Assembly Guide

How To Use This Guide

This ain’t a toaster. It’s much more dangerouser. You can hurt yourself or your cat. Please do not attempt to build unless you are confident you have the skills, tools, time, and patience. A warning like this will show up where extra care should be taken.

If you are building this printer for the first time, it is highly recommended that you go through this entire documentation page, in order.

Sometimes there’s a note.

Materials

A table like this will display hardware, printed parts, and tools needed for the sub-assembly

Hardware Qty
M3x25 SHCS 5
GT2 Timing Pulley, 20T, 6mm Belt, 5mm ID 1
*Video Name (Bag Name) 2
Tabby Cat 100

*Whats in a name? It’s a large BOM and a long documentation process. Name preferences were occasionally mixed up along the way. We will try to have the bag label name in parenthesis next to the video callout name where they differ.

Tools

Essential

  • Standard Metric Hex Key Set, Ball-End, 1.5-10mm
  • Long Handle Hex Key, 3mm
  • Soldering Iron
  • Small/Mini Pliers or Adjustable Wrench
  • Cyanoacrylate Gel, i.e. Loctite Prism 454 or Gorilla Super Glue Gel
  • Flush Cutters
  • Phillips Screwdriver, #2
  • Pen Knife / X-Acto Knife / Razor Blade

Optional, But Really Helpful

  • SciGrip #16 Acrylic Cement
  • Blue “medium strength” Loctite
  • Boron Nitride Paste
  • Arbor Press
  • Machinist’s Square
  • Dial Guage/Indicaator and Precision 1-2-3 Block

Interactive Views

You’ll also see 3d views like this one.

  • Rotate with left-click (or one finger on mobile)
  • Pan with right-click (two fingers on mobile)
  • Zoom with scroll wheel (pinch on mobile)
  • Refresh the page to recenter the model

General Guidelines

  • It is recommended to use Blue Loctite on all metal-metal threads that you wouldn’t expect to service regularly.
  • Cyanoacrylate Gel can generally be applied to screws when threading into plastic.
  • We try to note where exceptions occur, but it’s always good to practice common sense or see “Issues” below.
  • When threading into plastic, only tighten until the head makes contact, these connections are not meant to provide clamping force.
  • It will be easiest to follow if printed parts are organized by assembly according to the folder structure on the GitHub.
  • It can be helpful to organize screws and nuts by type and size beforehand.

YouTube Playlist

  • It’s a good idea to watch through each video before assembly just to get an idea of what’s needed, when tools appear, sequence, etc. Then go back and follow along while building.
  • The playlist below is here for convenience, but it’s better to navigate the build via the sidebar on the left.

Table of contents