BigTreeTech SKR V1.3 32bit Controller for RepRap 3D Printers

As builders, suppliers and avid enthusiasts of 3D Printers and supplies, we’ve been in the industry for quite a while now, with our lead engineer being one of the first in the country to build a 3D Printer and assist with selling and building kits for likeminded Makers as far back as 6 years ago now. And because of this, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to watch the amazing evolution of the industry over time, with new models, upgrades and iterations being brought out at an incredibly rapid pace.

This is why we always get eager to share awesome new improvements with you, our favourite people, and is why we’re so excited to tell you all about the very impressive BigTreeTech SKR V1.3 32bit Smoothieboard Controller. This fantastic new Controller Board is essentially designed as an upgrade to replace the classic Arduino Mega2560 RAMPS 1.4 Shield Combo, offering 32bit processing for improved speed and smoothness, which of course is much better than the 8bit processing of the old RAMPS 1.4 setup.

So, if you love the idea of actually building your own 3D Printer from nothing but parts, nuts and bolts, or if you’ve been looking for an awesome (and affordable) upgrade for your RAMPS 1.4 printer, then join us as we explore the brilliant new features and improvements that this board is bringing to the industry of Hobbyist 3D Printing.

So What Are the Key Features of the BigTreeTech SKR V1.3 Controller Board?

Well, although we would certainly like to touch on every small feature that this board offers, from the safer XH2.54 Connectors all the way through to the awesome low-temperature MOSFETs used on this board, we feel like this could potentially takes days with all of the excitingly juicy details. And so, let’s focus on what we feel are the top three features of the BigTreeTech SKR V1.3, and what kinds of real benefits you can expect with these awesome additions – which we hope will set the new benchmark for 3D Printing Controller Boards going forward:

• An Affordable 32bit Processor – For anyone who has been involved in 3D Printing from the early days, you will certainly know just how expensive 32bit boards used to be, with a lot of the more affordable boards having severely bad problems in other parts of their designs. However, with the BigTreeTech SKR V1.3, this is now a thing of the past, as it is designed to meet the ever-increasing demands of hobbyist 3D Printing, while ensuring that none of the great improvements over the past few years were left out.
  This is an incredible feat, and in fact we didn’t even believe the specifications until we got a board and tested it for ourselves. However, despite our disbelief, we have been pleasantly surprised that all of the specifications are designed to an impressively high level of quality. And of course, while this kind of quality would be expected from a nice, expensive controller board, the truth is that the BigTreeTech SKR V1.3 actually costs less than the classic Arduino Mega2560 with Ramps Controller combo – arguably making it even cheaper than the highly popular 8bit board that dominated the market over the past few years.
  
  
• Complete Compatibility with Older Controllers – Although the old adage of “Don’t try to reinvent the wheel” is usually quite a clever bit of advice to follow, the truth is that sometimes wheels just need to be better. However, there’s no point in making a better wheel if it isn’t going to fit existing vehicles, and this is obviously exactly what BigTreeTech were thinking when creating this controller. As such, the BigTreeTech SKR V1.3 is designed specifically to be perfectly compatible with many of the most popular 3D Printing setups from the past, with a particular focus on the classic Ramps V1.4 with Arduino Mega combo.
  This means that instead of having to rebuild your entire 3D Printer, you can simply use this board as an easy drop-in upgrade or replacement, using pretty much all of the same components, firmware and settings that you used with your previous setup. And this not only saves you a lot of time and hassle, but also makes the upgrade or replacement process much easier, as you probably already know precisely how to install and connect all of the parts, components and cables that your 3D Printer needs.
  
  
• Quality of Life & User Experience Improvements – In addition to making this controller board affordable, accessible and compatible with many previous setups, BigTreeTech have also put a high priority on making the user experience with this board as easy, convenient and speedy as possible, even for those who don’t entirely know what they’re doing. And aside from the relatively rough English translation in the user manual, almost every aspect is easy to understand, and may just need a few minutes of research or watching video guides to get a good grasp of it all. This is quite unique compared to many of the very complex controller boards on the market, and in conjunction with the extremely diverse and valuable features that this board offers, has convinced us that this is one of the best controller boards that a beginner, veteran or master could invest in.

Please Note: This board can operate on both the main DC power input as well as USB power, and you need to choose between the power inputs by using a jumper over the 3 onboard pins labelled “INT | +5V | USB” when switching between power inputs in order to avoid causing unexpected damage. However, it must be noted that this board cannot actually print from USB power, which means that the USB power select is primarily just for interfacing with the board when setting up or flashing firmware.

Additional Note: It’s important to realise that this board does not come with Stepper Drivers included, so if you don’t have any spare stepper drivers, be sure to check out the stepper driver compatibility of this board below, and then consider getting a few drivers from our dedicated Stepper Driver Category.

Additional Resources:

• While the video featured below is certainly an awesome video that does an excellent job at explaining all of the key features and basics of the board, this fantastic SKR V1.3 Review & Rundown by Tech2C offers a far more personable way of explaining the key features and installation instructions for this beautiful board. Additionally, this awesome Maker has also created a really handy mounting plate that he has put up on Thingiverse for free download, so if this interests you, check out this Tech2C Thingiverse Page where you can find the “SKR13_mount.stl” file at the bottom of the list.
  
  
• If you love exploring the code, or are simply interested in checking out all of the development that has gone into this beautiful board, be sure to visit this official BigTreeTech SKR V1.3 GitHub Page, where you can find documentation, readme files and more.
  
  
• This is the fantastic BigTreeTech Case Designs GitHub Page, which offers awesome STL files for enclosures that incorporate the SKR V1.3 into popular 3D Printers, with the Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro being some of the first to be added. It also offers an STL file of the SKR V1.3 board itself too, allowing you to print it out and test dimensions before committing to the purchase.

Finally, if you’re at all struggling with installation and setup for this board, the following is an awesome video by BigTreeTech, which goes into good detail on many of the key features of the board, how to setup Visual Studio for Marlin 2.0, as well as how to ensure that everything will work as expected once installed:

As one of the rising stars in the world of 3D Printer Component Research and Development, BigTreeTech have certainly hit the ground running, entering the market in 2015 and spending their early stages primarily learning, researching, testing and developing, before producing some truly impressive results. From simple but effective upgrades to standard parts, all the way through to completely custom parts that no other brand offered at the time, BigTreeTech now have an incredibly diverse range, with almost no area of 3D Printing being left out.

Some of BigTreeTech’s most notable additions to the world of 3D Printing include the SKR Motherboard Range for numerous different 3D Printer models, the awesome TFT Touch Display Range with fancy features like dual-mode operation, as well as their very impressive Stepper Driver Range that cater to all tastes and preferences under the sun. And of course, to top it all off, BigTreeTech also have a sister company named BIQU, and we must admit that they have been producing some pretty impressive (and low price) 3D Printers, with the BIQU B1 possibly becoming a new rival to the Ender 3.

Of course, it’s easy to see that BigTreeTech are modern masters of 3D Printing R&D, and while we do still have a lot of different parts that we want to test out from them, so far we’ve been extremely happy with what they’re capable of producing – all while fitting into same kind of hobbyist budget that they used to operate on as Makers and Tinkerers themselves.