Oct
PRODUCT NEWS
About The New Ultra Compact Bondtech Extruder
The Bondtech Extruders Gold Standard has a new Star
Bondtech has created from its start a meaningful amount of extruders that pushed the industry forward. In our Gold Standard we count the Bondtech Quick Release QR; the Bondtech Mini Geared BMG; and the recent Bondtech Large Gears eXtruder LGX.
This extruder we are presenting – the LGX® Lite – is a new compact and simple version of the LGX, paired with a Nema14 Round 20mm Stepper motor.
Its very small volume and weight were planned to create a Bondtech alternative to the very interesting and compact extruders we saw grow in the market in the last months. These include the Orbiter, HextrudORT and Sherpa Mini.
We did our own tests and we sent units to some very competent people that will help us grind away any issues that may be found; improve its working and looks; and find interesting applications for it.
There isn’t more we want to say right now about the newcomer.
This is another Bondtech living post. More information will be added as it comes.
As everyone noticed, we are a bit delayed.
Orders will open next week, between the 6th and 10th of December.
We will inform exactly when on our newsletter.
Thank you for your patience.
You will be able to order the LGX® Lite from the following Bondtech Sales Partners :
| Partner | URL | Location |
| 3D-CAD Solutions | an-cadsolutions.fi | Finland |
| 3D-Puccio | 3d-puccio.de | Germany |
| Caribou | caribou3d.com | Germany |
| Crucial IT | printyplease.uk | United Kingdom |
| EVOLT | evolt.pt | Portugal |
| Fabreeko | fabreeko.com | USA (FL) |
| Filastruder | filastruder.com | USA (GA) |
| Gingerbeard 3D | gingerbeard3d.de | Germany |
| KB3D | kb-3d.com | USA (OH) |
| Phaser FPV | phaserfpv.com.au | Australia (NSW) |
| PartsBuilt 3D | partsbuilt.com | USA (OH) |
| PoliAlkemi | polyalkemi.no | Norway |
| PrintedSolid | printedsolid.com | USA (DE) |
| RatRig | ratrig.com | Portugal |
| Slice Engineering | sliceengineering.com | USA (FL) |
| TinyMachines 3D | tinymachines3d.com | USA (TX) |
Or to order LGX Lite directly from Bondtech here:
LGX Lite Drawings, Geometries and more
There are 3 different mount hole patterns available:
- One at the bottom with 4 holes.
- Another on the flat left-hand side with 2 holes.
- A third on the top with a single hole that may be used in tandem with the filament entry hole.
All holes must be reinforced with the M3 square nuts supplied, and are 5mm deep. To save weight, use only the necessary square nuts.
Find some drawings below. Units in mm.
Mounting With A Plate In Between
Extruder And Stepper Motor
An additional mounting hole pattern may be used. It is possible to separate the stepper motor from the extruder and mount them with a plate in between.
The plate must be from 2 up to 3mm thick. 2.5mm is recommended. To use this mounting solution, the extruder’s rear plate must be removed.
The plate should feature the 36mm round stepper motor mounting pattern with 2 M3 holes on the flanges and a Ø16mm central opening.
Here you may find the LGX® Lite simplified geometry to allow you preparing a mount setup.
The STEP file includes 3 bodies:
- Extruder body;
- Extruder rear mount plate;
- 36STH20 Stepper motor.
It is possible to install the LGX® Lite with a plate in between the stepper motor and the extruder. In this case that plate replaces the extruder's rear mount plate.
Max thickness of such plate is 3mm. Recommended thickness is 2.5mm.
To use a mounting plate thicker than 2.5mm, it is recommended to use longer screws than supplied.
Roll back and forth to zoom in and out.
Click and drag to rotate the view.
Latest design seen above features
the pocket for using an integrated push-fit collar.
Designed was Revised and Improved
Cyril Guislain took the original design below and made it better. This improvement was tested and confirmed by Motard Geek.
Find the STL files at Cyril's Thingiverse page. The Thingiverse page also includes the cooling fan mounts shown in the picture.
Summary
Support for Bondtech LGX Lite and FLSUN Super Racer to convert it to a direct drive.Optional adapters for 5015 fans are included.
Use M3x12 to fix support to Bondtech LGX Lite.
Use 2 stock 4010 fan screws to fix support to housing.
Use stock blowers fans screws to fix 5015 adapters.Based on work of Nissenko (https://www.thingiverse.com/nissenko/designs)
We were approached by Mathieu AKA Motard Geek, co-founder of LesImprimantes3D.fr, to apply the LGX® Lite to a FLSUN Super Racer.
After some design iterations we arrived to the current design that applies to when the hotend's heatsink is attached to the effector, allowing for very easy installation. A 41.2mm long PTFE tube must go in between the LGX® Lite and the heat break. This is the case for the bi-metal heat break. Using the original please note that the tube should be 3mm above the 3D printed support.
Download STLThis application is based on the "FLSun SR Housing", original work by Nissenko, you may find here:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4938853
The part from the original set signaled below with the red arrow, must be replaced with the printed model we supply here.
After installing the LGX Lite on the FLSun Super Racer, it is necessary to update some Marlin parameters:
- E-steps value to 562;
Load and Unload distance to 80mm; - Stepper motor current to 600mA.
You can do that by printing a g-code file you can download by clicking the button below.
Download g-code fileYou can also use the same g-code included in the file above on the slicer software's Start G-Code section:
M603 L80.0000 U80.0000; Sets the load/unload distance M92 E562; Sets the e-steps value M906 T0 E600; Sets the stepper motor current to 600mA M500; Saves these new parameters to the EEPROM.
Printing
Loading filament
Unloading filament
More content, photos and videos at
https://www.lesimprimantes3d.fr/forum/topic/43401-direct-drive-pour-flsun-super-racer-sr/page/2/
Voting is Complete!! Option A . Annular Wins!
We are about to launch a new ultra-compact extruder we call LGX® Lite.
Our Product Development team came up with some design options for the Front Cover and we asked our community to help us to choose one from a list of 4. After yesterday's announcement the election was completed, with 655 participations, we still got 23 people more "sneaking" a vote : ) rising the number of votes to 678. Although the partials were updated, the overall result and most voted option was the same.
Option A . Annular won the popular vote - with 230 votes - and will be the adopted design.
The results were very even. There is a clear winner, but the advantage is not overwhelming. We may consider to offer the remaining designs as optional accessories. What is your opinion on that?
CLick here to let us knowTell us if you would buy the Front Cover as an optional accessory, and what model would you buy. Thank you.
Vote Breakdown
Here is the vote breakdown calculated from the voting pages' Google Analytics data.
The voting process had 2 steps: Selection and Confirmation. Not all voters confirmed their votes.
| Option | Page | Views | Unique Views (users) |
| All | /intranet/your-vote-was-confirmed/ | 713 | 678 |
| A . Annular | /intranet/i-vote-on-option-a/ | 279 | 230 |
| B . BeeHive | /intranet/i-vote-on-option-b/ | 201 | 170 |
| C . Cubes | /intranet/i-vote-on-option-c/ | 235 | 216 |
| D . Desert | /intranet/i-vote-on-option-d/ | 191 | 167 |
Thank you for voting !!
A . Annular
B . BeeHive
C . Cubes
D . Desert
Using the LDO Nema14 Round 20mm
Bondtech designed this extruder to work with a Nema14 Round motor. We tested 2 different models from LDO:
- the LDO-36STH17-1004AHG, a 17mm pancake;
- the LDO-36STH20-1004AHG, a 20mm pancake.
Below we show detailed information on both that will show you why we decided to use the 20mm at the end.
Be aware the 36STH17 may be used with this extruder, but we do not recommend it.
LDO-36STH 17 -1004AHG
- Motor length: 17 mm
- Motor Diameter: 36mm
- Weight : 74g
- Max Current : 1A / phase
- Leads Length : 1m
- Step Angle : 1.8 degree
- Max Torque at : 300 PPS
- Potential Flow Rate @ Max Torque : 20 mm^3/s
- Class: H, rated peak temp 180℃
- Max operating Temperature / max Current :
70℃ / 550 mA
LDO-36STH 20 -1004AHG
- Motor length: 20 mm
- Motor Diameter: 36mm
- Weight : 93g
- Max Current : 1.0 A / phase
- Leads Length : 1m
- Step Angle : 1.8 degree
- Max Torque at : 1800 PPS
- Potential Flow Rate @ Max Torque : 120mm^3/s
- Class: H, rated peak temp 180℃
- Max operating Temperature / Current :
120℃ / 750 mA
Torque Curve Comparison : nNm / PPS
[accordion_inner] [accordion-item_inner title=”Open Torque Data and Graphs”]Blue Line : 36STH17
Red Line : 36STH20
Test at 24v, 1A, full step. From 400 to 2800 PPS.
Here we may observe the 36STH17 drops torque as it spins faster. The 36STH20 holds and rises until 1800 PPS.
Test at 24v, 0.7A, full step. From 50 to 400 PPS.
Here we may observe the drop in current has a major effect on the 36STH17‘s Torque, lowering its value to less than the 36STH20, even at the low PPS range.
Self Heating Comparison : ℃ / mA
[accordion_inner] [accordion-item_inner title=”Open Self Heating data and graphs”]Self-current-induced-heating was measured @ ambient temperature (22℃), without any load, 30 minutes after turned ON at the specified current. NOTE: At 700mA we just stopped testing the 36STH17.
36STH17
| Current | Measured Temperature |
| 300 mA | 51.0 ℃ |
| 350 mA | 60.9 ℃ |
| 400 mA | 74.1 ℃ |
| 450 mA | 81.5 ℃ |
| 500 mA | 94.8 ℃ |
| 550 mA | 111.9 ℃ |
| 600 mA | 129.9 ℃ |
| 650 mA | 139.9 ℃ |
| 700 mA | 143.4 ℃ |
| 750 mA | — |
| 800 mA | — |
| 850 mA | — |
| 900 mA | — |
| 950 mA | — |
| 1000 mA | — |
36STH20
| Current | Measured Temperature |
| 300 mA | 37.2 ℃ |
| 350 mA | 37.8 ℃ |
| 400 mA | 38.3 ℃ |
| 450 mA | 39.4 ℃ |
| 500 mA | 42.0 ℃ |
| 550 mA | 46.6 ℃ |
| 600 mA | 49.8 ℃ |
| 650 mA | 53.7 ℃ |
| 700 mA | 56.1 ℃ |
| 750 mA | 59.8 ℃ |
| 800 mA | 62.5 ℃ |
| 850 mA | 67.5 ℃ |
| 900 mA | 70.5 ℃ |
| 950 mA | 76.8 ℃ |
| 1000 mA | 80.4 ℃ |
Our new extruder is decisively smaller. We design it to minimize the form factor as much as we could, while still using our new Dual Drive Technology based on the LGX Large Gears.
And it is precisely because of the large drive gears – Ø18mm 56.52mm perimeter – our new LGX will have advantage on the grip.
Not saying the Orbiter isn’t a good extruder. It is, especially when using our original QR – Ø12mm 37.68mm perimeter – drive gears.
But there is a 50% increase in drive gear perimeter. Longer perimeter allows for more teeth to be in simultaneous contact with the filament and therefore more grip.
Difference in diameter and perimeter length may be observed on the pictures above.
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Thank you : )
Very cool. Excited to see what mounting options it will have, how similar in capability it will be to the full LGX, and how compatible it will be with the hot ends supported by the LGX. Definitely happy to see a quality low weight option.
Hi Scramsby,
Thank you for your appreciation of our efforts.
In this post we will update all the available information.
Stay tuned : )
Very excited to see this! I have been beyond happy with the LGX units I currently have and this will allow me to stay inside the Bondtech/Slice echo system for even more things.
NICE JOB Bondtech!
Thank you J,
We hope to meet your expectations.
Very exciting ! These will be a game changer… again GOOD work BondTech !!
Vez3D,
Thank you for your positive feedback.
We hope you are right : )
Looking for some drawings of the unit, so I can design a mount for my printer!
Hi Alexander,
The simplified geometry will be released on Wednesday, 10th November.
Thank you for your interest in our product.
This is great and makes my choice difficult – should I get the already available LGX or wait a bit until the LGX Lite becomes available?
For me (Creality CR-10) the decisive aspect is the mounting adapter and I am working now on designing one for LGX. The Lite instead does not seem compatible with the mounting patterns for LGX…
Do you plan for rolling out also mounting solutions for Lite?
Hi Dinu,
The LGX is a mature system already with plenty options.
The LGX Lite is not even available yet. Not much is ready.
We will have some mounting solutions, not for Creality from the beginning.
But they will come.
This Wednesday we will release a simplified geometry of the LGX Lite to enable people to create mounts even before the unit is available to buy.
Thank you for your interest in our products.
I have the same issue now. Buy the regular LGX or wait for this new lighter version. I think my Ender 6 will profit more from the lighter version as a coreXY printer.
Also i think the mounting system won’t be too big issue to make as i looked briefly on the mounting hole drawings.
Lovecekj,
For the time being the DDX is still our best choice, because it has all the mounting plates and accessories required to fit and work from the get-go.
That being said, the LGX Lite will probably be the Future of Creality small and mid size format models.
The LGX will be better for bigger units and to support high flow applications.
Thank you for using our products.
I am just not sure, if the regular LGX wouldn’t be too heavy. I know that by coreXY printers the inertia of the printhead can cause ringing problem at higher speeds.
High speeds, strong accelerations and Inertia will always bring ringing effects if not properly balanced with something like Input Shaper.
In any case, if your application is weight sensitive, then the LGX Lite will be our best option.
Thanks Nuno for the simplified geometry as STEP! I’ll match this to the LGX adapter for Creality that I am designing for my CR-10. It seems that the most problematic is the lack of a hotend interface. The 4 bottom holes of the Lite are to be the only possibility to interface it, maybe in a similar way as in the FLSUN example. Nevertheless, an additional adapter for the hotend (or adapter to a push-fit + short bowden tube) will add up to the total weight of the print head.
Speaking about weight: how does the Lite compare to the ~220gr of the regular LGX? There only the pancake motor weights ~150gr. The 20mm round pancake of the LGX Lite is about 100gr, so 50gr less than the regular LGX DD only due to the smaller motor. Since the internals are the same between the two, I guess the Lite reduces about 20gr due to the smaller case. So overall Lite should be lighter than the regular by 70gr, right (represents ~32% off LGX)?
Hi Dinu,
Although the LGX Lite has no specific and integrated hotend interface, we will have from the launch an adapter plate for the Mosquito family hotends.
The LGX Lite weights 122g including the stepper motor and cable. 2 g more if you use all the 7 square nuts.
The hotend adapter plate will weight less than 4g.
Hello Bondtech! This looks like an absolutely amazing extruder and i cannot wait to get my hands on it!
But why, oh why did you not include direct mounting for the mosquito like on your regular lgx? I mean you have the four bottom holes, two of these might as well have been spaced for the mosquito.. or am i missing something obvious?
It is probably to late to change and you probably did it for a reason.. but why?
Best regards, Daniel
Hi Daniel,
You probably noticed the LGX Lite is really really small. There is no available space inside. Believe it.
But worry not. You will be able to use the Mosquito or Mosquito Magnum.
At launch of we will also release a very compact adapter plate to mount them together.
Hey Nuno,
Ah okay that makes sense, glad to hear you will release an adpater as well! Awesome, cant wait to get one! 😀
Hi, obviously the Lite becomes a serious alternative to the regular LGX. Especially the reduced weight (by an amazing 100gr!) makes it very tempting for DD setups. So I have to ask a few questions on how the Lite compares to the regular LGX:
– how many positions does the lever have? (from the movies it seems it has 2 for clamping the filament + one for loading filament)
– how hot becomes the stepper during normal use? (in my setup I will most likely mount it by inserting a 3d-printed plate – PETG – between the extruder and stepper – do I risk that it melts?)
– how does the torque / flow rate etc. compares to the regular LGX?
Dinu,
The LGX Lite pre-tension lever has 3 positions: free; rigids; flexibles.
At room temperature (~22C):
If the ambient temperature gets higher, the stepper motor will get the same increase in temperature.
These are values under load. While printing.
The LGX motor has more Torque and the LGX Lite has a higher gearing ratio.
Performances will show small differences.
And, the bottleneck is usually the hotend and its capacity to melt the thermoplastics.
Ups, I am printing inside of an enclosure, so the temperature usually gets above 30-35 degrees Celsius inside. It means for me that I’ll have to stick with the regular LGX, since the PETG I will use to print my adaptor for my printer starts softening at around 75C. Bummer.
That is a good option, or… you just use less current.
@500 mA the motor gets 42C hot.
47C @550 mA.
Looks like a super interesting product – Love my Bondtech QR on my UM2.
I just bought a Formbot Troodon with an Orbitor 1.5 and it gets really really hot. Also I cannot print wood filament on it, as it grinds into the filament in no time. So looking for an upgrade ASAP.
I’m keen to know more about flow rates as well, especially compared to the standard LGX?
(Want high flow rates mostly with big nozzles, not insane speeds.)
Hi Joergen,
We hope you can improve your unit with a LGX Lite.
As in the case of the LGX, the LGX Lite will hardly be our bottleneck in what comes to maximum volumetric flow rate.
Usually the hotend is the limit.
We only have brass CHT nozzles for now.
We will have abrasive proof nozzles soon.
Then you may maximize the melt capacity of your hotend even with composite materials.
Thank you for your interest in the LGX Lite.
Any updates on the release date? I have anxiously been checking every day to be able to purchase this 🙂
Hi Drew,
We are just waiting for the stepper motors to arrive.
Hopefully we will be able to launch before the end of next week.
At this point we cannot be absolutely sure as it depends on third party entities.
Is there anyway to get this, I’m trying to finish up my vzbot and I noticed it on the creators build and I was like wait I’ve wanted that since the second it was pictured and I even thought writing to you guys to tell you something that could lighten it up and make it better never mind that I may not be a YouTube sensation or anything I am behind the scenes designing product and the reason I want this is because it’s light enough for the weight I wanted.
Hi,
The LGX Lite is about to launch, and you’ll be able to order until the end of the week.
We will announce the launch to our newsletter subscribers first.
The day after we will post the announcement on our social media channels.
If you would like to send us feedback or suggestions, please use this contact form: https://www.bondtech.se/contact/#tab_other-messages-or-requests
Thank you.
Hi, can you please advice when it will be available?
Hi Alexey,
Hopefully this week.
We will announce the launch to our newsletter subscribers first, and on our social media channels the day after.
Great design. Already ordere some for the company with Mosquitos. Would it be possible to get a STEP file of the Mosquito adapter so I can design a holder for the Prusa Mini for it?
Hi Benni,
We don’t have it available already but because you asked, we will soon 🙂
Find it next week in this same page within the “LGX Lite Drawings, Geometries and more” section.
Merry Xmas 😀
Hi, I’m looking for a model of the Mosquito adapter as well. I don’t see it anywhere on the site. Could you please make it available or point me to it? Thank you!
Hi,
No, it isn’t available at our website, but we can send it by email.
Please use the “Other Messages or Requests” form to ask us the STEP file:
https://www.bondtech.se/contact/
Thank you.
just got mine today!!!
The extruder it’s self feel look good. But the bolts are rusted on arrived, I think you guy should use some kind of stainless bolt instead. The level arm seem to have less magnetic than the bolts, but there is risk of them being rusted too?
Hi,
Please use the following form to send us a complaint so we can solve the issue.
https://www.bondtech.se/contact/#tab_questions-about-an-order
After our first reply, please send us some pictures so our Customer Support may be aware what to replace.
Thank you.
love this <3
will there be a AIO/ mosquito or copperhead/shortcut addon in the future?
t'would would be great to take this design even further with shorter filament path!
Hi,
We are glad you like it.
We are planning to have a Shortcut version of it late Q1 or Q2.
We will start with a Copperhead version.
A Mosquito will be under study as well, but later.
will a copperhead with screw mount heatsink fit or will i need an adapter ?
Any plans for a mirrored verison of this or potentially a dual version like the bmg x-2? I have a printer im building and would love a dual extruder while saving as much weight as possible.
Hi,
This extruder has a centered filament path so other than the lever positioning, on a mirrored version, no relevant changes would occur on the outside.
We are not planning to have a mirrored version.
Regarding a LGX-Lite-X2 version, we don’t see it coming either.
For dual extrusion printers, we would recommend an IDDEX setup instead.
Thank you for your comment.
Do I need to change vref on SR if I use the gcode provided by you?
Hi Kacper,
No, you don’t.
The g-code we provide on this post
https://www.bondtech.se/2021/10/27/ultra-compact-bondtech-large-gears-extruder/
includes a command to set the current to 600mA.
Because we don’t know how exact is the current control with the FLsun SR digipots, please adjust the value down if the stepper motor still keeps too warm, or up if the stepper motor keeps on skiping steps.
Our recommendation for current fed to the LGX Lite is ~0.45 and ~0.65A.
Thank you for using Bondtech : )
I think the current measurement doesn’t work right. I’m already at 750 mA and the motor is barely warm. It also skips the steps when printing infill at 120 mm/s so I already went down a fair bit.
Okay I managed to make it work. I took a clamp current meter and measured the current. I had to set the gcode to ~1000 to get 650 mA to the motor.
Hi Kacper,
Great to know you solve the problem.
It would be interesting to know if all the FLSun Super Racer units present the same challenge.
Do you have feedback from other users about this requested/supplied current differential?
Hi Kacper,
Yes sometimes the printers’ current control isn’t exact.
The supplied current is way below or above the requested.
That is why it is important to control both temperature and skipping steps of the stepper motor to tune it, by lowering the current of hot motors and raising the current of motors skipping steps.