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09-05-2017, 12:18 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-05-2017, 12:24 PM by savagecreature.)
Man, I thought there'd be twelve of these things out there by now. Guess I'll just have to do it myself. 
I've been asked for instructions for assembling one of these a few times, so I figured that doing a build log for one might be a good way to answer some of the questions folks had, including some of my own.
I started by getting the pieces I had already cut and test fit off of the shelf in the lab, figuring I would just start gluing those pieces together, only to discover that a significant number of those pieces have gone missing in the time since I did that first dry fit. So I guess I'll start from the beginning again.
![[Image: normal_generator_04.jpg]](http://rebeldroids.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/normal_generator_04.jpg)
There are a lot of printed parts in this build, so the first thing I did was get some parts on the printer. Which brings us to question no. 1 ; why did I chop the top into so many pieces? well, firstly, I hate supports. They make a mess of the printed surface and significantly reduce print quality in my experience, so I avoid them whenever I can. The shape of the top of the generator doesn't lend itself to a good way to minimize supports unless you cut it into sections and put the sections on edge like this.
![[Image: normal_fg_01.PNG]](http://rebeldroids.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/normal_fg_01.PNG)
Secondly, as you can see from the above image, it needs to be cut into pieces to fit on the most common size print bed. The bed in the image is a Flashforge Creator Pro which has the same print volume as the Replicator 2, CTC, Flashforge orginal, etc. Which is to say all of the most common printers a print volume similar to this, so that's what I assumed people would be using. I segmented between major features in the hopes of making surface finishing easier once all the segments had been assembled.
For this build, I also went back to the CAD and added some features, one of which is numbers on the bottom of the segments so you know which is which, and assist in getting them put together in the right order.
kresty has asked in the past question no 2; why are there so many different segments instead of it being just "print five of these and one of these?". The answer to that is I cut the segments by eye, not with math, so I don't at all trust that any two of the segments are actually alike. I figured it was better to just include a file for each segment to be sure the finished product turned out the way it should.
In addition, I finally implemented the system to keep the lid on the top. (hopefully it'll work)
![[Image: normal_fg_02.PNG]](http://rebeldroids.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/normal_fg_02.PNG)
I've been asked for instructions for assembling one of these a few times, so I figured that doing a build log for one might be a good way to answer some of the questions folks had, including some of my own.
I started by getting the pieces I had already cut and test fit off of the shelf in the lab, figuring I would just start gluing those pieces together, only to discover that a significant number of those pieces have gone missing in the time since I did that first dry fit. So I guess I'll start from the beginning again.
There are a lot of printed parts in this build, so the first thing I did was get some parts on the printer. Which brings us to question no. 1 ; why did I chop the top into so many pieces? well, firstly, I hate supports. They make a mess of the printed surface and significantly reduce print quality in my experience, so I avoid them whenever I can. The shape of the top of the generator doesn't lend itself to a good way to minimize supports unless you cut it into sections and put the sections on edge like this.
Secondly, as you can see from the above image, it needs to be cut into pieces to fit on the most common size print bed. The bed in the image is a Flashforge Creator Pro which has the same print volume as the Replicator 2, CTC, Flashforge orginal, etc. Which is to say all of the most common printers a print volume similar to this, so that's what I assumed people would be using. I segmented between major features in the hopes of making surface finishing easier once all the segments had been assembled.
For this build, I also went back to the CAD and added some features, one of which is numbers on the bottom of the segments so you know which is which, and assist in getting them put together in the right order.
kresty has asked in the past question no 2; why are there so many different segments instead of it being just "print five of these and one of these?". The answer to that is I cut the segments by eye, not with math, so I don't at all trust that any two of the segments are actually alike. I figured it was better to just include a file for each segment to be sure the finished product turned out the way it should.
In addition, I finally implemented the system to keep the lid on the top. (hopefully it'll work)