Question about build time

[Aurora900]

So I know the build time is around 20 hours... but realistically how much can you do at once? I'm the type who likes to keep going and power through until something is done. I have always done this with my lego models... but the longest time I ever spent building one was 5 or 6 hours.

So I'm just curious how much time you all spent each day on your build and how often did you take breaks? I'm also wondering if this build time is based on an average speed, and whether or not that average is based on people with extensive experience in building electro-mechanical devices or people with little to no experience. I'm new to 3D printers, but certainly not new to building or servicing equipment...

Thanks,
Danielle

[DavidF]

I did 12 hours a day for 3 days building mine. No hurry, lots of coffee

[Nylocke]

I built one with 3 people in around 10 hours or less.

[Brian]

I spent over 40 hours on mine, but I customized it a lot. I have multiple paint colors, custom wire looms, stripped power supply, wiring for future expansion, etc. It took 4-5 hours a day over a protracted period, as I have other projects going on at the same time.

I also took extensive photos and videos of the entire process, and that made things go a lot slower than otherwise.

[Aurora900]

It'll be me and my boyfriend building it... but I'm a bit of a control freak with this kinda stuff, so it will probably be mostly me building it haha.

[nitewatchman]

I work until I tire on projects. Could be a few hours, could be all day, depends on the physical and mental complexity.

I have a Tormach PCNC1100 Milling machine. If am running parts, I will go 8,10,14 hours (machine earns $75 to $100 per hour). Machine has a tool changer and it is just mindless changing of blanks and parts in the fixtures. On the other hand if I am cutting a prototype or doing complex programing/debugging, a couple of hours can be enough. When I get tired, concentration is more difficult, mistakes occur.

On my RMV2 I spent more like 30 hours. Simple assembly 5 or 6 hours at a time, more tedious things like wiring and calibration maybe a couple of hours a night. Took about 5 or 6 days to get up and running good or reasonable prints (first prints were functional but had the look of a part recovered from Hiroshima).

My suggestion is that when you get to the point of running on nervous energy phase, stop and walk away. For me bad things seem to happen when I don't.

nitewatchman

[gestalt73]

I think I logged something like 60 hours on my build. It was my first time building any type of 3d printer, and I wanted to make sure I did everything right.

[RegB]

Rough estimate; a couple of hours most days over a 2 week period, so perhaps 30 hours up to it "running - more or less".
Some time could have been saved if I had GOT the whole crimping thing into my head earlier, it is still not easy for me.

If I did it again I would probably spend some time filing/sanding inside corners of the melamine parts to make sure that flat edges can be pulled up tight to the surfaces that they are supposed to fit flush against.
Once the parts are put together it is too late to pull them apart and clean out rounded corners, they are so tight that the melamine is likely to crack and split if pulled apart.

After the ~30 hours a bit of tidying up, actually putting all the covers on, etc.
Since then,,, probably countless hours tuning/tweaking/twiddling with the many variables.

TIP1: Start with the nominal settings, change only ONE variable at a time, change it BACK to nominal before changing a different one.
Do NOT think you can shortcut the learning/experimenting curve by jumping to someone else's settings that work very well for THEM on THEIR machine.
These things all come out a bit differently.

TIP2: Keep a log (engineer's notebook).
Review your notes when you get new problems.
Practice basic "lab work hygiene" (-:

[Jimustanguitar]

If you're mechanically inclined, the V2 design and the current version of the manual are leaps and bounds better than when I built mine. I'd say that it took me 15-20 hours the first time, and 10 or less the second time.

It's an enjoyable process, but the amount of time varies wildly from person to person. I believe that the SeeMe crew has Orion assembly down to only 3 or 4 hours now.

[Aurora900]

If you're mechanically inclined, the V2 design and the current version of the manual are leaps and bounds better than when I built mine. I'd say that it took me 15-20 hours the first time, and 10 or less the second time.

It's an enjoyable process, but the amount of time varies wildly from person to person. I believe that the SeeMe crew has Orion assembly down to only 3 or 4 hours now.

Yeah, I love building stuff, I always have, so no doubt I will have fun putting it together. To me that's so much more satisfying, knowing I built it myself. Plus I gain the knowledge of how it works and would be better equipped at repairing anything that breaks.

And yeah, it's easy to get build times down when that's what you do all day every day It becomes a science. At the computer shop I work in we sometimes get 400 laptops at a time and refurbish and resell them. The first one will usually take me the better part of an hour just to take apart and I label all the screws so I wont have trouble getting it back together... but once I do a few I'll have them apart and back together in 45 minutes total without even any guide to help with the screws. So it's easy to cut your time in half when you're so familiar with something like that

It's good to know that you were able to cut your build time down though. It gives me hope that it will take me less than 20 hours

[Brian]

I'm with you on the "fun" part. I was not in a huge hurry to finish up because I was having a LOT of fun with the build.

[Russ]

Probably 25 hours until the first abs fan shroud print, then many hours after that fine tuning.

[Holy1]

I was about 14 hrs but I had a cheat as I had taken my Orion apart a couple of times so it was all very familiar. Maybe 1/2 hour tweaking, got lucky I guess. Just had 1 problem with a faulty hobbed gear.

[guanu]

Don't think I count, but my best time on a full V2 from unmasking, building, calibrating and to it actually printing the test print is 6.5 hrs... I can build the orion in about 3... but of course I think I've built a few lol

Guanu

[Jimustanguitar]

Don't think I count, but my best time on a full V2 from unmasking, building...

Excellent point! You spend the first 18 or 19 hours peeling off the masking paper

[BONE]

If all the parts are correct and receive the right amount of hardware the first time, probably 20-30 hours. I didn't stop the clock, since I had to get replacement parts from SeeMeCNC, so 8 days.

If you look around the Build Zone threads, you get a good idea also.
http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=6067" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mac The Knife]

Around twenty hours for me,,, that included sealing and painting the edges. Peeling the masking off seemed to take forever.