Upgrading and calibrating the Sidewinder X2

While the stock configuration of the Sidewinder X2 were pretty solid there are some relatively cheap upgrades that I could implement.

Octoprint

OctoPrint.org

OctoPrint is the snappy web interface for your 3D printer that allows you to control and monitor all aspects of your printer and print jobs, right from your browser.

OctoPrint.orgGina Häußge

Sick of pulling out,slicing the model, exporting the print file and plugging in your USB stick over and over again? Got a spare Raspberry Pi gathering dust? Why not install Octoprint on it and control your printer via network and a webgui?

Octoprint lets you do this and more with a variety of settings and plugins like creating timelapses of your prints.

Camera Mount

Generic Camera/Webcam Mount for Artillery Sidewinder X1 / X2 by SiderD

This is a remix from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4257585 to get more FoV. All credits to Skartz for the original design.It works with Artillery Sidewinder X1 and Artillery Sidewinder X2. Maybe it also works with Artillery Genius, but I don’t have one to test it.

Thingiverse

A front mountable camera mount that you can print yourself. I have it set up with a logitech C920 that I used for Microsoft Teams on my computer.

Extruder Lever Brace

Artillery Sidewinder X1 Extruder Lever Brace by CastroSATT

Found that the extruder lever which clamps down on the filament onto the guide was sloppy and caused the lever to move side to side moving the filament away from the sweet spot of the feeder wheel......so I put together a clip that now keeps lever where it needs to be in the center!V1 is the typic…

Thingiverse

Not 100% sure if this actually improves something but it didnt hurt my prints (so far). Printed in PLA, reprinting it in PETG if I get an all metal drive (maybe).

For an in depth upgrade guide for the Sidewinder X2 check out 3DPrintBeginner!

Calibration

Now that I have set up my printer how I like, I want to hone in all the various settings to get clean prints consistently.

Luckily Teaching Tech has a very thorough calibration guide hosted on https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html and if you use Cura there is the Calibration Shapes Plugin to generate the shapes and scripts for calibrating your 3D printer.

I am still working through the guide myself but so far I have noticed an improvement and I have learned a lot about my 3D printer.