TeeBot 3D Printer

I needed a 3D printer to carry along, After assembling a few 3D printers based on opensource designs. I started drawing and experimenting with various designs of my own, finally I decided to make a folding!! 3d printer that fits a cabin size suitcase. In Part1 I will show you how to buld the mechanical parts, Parts 2 will cover the electronics. Part 3 will show how to use the software’s. Enjoy!!

The Drawing…
The drawing

3D Printer folded..
Boxed

Folded & packed in a small suitcase.
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Bill of materials (BOM)
To build the 3d printer I have provided a list of the basic hardwares, materials & electronics needed. The list is an overview of what is needed.

  • Printed plastic parts.
  • Stepper motors (5 PCs) All NEMA 17
  • 8mm precision smooth steel rods 3 meters
  • 5mm threaded rods 1 meter
  • 20mm square Aluminium pipe 2.5 meters
  • Gt2 timing belt 1 meter
  • Gt2 puleys 2 pcs
  • Idler bearing 426zz 4pcs
  • Direct drive extruder TeeStruder (
  • J head Hotend
  • Micro limit switch 3 pcs
  • Ramps 1.4 Board + Arduino Mega + 4 Pcs stepper driver
  • M4 hex head bolts 20 pcs
  • M3 hex head 18 pcs
  • Print bed glass/ mirror 15 cm X 15 cm
  • Print bed wood 15 cm X 15 CM
  • Flexible shaft coupling 5mm x 5mm 2 Pcs
  • Linear bearing LM8uu 10pcs

  • How to get the printed parts
    Download the 3D stl files from reprap wiki here.

  • If you do not already have a printer ..ask someone who has one to print them for you.
  • Buy them..On request it might be possible to have a set printed for you, it will soon be listed on ebay, emakershop or somewhere online soon.
  • How to get the other parts
    Talk to people around you who already own a 3D printer (if the person has no clue what reprap means… Run!! 🙂 )

  • Source for the aluminium pipes, bearings, threaded rods bolts and nuts from your local hardware store.
  • Smooth rods, belts, pulley Ramps board, stepper motor and stepper driver, you are better off getting it from shops who sell rep-rap parts.
    Alternatively you can request for all parts and components from me (complete diy kit). You will receive a box of everything every single parts which has been cut to size and all electronics tested. On marktplaats nl search “teebot”

    Know your parts

    Printed Parts
    Printed parts

    Stepper motors
    Stepper motor

    Smooth steel rods
    Smooth rods

    5mm Threaded rods
    5mm_threaded rod

    Aluminium pipes
    Aluminium pipes

    Direct drive Extruder (Teestruder)
    Extruder_Hotend

    Electronics Ramps + Arduino + Stepper Driver
    ramps 1.4

    The build
    Assembling the printer is pretty straight forward 🙂 I will spare you the trouble of reading and just load photos…

    Build1_frame1

    Build1_frame2

    Build1_frame3

    Build1_frame5

    Build1_frame6

    Build1_frame7

    Build1_frame8

    Mount the Extruder
    Build1_frame9

    Easy right 🙂 assuming all went fine you should have a machine looking like this…

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    At this point the print bed (Y axis), extruder (X axis) and Z axis should all be movable with you hands and no play should be observed along it’s movement.

    Electronics .. fire up the soldering iron!!
    Big congrats if you made it this far, at this point it will be nice to clear up your work space, shed, garage, work table and get rid of all left over materials,
    this is where the fun begins (or never begins!!) …
    If you’ve never played/work with an arduino board using stepper motors. Before connecting them to the printer I advice you test the whole components first, in the reprap world there are a lots of variations to almost everything!! your approach might be different, but here is how I normally do the wiring/electronics.

  • Test the Arduino
  • Test all motors/stepper drivers
  • Test all micro limit switch
  • Load the firmware (Marlin or sprinter) I’ll advice sprinter for first time user. Believe me you don’t want to start wit marlin!!
  • Install software (printrun) connect to the board
  • Connect x axis stepper driver and motor, test to make sure it runs in right direction an also that the limit switch works!!
  • Do the step above for y axis, and z axis, every time before you touch the board make sure it is disconnected from the pc and power supply turned off
  • In part 2 I will cover the steps mentioned above. Enjoy some photos of some of the printer at work 🙂 .

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