Intro, prelude, or just: who is this

meant for?
I wanted the title to include cheap, but
lets face it: it is not cheap to build a 3D
printer unless you have some/most of
the components on hand or if you
findjust shy of £100 as cheap to make a
tiny, not very good quality printer. This
tutorial is all about starting from zero,
figuring out and understanding all parts
of a 3D printer and keeping costs down
for this our very first build.
The upside is that all the items can be
reused for a larger better printer at a
later stage. I did that, and it Works
wonderfully - better than an Ultimaker
original in fact (proud).
It should be obvious which one is made
from old CD/DVD drives, and which one I
reused my parts in later :) I opted for a
small printer, but you can just ordre
longer metal rods and get a larger
cabinet, and you have a larger printer at
the same cost.
I have not kept strict tabs on costs, but
the final printer, which is awesome,
amounted to a total of just over £200 or
so.
In short, I'm going to build a 3D printer
made from parts from old CD/DVD
drives and some aluminium pieces. I am
going to provide complete detailed
description on every single part needed.
There will be no requirments on having
advanced or expensive tools nor expert
knowledge on anything.
This project is about learning how the
individual parts of a 3D printer fits
together, to learn the basics here and
move to larger projects later where we
can reuse all the parts worth more than
£10. I did exactly that, and made myself
a larger fully functional printer.
There are many, many other
instructables around, and some of them
have inspired me to make my own
instructable. Read on, and you will
see why I felt compelled to make this
instructable.
I've been looking at making both CNC
machines, a 3D printer and even a
combined CNC and 3D printer for a
while. Mostly looked at either very, very
cheap ones (still more than 3-5 times
the cost of this one) that could either do
CNC or 3D or the very expensive kits.
Mostly just drooled on the kits to be
honest, as I wasn't going to spend over
a thousand Euros on this. Especially not
untill I know for sure I would get a good
endresult. And I surely didn't know that
at the start of this project.
Most recently, I have been looking a lot
at Combination CNC Machine and 3D
Printer (here on instructables) that is
placed somewhere in my max end of
costs and in the very high end of quality.
While the writer is keeping expenses
down it still run up in some hundreds
Euros... and that was without having
local prices. I was apprehensive about
commiting to this, as I wasn't sure I
could ever finish it, and some hundreds
Euros is just a lot to spend on
uncertainty.
Common for all the articles, tutorials,
youtube etc. though, was incomplete
listings. At least incomplete for my level
of DIY competence as I couldn't figure
out missing steps on my own without
risking spending triple the cost of that
particular part as I might buy something
a few times before I got it right. This is
the gap I hope to cross with this
instructable. There is no hidden need to
lasercut, pre 3D print, CNC mill, use big
stationary machines, non-normal
household machines or anything like
that in here.
Most advanced "Machinery" used in this
instructable is a soldering iron or maybe
a multimeter - depending on your
mileage.
Why was I unsure about wheter I could
finish any of the other DIYs I looked at?
1. Lots of the parts listed has to
be fabricated!
2. Lots of the parts listed isn't
readily available where I live.
3. Lots of parts are not clearly
described in instructables, so I am
unsure what to buy or how to
assemble my stuff.
4. Import taxes are very high in
Denmark, so buying outside of EU
is not often a good idea. (English is
not my main language either).
5. I can solder, I made an Arduino
Uno once, but I am in not
comfortable soldering Electronics..
6. I can't come up with Circuits on
top of my head, which seems
necessary for many Projects.
7.Most projects seems to imply that
you really know your way around
Electronics, which I do not do.
8. Powersupply requirments are
mostly rather fussy and it is taken
for granted that you know how to
construct this yourself of old parts
or compeltely wire from new parts
on your own. Without
documentations.
9. The entire wiring part is most
often missing entirely so I'm left
wondering.
10.I own a Dremel + some
accessories for it, but I am in no
 way a precision metal- or
woodworker.
11.I do not have a drill-stand, nor a
band-saw or any other stationary
powertools with names I don't
really know.
12.Lots of explanations and steps
are missing in every single article I
have read. It might be due to me
being a novice, but it means I can't
use them. Most 3D printer
instructables come across as "see
what I can do" instead of really
instructing me in anything.
13.I do not have a working-shed filled
with all kinds of stuff to use in DIY
Projects like these. For me, it
translates into having to buy
everything to get started and
struggling to find fitting parts if
nothing is listed.
So, I just think I'm better than everyone
else at writing a 3D printer
instructable? NO! I just target a
different audience. The audience I am a
part of. - at least at the start of this
instructable :)
Why now, and where exactly in
regards to know-how?
1. I have read a lot about how a 3D
printer Works, but there is a point
where reading just stops being
usefull to me and hands on is the
only way forward. I believe I am at
that point now. I am a learning by
doing kind of person.
2. Instead of contructing a large
fullblow CNC/3D printer machine, I
decided on making a smaller model
to figure out the ins and outs
before embarging on much larger
scaled machines.
Does the above lists describe you?
Then I hope we find the answers in
my instructable.

Step 1: Table of Contents

 Intro


Intro, prelude, or just: who is this meant

for?
Why was I unsure about wheter I could
finish any of the other DIYs I looked at?
Why now, and where exactly in regards
to know-how?
1. Table of contents
2. Parts needed / shopping lists
1. Tools you are going to need
2. Items specific for this project
you might have or can find for
free or cheaply
3. Basic items and materials
needed
 4. 3D printer specific parts list
1. Price total
3. Decomissioning and converting
our dvd drives
1. Parts we want to salvage from
our CD/DVD drives
2. Why do I want to use 3 C/DVD
drives
3. Cutting off protrusions and
drilling mountholes
4. Stepper motors: soldering wires
and figuring out pin out
1. Finding coil pairs
2. Soldering
3. Testing for short Circuits
5. Creating 3D printer framework
from dvd chassic and parts.
1. Creating a mounting bed and
mounting the "Y" stepper/frame
6. Powersupply
1. Preparing our PSU
1. Word of warning.
2. Looking at PSU innards 12V
leads.
3. Making 12V connections for
our Ramps board
4. Preparing and connecting our
wires.
1. 12V 11 Amp cable
2. 12V 5A cable.
5. Sorting out the wires.
7.Arduinog Mega 2560 R3 Setup
1. Software - Arduino
Environment (Arduino IDE)
2. Connecting and testing the
Mega 2560 to the Computer.
3. Initial setup of Mega 2560
 4. Verify Mega 2560 functionality
with a bit of example code
8. Ramps 1.4 Control Board + 4X
A4988 Stepstick Driver Modules -
description
1. Description
2. Features of driver boards.
3. Before usage / Preparing for
usage
4. Wiring up
1. Power input
2. Power output
3. Stepper motors
4. Important!!
5. Temperature probe
5. Endstops - Home positon.
1. Endstops - When the home
posistion has been achieved.
 2. You do not have to use
endstops.
9. Assemble and setup Arduino Mega
2560 R3 and Ramps 1.4
1. Assemble Mega 2560 R3 and
Ramps 1.4
2. Warnings
3. Download software
4. Get the Marlin firmware
1. Setup the Marlin Firmware
in the Arduino IDE
2. Defining Motherboard as
RAMPS 1.4 with accessories
3. Defining Baud rate,
Extruders and Power Supply
5. Defining Thermal Settings
1. Temperature sensors
2. Heater settings
 1. Minimal temperature
2. Maximal temperatur
3. Preheat Constants
4. Extruder settings
3. Defining End-Stops
4. Axis movement directions
1. Invert the stepper
direction
2. Sets direction of
endstops
5. Printer printing area
1. Travel limits after
homing
6. Movement Settings
6. Upload the firmware to the
printer
10.Verify stepper motor works
1. Tesing and Usage
 2. Cura
3. Pronterface
4. Extruder, Hotend, Direct,
Geared and bowden etc
5. Have fun with this
11.That last step with the missing
info and videos!
1. Iterations of the DVD-printer,
strain-challenges and floppy-
drive as Z-axis
2. Hotend - cold-end cooling.
3. Bowden tube - fixing it in place
4. Instructable on the new 3D
printer?
5. No data feedback to the
electronics
Future updates.
Step 2: Parts needed /
Shopping lists
 Show All Items

This is the items, parts and tools lists

page. I'll try to be as detailed as
possible.
If you order items from somewhere, see
if you can order several items from the
same place. At least if you have to pay
for shipping, as shipping can very easily
exceed the actual cost of the individual
item.
Please let me know if you find anything
unclear or find that I missed something.
I bought most of my items on eBay.
Some in china, some in Europe.
After I had bought everything I
experienced some malfunctioning
hardware and then
found http://www.miniinthebox.com/ whi
ch can deliver pretty much everything
we need. It looks as if it is located in the
EU but it is not in the EU. The items are
shipped from Asia, so you want to pay a
(very small) fee to insura against extra
toll/vat on the items when imported.
Tools you are going to need:
1. Multimeter
I bought a Multimeter XL830L on
eBay. You can get it from HongKong
for £5. You might find it cheaper
locally, so look around.
You need this to find the right pin-
out on the stepper motor, and to
 check for shorts.
Complete beginners guide on
multimeters.
2. Some sort of small multi-tool to
cut bolts and remove protrusion off
of the CD/DVD beds is needed. Also
used to cut the threadded rod into
fitting lengths.
You can use a normal grinder I
suppose (I don't own one)
3. Soldering Iron. Don't worry if you
don't have one, you can get them
very cheaply on eBay. Thera are
also lots of guides on how to solder.
If you do not know how to solder,
this will get you started:
How to Use a Soldering Iron: A
Beginner’s Guide
Either search for Soldering iron
kits, or buy the parts individually:
* Soldering iron kit including all of
the below from £12 (Try looking
locally in a physical discount shop
as you might find it way, way
cheaper)
* Soldering iron £3-4.
* Soldering tin £1-2. (see if you can
find one with silver. At least find
one without lead (lead-free))
* A de-soldering sucker £2-3.
* Helping hand/3rd hand £3-10 - you
need one of these to hold the wires
and stepper motors while you
handle the soldering iron and tin.
All said, if you plan on doing some
soldering in the future, I can
recommend getting a proper
adjustable soldering station. It
doesn't have to ruin you. I
personally bought a Weller
WHS40D last year at around £33
including shipping on eBay. You can
find plenty of new way cheaper
adjustable stations as well.
4. You need a set of small
screwdrivers - all my CD/DVD drives
was easy to take apart using
standard small philips screwdriver
kit containing sizes (stars +) PH00 /
PH0 / PH1 - I had one drive where I
had to find small torx M5, but I only
saw it in one drive. Should be able
to find a small set for £5-10.. or
less.
5. Normal machine drill. Nothing
fancy. (hand Tool, not a stand or
anything)
6. A set of metal drills. See if you
can find a set containing 10 or
more ranging from 1-8mm.
7.A set of Allen/Unbrako keys. I had
to use the sizes 1,5mm, 2mm and
2,5mm for the Filament Extruder
feeder kit hat attaches to the Nema
17 motor. I'd recommend getting a
 set with more keys included with
some sort of holder/box.
8. Hack saw. You (might) need this
to cut the aluminium pieces we
use. If you have a jigsaw, or can
borrow one, it will be easier.
You can do this using your mini-
Tool, but it does take a while, and it
really stinks up the place when
cutting into Aluminum.
Items specific for this project you
might have or can find for free or
cheaply:
1. 3x stepper motors from old
CD/DVD drives.
Stepper motors have 4 wires and
we want those. Some drives has DC
motors with only 2 wires. We can't
use them.
No way to tell from the outside
unfortunately for sure, but I learned
that if you can open the drive using
 a small clip, it might be a stepper
motor. Can't open most DC drives
that way (at least the ones I tried).
If we go by motors from CD/DVD
drives only we have to make a
counterweight on the Z axis. If you
can find a floppy drive to salvage
you can do without counterweight.
The Z height will be down to about
2cm with a floppy drive motor
though! Need a stepper motor here
also.
I actually just tossed some DVD
drives a few weeks back, so had to
buy mine (typical). I found 6 of
them at £5 or so.
2. Unless you can salvage
endstops from the CD/DVD drives
you (might) need to buy some of
those.
Good read on how an endstop/limit
switch works from
RepRap: Endstop
I learned that many floppy drives
have both optical and physical
endstopsthat are compatible for
our use.
I later found a nice package with 6
endstops you might want to Invest
in, in order to reuse them for future
3D printer: 6pcs Mech Endstop
Switch fo CNC 3D Printer RepRap
Makerbot Prusa Mendel
RAMPS1.4 at £6 with free shipping -
item: 351156547800. This is going
to raise your total price some
though.
I did not use Endstops in my small
printer, and I infact ended up using
the much smaller, simpler and
cheaper standard limit switches.
These comes in different forms.
With and without rollers, large or
small levers etc. I ended up liking
ones with small/medium straight
levers and no rollers or other fluff.
 Import thing is, that you do not
need any additional Electronics or
parts other than the limit switches
themselves. The Arduino Mega has,
what is called, Pull-up resistors on
it, so we do not need to solder in
any resistors or such.
3. A normal powersupply from a
computer. The standard ATX
powersupply can give us the 5v,
and 12v we need. These can be
bought very cheaply as well. Can
also easily get 7v from it if needed
at some point.
You might have a 12v 8-15+
amperage black-brick powersupply
somewhere. I had two of those, I
once used for my Computer
(picoPSU).
4. A small fan around 30-40mm x 30-
40mm to cool extruder head. Any
old fan will do as long as you can
 attach it to blow at the extruder
head.
Basic items and materials needed:
You might need to buy these items, but I
have tried using components you can
find usefull for years.
I recommend buying boxes of 100 or
more of each. Not that you are using
that many for this project, but it is a
good way to starting up your DIY
Collection. M4 denotes a diameter of
4mm. So if a nut is M4 it fits with 4mm
bolts, which incidentially is named M4
as well. You can do this entire
instructable with just the M4 size.
Having some M3 is nice though, but I am
really only going to use it for the
heatbed level adjustments.
1. M4 threadded rod. 1Meter.
2. A box of M4 bolts/screws 30-
40mm long. If you want to keep
 costs father Down, you can buy an
additional M4 threadded rod, but it
is going to take much longer with
all the cutting out pieces to fit.
3. M4 washers, lock-washers and
nuts. Recommends 100 pieces box
of each.
4. Aluminum angle 25mm on each
side, 3mm thick, 1meter long.
5. Aluminum flat 15mm wide, 3mm
thick, 1meter long. ( you can do
without this if you want to).
6. Aluminum flat 40mm wide, 3mm
thick, 1 meter long.
7.I found a piece of 8cm long 6cm
wide 3mm thick aluminum I ended
up using as heatbed.
I had originalle planned to use
some of the 40mm wide aluminum
and then attach a larger plate on
top from DVD-casing.
 When I build my Real printer later
on, I learned that the material
called ABS prints superbly on just
Cold Acrylic plate! That Means you
do not have to make a heated bed
or make fans to cool the printed
objects or anything, as ABS does
not like fans. ( still neeed a fan to
cool your Cold end, of your hotend
(top part of it)).
8. Some wire. for the counterweight.
9. Some plastic or metal tubing to fit
around the threadding four our
counterweights. I bought a 1m
metal-tube that fit over the 4m
threadded rod.
Maybe you can find some old small
Wheels or something instead.
10.Some heatshrink to put
around/over over wirejoints - you
can use some other mechanical
joints instead if that is more to your
 liking. See if you can find a box of
heatshrink with different sizes. You
want small sizes for this project.
They are listed as 2:1, 3:1 or 4:1. It
is how much they shrink when
heated. Ie. a 4mm 2:1 is going down
to 2mm diameter. A 4mm 4:1
shrinks down to 1mm diameter.
The more they can shrink the more
expensive (normally). 4:1 is the
normal range.
When you connect two wires you
would want to solder them together
in many cases. We put heatshrink
around it to avoid shorts.
11.If you do not want to solder and
use heatshrink to join up wires, you
could take a look at the
mechanical Wago
connectors (prodcut info)- cheaper
from german eBay. Going to raise
your Costa lot though. I have some
 of these and I can recommend
these. Especially as they are small
and reuseable.
12.Some thin wire. Salvage some
from PC fans or similar. Less than
0,5mm diameter is needed for our
motors. I do not have a digital
measurement tool to read out the
exact size.
13.Some thicker wire. 0,5mm or
0,75mm. Get a lot of it. You can use
thicker wires if you want.
14.Dupont male to Female Line
Connector Wire Cable. I bought
them at £0.99 pr 40 cables. I
bought more later for my real
printer, as they are awesome!
15.Dupont Male to Male Line
Connector Wire Cable. I bought
them at £0.99 pr 40 cables.
16.Don't go buy seperate Dupont
plugs as you are going to pay a
huge overprize compared to getting
some sets as in #12 and #13. We
are using the plugs from #12 and
#13 to wire up everything to our
RepRap board. If you buy individual
plugs you also need to buy pins and
a crimping tool.
17. If the Whole Dupont wires +
connectors is too much of a bother
to you, you can actually buy a
complete cable set with everything
you need (supposedly) for your
Ramps 1.4.
Prices are not included in my
totals. £12.95 + £1.15 shipping.
Much cheaper than buying
individual plugs but still way more
than the Dupont approach.
18.I had some rubber edge-liner I
used on bottom edges to function
 as feet. You can do without or come
up with someting else. Don't really
need it unless your printer ends up
with Sharp edges.
19.4x springs for Heatbed See if you
can dig some up locally somehow.
We are going to use springs to
make sure we can level off our
heatbed. Any springs can be used
as long as you can fit them
between the two plates we are
using to build our heatbed.. See if
you can find some with inner
diameter of 3,3-3,5 to be used with
3M bolts. Can be found as low as £1
for 12 in china. If you go with all M4
build you should ofcourse get
springs with greater diameter.
3D printer specific parts list
(Price / optional price)
Price: £89,03 / £95 (I found you can get
much lower if you buy
fromhttp://www.miniinthebox.com/)
1. Arduino Mega 2560 Revision 3
I paid £14,49 + shipping £2,94 =
17,43 - that is grossly overprized as
you can find Arduino + Ramps
board for this Price almost. You do
not want to buy these in china as it
takes a month (if you are Lucky) to
get a replace if there is a failure.
This is the Arduino Mega 2560
platform where you put your Ramps
1.4 control board onto it. This Card
can be used for all sorts of fun
stuff, and can be reused for bigger
3Dprinters and maybe even CNCs.
2. RAMPS 1.4 Control Board + 4X
A4988 Stepstick Driver Modules
I paid £10.98 with free shipping on
eBay. (item: 81223071728) - This is
in China which I can't really
recommend as the potential wait is
 long. Potential savings are
awesome though!
This is the 3D printer
extenstion/platform for our Arduino
Mega 2560.
The Ramps 1.4 control board is just
interface where everything else is
connected to.
We have/need a Driver Module for
each stepper motor. That Means 1
for X, Y, Z and Extruder motor, so 4
in all. If we want to, we can use 2
drives and 2 motors for the Z axis
or maybe 2 Extruders, which would
require 5 Drivers.
This can be reused for bigger
3Dprinters and CNCs at a later
date. Bigger has limits as the
Driver modules only deliver up to
1amp each.
3. 3D Printer - Filament Extruder
Feeder Kit with Nema 17 Motor and
Driver Gear
I picked the Filament size 1,75mm.
I have the left side Feeder kit.
I paid £19,95 + £6,90 shipping =
£26,85 (item: 201242249437)
This is the one stepper we have to
buy as the motors from the CD/DVD
drives are not powerfull enough.
This one forces the filament into
the hotend.
The "Feed Kit" is the black solid
plastic thing attached directly to
the Nema 17 motor which Includes
grooved roller bearing, Spring and
fixing screws.
You can buy an extra Feeder Kit if
you want for multiple sizes
Filament extra kit.(pretty expensive
kit though).
I use this particular motor + kit as
it can be reused for a larger 3D
printer down the road and because
I don't want to experient with
 creating my own feeder kit.
It is called a "Bowden extruder"
setup. You can find it cheaper but
just make sure you can figure out
how to create or fit on the parts
needed to create an Extruder.
NOTE: This extruder is far from
perfect and you want a more
powerfull stepper motor for a real
printer extruder. You also nee to
come up with some sort of
contraption to keep the bowden
cable attached to this Extruder.
4. PFTF - Teflon tubing.
Guides the platic filament from out
Filament Extruder and up into our
Hot-end. I ended up buying a 1m
PFTF tube with fittings on the ends.
1. 3D Printer Filament PLA or ABS
1,75mm (I havn't tested it much
yet)
I paid £6,90 (item: 200955198928) -
 It was shipped with my part 2
(Extruder kit)
This is the plastic "wire" that gets
used as material. You can buy this
in different colors and different
sizes. Normal sizes are 3mm and
1,75mm.
The Price I paid is high for the
amount of material I recieved, but
it is cheaper than buying two
Pounds and I was very uncertain
wheter I would actually use it all. I
didn't really know the differences
between the two either.
I'll recommend buying ABS and not
PLA and make an Acrylic Printed
bed for this project.
2. 3D Printer Hotend MK7 MK8
Noozle 03 and 0,4 Thermistor and
Cartriged (I know it is spelled
wrong)
I paid £14,29 + £3,93 in shipping =
£18,22 (item: 121305643475) (not
the best quality)
This is the 3D centric parts of our
machine. This is the bundle you
unmount if you have buildt a
combined CNC and 3D printer.
The Cartridge contains the heater-
element and is inserted into the
aluminum end of the head. It heats
up the hotend and can melt the
plastic which gets squeezed
through the noozle. This package
include 2 noozles: 0,3 and 0,4mm.
The Thermistor is used to measure
the temperature of the Hotend.
The "threadded" rod is actually
hollow and contains the "melting"
chamber. Some models come with
affixed heatsinks. We make our
own.
You can buy all sort of J-heads.
My specific hotend never showed
up, and I ended up getting a refund
 and found some other seller. The
first seller immediately gave a
refund, so I had no problems in that
regard.
3. 5 X Resitors, Compact Ceramic,
22R 7W Part # WELWYN SQP7S-
22RJB15
I paid £3,21 + £2,95 in shipping =
£6,16 (item: 390813570865)
I only really needed 2 of these.
They are to going to be placed
under our hotbed. They can warm it
up sufficiently for our need. We
attach these using Kapton tape.
Look locally for better prices if you
know an Electronics shop. Or just
spend more time on eBay than me.
NOTE: I recommend using a piece
of Acrylic to print ABS on, so these
aren't needed.
4. 2x Thermistor 100K
These are used to measure the
 temperature near the hot end and
on our hotbed.
I paid £1,49 + free shipping. (item:
301299947038)
You can get these cheaper but I
bought some that came attached to
the wire with some protective
wrappings etc. as I hope it will be
more endurable that way.
NOTE: These Thermistors are only
rated up to 200c. It is propably due
to the insolation material used
which might catch fire or melt if
the temperature goes above 200c.
That Means these can only be used
for Heated bed, which I recommend
not using for this project.
5. Kapton tape
This is basically tape that can
withstand very hot temperatures.
We need this to attach our
thermistors to the hot end. It
 comes from £1 and up, depending
on Width and legth you buy.
Beware that many sellers actually
Sells "Koptan" and not "Kapton".
Read the description and look at
the images carefully. Also check it
when you recieve it.
6. Endstop Switch for CNC 3D
Printer RAMPS1.4
You do not have to buy these. You
can either use the ones from DVD
drive or configure in software.
Listed here to make the listings
complete.
Found them at £6 with free
shipping - item: 351156547800.
I did not use any for the small
printer. Remember what I wrote
about basic limit switches I wrote
earlier.
Step 3: Decommissioning and
salvaging part from our
CD/DVD drives
Parts we want to salvage from our
CD/DVD drives
We want 3x laser head slider (DVD-bed)
mechanism with stepper
motors,including the frame it is mounted
on. This included the center part, rails,
motor and the bed it is attached to. See
Photos.
From now on I will call it:
  The center moving part as: DVD-
bed
 Motor with 4 wires: Stepper motor
 The entire frame all the parts are
mounted on: DVD-frame
Be carefull not to remove any parts
which function is to hold the metal rods
in place. When stripping the moving
DVD-bed you should again be carefull
not to remove any parts that function as
any sort of grip on the metal rods.
We are also going to use some of the
metal covers to build our framework.
Feel free to use Wood, acrylic or some
other stuff instead.
Disassembly
It is pretty straight forward
to disassemble a CD/DVD drive.
1. You use a paperclip or similar to
press into the small hole in the
front to open the drive-bay. I
 learned that drives without this
hole is most likely to contain DC
motors. We can't use DC motors for
this project.
2. Then loosen the front plastic
bezel which is held in place with
some small retention taps you need
to depress.
3. Remove the 4 screws at the
bottom and remove the lower
shield.
4. Remove the upper shield. Some of
these are connected to some of the
PCB parts, so don't rib it off with
too much force.
5. Next you go about Carefully
removing the bed where the
stepper motor is mounted.
All my first batch CD/DVD drives had
stepper motors. Stepper motors have 4
wires (as a small ribbon) while DC
motors have 2 wires. We need the
Stepper motor version.
I got a second batch and only 1 had a
Stepper motor! :( Only indication I've
seen is how the DC motors seems to
lack the tiny hole you can use to open
the drive-bay. One of the models with DC
motor had a hole though.
All my drives were very old IDE drives.
Some of the below info on Stepper
motors were copied or at least inspired
by/from here.
3 of my stepper motors showed to be a
model PL15S-020, which turns out to be
a common and very well documented
bipolar stepper motor. Data sheet for
this model. (opens a pdf file)
This particular stepper motor does 20
steps per revolution, and the lead screw
has a pitch of 3mm per revolution. This
Means that each step of the stepper
equals a 150 micron displacement of the
laser head.
I am going to run mine at 1/16
microsteps, as it did not Work with full
steps as I originally had intended.
The resistance through the connectors
and coils were around 10-11 ohms on
these.
I've read around the net that it is best to
have 2 identical drives for the X and Y
axis. I have seen builds with a bunch of
mixed drives though. I guess it can be
configured in software...
Why do I want to use 3 CD/DVD
drives?
I have read that people had issues with
the Z axis (up) being too heavy for 1
DVD stepper motor. I found a possible
solution to be a single floppy drive
stepper motor instead, which should
Work for some reason I don't
know. Using a floppy drive motor is
going to decrease the Z height by 1-2cm,
which I did not want.
I thought about using 2 CD/DVD motors
for the Z axis but I read that you would
still need a counterweigh, so I decided
to just use 1 CD/DVD motor and use a
counterweight to help it.
I mount the X-axis DVD-frame on the Z-
axis DVD-frame as I had reservations
about adding all that weight on the X-
axis motor, which I had no way to
unburden since it moves sideways.
Feel free to do otherwise.
I can see some guides says "keep
endstops", so do that if you can. None of
my drives had any of these though.
I have found it can be configured in the
software, so I am going to do that for
this 3D printer.
I later found that the endstops weren't
really placed near the drivebed but
usually placed in the front of the PCB. A
Little switch you can depress. Some
floppy drives have complete end-stops
including a small pcb with all necessary
Electronics. I even found some optical
ones, so good hunting!
This instructable is not going into
details about salvaged endstops, as I'm
new to the Electronics and didn't want
to short out anything.
Cutting off protrusions and drilling
mounholes
I cut off as many protrusions I could
from both the bottom and top side of the
bed. I needed somewhat flat areas as I
am going to bolt through and need
something flat to fix the washers up
against. I should had taking some
"before" images, but I totally forgot.
Be carefull not to remove too much as
you might end up with a loose drive-bed.
See the Photos.
You can also see the holes I drilled
through each bed. They are 4mm but
3mm would be fine too I guess.

Step 4: Stepper motors:

soldering wires and figuring
out pin out.
Finding coil pairs
This is where we are going to put our
Multimeter to good use. I put my
selector (round selector Wheel) on 200
ohm and tested two pins at a time. When
I found a configuration with a
measurable resistance (something
shows on the multimeter), it meant I had
found a pair connected to the same
coils.
NOTE: the correct way to do it is to test
for continuity where your multimeter
beep/whine when there is a connection
between the two wires.
Se Photos for how I did the solderings.
I had 3 matching motor: PL15S-020
The resistance through the coils of the
PL15S-020 is 10-11 ohm. Mentioning this
as one of my other motors had the exact
same dimensions and the same
resistance while others were much
longer and had 20ohm resistance
instead. I don't know how it translate
into real World use. I thought the longer
motors would make it possible to create
bigger printed objects, but they did not
make for a larger movement range.
Soldering
I detached the stepper motors from the
drive-caddies. Put one in my 3rd hand
crocodile jaw and desoldered the four
pins. Next I used the second crocodile
jaw to hold the wire and aligned it in
such a way, that i didn't have to
manually control it as well. Meaning I
could focus on controlling my soldering
iron and tin.
I kept the flat wire-strip as there are
some sensitive copper wires just below
it, going down to the coils. It also
prevents solder from finding its way
down into the coil itself.
I soldered my wire directly onto the
motor and cut short the flat wire-strip. I
have seen other people solder their
wires to the far end of the wire-strip
instead. Do what you find Works best for
you. Just make sure the wires/soldering
doesn't get in the way of mechanically
using the motors in the motor-bed
afterwards - might be some Space
restraints.
I used some wire from computer fans. I
used the same color wires for each pair
on the motors. Ie: 2 yellow and 2 black
on a motor where the 2 read wires is
connected to the same coil.
See Photos to see what I'm talking
about.
Testing for short circuit
After soldering I redid the testing to
ensure I hadn't just made a short.
Meaning I tested to make sure there is
no connecting between the two pairs of
wires.
If a short occurs you remove the tin by
melting it and sucking it up using the
Soldering sucker and redo the soldering
of the affected wires.
Do strap up the wires using some wire-
zippers to avoid ripping them Loose
while we build our printer (I did that
before zipping them up). You also just
want to zip-them up to provide strain
relief - see Photos.

Step 5: Creating 3D printer

framework from DVD chassis
and parts
 Show All Items

Creating a mounting bed and

mounting the "Y" stepper/frame.
First the therminology I'm going to be
using:
 I'm calling the entire metal
Construction from the CD/DVD
drives for "DVD-frame"
  The center moving part will be
known as "DVD-bed"
 Front is when the horizontal dvd-
bed is moving towards and away
from you. This is your Y-axis.
Remember I said we needed to keep
some of the metal plates from our
CD/DVD drives? Try if you can find one
that is somewhat level without a lot of
grooves or other similar things.
Y-axis
I picked a fitting specimen and cut a
hole 75mm long and 55mm wide. The
size in cm/mm itself isn't what matters.
What matters is that it just needs to be
big enough for the 4mm rods that goes
through the moving bed and up through
the bottom of our hotbed
(hotbed/hotplate is the surface/plate our
3D object is created on) to pass through
for the entire Y movement range, which
is about 4cm long. If you just make the
hole about as long as the hole in the
DVD-frame, you are sure it is good.
In hindsight I should have picked a
longer case - I had to enlarge my
platform some.
When I started this instructable I had
planned to make detailed Measurements
and diagrams for the entire build-frame,
but it is almost impossible to do so as
all the DVD-frames are different. Even
the ones with same stepper motors on
are different. The ends of the individual
DVD-frames are not even the same!
I placed the DVD frame as far towards
the front as possible with the motor
close to the front edge. Motor facing
forward is in order for the heatbed to be
as far towards the back of the assembly,
away from the motor, when in the
"home" posistion (see a bit farther
Down)
DVD-frame corner "bracers"
I used a DVD bottom plate to cut out
some 15x15mm plates. I used the
squares on each side of the DVD frame
in each corner, and drilled some holes in
each of them. Actually drilled it before
cutting them out.
You can see in the Photos how I use
these cutouts to fix the drive-part to the
metal-housing.
You might find it easier to use some
other things. I didn't find the round
normal washers to be very good.
Z-Axis
Our up and down axis.
I fixed a piece of angled aluminum, as
wide as the platform, at the end of the
Z-axis bed. I drilled two holes and cut
away the metal between. This provides
some level of adjustment.
You can't use these for adjustment later
in the projects due to the rigid frame we
are going to make.
For final adjustments, we are going to
adjust directly on the bracket where the
Hot-end is attached.
Before attaching the piece to the bed
we drill holes for our Z-axis dvd-frame
and an extra holes near the ends for the
vertical aluminium pieces.
At each ends of the bracket I cut
grooves into the DVD-case. Into the top
and sides of it, in order to insert a piece
of angled aluinium in each side. I drilled
holes in them for bolts to go through
both the sides into the DVD-case and
the fronts to go through the horizontal-
mounted bracket. (see Photos)
On some of the pictures I have installed
a normal "rod" of aluminum in the top. I
later put in an angled piece in the top,
identical to the bottom one. I extended
this by a 4cm wide aluminium in order to
attach our counterweight for the Z-axis.
I also planned to put a bolt through this
if I needed to adjust the alignment of
the vertical axis. Turned out I didn't
need this and it would have required
some changes or a threadded hole to do
it. I didn't want to tap it (to make inner
threads in the hole) as most people
don't have a set like that.
Z-Axis moving-bed
I prepared the z-bed by removing any
protrusions and drilled 3 holes through
it for bolt through. I cut a piece of 4cm
wide aluminium with a lenght to match
the Width of the dvd-bed used for X-axis.
I just mounted it centered on the bed, so
didn't make any special height
adjustments on it. I did make the holes a
bit larger than 4mm as a Means to
adjust it a bit.
I drilled a/some holes in the top to fix
some wires/tubes from the hot-head (not
shown on all images).
X-Axis
The X-axis frame is simply center-
mounted on the aluminium piece we just
attached to our Z-axis moving bed. I
used spring-washers as a means to do
very fine adjustments if needed (turned
out to be a unneeded).
I needed a few bolts and washers to
make sure nothing went up against the
Z-axis pieces.
The very small piece of aluminium you
can see on the x-bed, on some images,
is simply there as I wanted to visualize
the Work.
I cut a piece of 4cm aluminium almost
the same length as the Width of the X-
axis bed and fixedit on the x-bed with
the bottom edge flush with the lower
edge of the X-frame.
I fixed two pieces of angled aluminium
to this longer pieces. The lower one is
holding the J-head, while the upper head
can help hold the fan and the Bowden
tube going down to/into the hot head.
Home Position
This part is explained in better detailed
later on.
Home posistion, which is also the start
posistion is when you sit in front of the
printer and look at it. Then the bed is as
far away from you as possibe, meaning
the hotend/nozzle is as far towards the
front of the hotbed as possible.
The Nozzle's home posistion is the front
(Closes to you) left hand corner with the
various beds as far away from their
respective motors as possible.
End stops
I'm not going to use endstops for this
little printer as I did not get any on
hands while working on it.

Step 6: Heated Bed

 Show All Items

Heatedbed, hotbed or heat bed or what

ever you call it. The thing has many
names.
RepRapWiki on Heated Bed.
Why use a Heated Bed?
The idea is pretty simple actually: if you
print a hot plastic material on a
Cold/semi-cold surface the plastic is
going to contract which is going to lead
to distortions or the printed object
might pop off entirely.
You do not want to keep the layers
molten though as it must be able to
sustain layers you build on top. I've read
that 60c is a good temperature for a
Heated Bed - when printing PLA. If you
prin ABS on Glass you want the bed at
110c!
For this build I recommend using ABS on
Cold Acrylic plate as the ABS Sticks
very well to Acrylic material.
Building the Y-axis / Heated Bed
As with the other Axis' I've flattened the
DVD-bed, drilled 3x 4mm holes and
attached some 4mm bolts to the bed
with a few nuts. These nuts functions as
spacers up to the aluminium plate which
will function as the lower part of our
Heated Bed.
The Aluminium plate is 4cm wide and
75mm long with a 3mm hole drilled near
each corner. Be sure you have clearence
below the plate for the head of the 3mm
bolt you are going to use at each corner.
I extended my Heated bed further
outwards, so it isn't entirely centered.
I did this to be sure the Nozzle of the
Hotend wouldn't get in contact with the
nuts on top.
Creating the heating element
I'll recommend not Building a heated
bed, but I keep the instructions just in
case.
I'm going to use 2 Ceramic resistors,
22R 7W (SQP7S-22RJB15). One would be
enough, but I'm going to use two in
parallell.
I lined them up to each other, put some
heatshrink on the exposed "legs"
between the two - to avoid shorts if they
touched the Heated Bed. I then wrapped
the overlapping 'legs' around each other
and soldered them together.
I soldered a some wire on each of the
legs and covered it all in heatshrink.
See Photos
I tested the parts using a simple 12v
1.5a adapter. I had an IR reader which
couldn't readout from the surface of the
Ceramics but one of them heated up the
piece of aluinum to 120c in a few
minutes, so Watch your fingers and put
it on something that can handle the
heat!
Creating a temperature sensor
You don't need this if you just use
Acrylic plate and print using ABS.
We are going to use a standard 100K
Thermistor as our temperature sensor.
I'm actually using the one that came
with my hot-end as it wasn't wrapped in
any sort of protective materials needed
for the Hot End - I bought an assembled
Thermistor with included protections
against the much hotter Hot End.
Before starting I measured the
resistance which showed at 110k or so. I
guess that is ok..
I twined each leg together with some
wire, soldered it and put on heatshrink.
Be sure no parts of the legs touch each
other as it will cause a short and thus
incorrect readings. It doesn't matter
what color wire you are using as there
is not +/- to the sensor.
I put a small piece of Kapton tape
around the Thermistor head and a bit of
the legs to avoid shorts with contact to
the Heated Bed.
Be sure to redo the measuring with the
Multiemter to check for shorts.
Putting it all together
I made a small indentation in the top
aluminum piece where I wanted the
Thermistor. I originally planned to put it
in the center, but changed my mind.
Fix everything Down tight, including the
wires. Don't treat the soldered joints as
mechanical fixpoints as solderings are
not meant to Work that way.
I put a piece of heatshrink around all
the wires and led the wires out the hole
I made in the center below the Z-axis
platform - see Photos.
Put on the springs, the top plate,
washers and bolts and you'r done.

Step 7: Powersupply
To keep costs down I have found and old
standard ATX powersupply unit (PSU
from now on) I am going to use. My
particular specimen is 310Watt. The
important part however is not the
Wattage, but the amperage on the 12V.
My particular model has, or can deliver,
17Amp on the +12V. Seems that we in
general would need 16-17amp on 12v for
a "normal" 3D printer, meaning with
Nema stepper motors all around and a
much larger heat-bed.
It is important as we only feed 12V to
the Ramps 1.4 board which in turn will
provide power for the connected units.
The Arduino Mega 2560 r3 board is
going to be powered by USB (or maybe
through the Ramps board) - a bit unclear
to me really.
After writing all this, I found a nice wiki
on Choosing a Power Supply for your
RepRap.
Preparing our PSU
First a Word of warning: Do not, NOT
EVER, open the PSU while the power is
on. Even when you have turned the
power off, some parts of the internal
PSU might cause lethal jolts, so do this
at your own risk! If you want to make
sure, you need to turn the power off
and let the PSU decharge for 2
daysbefore opening it.
In order to manually force the PSU to be
switched on we have to short out two
pins on the big 20/24 pins cable. See
images. I had an "adapter" which is just
a plug which shorts it out. You can also
modify it with an on-off plug, but that
goesbeyond the scope of this
instrucable.
However you do it, you just make sure it
doesn't fall out, so make sure the wire
doesn't fall out by taping it in place
using some tape with a strong adhesive.
Most newer PSUs doesn't start up even
when shorted unless there is some
additional load on it, so hook up a fan,
old harddrive or something to test it
turns on.
Looking at PSU innards 12v leads
Unless you buy a really expensive PSU
with multiple physical 12V rails you will
find that all the 12V yellow wires are
connected to the same point inside the
PSU.
You can see in the image how all but
two of the yellow wires are soldered to
the same spot. The last 2 yellow wires
are going out through the 24pin cable.
This means it doesn't matter which of
the yeloow wires we are going to use.
My PSU only has 4 main bundles of
wires including the 24pin cable.
Making 12V connections for our
Ramps board
The Ramps 1.4 board is designed with a
+/- connector for a 12V up to 11Amp (12v
x 11a = 132Watt) and a +/- 12V up to
5amp (12v x 5amp = 60watt) power
supply.
The Ramps use these inputs to feed all
connected items like motors, hotbed,
fans etc.
The 12v 11amp is stricly for the Heatbed
only. All the rest of our gear is powered
from the 12v 5amp input.
It is important to understand that all the
yellow wires delivers 12V. TheAmperage
is the listing on how much current the
Ramps 1.4 might draw from the PSU in
12V. The PSU is not going to overload
the RAMPS with any excessive Amps.
I'm stating this, as I've seen many
people worrying about using a PSU with
a high wattage/amp rating. It doesn't
work that way.
So: Amperage is just the max rating the
Ramps 1.4 board might draw from the
PSU. The Amperage listed on the PSU is
how much 12V Amperage the PSU can
deliver.
Preparing and connecting our wires
The reason why we use more than just 1
wire for the 11Amp plug is because if we
used just 1 wire it might heat up some.
We are at a very low wattage here, but
better safe than sorry.
A single 18 Gauge /1,2mm wire can
handle up to 12V 10Amp. So, using 2
wires we are far within the comfortable
limits and a single wire on the 5v is
ample as well. (I'm not an electrician, so
I'm really just quoting my findings)
If you want to do some conversions on
your own, you find the overview on the
above link and a SWG/mm calculator
here.
When Building my larger real 3D printer I
looked i up Again and found a US safety
regulation for shipping where they use
12v (at least for the paper I found) and
using a 1.5mm2 wire is plenty for
everything below 20amp. No harm in
being on the safe side and use 2 though.
12V 11Amp cable
I'm going to use the 2 yellow and 2
Black that goes to my 4pin (old style P4
cpu plug). I cut off the plug, strip the
last 1cm of each wire and twist both the
yellows together and the same for the
blacks.
The yellow goes into the "top" most
input. The one that is going to sit next to
the area marked as D8 on the PCB of the
Ramps board. The black wires are
placed next to the yellow ones. See
Photos.
12V 5A cable.
I have a wire with only 2 Sata power
cables. I cut that to the same length as
the 12v 11A cable. I connect the yellow
wire next to the allready attached black
wires and twist the two (new) black
wires and place them into the last spot
in he connector. See the Photos.
I use both black wires as I would have
to remove one of them otherwise.
Sorting the rest of the wires
You are going to have 1 or 2 Loose wires
now. You have to make sure they don't
short out something so either cut it off
from inside the PSU or insolate the ends
with heatshrink or something.
I have two loose wires as this particular
PSU delivers 3.3v to Sata powers, aside
from the standard 5v. Not all older PSUs
does that. Molex plugs only needs 4
wires as they do not use 3.3v.
The two connectors I've put on the
Loose wires are the Wago connectors I
mentioned in the parts list.
Remember to check your result using a
Multimeter. (I connected the plugs in
reverse in my Multimeter, which is the
reason why the display reads "-11.66"
instead of just "11.66") The rather low
voltage listed is due to almost no load
being placed on the PSU. I later added a
resistor similar to the one I use for the
heat-bed, between the +5 and GND
which resulted in a perfect 12v
reading :)
Long instruction to using ATX
powersupply for this, if you feel like
delving more on the subject.
After writing all this I extended my
wires as the short cable-run was
annoying.
Another approach is to use the wires
from the large 20-24 connector. It has
everything we need and some.

Step 8: Arduino Mega 2560

R3 setup.
There is not much to know or say about
this board, for our use, aside from it
being the computational base for our 3D
printer.
You can read a lot about it on
the official site where you also can read
theGetting started guide - direct link to
the Windows getting started guide.
Software - Arduino Environment
To get started we download the latest
official software (1.6.1 as of this writing
- just get the newest on always).
(previous versions, if you want 1.0.6
version for some reason)
When downloaded I just double-clicked
it to start the installation and went with
all default options. Choose install and
trust the USB driver installation pop-ups
that might come on your system.
Connecting and testing the Mega
2560 to the Computer
Simply just insert the USB cable into the
Mega and your PC. You do not need a
PSU to power it. The computer will
install the necessary drivers from the
software you installed above. You might
even see which COM port it is installed
on/as, which can be helpfull later - but
not critical by any Means.
If your software is using localized
langauge, which in my case is Danish,
and I want it to be in English, as it is
easier for me regarding tutorials, you
can change the language:
1. File -> Preferences -> Editor
Language -> Choose the language
you prefer.Close and open Arduino
software Again.Connection settings
Initial setup of Mega
1. Select your Arduino model: Tools
-> Board -> Arduino Mega or Mega
2560
Note: it remembers this selection
for future uses.
2. Select Com port it is connected
on: Tools -> Ports -> COM3 (Arduino
Mega or Mega 2560)
Note 1: the port number on your
system might differ.
Note 2: If it is unclear which one to
choose, you should note the listed
COM numbers and then unplug the
Mega. Take a new look in Tools ->
 Ports and see which ones are in
use by other items and which one
is missing.
Verify Mega functionality with a bit
of example code
1. Open the LED blink example
sketch:
File > Examples > 1.Basics > Blink
A new identical window will open
op, but now containing some code.
You can close the first window.
2. Upload program: Press the arrow
that points to the right to upload
the code to the Mega.
The code is compiled, uploaded
and activated. One of the LEDs on
the Mega is now blinking
Unplug your Arduino and continue
reading.

Step 9: Ramps 1.4 + A4988

Driver modules - description
This step provides a short description
on each part of the Ramps 1.4
RAMPS 1.4 Control Board + 4X A4988
Stepstick Driver Modules
RAMPS is short for "RepRap Arduino
Mega Pololu Shield" and the 1.4 is
version number. It is the "Heart" of any
RepRap Machine. It's actually
computational inert in itself, but
function like one big interface
(expansion board) for adding all kinds of
stuff, like stepper drivers, motors, hot
end and so on, to our Mega 2560 board,
which is the brains in the operation.
RAMPS should be powered with a 12V
Power supply which can supply a
minimum of 5A, an additional 11A if you
plan to use a Heated Bed.
For more detailed information on RAMPS
1.4 refer to the RepRap Wiki:
http://www.reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_1.4 or
Arduino Mega Pololu Shield
Description
I choose the RAMPS solution as
everything is pretty much jammed into
this addon shield to the Arduino Mega
2560 R3 board with tittle or no need to
add all sorts of Electronics components.
The RAMPS board itself function as the
base for controlling everything we need
in regards to 3D printing: extruder,
motors, heat-bed, hot end, temperaturs,
fans and even an LCD display you can
buy as an addon.
I later bought an LCD and it is really
nice :)
In order to control our stepper motors
we need the small A4988 Stepper Motor
Driver Board.
Feel free to read the A4988 datasheet. I
must admit I don't understand much of
that datasheet.
Warning: Connecting or disconnecting a
stepper motor while the driver is
powered can destroy the driver. (More
generally, rewiring anything while it is
powered is asking for trouble.)
Features of driver boards.
These Things comes with a list a mile
long, but here are the important ones for
now.
 •Maximum output current is 1A -
this makes it ideal for small
stepper motors and it is the reason
why you might have seen other 3D
printers with much larger Motor
Drive boards. They can provide up
to 2a safely though.
•Five different step resolutions:
full-step, half-step, quarter-step,
eighth-step, and sixteenth-step
•Adjustable current control lets you
set the maximum current output
with a potentiometer, which lets
you use voltages above your
stepper motor’s rated voltage
toachieve higher step rates.
•Over-temperature thermal
shutdown, under-voltage lockout,
and crossover-current protection
 •Short-to-ground and shorted-load
protection
Before usage / Preparing for usage
Check for any bent pins or other obvious
damage. If you find any pins that has
been bendt some, you can in almost all
cases straighten them up using your
fingernail or similar small tool.
The motor drive boards are each placed
on two rows of female connectors.
Between these connectors are 6 male
pins with room for a total of 3 jumpers.
We are not going to use any jumpers for
our setup, as we use full steps. This is
the place to make any such settings
though. See diagram in image for all
configurations options.
Gently install 4 of our driver boards in X,
Y, Z and E0. The small potentiometers
are placed farthest away from the
power-input connectors. Leave E1
empty. After installing the driver boards
you should put on the small heatsinks
that came with the package.
Wiring up
One of the very appealing reasons to
use this particular board is how we
connect it with a few 12v input wires, as
previously described in the Powersupply
step, and then everything connected to
the Ramps 1.4 is powered through it, so
we do not have to deal with individual
power leads or custom powerbricks or
any of the other multitude of solutions
I've seen.
See the images where you will find the
custom Ramps 1.4 wiring image I made
for this.
For a more general wiring manual, I can
highly recommend the one
atnextdayreprap.co.uk.
The downside is the 1-2 amp limitation
of the driver boards.
After Building my real printer I bought
2x SilentStepSticks for my X and Y axis.
Worth every penny, but don't go spend
Money on that before you get that far - if
you choose to do so
I also made an Instructable for those
Sticks: Install and configure
SilentStepStick in RAMPS - TMC2100
Schrittmotortreiber
Power input
As we just discussed, the power input is
simply two 12v mains. One can Draw up
to 11A on 12v and the other up to 5A on
12V. We are not going anywhere near
this, but it is nice to know as it does put
a limit on what we can connect to this
board.
Power output
Every item connected to the board is
powered through one of their respective
wires. It is very important that we
double check every connection we make
to avoid short-wiring it.
The D8, D9 and D10 are terminals for DC
output to our hot-bed, fan for hot-end
and hot-end.
Stepper motors
Our DVD stepper motors, which we
color-coded in pairs, must be connected
in pairs. Ie. first you connect the 2
blacks on pin 2B and 2A (first two pins),
and the two yellow wires on pin 1A and
1B (two last pins).
If the motor drives the platform the
wrong way, you can shift around the
pairs.IMPORTANT!!: everything must be
entirely shut down and powered off.
Meaning power-plug out of wall, 12V
input power connector removed from the
Ramps 1.4 and USB plug unplugged
before you unplug any pins on the
Ramps board or this is a sure way to fry
the Ramps board, or at least the Stepper
driver board.
You can invert the direction in the
firmware instead. Described in the next
step of this instrucable.
Temperature probes
We connect our Temperature probes, to
the pins marked with T0 for our Hot-end
and T1 for our Hot-bed. You can add a
third one to the T2 if you feel like it.
Endstops - Home posistion
You might have none, 3 or 6, or some
other number.
Remember how I talked about the home
placement? When you sit in front of the
3D printer and look at it:
The hot-end nozzle must be as close as
possible to the hot-bed's edge closest to
you and to the left hand edge of the hot-
bed.
The nozzle must be as close as possible
to the bed without actually touching it.
You can test it by placing a standard
print paper on the hot-bed. When you
need to give a slight tug or two to
remove the paper, then the nozzle is
down far enough.
You can fine tune these things in the
software.
Endstops - When the home position
has been achieved.
In this posistion we install our endstops.
Meaning up install them in a place that
will activate them when your printer is
at home posistion.
You do not have to use endstops, but if
you do not you might have to do a
manual calibration before each print. At
least for this little printer.
If you have more endstops you can
place them in the MAX end.
If you have all 6 endsops installed
correctly the printer is self calibrating
as long as everything is screwed down
tight and stays in place.
Real self-calibration can only be
achieved if you Invest in items like a
Proximity sensor or Force Sensors, but
that is for another instructable.

Step 10: Assemble/Firmware

on Mega 2560 and Ramps 1.4
board
It is assumed you have installed the
Arduino software ("Arduino IDE" from
now on) and prepared your
powersource in the previous steps.
Assemble Mega 2560 R3 and Ramps
1.4
Unplug the Mega 2560 board and
disconnect any powercords you might
have onto the Ramps 1.4.
I removed the motor driver boards as I
found I needed to lay down some rather
firm, but even, pressure on top of the
Ramps 1.4 board to make it connect
properly.
You need to be really carefull as there
are a lot of pins that all needs to go
down into the female plugs on the
Ramps 1.4 board. I had a handfull of
bent pins that was noticeable and the
entire upper row had to be gently
nudged inwards as well!
I also needed to shorten some of the
pins under powerconnector on the
RAMPS 1.4 as they lifte up from
touching down on the power-barrel on
the Mega 2560 r3 board. It doesn't
matter that they touch, but my board
was lifted up a lot!
On the positive side though, is the fact
that the RAMPS board can only be
installed one way.
After assembly you:
1. Insert the green powerconnector
(12v11a/12v5amp) into Ramps 1.4.
2. Check the wires corresponds to
the input + and -
3. Turn on the PSU.
4. Connect the USB to your
computer.
Doesn't matter what what sequence you
do 3 and 4..
Warnings
Reversing +/- or otherwise incorrectly
connecting power can destroy your
electronics and cause fire hazard.
Incorrectly inserting stepper drivers will
destroy your electronics and cause a
fire risk.
Always make sure power and USB is
disconnected when removing or
adjusting stepper drivers. Always make
sure to insert drivers in correct
orientation and in the socket
correctly. Small adjustable
potentiometer awayfrom powerinput.
The endstop pins might have a different
layout on your endstops or board, so
make sure to wire them correctly.
DON'T secure Arduino/RAMPS with
conductive screws through both
mounting holes. The screw may cut into
the positive trace creating a HIGH
current short.
Download software
We are going to use the RepRap
Marlin (not a link to download, but
actually a wiki with step-by-step
instructions if you scroll Down to
"figuring and compilation") software (it's
actually a firmware) among the many
other firmwares(a list only) out there.
We need to upload the firmware to the
Mega 2560 R3 board before we can start
taking advantage of our Ramps 1.4
board. The Marlin firmware is code that
turns the Mega 2560 r3 board into a 3D
printer (basically).
There is a good description here, if you
want some other angle than what I
write.
Another person made a guide that I
found usefull as well.
Get the Marlin Firmware
Go and download the Marlin 3D printer
Firmware, which is version 1.0.2 as of
this writing, and place it somewhere you
can find it.
Click the Download Zip in the right hand
side. See my images here if you can't
find it.
The file you downloaded is
named Marlin-Development.zip which
will create a folder named Marlin-
Development when you unpack it. Put it
someplace convenient like the desktop.
Setup the Marlin Firmware in
Arduino program
1. From inside Arduino IDE: File ->
Open
2. Browse to your Marlin-
Development folder and into
the Marlin folder.
3. Select and open
the Configuration.h or Marlin.ino fil
e (both opens a linked set of
tabs/sketches, so it doesn't matter
which one you choose).
 1. A new window opens
containing the Marlin.ino. Close
the other/old window.
4. You have a lot of tabs in the open
window. Select
the Configratuin.h tab - see images.
Defining Motherboard as RAMPS 1.4
with accessories.
We need to define which Motherboard
we are using. You can see all available
board types in the boards.h file.
Many guides around the web tell us to
either edit at boards. or pins file or
similar, to define motherboard. We do
not have to do that anymore. The
variables we need are all placed in
Configuration.h
1. Configuration.h -> Press CTRL+F
to open the find window and write
RAMPS
1. Click Find to find the line
containing: #define
MOTHERBOARD...
2. Here we need to define our
board as pr. definitions in
the boards.h file. Aside from
defining we are using a RAMPS
board, it is the the devices
connected to the D8 (Heat-
bed), D9
(fan) and D10 (heater)we define
here. E is for Extruder, F for Fan,
B for Bed.
3. Make sure the line
reads: #define MOTHERBOARD
BOARD_RAMPS_13_EFB
4. Say we had two fans and no
heatbed we would define the
last part a EFFinstead.
5. Save the file if you made any
changes.
Defining Baud rate, Extruders and Power
Supply
Default baud rate is 250000 now. If it
gives you any problems (with your
computer) you can change it to 125000.
These steps are only for people WHO
need to change it to the non-default
125000 configuration.
1. Open Configuration.h
2. Find the line containing #define
BAUDRATE 250000 and put two
slashes in front of it, like this:
// #define BAUDRATE 250000
3. On a new line you write:
#define BAUDRATE 125000
4. Save the file
Extruders are default defined as 1, so
leave that alone.
Power Supply is configured as standard
ATX. PSU can be defined as X-Box as
well.
Defining Thermal Settings
Temperature sensors
There is a list with 20-25 different
options for each sensor. Below the
options is the list which defines our
sensor inputs on the RAMPS 1.4 board.
Default defines SENSOR_0 with
option 1 which Means it is a // 1 is 100k
thermistor - best choice for EPCOS 100k
(4.7k pullup) or in other words: the
standard thermistor used for
temperature Measurements for 3D
printers (that I know).
The TEMP_SENSOR_0 is your Hot-end
thermistor.
The other sensors are configured with
option 0, which translates to
beingdisabled.
#define TEMP_SENSOR_0 1
#define TEMP_SENSOR_1 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_2 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_3 0
#define TEMP_SENSOR_BED 1
Heater settings
We need to define minimum and
maximum temperature of our Hot-end
and Hot-bed
Minimal temperature
First is the Minimum settings, which are
default at 5, which is just to test the
Thermistor is working. Ie: to make sure
wires aren't melted or otherwise
damaged etc.
Comment out 1 ,2 and 3 as we don't
have those.
You will get a compile error if you
comment out the BED_MINTEMP (maybe
only if it enabled under Temperature
sensors). You can define MINTEMP as 0.
#define HEATER_0_MINTEMP 5
//#define HEATER_1_MINTEMP 5
//#define HEATER_2_MINTEMP 5
//#define HEATER_3_MINTEMP 5
#define BED_MINTEMP 5
Maximal temperature
Here we define maximum temperature
for our Hot-end and Hot-bed.
Defaults:
Hot-end: 275
Hot-bed: 150
Comment out 1,2 and 3 as we do not
have those (not sure you have to really)
If you print ABS, you want to do it
around 230 degrees or so.
Remove the // on the line with
BED_MAXTEMP if you install a heated
bed.
#define HEATER_0_MAXTEMP 240
//#define HEATER_1_MAXTEMP 275
//#define HEATER_2_MAXTEMP 275
//#define HEATER_3_MAXTEMP 275
//#define BED_MAXTEMP 120
If you make any bigger changes,
you must change the Preheat
Constantsway farther Down in the file
where (use CTRL+F) Preheat for PLA is
listed at 180 for hotend and 70 for bed
and ABS is 240/110 respectively.
Preheat Constants
These are mostly relevant if you use an
LCD display, as these settings will be
listed as "Preheat PLA" and "Preheat
ABS" in there.
It is a good idea to Insert a comment
with the original temperatures so we
don't forgot those.
#define PLA_PREHEAT_HOTEND_TEMP
180
#define PLA_PREHEAT_HPB_TEMP 70
#define PLA_PREHEAT_FAN_SPEED
255 // Insert Value between 0 and 255
#define ABS_PREHEAT_HOTEND_TEMP
240
#define ABS_PREHEAT_HPB_TEMP 110
#define ABS_PREHEAT_FAN_SPEED
255 // Insert Value between 0 and 255
Extruder settings
As default the Extruder is configured to
not start unless the hot-end is at least
170c degrees. This function is enabled
as default with
PREVENT_DANGEROUS_EXTRUDE and a
default definened minimum temperature
at 170c.
I have uncommented these lines as I
want to test the Extruder motor first
without attaching the hot-end.
Remember to remove the slashes later
on.
// #define
PREVENT_DANGEROUS_EXTRUDE
// #define EXTRUDE_MINTEMP 170
Defining End-Stops
End stops are small contacts/switches
placed at one or both ends of axis to tell
the system it should stop. These can be
used to automatically calibrate the
printer for Home and end-posistions.
Some of the technical electronical parts
of End stops are allready defined as the
different PULLUPS resistor
configurations. You can read about pull-
up-resistors in the wiki.
I'm not all into the specifics so i'm
leaving most settings at default for now.
One thing of importance though: there
are Pullup resistors on the Arduino
board, which can be used, so you do not
have to solder anything in yourself.
If you do not install endstops, you need
to remove the slashes in front of one or
both lines according to your system. I
removed both as I don't have any
endstops.
#define DISABLE_MAX_ENDSTOPS
#define DISABLE_MIN_ENDSTOPS
You can also define which way the
printer should move to get to home
posision. Read in the Axis movement
directions below.
Axis movement directions
There is no real way to know which way
the beds are going to move, except to
try it out. After connecting everything
you move alle beds to the center
position and move one of them a bit. If it
move the wrong way, you can either
change the configuraitons or swap the
wire pairs on the RAMPS 1.4
- AFTER you have powered everything
off and disconnected the USB as well.
If you just want to change the
configurations file, you change false to
true as fits your system:
// Invert the stepper direction. Change
(or reverse the motor connector) if an
axis goes the wrong way.
#define INVERT_X_DIR false
#define INVERT_Y_DIR false
#define INVERT_Z_DIR false
#define INVERT_E0_DIR false
After your have configured the motors to
move the right way, you should
configure which way the motors have to
move to get to the home position:
// Sets direction of endstops when
homing; 1=MAX, -1=MIN
If a endstop is configured to be at the 0
position for that axis, the setting here
needs to be -1. Otherwise, it needs to be
1.
#define X_HOME_DIR -1
#define Y_HOME_DIR -1
#define Z_HOME_DIR -1
I don't think you would ever really need
to change this?!
Printer printing area
This defines how large an area we can
print on. It is listed as 200mm in each
direction as default, which is rather
much more than our printer can do. Our
machine can do around 40mm in each
direction. I'll set it at 37, just to start at
a safe distance.
// Travel limits after homing (units are in
mm)
#define X_MIN_POS 0
#define Y_MIN_POS 0
#define Z_MIN_POS 0
#define X_MAX_POS 37
#define Y_MAX_POS 37
#define Z_MAX_POS 37
You can also define bed-leveling but you
have to play with that on your own
printer to make any sense of it.
If you use a floppy drive for Z axis it is
around 15mm or so.
Movement Settings
We need to define how many steps the
motors needs to make in order to move
the beds 1mm.
We will need to use the values as
calculated for the different printer axes
and extruder. The order is {X, Y, Z, E}
//#define
DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT
{80,80,4000,500}
#define
DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT
{215.12,215.12,8034.69,196.52}
We define the fastest mm/s the printer is
allowed to move. .
//#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {300,
300, 5, 25}
#define DEFAULT_MAX_FEEDRATE {100,
100, 2, 25}
We need to tune this. Listed is the
default settings.
//#define DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION
{3000,3000,100,10000}
#define DEFAULT_MAX_ACCELERATION
{200,200,50,5000}
We need to define how fast our printer is
allowed to accellerate. The default for
all 3 are 3000, but I change that to 100
to start up easy.
#define DEFAULT_ACCELERATION 100
#define
DEFAULT_RETRACT_ACCELERATION 100
#define
DEFAULT_TRAVEL_ACCELERATION 100
Upload the firmware to the printer
Press the "tick" (if that is the Word) icon
to the left of the arrow icon to verify the
code. If it makes an error you need to
find it and correct it. It is most likely a
typo or maybe an extra \ or similar.
If it does give an error but not showing
you anything, you can choose to copy it
and paste it into notepad or similar, to
see what the error is.
You can press the arrow-icon to upload
the configuration to your printer.
A common error I've done was being
connected to my printer with
Pronterface (or another USB controller
program) as Arduino can't connect to it
in that case.

Step 11: Verify stepper motor

works
Testing and usage
Cura
We are going to use Cura to manage our
model files. It has included a "slicer"
which is the part that generates the
gcode, which our printer in turn use to
know how to move around and print
what we want.
Pronterface
We are going to use Pronterface to see
if our motors move the right way.
Thelatest version for Windows, which
I'm going to use, is from febuary 2015.
Position the printer axis manually at the
center of each axis.
Power up the printer
Open a host software like Pronterface
or Repetier
Click to connect the host to the printer
Keep your finger close to the stop
button of the motherboard (just in case).
Send a command to move X axis a little
amount like +1 or +10 mm
If the printer moves in the other
direction, you will have to reverse the
axis direction.
Repeat for each X Y Z axis
Where to now?
It's been a while since I last wrote on
this Instructable, and I can't for the life
of me find the Photos I took of the few
cubes I printed
I instead uploaded some different
versions of the printer I created. I
believe I reached 5 different models as I
weren't satisfied with the accuracy.
One thing I feel I havn't touched a lot is
the entire Extruder setup, so I'll wrap it
up by talking a bit about that subject.
Extruder, Hotend, Direct, Geared
and bowden etc...
This topic can be very confusing as
different setups might refer to the same
parts with differnt names.
Lets start at the business end of it. Here
we have the nozzle, that outputs the
molten plastic. This Nozzle sits at the
end of, and is part of, the Hotend. The
opposit end of this Hotend, is called the
Cold end. This is where the plastic
filament enters the Hotend.
It is called the Cold ends as you many
Hotends will have a fan placed here to
keep the filament Cold. You do not want
it to melt primaturely. Some hotends,
like the Jheads and budanozzle use
other methods to prevent the plastic
from melting.
Some printers have a stepper motor
located right up to the Cold-end of the
hot end, along with a lot of gears. The
Gears and motor is called the Extruder.
People with this setup often Refers to
the combined setup of hotend, motor
and gear as "the extruder". Some even
call this setup as a "Direct Extruder" as
the filament goes directly from the
extruder Down into the hotend. Guess
most accurate description would be
"Geared Direct Extruder". In this case
the Word "direct" indicates how it puts
the filament directly into the coled-end
of the hotend.
The Extruder IS the motor and the gear
part . Not all extruders use gears. The
ones with gears are called Geared
Extruders, while the ones that just
moves the filament along with a single
"bit" attached to the motor axle is
called Direct Extruders.
The confusing part is that if your motor
and gears, or just the bit, is located next
to/ or on your printer you are using a
"bowden" tube to guide the filament up
to your hotend. In this case you have a
"Bowden Extruder". Depending on
wheter you have gears or not, it will be
a "Geared Bowden Extruder" or a "Direct
Bowden Extruder".
A good read here on, what is a bowden
extruder.
Use a search on "reprap wiki" to find
additional info.
Have fun with this.
Morten
Denmark

Step 12: That last step with

the missing info and videos!
 Show All Items

After a success I couldn't have begun to

anticipate I have been scouring my
computer for extra imagry and came
upon two videos I made, in addition to
some extra Photos.
One of the videos simply shows the
printer in action. It's slow going but it
Works! At the time I didn't really know
the difference from ABS and PLA. I'm
printing using ABS here, so the fan-
placement is rather bad (ABS don't like
cooling fans).
The top of the hotend, which you now
know is called the cold-end needs the
fan though.I alter mounted the fan onto
the Z-axis frame.
Iterations of the DVD-printer, strain
challenges and floppy-drive as Z-
axis
You can also see another iteration of the
printer, where I used 2 motors for Z-axis.
One on each side.
The constant problem I faced was the
strain put on the DVD-beds with weight
was put on it. Putting a counterweight
on it might even had made it worse. In
any case I ended up using a floppy-drive
as it had all the torque needed. Height
was reduced to 15mm thought, but I had
a working 3D printer!
Hotend - cold-end cooling.
This was one of the challeging parts
getting to Work and I believe I missed it
in previous steps. You need to have
some sort of cooling on that cold-end,
the thin threadded part, sticking up over
the bolt above the aluminium block
and nozzleof the hot-end.
This short threaded tube is the cold-end
where the plastik is not yet molten. My
part even had a short piece of PFTE in
there to guide the plastik. This PFTE can
stand 240c and which point it will melt
and ruin the hotend.

Between the hot-end and the cold-end

part we have what is called a heatbreak.
This part is usually not threadded and
can be very delicate. Best if it is made
of some poor-heat conducting material
like steel.
Mine was actually a very poor quality,
where the heat-break was positioned at
the top end, and not just above the
aluminium sink where the heat-break
was supposed to be!
Got sidetracked there a bit. You MUST
make some sort of cooling on that cold-
end part. I started using some of the
aluminium parts I had, and drilled holes
through them - be sure to make them
different sizes with room for air to move
though. You want some turbulence in
between the fins.. Fixed them on with a
single m6 nut. I believe it would have
worked great.
Another option is to thread the parts
and screw them on.
I ended up using the solid aluminium
part a friend gave me. I could run my
bowden tupe straight Down it and fixed
it in place using duct-tape!
Bowden tube - fixing it in place
One thing I felt missing from it all, which
was causing me no end of problems.
Fixing that bowden tube in place.
I have seen people threading nuts onto
the tube, and then fix the nut in place. I
guess that really is the best option for
this printer.
I only had some larger nuts though, so
took a small piece of duct-tape, did a
single round on the tube, with the tape,
could screw the nut onto and over the
tape. I then taped the nut Down really
good. That way I had a bulking fixpoint
at the extruder end, which I could the
Duct-tape onto my extruder! Not pretty
but it Works.
The Extruder end of the bowden was
more of a challenge. You can do the
same, just drille a hole in a small piece
of aluminium first. Put the end of the
bowden tube through it and do the same
nut and tape trick.
And it all worked!
Instructable on the new 3D printer?
I've been asked if I'm going to make an
Instructables on the new printer I made.
Short answer is: yes! I am. I just wanted
the last kinks worked out.
I also learned that owing a 3D printer is
like having a small pet. You need to
constantly take care of it. The
technology is not mature by any Means
yet. Some of the more expensive
printers has begun utilizing what they
call "auto-bed leveling", which Means
you don't have to constantly make sure
your printer-ebed is absolutely level to
the movement of you printer-head.
Correct term would be Z-axis aligned. In
the professional World, the business end
is called a "spindle". Just in case you
want to research it yourself.
It has begun working its way into the
"hobby" scene, proximity sensors placed
NeXT/near to your hotend could
measure how far it was from the plate (a
metal plate under the glassplate
usually).
Another, more promising technology ( I
think), is the emergences of Force
Sensing Resistors (FSR). It comes from
the Delta printer scene - the Tower
printer with 3 motors going up and Down
vertically and can print circles like
nothing else; and other Things.
They have developed a method where
force sensors are placed under the
print-bed. At the start of each print, the
head gently pushes Down on the glass
above the sensor and can in this way
autocalibrate the distance to the actual
print-surface.
I have bought 4 of those myself and
hope to get to use them. Biggest
challenge is the fact, that they are
resting below the heatplate, but don't
take heat very well!
More reading the FSR
technology: http://reprap.org/wiki/FSR
No data feedback to the electronics
Another indication of non-mature
technology is how there is no feedback
from the moving parts to the
Electronics, so the printer-brain has no
way of knowing is Things are working
out:
 The 3D printer doesn't know if what
it is printing is in any way
resembling gthe desired goal.
 If the thermistor falls off the heater
block on the hot-end you are going
 to face serious fire hazards. Marlin
firmware recently introduced
"Thermal runaway protection"
where it detects dangerous events.
 Printer does not know if the fans
are actually moving as there is no
RPM (detecting rounds per minute
of printer) feedback or any other
sort of feedback. If a fan dies, the
printer would never know!
 If most anything dies, the printer
wouldn't know and just keep going
to the best of its ability.
 Only deviaion is if you run Endstops
ind "Normally Closed" mode, which
Means they are have a 5v power
stream going through it all the
timei. If this Circuit is broken,
which it is if the switch is
activated, the printer knows it
should stop. If a wire falls out, the
printer will not move.
I expect to see more of these failsafes
in the near future.
Silence has also begun being a theme.
Most recently the SilenteStepperSticks
entered the scene, to replace the old
4988 drivers. They are much more
expensive, at 10 euros each, but they
are working Wonders. I bought 2 of them
for my X and Y axes. I also made an
instructable on how to install and use
them:
Install and configure SilentStepStick in
RAMPS - TMC2100 Schrittmotortreiber
Future updates.
I will post to this page, if more
informations pops up, or if I find more
Photos.
Thank you all for your nice and usefull
feedback. Really hope it helps people
everyhwere and you will have as much
fun as me, while building your first 3D
printer.
Morten Nielsen
Denmark