Folgertech FT-5 R2 build (Page 1 of 4)

6 hours of work after the first picture...

no corner braces in the back - that is where the electronics box goes...

congrats and have fun!

8.25hrs in, phase 1 loosely put together. I squared the bottom but have not set the mid rails to proper spacing nor checked the whole thing for square.

Well I only had an hour today, and I didn't get much done. Filing on the base plate, and trying to figure out which direction the motor vs fan side. Then trying to decide which way the fan should blow. And trying to find the M3 x20 screws, which actually seam 2mm too long cause the fan has inserts for the nuts as I have it blowing into the board and the motor mounted on the side that says 'down front'. Phew, too much time trying to figure things out and not enough time working.

13.5 hours into the build. I've completed to phase 3, but left the components loose on the boards. Upgraded the bottom board bolts from M4 x20 to M5 x25 and the M4 x16 to M4 x 20. Hopefully I won't regret it because it leaves less slack for rod alignment. If it doesn't work out, I can always go back and change it. One of my bearings was crooked in it's housing, so I had to tap it straight. The most used tools so far are a file and a duster.

yes, those are supposed to rotate freely - if they do not, you need to work them around a bit, add a drop of oil, too... use a dowel, or a length of 8mm rod to work them free... I had one that was really bad - had to take it apart and use a file and some ultra fine wet/dry sandpaper to get to move properly.

Man, that looks horrible!

Thanks, I needed another reference for this. So many things are misleading and unclear. P. 24 has had me mounting the motors and blocks both ways a couple of times, finally got a picture reference to the front of the machine to determine where the dang 'tab' on the side panel faces. That is, on the interface panel's side in the back (facing in of course). Phew, spending a lot of extra time just trying to figure out orientation of parts and swapping those that have been done incorrectly. Noticed in a couple of time lapse videos, those guys did the same thing.

So not much build time today, got the top and bottom plates together and installed but had to stop at the rods, cause I have 7 of the T20 8mm pulleys and ZERO T20 5mm pulleys,

Yes . IIRC they are not the best at communicating but they will resound to email and will replace missing or defective parts. Also test your power supply as this has been a weak point in the past .
I do expect this issue was dealt with with the new 24 volt version.

Not a big deal to test just hook it to the mains and check output voltage with a meter. My buddy put his together only to find the PS was belly up out of the box.
They have a thermal switch built in to turn the fan on mine had one switch wire dangling . So the fan did not come on. So the two ft-5s that i personalty had contact with has PS issues. My buddy also had problems with the thermisistors.   So that said I would not wait too long to assemble and test your kit.

They use the same type of setup for the Mini Kossel they sell as well. The pullies will still use their existing inner sleeves for their bearings to ride on. In addition that sleeve will also ride on the screw. There will be very little wear aside from normal wear.