Makerbot #000284 - part 1

I operate bot number #000284 and below you'll find some of my findings while assembling the mechanical and electronical parts.

To be honest i never had allot of problems assembling the bot, but there are some minor things to keep in mind! Things that aren't always explained or even obvious.


First things first: you're going to assemble the casing with nuts and bolts. The wood is simple plywood, and can't have allot of strain on any point. Tighten the bolts by hand and only tighten them with the hex screw by 1/4 or 1/2 turn. Wiggle the parts to asses if they're tight or need perhaps another 1/4 turn. On my bot i overtightened some of the bolts which will make it very hard to reassemble if i ever have to take it appart.

Take your time assembling everything. Mine went surprisingly fast - although i've read people building it in one or two weeks time, i spent perhaps half a day - but i have experience building machinery. So don't rush it, and don't build by low lighting.

The bot does rattle quit allot, i've seen people design feet (link) for it, but an important tweak to reduce quite allot of the rattle is by putting a tiny piece of soft material (cloth, foam - stuff like that) between the X stage rods and the square plywood piece you bolt to the side of the bot. When the X stage moves (sideways) the shafts tend to clatter against the wood and make quite a bit of noise. Just insert something thin in between to help reduce the noise, and also help keep the shafts even more firm in place.

to be continued...