I’ve assembled quite a lot of my MakerBot today.  This entailed assembling and putting together the X axis stage, Y axis stage, pulleys, putting gears on stepper motors, mounting gears, putting in the slider rods, Z axis threaded rods, bolting on the motors, and assembling the two “dinos.”

• If you’ve got a Batch 9 MakerBot, definitely install the Z-axis after assembling the body of the MakerBot.
• Put off adding the Z-stage/extruder-stage for as long as you can.  It will just be in the way.
• Keep that sandpaper handy – you may need to sand down some tabs or widen slots or holes to make things fit, especially if you painted your MakerBot.
• If the smooth slider rods are just a smidge too short, they will slide back and forth causing a little extra noise as your MakerBot operates.  I haven’t gotten mine running yet, but I have read this is the case.  I noticed that one of the slider rods for the X axis on my Batch 9 MakerBot was about 1mm too short.  When I put the caps on, I noticed that it still had some wiggle room.  I took a scrap of paper towel, folded it up so that it would push up against the end of the rod, and clamped it down.  There’s no wiggle room now, so hopefully that’s it.
• Make sure the top bearing is just under the top edge of the top panel.  This is in the directions, but it’s really important to make sure everything spins freely.
• Putting gears on the stepper motors is tough!  Even when you back the tightening screws on the gears out as much as you can, the fit is incredibly snug.  I eventually sanded the inside of the gear slightly, put the motor on cardboard, and then pushing downwards slowly and forcefully.
• When you’re installing the geared belts, get them as level as you can manage.
  • For the top stage this will involve adding/subtracting washers/nuts from the printed pulleys as well as adjusting the gear’s placement on the stepper motor.
  • For the X and Y stages, the height would essentially be dictated by the height of the belt on the clamps.  The height of the belt on the clamp is essentially set, so the pulleys and gear on the stepper need to be matched to that.
• When assembling the carriages with the plastic sliders, the instructions suggest you may need to sand the circular hole they fit into.  Just make a point of sanding them, if they’re tight they could affect the looseness of the stage on the rods.
• Inspect your Y-stage pulley (this is the smallest printed pulley) to make sure the top is level and there are no protuberances.  Even a little bit of a nub will prevent it from rotating properly.
• The easiest way to remove the itty-bitty sticky-paper protective acrylic cover is to use a razor blade or exacto-knife to pop them off.  You probably don’t need to, but it’s an aesthetic thing.