and deliver a clear upgrade path with Copperhead® or Mosquito® hotends and Slice Engineering thermistors and heaters.” said Nuno Santiago, Product Manager at Bondtech.
The Bondtech DDX upgrade path develops in 4 distinct phases:
- PH1 - users upgrade the extruder and keep using the stock hotend.
- PH2 - users upgrade the extruder plus the heat break and hot block using Copperhead®.
- PH3 - users upgrade the extruder and the hotend, using full Copperhead® (screw mount) and Mosquito® or Mosquito® Magnum hotends.
- PH4 - users upgrade the extruder, hotend, thermistor and heater, and utilize a custom firmware build along with the new 24v 50W heater and 300°C
The new Copperhead Heat Breaks from Slice Engineering allow users to follow Phase 2 of the DDX upgrade path, by improving the hotend without replacing the whole unit (the stock heat sink is retained). This lowers the investment required to upgrade while taking advantage of the superior thermal performance, heat creep reduction and flow rate advantages inherent in the Bimetallic Heat Break™ technology from Slice Engineering.
The new Copperhead® C-Pro Max Heat Break will serve the Creality CR-10S Pro, CR-10S Pro v2 and CR-10 Max models, while the Copperhead® C-E Heat Break will serve the CR-10 model and the Ender-3, Ender-5, and CR-10S product families.
“Ever since the Copperhead launched on Kickstarter earlier this year we’ve seen an incredible response from the market, accompanied by consistent requests for versions that are compatible with the Creality line of 3D printers. We have now met that need, in the most user-friendly way possible, by teaming up with Bondtech on the DDX ecosystem.” said Daniel Barousse, CEO and Co-Founder at Slice Engineering
Phase 3 and Phase 4 allows customers to push the envelope further by using the full Copperhead hotend kit, or the professional grade Mosquito® ® and Mosquito® Magnum hotends to upgrade their DDX.
The news on Phase 4 are the introduction of a new Slice Engineering Thermistor, rated up to 300°C, that will pair with the existing High Temperature Thermistor, rated up to 450°C, to extend the range of materials available to Creality users, usually limited to materials processed under the 260°C limit.
“We are very excited to expand our temperature sensor line up with a robust solution that is focused on plastics printed in an open air environment. At Slice we have typically focused on higher temperature applications, but this new Made in the USA sensor solves a felt need from many print farm owners and other prosumers that operate open air machines.” said Daniel Barousse, CEO and Co-Founder at Slice Engineering
Phase 4 is compatible with a narrow variety of models, focusing only on the prosumer models from Creality, and will require updating the firmware with a fork of Marlin 2.0.6 made by Bondtech.