Sara Kit Certification

Build Space

Make a copy of:

edit

Main Checklist

edit

Electronics Checklist

edit

Build

edit

Kit Build

Time Lapse

One can study the time lapse in detail to understand the build time. This time lapse should span about 7-8 hours. Rework time was about 1.2 hours.

Time Log

And comments. Time of build is in minutes. Negative sign marks time of rework (not build time).

1. 15:42 - Start. Unpack. Weld frame. Set up camera. Includes going from house to workshop. Time: Frame: 37
2. 16:19 - Axis assembly start. Y + Z rear. Missing tool: tape spacer. Time: 7
   1. 16:26 - Error warning: set screw allen wrench short side wore out mid way. Got another one. Time: -2
   2. 16:28-16:34 - Cleaning out idler pieces . Time: -7
   3. 16:35 - Tape on bearings. Not needed in practice. Time: 3
   4. 16:39 - Finished bearing insertion for all axes. Time: 2
   5. At the beginning, also glued the extruder holder on x carriage so it has time to dry.
3. 16:56 - Y left finished - Time: 28 . Technique: belt was inserted during clam-shell build on both axis end-pieces.
4. 17:03 - Z back finished - Time: 7
5. 17:15 - Y right, Z front done - Time: 12. Total for all axes outside of X - 47
6. 17:23 - Y left and Z back axes mounted on frame. Time: 8
7. 17:29 - Y right, Z front hung on frame - Time: 6
8. 17:32 - Thermistor and PEI fix - Time: -3
9. 17:35 - Glue PEI. Time: 13
10. 17:48 - One heat bed nut was too small on the inside. Got another. -10

BREAK at 17:58

1. 18:53 - Nut catcher holes in idler pieces were droopy, reamed out to fit nuts. -2. Note that this is important only for X axis and bed mount - as the Y and Z don't use the nut catchers.
2. 18:55 - Z platform start.
3. 18:58 - Z platform done (without bed attachment still) Time: 3
4. 19:10 - X axis done. Time: 12.
5. 19:15 - Y endstop glued on Y axis. Both endstops inserted into holders and one glued in. Time: 5. Started power supply.
6. 19:18 - 5 power supply screws came off. 1 was lost. Power supply power cord zip tie loose and below power supply. Power supply cord fixed to the top. Replaced screws. Time: -4
7. 19:22 - Started control panel. MOSFET dangles forward. Need third hole for MOSFET?
8. 19:37 - Control panel done. Time: 15. Notes: MOSFET very close to RAMPS. difficult to plug in USB cable.
9. 19:39 - Extruder sensor did not fit in extruder sensor holder. Reamed. Time: -1
10. 20:10 - Extruder finished - Time: 32
11. 20:21 - X axis mounted - Time: 11. Started cable chain. Missing hole for cable chain. Hole drilled. Time: -8. Also, drilled hole in plastic end piece (this neds to be designed into file to avoid drilling)
12. 21:18 - Finished cable chain. Moving to belt pegs. Time for cable chain: 49. Cable chain means assembling cable chain pieces, threading all the wires through, and zip tying to cable chain.
13. 21:33 - Belt pegs all inserted and all axes tensioned at one time. Pace slowing down late in day. Time: 14. Also, Most belt pegs were too large. Used smaller ones from inventory. Time: -1. Gluing bed to bed nuts.
14. 21:50 - Glued bed to platform. Includes mixing and application time for JB Weld Kwik Weld. Moving onto control panel mounting. Time: 17.

BREAK at 21:55

1. 22:12 - 1 power wire on back of RAMPS broke off. Second power wire - one wire broke off inside terminal. Resoldered with solid 12 gauge house wire. Did not fit in terminals, so I shaved some off with a knife. time: -18. This is a recurrent problem. Replace power wires with solid 14 gauge house wire, except for MOSFET wires. When bending these wires, hold wires with both hands to bend.
2. 22:30 - Mounted control panel. Note: way over time. Fought the difficult hole locations for a bit of time. Edges of plexiglass were broken on 2 sides - this should be 10 minutes or less under normal circumstances, but took 25 minutes. So I call this: time: -15. Time: 10.
3. 22:50 - Made all of the wire connections, plugged everything in, while routing wires neatly and zip tying. Time: 25. (includes 5 minutes before break)
4. 23:10 - LCD location incorrect. Removed LCD and used spacer to free up interference from cable chain. Time: -12. Note: could have redrilled location in plexiglass, but didn't want to risk breaking plexiglass late in the night.
5. 23:22 - Spool holder holes too small. Reamed first with drill, did not work, so used heat gun to soften plastic, then they went on correctly. Time: -14. Time to actually put on rod holders: 2
6. 23:38 - Motion testing. One stepper cable was broken. Replaced with new one after testing broken one on a working motor. Time including replacing one broken wire: 22.
7. 0:00 - Printing sample cube. Successful first print with first guess of -1.4 z offset. Didn't have to touch babystepping. Probe triggered correctly without requiring initial probe height readjustment. Time: 5.
8. 0:05 - Ran a test print of motor piece. Beginning of production tuning.

Total Time

• 316 minute total build time - not counting any rework steps. Note 1 hour for build of 5 axes from kit.
• Rework total time: 97
• Total break time: 72

TOTAL - 485 minutes, or 8.1 hours

Tips and Tricks

1. To level print bed for mounting - press down all the way until the bed mounting idlers both rest on the frame - thereby using the frame to determine a perfect parallel to the ground.

Issues Log

1. 2 top half circles of carriage pieces all had extra plastic on them. Needed cleaning.
2. Thermistor head was on top face, not in hole:

edit

Evaluation

Overall kit evaluation is this based on Kit Certification#Evaluation

Links

• Kit Certification
• Current Material inventory - [1]
• 3D Printer Logs - for parts production