Successful Kittaz build

I am a happy maker!

My brand new Kittaz printer is working great six days from when I placed the order. I’m getting very nice test prints using Cura default settings and PLA filament. Everything is working about as well as one could hope. But the journey was not always easy.

The kit arrived in two days and I spent two days putting it together and another day correcting mistakes and testing. I experienced many of the same challenges described in the other posts: the build took longer than I expected, it was more difficult than I expected, there were missing M5-14 bolts, the instructions were not always clear and some parts didn’t fit together very well. I did not have trouble inserting the shaft in the bearing of the extruder, as some others did. The kit was missing one critical part: a single bearing for the X-axis assembly. Customer Support provided the part quickly. One of the trickier problems was setting alignment so that the Z-axis moved without losing steps. The solution was in adjusting the connections on both the right-hand Z-axis assembly and the position of the X-axis smooth rods in the right-hand Z-axis assembly. I also cleaned and lubricated the threaded Z-axis drive screws. The lubricant (white lithium grease) was confirmed by Customer Support who said they use the same type of lubricant on the pre-assembled TAZ 4.

I chose the kit in order to save some money but now I think the value of the kit is that I gained detailed knowledge of the printer will serve me well as I use it in the future. This is my first 3D printer and we’re off to a good start.

Thanks Aleph Objects and Lulzbot Customer Support!

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There is one other issue I forgot. It’s the same issue seen by another Kittaz builder recently. The default X-Y-Z home position is very close to the corner of the glass plate. It is not possible to home the extruder without hitting the plate retention finger unless the finger is moved completely off the glass.

My solution is not very elegant but it works: put a spacer between the Y-axis limit switch and the part on the bed that strikes the limit switch. The kit includes 8 rubber foot pads with adhesive tape but the build requires only four. So I stuck one of the extras foot pads onto the vertical surface on the underside of the bed where the limit switch strikes the bed. This offsets the Y-axis home position by the thickness of the rubber pad which allows the extruder to clear the finger on the corner.

Even with the spacer there is still plenty of extra room on the far end of the glass, given the configured end limit settings for the Y-axis. On the X-axis the build volume goes to both edges of the glass.

I’d be curious to know a more elegant solution.

Great! Congrats on your build. Thanks for the feedback.

-Jeff

Congratulations!

I have a Kittaz in the box waiting for me to complete a previous project. I should be able to start building it around Christmas. I plan on doing a build thread. I can’t wait!

Scott