At a Standstill

Parts

Over the past week I received a few more parts for the printer namely the:

Raspberry Pi

• Printed Parts
• Mounting Plate
• Couplings
• Motors 
• Raspberry Pi (A small computer for Wi-Fi 3-D printing, also a regular computer unto which I am typing this post right now)

I am still waiting on the electronics which has led me to a halt in assembly

Progress

Completed X-Axis

Since I finally got all of the parts I needed to begin my assembly I got started tuesday night. The first step was the x-axis which depending on your perspective is the "to and fro" of the motion. I had to start with zip tying bearings (metal slides) onto the heated bed mount (holds the part being printed). After that I started the process of using the metal rods. This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Most of it was taking the rods, pushing them through plastic pieces

Heated Bed Assembly

, and adding a washer and nut. Some of the plastic pieces had small string of plastic hanging in there gaps that had to be removed. The leftover strings gave me a idea of how small of detail I can have. According to my calipers these parts were printed with a .35 mm diameter, pretty small if you ask me. Then came adding the smooth rods. It appeared to be a easy process, just snap them into place. This was easier  said then done. Apparently you can't fit a 8 mm rod into a 7 mm hole. At the website suggestion I got a hair dryer and heated up the plastic parts. These resulted in the parts shrinking giving just enough room to slide the rods in. I slid the heated bed assembly on and the x-axis was done. I took some time to snap together the frame to see how big the footprint would be of the completed printer, it is comparable able to a milk crate. I then started putting together the Y axis. Again I inserted bearings into there holders, and had to use heat to get them in. I added the nuts used to help the carriage move up and down. This leads me to where I am now. I am waiting to get my electronics, which contains the en end-stops. My directions say to go ahead and add them in. I didn't want to be in  difficult place later, so I am delaying until I get them. According to there tracking they are between New Hampshire and here.

Assembly table 

I had originally planned to build a whole desk out of pallet wood, but the wood  kept breaking no matter how gently I pulled them apart. Instead I am using a card table, and a tool holder/riser to hold my TV with build instructions on my Raspberry Pi as well as tool holder. Side note: Broken pallet boards are great for for or bonfires.

Assembly Table