Heaven help me - I've just bought a delta kit :-)

[curious aardvark]

So here's views from all three sides.

allthreesides_800x529.jpg

And a big one from the front.

finished_334x600.jpg

Now I did have some spares leftover. But I also have a bag of springs that I have absolutely no clue why I have them, let alone what they could be for.

springs_800x514.jpg

Any ideas ?

So does it work - I have absolutely no idea.
The one thing I haven't done yet is attach a mains cable and plug it in. Couple of reasons.

1) there is no on/off power switch anywhere. So before I plug it in, I would like to fit an actual on/off switch to the power supply. Seems like an obvious thing, but this kit doesn't have any power control.

2) my mate is a sparky and I want him to check I'm not going to fry anything. I am notoriously crap at wiring plugs up. I mean totally wireblind.

So hopefully we'll get that done in the next day or so.

So my thoughts on the actual build itself.

I love the main how to build video. Being able to see all the nuts and bolts for each part from a variety of angles, beats am obscure 2d diagram, hands down. I'd recommend setting playback to 0.25x and checking each part several times before making or attaching.
The extra videos are also very good.
All the components come across as well made and substantial - apart from the extruder carriage - why that isn't injection moulded abs or perspex like everything else - I have no idea.
The wire routing could cause problems with novices. I've spent the last 30 odd years building computers, so that kind of thing is second nature to me and with a little thought you can make the whole thing look pretty neat and tidy.

Criticisms

1) lack of an on/off switch. having to pull the mains to cut power is just mental.

2) Would have been good to have some kind of feet and base cover, to protect the wires if nothing else - there's really nowhere else for them to go.

3) Mounting options for the upgraded power supply. Okay so it took me a minute or so to come up with one. But back in the day I was used to cutting sections out of cases to fit components as case manufacturers and motherboard makers never actually talked to each other. Given that the contacts are essentially uncovered, you want it somewhere they are protected from stuff being put on them.

4) the control panel comes with a circuit board cover and a turning knob and a basic bleep speaker. But while there is a cutout for the push button there is no actual button to go in the hole. You literally put your finger through the cutout and press the switch directly on the base board. Again it's something you can make yourself. But just seems daft not to include one.

With the exception of an overall on/off power switch. They really are very minor and cosmetic issues that can be easily done yourself.

I built it in three sessions. Overall time probably somewhere between 10-12 hours. It's my first printer build so I was taking my time and making sure that - as much as possible - I only had to do each thing once.

The kit and instructions are great.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone who'd never done anything like this before. But most makers shouldn't have any issues with the build. And once you'd done a couple, you could probably knock one out in 3-4 hours.

So that's part one done.

Part two is where it gets interesting.
Does it work ?
Will it print ?
Can it be auto calibrated ?
Will I be able to switch it off ?
Can it predict the lottery numbers ?

For answers to these and many more questions, you'll just have to wait :-)