Another new user from Fort Worth Texas

[DanoInTx]

Hello forum,

I've been using large 3D printer at work for the last few years and decided I'd like to have one at home for non work stuff. Ordered a Rostock Max V2 last week and started the build this week. Very nice design and goes together pretty well so far. Only "problem" I've run into is that I don't have any Kapton tape and the stuff is like hunting hens teeth to find locally. Was delighted to find out that Grainger had it locally, went today and bought a roll....brought it home and found out it has no adhesive side, it's just tape with no sticky....$23 I'll end up throwing in the trash. Luckily I have a back up plan and have some on order from Amazon, hopefully will come in tomorrow and also be of the sticky variety. I would have gladly paid another $30 over the price of the kit to have a roll come in the box. Don't get me wrong, the quality of the kit and the build so far is really really nice, I'm just a bit frustrated with the lack of a needed, somewhat hard to find roll of tape. The lack of the high temp RTV was no big deal though, found that at the hardware store no problem. As a mad tinkerer I am really enjoying the build as well, the lazer cut parts fit really nice and the nut/slot/screw design feels really robust.

The company I work at just replaced our big commercial 3D printer with another big commercial machine, I'm really looking forward to seeing what my homebuilt machine can do as compared to our old machine and then our new machine at work. I have 10,000,000 ideas for things I want to print, already picked up 4 rolls of various filaments to try out and my son already has a school project he needs some plastic bits for, this should be fun!

Dan

[Eaglezsoar]

Hi Dan and welcome to our forum!
I did not know that Kapton tape was made without an adhesive, that will be something that we should look out for in the future.
Have fun with your new build and please remember that our members are here to help you if you need it.
You can also participate by sending us some pictures of your machine or helping other members with their problems.
Happy Printing!

[jdurand]

Kapton is a trademarked brand of polymid film, like Kleenex is a brand of facial tissue. Polymid film is used for all sorts of things, some with, some without adhesive. Also the particular adhesive can vary, one might be for high vacuum use (maybe in space), one might be high temperature, etc.

[DanoInTx]

The tape I got from Amazon appears to be the right stuff, sticky as it should be. I only wish I had known the first roll was going to be a dud before I made the drive and wasted the $$$ on it. I can understand why a vendor wouldn't ship the RTV in the kit (possible leakage, possibly different shipping due to hazardous chemical??), but a roll of tape, even if it added a few $$$ to the cost of the kit should be included imho. But it's solved now and I'm happily building and so far very impressed with the kit and the assembly instructions. Half work day today, hopefully be assembled tonight or tomorrow morning:-)

Dan

[Eaglezsoar]

The tape I got from Amazon appears to be the right stuff, sticky as it should be. I only wish I had known the first roll was going to be a dud before I made the drive and wasted the $$$ on it. I can understand why a vendor wouldn't ship the RTV in the kit (possible leakage, possibly different shipping due to hazardous chemical??), but a roll of tape, even if it added a few $$$ to the cost of the kit should be included imho. But it's solved now and I'm happily building and so far very impressed with the kit and the assembly instructions. Half work day today, hopefully be assembled tonight or tomorrow morning:-)

Dan

Dan, I can see your point about including the tape but you have to realize that SeeMeCNC does not make a huge profit on the sale of the kits and the more "tools"
that are with the kit the more the kit would cost. Everyone should download the appropriate kit assembly guide at http://seemecnc.com/pages/downloads and read the
paragraphs concerning what is needed to assemble the kit and make sure they have all they need before ordering the actual kit. In your case an honest mistake was
made in buying a roll of tape that did not have the adhesive on it. I could easily have made the same mistake because I didn't even know that such a tape could be
purchased. Happy Printing!

[DanoInTx]

Trying to upload a photo of my build. Going pretty well so far. I've just finished installing the top and connecting the end stop wires. The build quality is really good, I'm impressed on how I'll look at the manual, look at the build, maybe think,"How the heck is that going to go? That's gonna be tough!". Then I try it, following the manual word for word and it goes flawlessly. As a mechanical engineer working in a production environment I see an sometimes draw a ton of assembly drawings and work instructions, and the pdf manual for this kit is REALLY good, kudos to those that designed this kit and build instructions!!!!!

As far as the tape goes I understand that it could be considered a consumable like paper towels or RTV. The only problem I had was sourcing it locally, and for something that's somewhat difficult to source I would have gladly paid another $30 for the kit to avoid the frustration, as it stands I ended up paying closer to $50 for the roll with no stick and the roll+fast shipping for the roll from Amazon. Now, if I was a smarter man I would have read the assembly manual before I ordered the kit and ordered all needed extras at the same time I ordered my kit, so that part is on me. In the end I'm still totally satisfied with my purchase, so I'm gonna quit whining about tape

Dan

[DanoInTx]

Ran my v2 for the first time last night, got it moving, but no temp reading on hotend during testing, hotend got hot however. Luckily I had ordered an E3D hotend already planning to replace the stocker. During disassembley I found that the temp sensor had actually come loose from the hotend, probably while I was taping it up? anyways, new hotend arrived this morning and I got it all wired up.
Used 3 different hobby connectors I had laying around from my RC helicopter days so I can easily remove the hotend in the future if needed. Reason for 3 different connectors is this assures I can't plug them in wrong and I could use lighter connectors on lower current areas like the fan and heavier for the heater cartridge. Got it all soldered up, wrapped in sock and heat shrinked, think it turned out pretty good:-)

Dan

[drunkenmugsy]

I like that connector setup. I had planned to do similar with rc connectors. There was a post about suggestions for doing this 04/14 but I have been unable to find it again.

I am in Dallas. We will need to keep in touch.

[Polygonhell]

I used to use Deans connectors for the the Hotend power and JR style connectors for the fans, they work fine. The only reason I changed was because I was trying to wire 4 hotends at the same time and I liked the long wires that come with the heater cartridges, I moved all my connectors off the Hotend and put some panel mounted connectors on the printer itself.
Getting the connectors off the moving part meant I was no longer restricted in what type of connector, so they end up being easier to connect/disconnect.

[DanoInTx]

I used Deans for the heater, micro Deans for the sensor and JST for the PEEK fan or heat barrier fan in my case with the E3D hotend. I put another micro Deans on for the layer fan and sharpied it black. I have tons of those connectors laying around from RC helicopters and airplanes, but I really like the idea of putting them up top with a simple plug bus like you suggested, sounds slick!

It's alive btw, printed test cube which came out good and currently printing layer fan mount. Fingers crossed!!!

Dan

[DanoInTx]

Prints 2 and 3, layer fan shroud and a stand for my MatterControl Touch!!! Came out great!!! The stand was my first print using the touch as well, 2 previous prints were driven from my PC. The MCT has a pretty decent interface, no brainer after using the PC version of MC.

Next I'm going to try some different filament and get started on my sons school project.

Dan

[DanoInTx]

Well I had a couple really ugly failed prints. I cleaned the glass REALLY good, applied glue stick carefully and evenly, but still not great. Finally decided to give Kapton tape a try and not so bad. Still having an issue with corners peeling up (trying to print pyramid shapes for kids school project). Not sure what's next.

Dan