Building the MakerGear Mosaic 3D Printer – Part IV: The Z-Axis

This is the fourth installment of my series on building the MakerGear Mosaic 3D printer. This part wraps up assembly of the Cartesian robot with the Z-axis mechanics, including installation of the two precision ground linear rails and the PTFE-coated lead screw.

Each week, I keep expecting that this will be the stage of the build where it starts to get difficult, tedious, and/or fiddly. In fact, so far no part of the assembly has been difficult, and the only even slightly tedious job has been installing all the captive nuts in the frame back in Part I.

With this guide, I’ve just passed the halfway mark. Next week, I’m assembling the extruder, then the build platform itself, and finally, the electronics. With any luck, I’ll be printing my shot glass on or about New Year’s Eve!

More:

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

View more articles by Sean Michael Ragan

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK