I've been considering getting a 3D printer for a while now. I first contemplated getting one back at the start of the year, but decided that first I had better explore the various options before hand. So I started looking into what types of printers there were. Their costs. Their capabilities. There are numerous types on the market ranging from FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) to SLA (Stereo-lithography apparatus) and each comes with it's own pros and cons.
Firstly I was looking at quality. I want to print various tools for myself as well as being a huge gamer, I would like to print various models and pieces for the many, many games that I own. So the best quality prints for models is definitely a SLA printer. But (and it's a big but) these printers use resin which is toxic and gives off fumes. Now I am severely asthmatic and any type of fumes can lead instantly to an asthma attack. So whilst this would be ideal, I do not fancy having to deal with any kind of issues resulting from the printing.
So that leaves FDM. But again there are different types of plastic that can be extruded. ABS (Acrylonite butadiene styrene) is hardwearing, and pretty resilient, but it does give off fumes when printing which again can cause me issues. So I decided that my best option would be to stick with PLA (Polylactic Acid) which is not as resilient, but does have other benefits such as being recyclable (type 7) and gives off little fumes when printing.
So, the next choice is which printer to use. There are so many depending on what kind of quality output you want, to how deep your pockets can go. Fortunately I can afford decent equipment so I decided to go with the Prusa I3 MK3S.
Now just as I was deciding to go ahead and buy, this whole pandemic thing started kicking off and a lot of the existing printers were re-tasked with printing Personal Protection Equipment for hospitals and health care workers. And this also stopped me going out anywhere (other than to the allotment) due to the afore mentioned asthma issue. So by the time I eventually got around to ordering there was at least a month waiting time for delivery.
But finally it arrived. But there was another issue. Where to actually put the damn thing. The 2nd bedroom is converted into my office/hobby room (usually known as the Otaku Room due to another of my hobbies). I have the room lined with IVAR shelving from a certain Scandinavian company, which affords me ample shelf space - which is already in use.
Ideally the printer should be enclosed to prevent draughts and sudden temperature changes from affecting the printing. Since I can't go out and buy a new cupboard, I'd have to re-purpose one of my existing cupboards. Except the only spare one I have houses some of my gaming stuff at the very top of the stack.
It needs to be brought down to a more manageable height closer to hand. Except the only place I have for it is currently used to hold an extremely large amount of books, manga and DVDs.
So, like any good little boy, I had to tidy my room.
After large amounts of lifting, moving, cleaning and dusting, with no small amount of swearing also included I eventually managed to swap everything around and get the cupboard at a reasonable height and all the printer bits ready to assemble.
The manual supplied is extremely well written with very clear instructions and photos. So I made a start...
The whole thing started out really well. I had just about got my way through building the chassis for the "Y-Axis" when I hit major snag though. The bag for the Y-Axis (on the far right above) appeared to be missing a vital part. Namely the Y-Axis belt. The belt drive is what moves the whole of the bed assembly forwards and backwards. Without it the build just cannot continue. So I sent an email off to Prusa asking for the missing part. I guess the building is on pause for now.
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