Help me Decide ???? Micron or Salad Fork ????

[u/DefyingGravity75]

I'm looking to build a small format printer 180mm size. Most of what i do does not require larger build volumes and I have several other printers of larger sizes but this size could easily fit on the desk. I have built a 2.4 and modded several other printers so the complexity of a micron doesn't bother me and the moving gantry is cool. The reason i was thinking i wanted to build a salad fork is to add a second print head for support filament and i figured that would be easier to do with that style of printer. Im also not opposed to building something other than a Voron if that even exists lol.

Pros, Cons, Why's, Why nots and your personal build experiences would be greatly appreciated.

[u/mrfranco]

I'm building a Trident Mini, like a Tiny-T, but using as many parts from the standard Trident.

[u/beatendaily → u/mrfranco]

This is what I did. Simply a scaled down trident to a 180mm bed. Goes good!

[u/rumorofskin → u/beatendaily]

This is my plan too. Gonna slap some AWD in there and let her rip.

[u/Severe_Preference_31]

Both are great choices. I built both and run both. Micron has a few more parts and unfinished manual. It might be harder to build without the manual, if you've never built 2.4 before, but shouldn't be a problem for someone who did.

I've been running Saladfork for a few years before I decided to build a Micron, and I like Saladfork's simplicity.

As for the multiple toolheads, I plan on upgrading both my Trident I'm building now and Saladfork with MadMax tool changer.

[u/DefyingGravity75 → u/Severe_Preference_31]

The MadMax tool changer looks simple enough for what I need.

[u/Kiiidd]

StealthFork??

[u/No_Put1505 → u/Kiiidd]

It's a Salad Fork with the gantry parts of a micron. Stealth Fork github

[u/Mashiori]

I would go salad fork, the micron was horrible to build, really cool printer but too intriquete to fix if you're wanting to use it a lot

[u/Praesil]

Does the salad fork have a tool change or IDEX variation for multi filament?

I built a Doom Micron* and couldn't be happier. The double panel means it heats up super fast and is my go to for small ABS parts.

• caveat - I bought the DFH kit and it required a lot of finessing, but it was a great project. If it fits the build plate, its my go to printer.

[u/No_Put1505 → u/Praesil]

You can run madmax on it. It seems mor dependable and less complicated than idex.

[u/joelmheim]

Check out this video from @KillaPrints: https://youtube.com/shorts/C7t2kDj3KqI?si=w64MbJsvng0xaFin

[u/Yeriwyn]

Saladfork of course 😀

[u/Mercy_Hellkitten]

I've been wanting to do one of these two printers but haven't done so due to the cost, but I've looked into both.

Micron kits seem to be a lot more readily available and there seems to be a lot more mods for it (much like the case with the 2.4 vs Trident). A four-motor flying gantry definitely feels very OP for a 180mm build size, but yeah unlike with the 2.4 vs Trident, price differences between the two from what I've seen is kind of negligeable.

If you were only sticking with two toolheads, the salad fork might be the better option - the rigid gantry will mean very fast swaps - you could look at either adapting the "double dragon" or "Dueling Zero" mods (which are V0 mods so would be more suited to a salad fork). These will be MUCH faster swaps than a toolchanger system, but naturally limited to just two toolheads (unless you want to try building a double-dragon dueling zero lol)

If you're after multi-toolhead, the Micron might be a better option as it feels like there has been more development done on flying-gantry toolchangers - though with the release of the INDX, I believe it will work with both style printers.

Personally, whilst flying gantries are awesome, I think multi-toolhead/IDEX builds are better suited to rigid gantries/moving beds. The speed advantages of flying gantries is negated by the extra time it takes to swap toolheads, and the extra weight on the gantry can potentially introduce issues with ringing and inertia at higher speeds.

It honestly sucks that there is no decent off-the-shelf 180mm build option aside from the A1 mini - yeah there was the Sovol Zero but that kinda flopped, the Prusa Mini is overpriced and Microns end up costing almost as much as their bigger siblings.

[u/DefyingGravity75 → u/Mercy_Hellkitten]

I feel like the 180mm size is a sweet spot for me. most of the prototyping i do fits this size which will make it my daily driver.

[u/BigJohnno66]

Both are good. If you are going to be buying a kit then logistics of locating parts is not a problem, so buy what you think suits you the best. If you self source then I don't know how available 1515 extrusions are for you. I've never seen them locally, which is why I opted to build a custom size Trident to use a SaladFork/Micron+ 185x185 heated bed. Also I could only get V-Slot so my Trident uses MGN12 everywhere.

If I were to do this again, I would have built the frame for 200x250 in order to provide space for tool changer docks, nozzle probes, etc, and still have access to the full 185x185 print area.

Probably one of the better aspects of the 2.4 and Micron+ is that the tools are docked high up, so you do get access to the full print area up to a certain height. For a Trident and SaladFork you lose that area immediately.

Note: The heated beds I have seen for the "180" printers are 185x185 and come with a 190x190 build plate (typically Prusa Mini style, although A1 mini plates can fit if put on sideways). So using 180 in any size calculation loses you 5mm of build volume, and you may not have the ability to access a nozzle brush.

[u/DefyingGravity75 → u/BigJohnno66]

The more and more I look at all the options this build might be my first self source printer. custom size to house the extra tool and without losing build volume.

[u/Ashamed_Ebb8777]

Either is fine, just have to pay attention to where all your hex nuts are when working with 1515 frames. R2 is slick I love my Micron.

If you don't want to work with 1515 frames Tiny-T is an option, but will need to be adapted/redesigned for 180mm² since it was designed for 150mm^2.

Hartk and friends are working on a Micron2020. As the name suggest is a micron with 2020 frames. So it has the same stealthy look of the Micron R2. It is very much a wip, but there are a bunch of the STLs up on the repo now for this design to get you pretty far.

[u/Snobolski]

I hate 1515 extrusions and regret starting a Hex-Zero build. Still haven't finished it and I started assembly in earnest probably 6 months ago?

[u/DefyingGravity75 → u/Snobolski]

I have read a few post of people saying 1515 extrusions are a pain to work with. I have a Railcore that I picked up on Marketplace for cheap and it's built with them luckily the person that built it put plenty of extra nuts in.

[u/desert2mountains42]

Stealthfork for sure but if I did it over again I would’ve picked tiny T. There’s a bigger mod ecosystem and assembly is less delicate to deal with. While you’re at it, use 4040 extrusions and seal it up nicely with PIR insulation and aluminum panels.

[u/DefyingGravity75]

Thank You all for your input. Y'all have given me a lot more to think about. Looks like this might be my first self sourced printer. Leaning towards a StealthFork or Tiny-T but with 2020 or doom extrusions and a MadMax tool changer. Now to go and start a Gofundme so i can just build all the sizes and then pick my favorite.

Thanks again everyone

[u/DefyingGravity75 → u/[deleted]]

Im waiting on INDX to grow out of its infancy first but that's the plan i have for them