Kossel

Building a Personal 3D Printer

A 3D printer that we, as three industrial designers, built by using the resources on the web as a side project.

The core idea of building a 3D DIY printer was to introduce ourselves to the 'maker culture'. Since we were industrial designers without prior knowledge of the machine automation and components such as stepper motors, timing belts or open beam frames; building 3D printer enabled us to work with primary electronic and mechanical parts. In this journey, we also got familiar with model slicers (Kisslicer, Repetier Host etc.) and machine controlling interfaces such as Pronterface.

Joining the Parts

We started by grouping the parts into sets in order to work tidy.

Then we continued with assembling the motors into the frame.

Stand outside the light with other players.

Press the button on the right of your cap in order to start calibration.

Debugging

Our first printed 10mm³ cubes were 'magical' to us although they measured 9.8x10x11mm's after-print.

Thus we started to debug what is the problem. It took two months of research and trial&error.

We have calibrated and looked for errors multiple times to get the 0.1 mm precision on our prints.

Then we started to have fun by exploring open 3D design repos/communities.

One of team members, Burak, printed a made-to-fit case for his smartphone.

Koray also printed a case for his synthesizer, increased its durability.

Bill of Materials

CORE COMPONENTS
1 x Kossel XL kit with printed parts
1 x E3D v6 full metal hot end
3 x Nema17 motors
1 x Planetary geared extruder motor
1 x Set of bolts and nuts (various sizes)
1 x 12V 5A DC Adapter
1 x Set of heat insulating tapes
2 x PLA Filament
2 x ABS Filament 
5 x NTC 3980 100k thermistors
1 x Spare E3D V6-lite hot end kit

ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
1 x Spare PTFE tubes
1 x Wire crimper
1 x Tweezer
1 x Soldering station
6 x Spare Traxxas rod ends

Printing in Progress