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)
- a flat screwdriver (for the psu's screw terminals)
- s small screwdriver (to set the drivers current)
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
- soldering 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
- 1 Previous Version
- 2 General tips
- 3 Base Frame
- 4 Z-axis
- 5 Underplate
- 6 Z-sliders
- 7 X-axis
- 8 Z-rods
- 9 Extruder(s)
- 10 Top-frame (need update)
- 11 Great ! You are almost done !
- 12 Hotend
- 13 Electronic Board
- 14 Wiring
- 15 Tidying
- 16 Y-axis
- 17 Tape (5-10 min)
- 18 Leveling the bed and zeroing
- 19 Software side
- 20 Go go go first print !!!
Previous Version
The build manual for the FoldaRap 1 is here.
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 for 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
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
x1 foot-rear-left x1 foot-rear-right x2 200mm profile x4 m4x8 x4 t-nut
Front Base
x1 foot-front-left x1 foot-front-right x1 200mm profile x2 m4x8 x2 t-nut
Base Frame
x1 rear assembly x1 front assembly x1 hinge-inner-left x1 hinge-inner-right
x4 300mm profile x10 m4x8 x10 t-nut
Y-idler
y-idler x1 m3x20 x2 603zz bearing x2 m3 washer x2 m4x8 x2 t-nut
Y-motor
Plug
x1 y-motor x1 plug x2 m3 nut x2 m3x8
Motor
x2 m3x8 x1 nema 14 stepper motor x1 pulley
Wiring
x7 ferules heat-shrink sleeve x1 switch x3 m4x8 x3 t-nut
A part of the wiring depend of the combination of electronic board and power supply, for other version : FoldaRap_power-supplies
Z-axis
Z-Left / Z-Right
x1 hinge-outer-left x1 hinge-outer-right x1 z-motor-left x1 z-motor-right
x2 300mm profile x4 m4x8 x4 t-nut
Z-Motors
Hinges
Underplate
Power Supply
Different kind of power supply have been used in FoldaRap builds, if you don't recognize yours look at this page : FoldaRap power-supplies
Anyway, the principle is always 1) bolt the power supply on the plate, 2) then the plate on the base of the frame
x1 power supply x2 m3x8 x2 m3 nut
x1 lasercut underplate x3 m4x8 x3 t-nut
Z-axis position
Z-sliders
X-axis
X-slider
x-slider x1 nema14 stepper motor x1 pulley
x4 x2 603zz bearing x4 (if needed)
Fan-holder
X-belt
x1 200mm profile x1 250mm belt x2 m4x8 x2 t-nut
XZ-axis
Z-rods
x4 M5 nylon nut x2 M5 threaded rod 230mm x2 flexible coupling
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there should be no play between the nuts and the printed part, too much play will cause Z backlash, but the rod should turn easily, if the nuts are too tightened it constraint the movement of the rod (the open space allow the rod to eventually wobble without transferring it to the part, as you can see on this video [1])
Extruder(s)
extruder-left x1 pneumatic-fitting x1 m3x16 x1 603zz bearing
x1 nema14 stepper motor
x1 knurled insert (juste one)
x2 m3x8
x1 m3x20
Top-frame (need update)
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
Heatsink
x1 barrel x1 heatsink-block x1 pneumatic-fitting x1 ptfe tubing (300-330 mm)
Heater
- see also the emaker huxley hotend
x1 nozzle x1 heater-block x1 cartridge-heater x1 thermistor 100k ohm
Wires
x2 2pin housing x4 female crimp terminal
- thermistor wires : +/- 70cm
- fan : prolongated to match +/- 70cm
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 !
Look at the Minitronics_10 page, it is well documented and the wiring should be quite easy with the male/female connectors.
Setting the drivers current
- The drivers seems to use the same voltage reference as for a pololu (so we need to tune them between 0.4 - 0.5 V )
Depending of the motor and it's use :
- 1A Nema 14 (like LDO) : 0.4v for the axis and a little more (0.45v) for the extruder
- 1.25A Nema 14 (HY0006) : 0.5v for the axis
- 0.8A Nema 14 (HY0007) : 0.32v for the extruder, it may need a little more
Endstops
- cut wires
- solder wires
- insulate
- crimp
- casing
- in place
- wiring
X
glued on the side
Y
Z
x1 x1 m4x8 x1 t-nut x1 zip-tie (or 2 m2x10 bolt)
Motors
- Y-motor
- Z-motors
- X-motor
- Extruder-motor
Hotend(s)
- thermistor (blue 70cm)
- heater
- fan : on a 12v pin (must be always on)
Fans
- printed-part cooling fan: on the "cooling fan" screw terminal (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
- heater element
Tidying
- spiral wrapping band : for the wires that came out of the base.
(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 [2])
Tape (5-10 min)
- Kapton (polyimide) or blue tape (= outside masking tape, uv resistant usually with acrylic adhesive, PLA stick well to acrylic)
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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
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Here is a video to show what I mean by "the homing move stop lowering the bed"
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"Bad" (the bolts need to be tightened)
- 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/
Also have a look at the User Manual