Been mostly lurking for a couple weeks. Ordered a 12" I3V (1.75mm E3D V6, Greg's and Rumba with Graphical LCD) on the weekend and am starting this thread for two reasons. To get any feedback I can on what those before me would do differently on their initial build and as a place holder for anything I learn/need help with during the build. Been reading through the two sticky threads and a few others in the forum. So far there are a few things I know I'm going to be changing during the build.


  • I've ordered the SS Relay and heatsink already to convert the heat bed to PID (not sure what the implications are of the built in relay Colin now ships it with)
  • I'll be buying some extra baltic birch plywood and at a minimum beefing up the Y-axis ends
  • Ordered some 5mm-5mm Z couplers that I will also be drilling and tapping to add set screws to on top of the squeeze screws already on them
  • Thread locker will be used liberally during the build
  • Once up and running the first prints will be replacement end stop mounts and guides/protection brackets for the top of the threaded rods
  • Print one of the print cooling ducts and depending on how my steppers end up temp wise adding some heat sinks or active cooling
  • Pretty sure I'll add an out of filament detector relatively soon after completion
  • Either build a small torsion box or just a 3/4" sheet of mdf to mount it to (if I go to the trouble of a torsion box I'll make sure to do a little extra planning so that could be part of an enclosure for the printer)


Not planning on ABL initially but may change my mind later. Bought this power supply to run my LIPO chargers but have since bought a different supply for that and will be using the linked one for the printer.