Newbie's debriefing  

Newbie's debriefing

Hi,

I've finished to assemble my kit this weekend and I want to share my newbie point of view with you.
I'm a complete 3D printing beginner, I was interested about it for quite a while but had never use or assemble a 3D printer before.
As I'm used to work with my hands (electronics, mechanics etc), I wanted to buy a kit but a kit with reliable parts.

Before talking about the assembly itself, I'd like to tell a word about the tools.
Your new best friend for the next hours will be a little round file.
The printed parts are pretty good, but you will always have to clean a hole or adjust something a little bit.
A scalpel is not mandatory, but it helps (sharp knife can do it).
3mm and 8mm drills can be very useful to help cleaning the holes.
The provided tools are not so good, the wrenches are out of tolerance and you will have hard time to engage it on the nut.
You can use your new best friend (the file) or use your own wrenches if you have those.
1.5mm hex spanner is to fragile, I ended up rounding it and use mine instead.
Caliper, set square and steel rule is, IMHO, mandatory if you want a perfectly adjusted build.

Build time! 😀
The part 2 (Y-axis assembly) need to be perfect to work well.
Don't hesitate to unscrew everything and retry untill it's perfectly square. It takes me 3 hours to get it done.
Smooth rods needs to be parallel (good point to verify when you think that everything is square).
For the step 3 the 100mm is between the corner and after the first washer.
Concerning the Y-axis belt tightening, I was afraid after reading multiple time about breaking the belt holder.
It went well but, I think you need to make sure the belt is push all the way in to minimize the lever effect when tightening it.

The part 3 (X-axis assembly) is much simpler.
The only difficult part is to get the LM8UU in, it's tight, really tight.
You need to cut the joining part at one end of the opening, then use the screwdriver to open it and push hard.

Part 4 (Z-axis assembly) is quite straightforward, but you need to use the file to get the trapezoid motor nuts in.
Don't hesitate to use the 8mm drill to clean the hole before inserting the smooth rods.
I loose some time on the belt trying to get it ping directly, but that why the tension screws are for.

On part 5 (Extruder assembly), the most important thing is to use the right screws, there different sizes, double check before tightening.
The upper left printing fan screw can be very tricky to get in the nut. My tip here is to use a little screw with a washer to force the nut in place before getting the fan in place. That way, the nut will not get away when you try to screw the fan.

There is no surprise on the electronics parts, just double check everything you connect.

Print time!
First thing I print was the prusa logo and it was perfect, I'm really impressed by the printing quality directly after assembly.
Later I seen that I have a 2mm bias on the Z axis. The frame moved when tightening it, but the auto bed calibration does the job.
I've since corrected it and its perfect.
You can check it by mesring the length between the table and the Z motors when the printer is in place.

Build time : between 9 and 10 hours.

Last thing.
I broke one of the arm of the spool older by trying to force it in place.
Don't, file it.

I have since reprint another holder (credit : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1599844 ).

For those who will jump to the conclusion :
TL;DR : Awesome printer, totaly noob compliant, take times, everything needs to be perfectly aligned.