Ender 3 Direct Drive Plate

thingiverse

This plate was designed specifically to convert the Ender 3 to direct drive using the stock parts. I've fitted mine with an aluminum dual drive gear extruder. The plate was designed to be printed flat without any supports, which makes it a little different from most printable plates available. However, you will lose some travel on Z height due to the motor being on top - roughly 45mm. You'll also lose about 15mm at X axis home. The offset required for X home to clear the motor is addressed with the arm that protrudes out to the side, which gives a 15mm offset for the X home switch. On Y, you will lose a small amount at X max - roughly 15mm as well. If you require maximum dimensions from your printer, this plate isn't for you. I had to replace all of the 3mm screws that came with the new extruder, and you'll likely have to do the same. The stock 3mm screws aren't long enough. All screws were replaced with longer ones - for example, a 10mm screw was replaced with a 15mm screw. The connection between the extruder and hot end is a length of bowden tube that's been cut down and inserted fully. This was around 1.5 to 2 inches. I simply inserted the tube into the hot end and marked where it needed to be cut. If I take mine apart again, I'll measure it. The hot end has to be spaced off the plate, as does the metal fan shroud. For now, this is being done using a stack of seven 0.7mm thick washers. The spacing is roughly 5mm thick, but this aligns the hot end with the extruder pretty well. Both the hot end screws and fan shroud screws were replaced with longer ones as well. Finally, you'll have to extend your extruder motor wires. I've got a larger spool of stepper motor wire on hand, so I just soldered it in place of the connector on one end and added the motor connector to the other. As I use this more, any changes or accessories that need to be done will be uploaded here. Please don't ask me if this will work on any other printer than the Ender 3 - I don't have your printer here to test it on. However, if your printer uses a similar hot end carriage as the Ender 3, has a center-to-center spacing of 40mm for the two roller bolts, and uses an 8mm dia spacer to offset the rollers, this might work. With those numbers in mind, take a good look at the pictures and see if you think it will work.