Unboxing
The kit arrived by UPS in a nice compact box that was packed very neatly and had plenty of bubble wrap.
Now before we get into the assembly, it will be useful to know what all these parts are called so when you assemble them, you’ll know where they’re going. This would have helped me when I built it.
Before You Begin
I first laid out all the parts, then put all the screws into small clear cups, that way they’ll be separated, but I can stack the cups without mixing up the screws and nuts.
Build Progress
The build instructions for the kit can be found here: http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/build-instructions
Thankfully Colin from Makerfarm has uploaded detailed build videos for all the parts, which I will embed here.
1. X Carriage
2. X Idler
3. X Motor
4. X Axis Assembly
5. Y Idler
6. LCD Interface
7. Wooden Frame
8. Y Bed
9. Y Rods
10. Z Rods
11a. 0.35mm or 0.50mm J-Head Hot End
First add the wire casing, then add the crimp connectors, finally, slide in the heat shrink tubing.
11b. 0.40mm Magma Hot End
12. Extruder (Greg’s Accessible Hinged Extruder)
(STL file for printing your own parts: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1PY-ai5z5Z253g23YTS80XIv8G16oqTp0gVt0IfFfsT-1H9mToV6Ex7twAloK)
13. RAMPS Setup
14. Final Setup
15. Software Setup
Colin’s got a great writeup in the documentation for the software setup, but in short you’ll need to install:
- Slic3r (http://slic3r.org)
- Printrun Pronterface (http://koti.kapsi.fi/~kliment/printrun)
- RAMPS Driver & Firmware (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B80A_woXoRWdX29maFNJVlhlYW8)
- Slic3r Configuration Files (these are for ABS, for PLA I adjusted the temps to 185 for nozzle, and 65 for bed)
- i3 8″ 0.35mm nozzle (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B80A_woXoRWdNDBtRFVnT1d1WDg)
- i3 8″ 0.50mm nozzle (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B80A_woXoRWdRFZ0LTFGSVdIOVU)
- i3 8″ 0.40mm Magma nozzle (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B80A_woXoRWdMndXT2FVNFE4Sm8)
16. First Prints
The first prints turned out well, the goal is to get lower layer heights and faster speeds.
