FoldaRap Build Manual
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Tools required
- 1,5 mm hexagonal wrench (for the pulleys grub screw)
- 2 mm hexagonal wrench (for M3 counterksunk bolts and pneumatic fittings "MA-12-03-M5")
- 2,5 mm hexagonal wrench (for normal M3 cap-head bolts and the rounded M4 bolts used for the frame)
- little flat screwdriver (1,5mm) (for the board's screw terminals)
- Philips (PH2) or flat screwdriver (3mm) (for the psu's screw terminals)
You may need also :
- a 5,5mm flat spanner or a small pliers (for m3 nuts)
- something to cut wires, and strip them (knife, automatic striper, etc.)
- a lighter for the heat-shrink sleeves
- iron (to eventually solder the endstops)
- small files (round, flat) to eventually ream the printed parts
- a glue gun (gluing the endstop on the printed part is easier/quicker than using bolts)
- a multimeter (to set the drivers current)
Contents
General tips
- Read the whole manual once or twice before starting, to get an overview of the build
- Basically we have a main frame and several sub-assemblies, some can be done in parallel : gather your friends and establish a record of minimum building time ! (Actual best record : 4 hours)
- Work on a cutting mat if you have one, it will protect your table plus they often show a millimetre grid that will be useful to check the bolts length (with some experience you will recognize them just by looking or holding one).
- Place you mouse over a picture in a list if you wonder what part it is
- In case of doubt, don't hesitate to have a look at the 3d model in Sketchup (before/during the build), even if about a next version of the machine it will show you the folded/unfolded state of the machine and you can play around with it :)
Ok let's start It should take approximately 12 hours to put everything together. From step 1 to 4 : 2-4 hours
Here is a timelapse overview from Gert G. : google drive link
Know the parts
Firstly, have a look at all the part and learn what everything is.
How to insert a T-nut
Tightening torque : 2.5 Nm (+/- 5%)
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Base Frame
Rear Base
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Front Base
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Base Frame
Y-idler
x1 m3x20 x2 (603zz) x2 m3 washer x2 m4x8 x2 t-nut
Y-motor
A part of the wiring depend of the combination of electronic board and power supply, for other version : AzteegX1_240W, AzteegX1_120W
x7 ferules heat-shrink sleeve x1 x3 x3
Z-axis
Caution : on the aluminium extrusion some corners are better than others, take care to choose one that slide well for the X-motor and X-idler, keep it in mind then when assembling the Z-right and Z-left.
Z-Left / Z-Right
Hinges
Hinge principle :
Z-Motors
- +vinyl coupling x2
Z-endstop
x1 (with 25cm blue wires for z-endstop, fix with an m3x8 or simply use a glue gun)
people usually twist the wires of the endstop and motors, to reduce interferences and make them more tidy
the lever is oriented toward the left (exterior)
Underplate
Power Supply
This part depend of your electronic configuration : AzteegX1-240W or AzteegX1-120W or as for the actual v1.1 : Melzi + 120W power supply
Z-axis 2
- Now you can push the hinge against the plate and lock the two Z at right angle with the frame
X-axis
X-motor
The holes for mounting the motor are wide in order to be able to use them for adding tension on the X belt. Thus mount the motor as close as possible to the extrusion side in order to be able to push the motor the other way arround at the tensionning step.
x1 (with 50cm red 26AWG wires for x-endstop, fix with an m3x8 or glue gun)
X-idler
After wiring, put the two x-ends in place (impregnate the printed parts with oil for better sliding) and add the smooth-rod without forgetting the three linear bearings.
Extruder-fan
(Optional)
If the bolt don't screw in the plastic, add a nut, but this one can be tricky to put in place.
Extruder-idler
For previous version using a geared PG35L see FoldaRap_PG35L
x1 Nema14 (50cm) x3 x1 (just one)
Top-frame
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X-carriage
x1 x2 x3 (LM6UU or igus RJMP-01-06) x1 (700mm, longest of the two belts) x7
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- Now you can add some tension to the x-belt
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Z-rods
- turn the rods in the x-ends to push them in the vinyl coupling
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Great ! You are almost done !
Have a pause, you need to be relaxed for the next step, or you can also just head to the end :)
Hotend
- cartridge heater
- thermistor 70cm 26awg
- fan prolongated to match 70cm
- see also the emaker huxley hotend
- don't forget to tighten the hotend while being heated to 200°C (later, once you will have wired everying on the electronic board)
- You may need to add a nut to each bolt if spacing is needed between the heatsink and the linear bearings
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Electronic Board
Previous instructions for the AzteegX1 / Melzi
x1 x1 board-mount x2 m3x8 x2 m4x8 x2 t-nut
Wiring
Now lets plug everything to the board !
The Minitronics_10 page is well documented and the wiring should be quite easy with the molex connectors.
- It seems to use the same voltage reference as for a pololu (so we need to tune them to 0.4V, 0.45V)
Order/lenght :
Endstops
Motors
- Y-motor
- Z-motors
- X-motor
- Extruder-motor
Hotend(s)
- thermistor (blue 70cm)
- heater (red 70cm)
- fan (red/black 60cm) : on the 12v pins of the board or directly on the psu
- (optionnal) extruder-stepper fan : same
- (optional) printed-part cooling fan: on the fan port (turned on by sending Mcode "M106 Sxxx" (xxx being between 0 and 255), turned off by "M107" but Slic3r automate this)
Bed
Finish by this one, as it is moving, the wires need to be above all the other wires.
- thermistor (blue 35cm)
- peltier
Voilà !
It may be a little messy at first but once finished everything is tidy and protected in the base of the machine :)
Tidying
- spiral wrapping band : for the wires that came out of the base (30cm left / 60cm right).
(image)
Y-axis
Bed-plate
If you have an aluminium heated bed look at this page : FoldaRap_Heated-Bed
Y-carriage
Other versions : FoldaRap1.0_y-carriage
Y-axis
x2 x1 (with 32cm green wires for y-endstop) x6
Tighten the belt by closing the loops with zip-ties, then trim everything (video of belt tensioning [1])
Tape (5-10 min)
Once the Y-axis is fitted it's easier to apply kapton (polyimide) or blue tape (outside masking tape, uv resistant and with acrylic adhesive)
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Leveling the bed and zeroing
The Z-zero is made when leveling the bed.
- Start by roughly leveling it
- then move the nozzle to the lowest point
- and adjust the 3 screws to level it regarding that height (by turning them until the homing move stop lowering the bed)
- repeat on each corners so the zero is exactly when the nozzle stop touching the bed (true for the four corners+center)
- I like to start with the X direction at the right bolt, then with the two at the left
Here is a video to show what I mean by "the homing move stop lowering the bed" <videoflash>35Xv_R8U_hU</videoflash>
"Bad" (the bolts need to be tightened)
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- Once the plan is set from left to right you can check front/end
- after that it's supposed to be leveled but may need few more tweaking for the right corners
Software side
- Skeinforge : you will only have to add a little offset (altitude), to have the desired height for the first layer, usually the same as your layer height.
- Slic3r : leave z-offset at 0, it will add one layer height automatically (you still may have to adjust it slightly to fine tune the Z-zero, depending on where your endstop have been glued).
Another advantage of that : by moving to the center of the bed from the zero height, the nozzle is also wiped by the side of the bed from any purged plastic ;-)
Go go go first print !!!
This article will probably help you along your first print :)
http://www.sarfata.org/3d-printing/2013/04/First-Steps-In-3D-Printing-With-Foldarap/
Have also a look at the User Manual