P3Steel main steel frame assembly
Now that we have all the steel parts painted, and having allowed the last coat of paint to dry for at least 48 hours, we can begin to assemble our P3Steel:
This is the only hardware we need to put together our P3Steel basic structure: an M3 hex key (a.k.a. Allen key, Allen wrench, hex wrench), M3 12mm hex bolts (preferably stainless steel ones), and M3 nyloc nuts. I happened to have the chromed hex key in the photo and it has a ball head at the long end, this came in handy a couple of times. But the short carbon steel hex key will do just fine too. We need approximately 40 bolts and nuts, but I recommend buying 50 of each - inevitably a couple will roll under the table.
The basic frame assembly goes very fast because there is nothing to adjust or check for accuracy. Also the high precision of the laser cutting process guarantees the perfect fit of all the frame parts. As a result of this, putting together the main steel frame takes less than half an hour:
Be sure to remember to have the Z-axis 8mm smooth rod hole on the outside of the stepper motor mounts, as shown here:
IMPORTANT NOTE: if you are going to use the mounting holes for the electronics on the side panels, it is a good idea to check now that the paint has not changed their diameter. In my case I had to re-drill the mounting holes with a 3mm drill bit, and it is much easier to re-drill them at this stage or even before you screw any parts together, than later when the printer is partially or totally assembled.