Building an Original i3 MK2 Kit 3D Printer - Finishing!

Original Prusal i3 MK2 Complete

Yesterday I finished the frame for the Prusa so today it was time to add the electronics and eventually try to print!

Continuing the Build…

Here is where I left off yesterday, please check out my last blog post for that build log.

Frame complete

Next was mounting the extruder which came with a large amount of spaghetti - this will need to be cleaned up…

Extruder mounted

Extruder mounted

The white plastic in the previous two photos was a rigid piece which ensured that the wires would not wear and break near the extruder and would fall out and around the build plate. I then wrapped the plastic coil around to ensure everything is neat and tidy.

Cable management

Front view

Speaking of tidying up, I’d made a right mess of my workspace!

My workspace!

Next up was the front panel, again this needed a little force to attach it to the frame - another piece I wished I had a spare of but luckily the piece was strong!

Front panel

Front panel mounted

I then mounted the power supply on the rear of the frame and attached the PEI print bed. I used the same rigid-plastic trick to organise the wires coming from the build plate so they hopefully won’t wear and break.

Power supply mounted

More cable management

Here I added the filament holders and tested the level of the bed; pretty good if I do say so myself!

Filament holder mounted

Now to sort out the spaghetti wires…

Electronics spaghetti

Also it was about this time that I realised there is a rather hilarious face in the back of the extruder.

Rear view

Here I’ve plugged in the motors to the board.

Motors attached to the board

And now the temperature sensors and heating elements too.

Sensors attached to the board

…it’s just a lot of spaghetti…

More spaghetti

So I shoved all the wires inside the tidy little case and it’s done!

It's ALIVE!

Finished!

I moved the printer to my desk so I could print without annoying my housemates too much and here it is trying out the first print! …this one actually failed as I hadn’t set the height of the induction sensor correctly.

The first print!... failed

So here is the second print with a much nicer outline and it’s well affixed to the bed.

First print take two!

The Mk2 comes with a few models pre-sliced and availabled on the provided SD card - including this batarang, because who doesn’t like batman? The print was a success!

SUCCESS!

Also Hi! That’s me, don’t mind the robot dinosaur shooting laser beams, it’s my favourite shirt!


About Me

Engineer, maker, do-er...
I basically just like to make things.

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