D3D Linear X Rail upgrade for K1 series

Hi all,

New to the group but just wanted to share with anyone that’s interested a new K1 series X rail linear rail upgrade that I have been working on for the last few months.
This is all my own work and my design goals were as follows.

My goals were simple:

  • Remove common VFA fault
  • Remove ghosting
  • Make an X rail upgrade kit that works on rooted or non-rooted machines
  • No impact to X x Y print area dimensions
  • Make it look close to stock and in keeping with the Creality design and less like an afterthought
  • No impact to start print scripts for nozzle clean/wipe
  • Make gantry lighter than stock!
  • Make XY block pulleys accessible so that if a bearing fails a full strip down is not required

The design is complete and ALL goals were met!

Upgrade uses a MGN9H rail rather than a MGN12H as per other upgrade kits to save weight and maintain full print area, but is reinforced by a carbon box section for additional stiffness. This has resulted in a reduction in gantry weight by 170g which has hugely helped print quality.

Photos of it below and also some test prints.

Anyone interested in the mod it is available on cults3d if you search for ‘D3D Creality k1 upgrade’

Any questions feel free to drop them here and I’ll answer as many as I can.

Then you have the kit mentioned in this thread. Which is best? I’ve D3D’d my V3SE and V3KE with linear rails a long while ago, been happy with those

The one you shared is a FULL linear rail upgrade which would in theory be the best.

However it comes at a high cost as you need x3 linear rails vs 1 and also potentially unnecessary as testing has shown that a single rail on X is all that’s needed to remove the VFA.

Looking at that upgrade it’s a nice looking, well engineered solution however for me I don’t like an unsupported MGN12H rail, especially on a K1 Max. Goes against everything Ive learned from my engineering career. All be it that the tool head is relatively light and it’s prob ok I still wanted to opt for the MGN9H with supporting rail.

Another point for that mod vs mine is that in this one you need to change the stepper mounts and also the front lead screw mounts, assumingly to maintain build volume. Mine doesn’t need that as it works with the stock Creality design which therefore makes install easier for the masses.

Both are viable options and really it comes down to that level of modification and cost the user wishes to undertake.

I upgraded my K1 max with linear rails from another link to cults and it works great (No VFA anymore)

only X axis linear rail see link : K1 max Linear X axis rail MGN12 upgrade. (no rooting needed!)

full linear rails see link : K1 max Full linear X and Y rail MGN12 upgrade (no rooting needed)

I can recommend it