The replacement electronics for my Reprap Huxley arrived today at long last. I’ve had them plugged in for nearly an hour over dinner, and no flames. Good start!

I think this evening and weekend are going to be devoted to trying to get my printer working. I hope nothing else turns out to be faulty with the kit I bought. I’m already very disappointed with the quality of it overall. If I had a better understanding of the whole Reprap process, I would have gone with just ordering the plastic parts from somewhere and building my own. I’m sure I’ll do a full write up on it at some point.

To recap, I’ve got the frame built with all the stepper motors mounted and the belts in place. So all(?) I have left to do is:

• Calibrate the electronics
• Finish the extruder – Just needs the motor mounting I think, and the tube inserting.
• Finish the hot end – All gunged up, just needs the electronics attaching to the nichrome wire and thermocouple.
• Mount the hot end
• Mount the end stops

Once all that is done, I may actually be able to start testing. The testing is going to be a long process I think, I very much doubt I’ll be printing quality objects from the start. Lots and lots of wasted plastic doing test prints, levelling the base, etc. Still, if I can finish this weekend with an actual printed object I’ll be happy. Roll on 5pm when I finish work!