3D Printer Build Week: Day One (photos)

Step one: assembling the frame.

Each piece has a corresponding letter burned into it, making it easy to follow the instructions.

The pieces fit together easily enough. We never had to force anything, and escaped with no broken pins, at least on this step.

Our lab storage room actually hasn't been this organized in over five years.

Coming together.

The end result, sans hardware.

The next part called for sliding tiny nuts into the slots on each piece, and then screwing them into place with tiny bolts, 57 times.

Close-up of the nut-and-bolt layout. This step was a little tedious and challenging. It's also where any casual consumer might first find frustration. Some of those nuts were hard to put in place.

The wooden assembly feels strong enough once it's all together, but you do need to be careful. This cracked pin is our one major casualty so far.

Some of the slots for the nuts were such a tight fit that we had to scrap out a bit more clearance. This is the one time during the day where we had to alter the provided pieces.

Next step, putting together the Y-axis assembly. The wooden piece here came preassembled. This is the piece that holds the plate onto which we will eventually (hopefully) print our 3D objects.

We'll mount a motor and belt system on this rail, which will drive the build platform back and forth inside the main housing.

The Y-axis is assembled, and eventually we'll attach the build platform to that metal plate.