Assembly early stages questions
Hello everyone!
I have just received my kit and am only on step 10 but want to double and triple check that I build it 100% correctly, as I want to leave nothing to chance!
My frame still lifts corners slightly, how much play am I allowed to have on the frame build?
I am sure I will have many more questions so I will just plop them all into this thread 🙂
Thank you for your help!
Update 1: well, I've pushed ahead and am now on my first Gummy bear break! The rubber feet make the inconsistency in the frame negligible, so I guess I was panicking for nothing.
Update 2: second Gummy bear break! I seemed to miss a square nut and a m3x18 from my kit, but the frame steps gave me a spare square nut and I have a collection of M3's from previous printers... so all is well.
Update 2.2: just noticed the bag called spares. There is more extra stuff in there.
Re: Assembly early stages questions
My corners also lifted so I tried and tried and eventually gave up with the manual and assembled the extrusions like an engineer would.
The manual states to start with the longer extrusions first, but don't do this.
Start with the two short extrusions at the rear of the printer and a flat table, use a straight edge turned through 45 Deg increments to check the table is level else your wasting your time.
Attach the two short extrusions and place the assembly on the table so you have the main frame sitting flat on the table and the ends of the extrusions also resting on the table.
Now check for wobble by pressing on the ends of the extrusions. If you have wobble you will have to slacken the screws on the extrusions and with the small amount of wiggle room where the bolts go through the main frame, you can get both extrusions to sit perfectly flat, it may take a few goes to get it right, but a good build starts with good foundations. Once you have eliminated the wobble, that's this side done.
Now do the same for the longer extrusions.
Because they are longer, they are heavier than the short extrusions so will sit on the table. Adjust these exactly as you had to adjust the short extrusions, until the main frame and both extrusions are sitting on the table without any wobble present.
Now when you attach the end plates you will find your printer sits perfectly level without any wobble on any corner.
Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.
Re: Assembly early stages questions
if you have access to kitchen countertops in stone they are in all likelihood the flattest surfaces in your or your friends home assemble the frame there and even a carpenters speed square is better than nothing and in a pinch lots of things can be macguivered into being used as a square.