markyoe
Senior Member
Part 1
Hello everyone! After much research and thought, I went ahead and purchased a Folger Tech 2020 3D printer kit for $284. I bought it from this website: https://www.3dprintersonlinestore.com/folgertech-aluminum-prusa-i3 I bought it from the 3D Printers Online Store because it was a little cheaper than buying it directly from Folger Tech and I figured I could utilise the costumer service of both 3D Printers Online and Folger Tech. As you will see, I also bought the LCD add-on for $12 which brought the total to $296.
The instructions can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/folderview...eFNWcENBdVUzWnhtWDZ2YWdHVXpoUXM&usp=drive_web
It looks like the box got squished a little in shipping.
It is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the board got slightly squished. It should not be a problem.
Most of the frame assembled.
As suggested in the build instructions, it was super helpful to sort all the hardware. It all comes mixed up in one bag.
This is one of the only times I will need to solder during the whole build.
Aluminum plate and heated bed installed. The Y axis motor installed.
X axis carriage assembled.
Power supply attached
Extruder installed on the X axis carriage. It is a direct drive extruder.
Ok, that wraps up Part 1 of the Folger Tech 2020 build log. It will be a few days before I start work on it again because 3 pieces are missing from the kit. There are a ton of pieces in the kit and that was bound to probably happen. I have contacted Folger Tech and will hopefully get the pieces shortly.
Part 2
In part two I will be installing the X axis carriage, installing the wires, the endstops, a glass plate, and the LCD screen.
I received the missing parts from Folger Tech in good time. It took 4-5 from the first email to receive my parts.
The X axis carriage has been assembled. I had to loosen the belt on it to help it fit and run smoothly.
The Ramps 1.4 and Arduino Mega come connected to each other. All I need to do was to add the heatsinks.
The Ramps and Aruino Mega attach to an acrylic piece that attaches to the frame.
Motors are connected to the ramps with the provided leads. The wiring was actually quite simple.
The endstops were attached. Although this picture only shows two, there is one endstop for each axis. Each endstop screws onto a 3D printed clip, and the clip fastens to the rods with a screw and nyloc nut.
All the motors, endstops, thermistors, hot end, heated bed are all wired up to either the ramps, the power supply, or both.
Spool holder attached. The filament I bought separate from the printer was Atomic Filament from the clearance section of their store. Only $18!
The heated bed elevated above the aluminum plate.
The instructions said I need to buy an 8x8 piece of glass. I went to Home Depot and picked up an 8x10 piece for $2. The extra 2" should be okay. I covered the top of the glass in painter's tape as many people do, to help the print stick.
I clipped the glass plate to the heated bed with office clips.
In Part 3 of the build log, I will clean up the wiring.
I hooked up the LCD screen to the Ramps 1.4 board. It was much easier than I thought.
I have hooked up the printer to the computer and uploaded the firmware without too much difficulty. Though Repetier Host I was able to move the axis and heat up the bed and extruder. I did receive an error that kept shutting off my control to the printer. It is probably related to the extruder thermistor. Once the error is resolved, Part 3 of the build log will be coming soon.
For those who didn't want to read everything above, this part is the most important.
So far....
Pros:
Price-(obviously) $300 is a great deal.
Rigidity- it is very solid and heavy, and the metal parts are high quality.
Assembly-not that hard. The instructions were definitely not like simple Lego instructions, but I was able to follow them.
Wiring-quite simple.
Cons:
3D printed parts- As you could see in the pictures of the X axis carriage, this kit uses 3D printed parts. That is the whole idea behind the RepRap community. The printed parts were not good. I had some trouble with getting the bearings to fit in the 3D printed parts and getting them to line up correctly. Folger Tech could definitely up the quality of the 3D printed parts.
Labeling of parts- Not bad, but could be better.
Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome.
More updates to follow . . . cheers!
Hello everyone! After much research and thought, I went ahead and purchased a Folger Tech 2020 3D printer kit for $284. I bought it from this website: https://www.3dprintersonlinestore.com/folgertech-aluminum-prusa-i3 I bought it from the 3D Printers Online Store because it was a little cheaper than buying it directly from Folger Tech and I figured I could utilise the costumer service of both 3D Printers Online and Folger Tech. As you will see, I also bought the LCD add-on for $12 which brought the total to $296.
The instructions can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/folderview...eFNWcENBdVUzWnhtWDZ2YWdHVXpoUXM&usp=drive_web
It looks like the box got squished a little in shipping.
It is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the board got slightly squished. It should not be a problem.
Most of the frame assembled.
As suggested in the build instructions, it was super helpful to sort all the hardware. It all comes mixed up in one bag.
This is one of the only times I will need to solder during the whole build.
Aluminum plate and heated bed installed. The Y axis motor installed.
X axis carriage assembled.
Power supply attached
Extruder installed on the X axis carriage. It is a direct drive extruder.
Ok, that wraps up Part 1 of the Folger Tech 2020 build log. It will be a few days before I start work on it again because 3 pieces are missing from the kit. There are a ton of pieces in the kit and that was bound to probably happen. I have contacted Folger Tech and will hopefully get the pieces shortly.
Part 2
In part two I will be installing the X axis carriage, installing the wires, the endstops, a glass plate, and the LCD screen.
I received the missing parts from Folger Tech in good time. It took 4-5 from the first email to receive my parts.
The X axis carriage has been assembled. I had to loosen the belt on it to help it fit and run smoothly.
The Ramps 1.4 and Arduino Mega come connected to each other. All I need to do was to add the heatsinks.
The Ramps and Aruino Mega attach to an acrylic piece that attaches to the frame.
Motors are connected to the ramps with the provided leads. The wiring was actually quite simple.
The endstops were attached. Although this picture only shows two, there is one endstop for each axis. Each endstop screws onto a 3D printed clip, and the clip fastens to the rods with a screw and nyloc nut.
All the motors, endstops, thermistors, hot end, heated bed are all wired up to either the ramps, the power supply, or both.
Spool holder attached. The filament I bought separate from the printer was Atomic Filament from the clearance section of their store. Only $18!
The heated bed elevated above the aluminum plate.
The instructions said I need to buy an 8x8 piece of glass. I went to Home Depot and picked up an 8x10 piece for $2. The extra 2" should be okay. I covered the top of the glass in painter's tape as many people do, to help the print stick.
I clipped the glass plate to the heated bed with office clips.
In Part 3 of the build log, I will clean up the wiring.
I hooked up the LCD screen to the Ramps 1.4 board. It was much easier than I thought.
I have hooked up the printer to the computer and uploaded the firmware without too much difficulty. Though Repetier Host I was able to move the axis and heat up the bed and extruder. I did receive an error that kept shutting off my control to the printer. It is probably related to the extruder thermistor. Once the error is resolved, Part 3 of the build log will be coming soon.
For those who didn't want to read everything above, this part is the most important.
So far....
Pros:
Price-(obviously) $300 is a great deal.
Rigidity- it is very solid and heavy, and the metal parts are high quality.
Assembly-not that hard. The instructions were definitely not like simple Lego instructions, but I was able to follow them.
Wiring-quite simple.
Cons:
3D printed parts- As you could see in the pictures of the X axis carriage, this kit uses 3D printed parts. That is the whole idea behind the RepRap community. The printed parts were not good. I had some trouble with getting the bearings to fit in the 3D printed parts and getting them to line up correctly. Folger Tech could definitely up the quality of the 3D printed parts.
Labeling of parts- Not bad, but could be better.
Thanks for reading! Questions and comments are welcome.
More updates to follow . . . cheers!
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