So this is what a Fab@Home looks like when it arrives; both smaller and lighter than I expected (to give a sense of scale, I’ve included a 150mm measurer in the images).

Unpacking reveals three smaller packages: a set of laser cut acrylic parts, very carefully protected in layers of thick corrugated card (lower right of second image); a box full of a large number of mechanical, electronics and assembly parts (upper right of second image); a polystyrene box holding the stepper motors - pretty much the most expensive elements in the package (left of second image).

The acrylic parts are not only safely but very compactly packed; spread out across the floor it looks an impressive collection.

All the assembly instructions are on the Fab@Home website; I didn’t feel as though I could proceed working off the screen, so I’ve printed the full set - which you can see is substantial.

So I set to with enthusiasm, but came to a grinding halt very quickly when it seemed a part that is required quite early in the process was missing.

Moral: check the parts of the Bill of Materials before you start… Checking revealed that two critical parts (ball bearings for the Z, X and Y axes) were missing. So we are now chasing these up.

There is still a great deal can do to prepare all the parts while I wait, but I won’t be able to finish the assembly until the bearings turn up.

Torben

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Fabber build notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.