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
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 Bed-Plate
- 14 Electronic Board
- 15 Wiring
- 16 Tidying
- 17 Y-axis
- 18 Tape (5-10 min)
- 19 Making the bed parallel and zeroing
- 20 Software side
- 21 Go go go first print !!!
Previous Version
The build manual for the FoldaRap 1 is here, the FoldaRap 2 is here.
While this one will evolve to become the version 2.5 build manual soon.
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 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 M3x30 countersunk head
x2 603zz bearing
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 m3x10
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
Heater
x1 heater block
x1 nozzle
x1 barrel
x1 thermistor
Heatsink
x1 hotend heatsink (+ tube holder)
x1 PTFE tube
Fan
x1 fan
x1 fan railings
x4 m3x16
x4 m3 washer
Cartridge heater
Wires
x2 1mm ferrule
x2 heatshrink sleeve
x1 male casing
x6 female ferrule
Cable harness
x2 2 pin-wire with connector
x2 cartridge wire (70cm)
x1 female casing
x6 male ferrule
x2 end piece
Bed-Plate
Heater
x3 m3x30 countersunk
x3 m3 nut
x3 springs
Y-carriage
x1 y-carriage
x3 linear bearing
x4 zip-tie
x1 belt-clamp
x1 belt (600mm)
x2 m3x10
x2 m3 nut
x2 m3 washer
x3 m3 nylock
Wires
x1 2pin housing
x2 female crimp terminal
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 and 9N.cm Nema 14 (HY0007) : 0.5v for the axis
- 0.8A and 15N.cm Nema 14 (HY0006) : 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 75cm)
- heater (red 75cm)
- fan : on a 12v pin (must be always on)
Fans
- printed-part cooling fan: if the hotend's fan is alway on, this one is controlled by the electronic board via 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)
- Cooling the Minitronics_10's PCB is mandatory according to RichRap in RepRap Magazine 2:
The PCB is used as a heatsink and must be cooled from the underside with a 40mm fan or bigger, this is important to do with such a compact board.
Bed-Plate
Finish by this one, as it is moving, the wires need to be above all the other wires.
- thermistor
- heater element (the two thicker wires)
Tidying
- spiral wrapping band : for the wires that came out of the base.
(image)
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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Making the bed parallel and zeroing
The Z-zero is made when making the bed parallel to the nozzle.
- Start by roughly makin it parallel
- then move the nozzle to the lowest point
- and adjust the 3 screws to move 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 Y direction with the two bolts, then with the remaining one
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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 parallel but may need few more tweaks that will be revealed by observing the first layer of a print
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