Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Hey guy's!
I'm new here, so lets start with a short introduction. My name is Stefan and I live in the Netherlands. My work and hobby is developing and making all kind of technical stuff like 3D printers, milling machines, robotics and drones. I needed a reliable 3D printer that I can use untill one of my main projects ( a large delta 3D printer) is finished, so I decided to buy A Prusa MK3! I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and am very happy with it. I learned a lot about it's capabilities for the regular printing tasks and also what settings I do not like (for example the stealth option). I'll give a couple of examples about that in the "first experiences" video I expect to upload in about two weeks.
A couple of weeks ago I recieved my MK3 that I ordered in January. I filmed the complete assembly of the MK3 because I thought you guys (especially those that have yet to recieve theirs or are about to start the build) would like it and perhapse benefit from it. It's prettymuch unedited so you can see everything (including the challenges I encountered, the mistakes I made and the total time I needed to build), and the entire build will be uploaded in 4K resolution. The first video is now online and contains the build of the frame and the y-axis assembly. The rest of the video's wil come within 2 weeks.
Coming soon (next 2 weeks):
- Assembly of the X-axis and the Z-axis
- Assembly of the Extruder
- Heated bed, electronics, Cable management and finishing the build
- My experiences with the printer after a couple of rolls of filament
If you are looking for a specific part, you can click on the timestamps from the original Prusa manual in the description.
Have fun! (with building and watching)
Stefan
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
thats a lot of work. nice going.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Nice job. Looking forward to the next parts! Hopefully you'll get them all posted before my kit comes...
I will say I was surprised you didn't move the carriage through the full range of motion prior to attaching the belt to make sure it was riding nice and smooth...
The Anal Retentiveness in me was pleased to see you did the zip ties in opposing directions. 😀
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Thanks a lot!
I will help me for sure! Especially for the belt tension, It is hard to figure out which tension is good when you have never built any kit...
I am just waiting for my kit now. The delays drive me crazy but I stay calm 😀
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Thanks for the kind replies!
@curtis: It is! but it is well worth it if I can help people out this way.
@mkopack: Next part will be available very soon (just below to be exact)! I did check it a couple of times but you are right I didn't do it as the manual instructed. I performed the final checks when I fastened the guiderail mounts to the frame. About the zip-ties, me to! I like symmetry.
@alexandre: I experienced the same, but it was well worth the wait!
So the next part is finished and online! I made my first mistakes in this one 😆
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Before I forget, If you guys have any questions or suggestions about the assembly or the video's themselves, please let me know! I am a newbie when it comes to filming and presenting/building in front of a camera and want to improve where possible.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Those videos are really good. Newbie? Had no idea. 😆 As I posted on youtube, I found your zoom-ins and your comments very useful. I watched other assembly videos and yours was the one that I found most useful because of those 2 things. It also gave me an idea of how much to screw things and some tools I could use to solve some problems. The last thing I found very useful was that you provide links to each assembly step. I will so be using it when I setup my printer this week.
Here is some feedback from your second video:
1. The part that would have been nice to see if how you created the gap in "Step 3 X-axis: inserting linear bearings". When I read the comments of the instructions online I see that some people used AA battery to push the bearings to their proper place. Curious which was your technique.
2. There is a text about a 2nd mistake but I still have no idea what was wrong. I guess in the 3rd video as you move forward you will realize of the mistake and then I will see what you meant as you installed the X axis on the rods.
Keep up the awesome "Hollywood" work. :geek: Do you have an estimate for when you are posting the rest of the videos?
Thanks,
Gaston
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Thanks for the feedback and kind words, it's appriciated!
To answer your questions:
1 - The two holders acted different, the left one that also holds the motor needed way more pressure than the right one. So for the right one: I could just press it in with my hands and pulled it with a hook tool to the end. The one that also holds the motor required a lot more force, I eventually got it in with a piece of aluminium stock that has the same OD as the bearings (this is important because if you only press the middle you are likely to damage the bearings) because I had issues with the left holder I decided to take my time with the camera off (I needed to take a break anyway).
2 - Well the cause of the second mistake is that I used the wrong length rods for the X axis. during the swich to the correct ones I acidentaly swapped the extruder holder carriage (front/back).
About the rest of the video's, I plan to render/export part 3 tonight. I have a really fast computer but it still takes about 2 hours combined (for 45minutes 4K video with the exported file beeing at around 40GB in size). Uploading doesn't take that long, around 10 minutes so I guess you can expect it tomorrow.
The last part of the actual build is in it's finishing stages of the edit and will be published about 2 days after part 3.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Can't wait for parts 3 and 4! As someone who got one fully assembled I now wish I had gotten a kit so I could put it together. The videos really help me understand what I need to do if I ever have to take it apart.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Thanks for the clarifications. I hope the AA batteries have the same diameter (OD?) as the bearings since that is what I have at home. Looking at http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/4.+Z-axis+assembly/509?lang=en#s8172 I now see what you mean about "swapped the extruder holder carriage".
I ended up subscribing to your youtube channel since I see lot of cool and interesting stuff. Will check your next video as it goes live. Thanks again for your great contributions.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
A quick search tells me that the bearings are 15mm OD and AA batteries are between 13.5 and 14.5mm (My guess depending on if they are rechargable or not and their capacity) so that should work nicely indeed. (best would be if it is close to that 14.5mm)
Welcome and thanks for the sub! I got a couple of nice projects I am working on currently and a lot planned for the (near) future.
Part 3 is just finished:
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
So the final buildvideo is finished and online. It's a rather long one but luckily I added the timestamps so you dont have to watch the parts that do not apply to you.
enjoy!
I will do a follow-up where I will talk a bit about the things I noticed during the build and when using the printer. This may help other builders to prevent issues in the future or maybe help people that have problems solve them.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
I have a 27 hours of flying coming up and have a pre-built mk3. It is time to get educated! Thank you.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
It's my pleasure, good flight and enjoy!
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Watching part 2 right now... Nice video... But OMG my OCD alarm is blaring watching you bang the X-rods in using the back of a screwdriver! All those tools and you don't have a little rubber mallet???? EEK!
RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB!!!! 🙂
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Yeah sorry about that. Lazyness got the better of me. Figured it would be good enough and have to admit, I do have a small copper hammer, rubber mallet and a small deadblow mallet. So yeah.... I really should have used one of those!
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Thank you for the video!!
I received my kit two days ago and they forgot the assembly manual in the package. So with the online assembly manual and your videos I could have built my kit perfectly! Everything works except the filament which is broken, they will sent me a new one. Hopefully I still can print without it.
Merci!!
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Cool and thank you for letting me know that it was usefull for you!
I've been using my printer a lot since I build it, and emptied 4 1Kg rolls of filament now. A sneak peek at one of the projects I am working on now, A paramotor drone:
The quality is significantly better in comparison to the wanhao I3 I used before and that made me decide to start over.
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Meanwhile I've got 23 days and 16 hours on the counter and thought it'd be a nice moment to reflect on my experience with the printer. I've been more than pleased with the printer from the start but did change a couple of things along the way. Most notable are:
- Removed the filament spool from the frame (one or two days after the build)
- Significantly reduced the printing speed (Default is way too high in my opinion considering the limited rigidity of the frame)
- Changed a lot of settings most important: lowered extrusion quite a bit. I feel it is set too high in the firmware. At least combined with the CAM from S3D)
So, the result? the 20x20x20 calibration cube is measured at 20.00mm on each axis.
I also made a macro photo of the last CAM settings I used, for a better perspective I added a 0.4mm nozzle in the picture.
Quite nice right? I know I'm happy with the price/performance of the printer!
Re: Full Assembly video's with manual timestamps
Cool videos.
Can you share your S3D profile?
I love to slice with S3D and it is intresting, what parameter other uses.
Kind regards
Roger