================================== Building the MakerBot CupCake ================================== :CreationDate: 2009-09-07 09:15:47 :Id: HW/makerbot/cupcake-build :tags: - hardware - 3dPrint Wednesday 2009-09-02 I started building the CupCake, together with a few friends. Actually, the package had arrived on 2009-08-20, but I've been away from home for about ten days, and I couldn't build it as soon as it arrived. I had photographed the package's contents, though: [% INCLUDE 'image.tt' pic='img_0888' alt="The package's contents" %] Having all the pieces, and the instructions, we start building. The ``USBtinyISP`` programmer ============================= (`link to the instructions `_) It would not have been strictly necessary, since the batch #5 CupCakes come with pre-programmed microcontrollers, but it was in the package, and maybe one day I'll need it, so I built it. [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0948' alt='PCB, resistors, ICs, connectors…' %] The USBtinyISP kit. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0949' alt='Dakkar working the soldering iron' %] The soldering. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0951' alt='Soldering iron touching the PCB' %] Soldering detail: an IC's pins. [% END %] Motherboard and controllers =========================== (`link to the instructions `_) Now we start building and testing the rest of the electronics. After having connected the motherboard to the steppers' and extruder's controllers, we turn it on: the technical name of this operation is "smoke test". [% INCLUDE 'image.tt' pic='img_0952' alt='Smoke test' %] Although I had read `the warning about the power supply `_, I managed to blow up the nice power supply included in the kit. Luckily I have a few of my own! [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0953' alt='Powre supply, motherboard, controllers' %] Electronics, plugged in and turned on. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0955' alt='Motherboard with lights' %] Detail of the motherboard, you can see the green lights; in the background, the extruder controller, also turned on. [% END %] Assembling the body =================== (`link to the instructions `_) Nothing hard: the assemblage with tabs and captive nuts is a stroke of genius. [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0956' alt="CupCake's body, with Z belt" %] The body, essentially completed, including the threaded rods for Z translation, and steppers for Z and X. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0957' alt='Z belt and pulleys' %] Detail of the top part of the body; note how the pulleys on the rods have been aligned by simply having them touch the bearing brackets. [% END %] (Yes, I've skipped a few steps, I haven't shot everything) [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0958' alt='Body, completed' %] X and Y stages built and installed, electronics installed, including the end-stops. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0959' alt="Electronics in its place" %] Electronics installed in place; cables for the end-stops and the extruder controller are still missing. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0960' alt='X and Y stages' %] X and Y stages built and installed; you can see the Y end-stops and the (paper) tabs to trigger them. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0961' alt='Y end-stop, glued' %] While I was tightening the bolts for this end-stop, the wood broke. I then fixed the end-stop with hot glue. [% END %] I stopped here for the first day, also because it was already dinner time. I started again the following morning. The extruder ============ (`link to the instructions `_) It seems that for many people this part is the hardest, and the one giving the most problems: I did not have any particular difficulty. [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0965' alt='Extrusion head' %] The completed extrusion head; the red wire is connected to the nichrome resistor, the black wire to the thermistor. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0967' alt="Extrusion mechanic, completed" %] The mechanic part of the extruder, completed. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0968' alt="Pinch wheel and idler wheel" %] The idler wheel aligned perfectly on the first try. [% END %] A note on the alignment of the idler pulley: I followed exactly the `alignment instructions `_, then I put the wheel inside the extruder body: on one side it was too near the motor, on the other it was precisely centered. .. note:: Double idler wheel Someone built a `double-width idler wheel `_, by gluing together the two wheels included in the kit. In my case, and `apparently also for someone else `_, the resulting wheel is too thick to fit between the flanges of the pinch wheel, so it's impossible to use. [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0970' alt="Extrusion canal" %] View along the extrusion canal; the hole at the end is the exit of the melted filament. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0971' alt='Extruder at work' %] Extrusion test: it works! Note that the short black ABS wire I used for the test has been extruded completely. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0972' alt='ABS filament' %] Results of the extrusion test: a black ABS filament, randomly curved. [% END %] First print =========== Finally, I can print! The test object is a `clip-on Z end-stop trigger `_, since my kit's Z platform doesn't have the slots for the triggers. [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0973' alt='CupCake printing the first layer of the raft' %] First layer of the raft. This is actually the third try. The first try caused a head crash, resulting in a small hole in the print platform; the second try started too high, and the raft did not adhere to the platform. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0975' alt='CupCake finishing printing the clip' %] Final layers of the clip. [% END %] [% WRAPPER 'figure.tt' pic='img_0978' alt='Finished clip' %] The finished clip: I must study SkeinForge's parameters before obtaining something actually usable. [% END %] Summary ======= About 19 hours of work, very few problems, and a working printer: probably the best-spent two full days of work so far ``:)`` .. _`CupCake`: http://wiki.makerbot.com/cupcake .. _`l'avvertimento relativo all'alimentatore`: http://wiki.makerbot.com/cupcake-dont-do-that#toc2