Kit Assembly
For building a PikkoBot from the kit: machined and 3D-printed parts ship separately, and assembly is required.
Kit Contents
| Item | Condition |
|---|---|
| Frame extrusions | Cut to length, tapped |
| 3D printed parts | Cleaned, supports removed |
| Mainboard | Pre-flashed with Vertex 4 firmware |
| Cameras | Tested, labeled top/bottom |
| JUKI nozzles | Included, tested |
| Hardware | Bagged per phase |
Tools You'll Need
The kit ships with all fasteners. You need to supply:
- 2.5 mm and 3 mm hex drivers — a T-handle makes the gantry bolts much less annoying than an L-key
- Small side cutters for trimming cable ties
- A 300 mm steel ruler or a square to check the frame is true before you tighten anything down
- Blue threadlocker (medium strength) for the four bolts that hold the gantry to the base
- A clean, flat surface at least 1 m wide. Assembly on carpet is how printed parts end up with debris in the bearing races
Do not use power drivers on the M3 bolts that go into printed parts. They strip the plastic at roughly a third of the torque you'd use on aluminium.
Assembly Phases
Phase 1 — Frame (1.5 h)
- Assemble the X and Y gantry extrusions.
- Mount Y-axis linear rails to the side extrusions.
- Install the X-axis carriage on the gantry.
Work loose first, tight last. Fit every bolt in the base and gantry finger-tight, check the frame is square with a ruler across the diagonals, and only then tighten in a cross pattern. Tightening one corner fully before the others pull the frame out of square, and no amount of software calibration fixes a frame that isn't true.
Phase 2 — Electronics (1.5 h)
- Mount the mainboard to the frame.
- Route stepper cables: X, Y1, Y2, Z, rotation.
- Connect both camera USB cables to the mainboard USB hub.
- Connect pneumatic tubing to both nozzle heads.
The five stepper cables are keyed but not colour-coded, so label them before you start threading. Y1 and Y2 are easy to swap — the machine will still home, but the gantry will rack and jam the first time you command a Y move. If that happens, swap the two connectors rather than chasing it in software.
Keep the camera USB cables away from the stepper cables where you can. Shared routing runs fine on most machines, but if you see intermittent dropped frames later, separating them is the first thing to try.
Phase 3 — First Power-On (30 min)
- Connect USB-B to your computer.
- Apply 24 V power and flip the switch — the ring LEDs should illuminate.
- Open OpenPnP and home all axes (X, Y, Z).
- Verify both camera feeds appear in OpenPnP.
Before the first homing run, move both nozzle tips by hand and confirm they sit at the same height. Homing with unlevelled nozzles is the fastest way to drive one into the datum board.
Common Kit Assembly Mistakes
These four account for most of the support traffic on first builds.
Bearings tightened until they bind. The eccentric spacers on the V-wheels are for taking up play, not for clamping. A wheel that spins freely by hand with no side-to-side rock is correct. If the carriage needs force to move, back the spacer off.
Belt tension set by feel alone. Pluck the belt — it should give a low note, not a dull thud and not a twang. Too loose and you get backlash in Y; too tight and the stepper whines and runs hot.
Ring LEDs wired to the wrong channel. Top and bottom strips are on separate G-code channels. If only one strip lights, they're swapped.
Z-axis lead screw not greased. It ships dry. A light PTFE grease on the lead screw threads before first use removes most of the noise people report as "grinding" during early homing runs.
After Assembly
- Pre-assembled Machine Setup uses the same inspection and first-power-on checklist — the order is worth following even though you built the machine yourself
- Frame Assembly and Electronics for the chapter-by-chapter detail
- Homing & Fiducial once the machine powers on and the cameras are visible
Reference
- LumenPnP v4 docs (Opulo) — upstream mechanical assembly reference