2: Main Assembly

Before you get started please be sure you've read and completed the pre-build guide which will go over all the parts that you should have and tools you'll need.

The first thing you'll want to do is decide how you want the exit panels configured: With the holes facing towards the front or back or one of each direction

Your RepBox includes enough plugs to fill all the exit holes you decide not to use.

In the pictured configuration we've set the top panel to have them face front. But the panel can rotate 180 degrees and is interchangeable with the base panel.

For the reversible Black/White MDF kits you'll also want to decide which color your box will be at this point. We are showing the BLACK configuration here but reverse the panels as necessary from the steps shown for a WHITE BOX.

WARNING: MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS ON A FLAT AND RIGID SURFACE. Pressing in the hole plugs on carpet or uneven surfaces can lead to broken parts. Replacement parts due to breakage may be purchased at a discount, contact support for assistance.

WARNING: Hitting too hard with a hammer can break your panels, especially on acrylic versions. If you cannot press in by hand or with a very light tap of a mallet or hammer then consider opening up the hole slightly with a reaming tool or the edge of your lid prop.

Press in or lightly tap your hole plugs in the top, bottom, and front exit panels as shown here.

TIP: If you have a deburring tool, adding a slight chamfer to the holes makes it easier to press the plugs in. If you don't have one of these you can use the included lid prop to help add a little bevel to the hole cuts.

Note: This is only necessary if you purchased the optional 3D printed parts set with your kit. If you printed your own parts you may skip to the next step.

During production we sometimes connect some of the parts together with "sprues" to make it easier to keep an accurate parts count and keep small pieces together. You may easily remove them as shown here by pulling apart and trimming with scissors, hobby knife, or flush cutters.

Press the printed flange nuts into each of the panels with the oval shaped hole in it. This includes the top panel clamp, tension bar, lid clamps, and the lid hole plug (if you do not have the humidity hunter kit)

NOTE: The outer side panels have this hole as well for the lid prop fastening but you will chose which side to install your lid prop on in a later step.

Trim the "sprues" from the 3D printed brackets if necessary.

Fasten 5 of the brackets to the rear panel as shown here. You will use two screws for each except the end brackets.

For the brackets at either end use one screw on the hole farthest from the edge of the bracket on each side. Leave each of the end brackets slightly loose for now. They will be tightened later.

Find the inner and outer exit panels as shown here.

Fasten the outer to the inner panel using two TF screws and two 3D printed flange nuts as shown here.

The screw presses in from the outside panel through to the inside and the flange nut tightens with the flange nut touching the inside exit panel.

With the base panel you plugged earlier align it so the plugs are touching your work surface and facing the direction you want filament to exit your assembled box.

Locate the two matching outer track guide pieces and lay the hexagon holes over the exit holes so they all line up as shown.

Using 5 TF screws fasten brackets at each of the corners and in the center AT THE REAR ONLY for now. We will do the front center bracket in another step.

Screws run down from the inside of the box into the side of the TF bracket with a SINGLE hole in the center as shown here. When correctly installed the sides of the brackets with two holes on the long face will be facing outwards from the center of the base panel. See the video for an example. Enlarge to full screen if necessary.

Attach the rear panel assembly to the base using 3 TF screws as shown here.

The TF screws will fasten into the BOTTOM of the two holes on the brackets.

Find the left inside side panel and lay it on your work surface. Place the base/rear assembly in it so the tabs/slots line up as shown here.

Take the exit panel assembly from earlier and place it in the slot on the side panel as shown. Fasten it to the base assembly with a TF screw through the exit clip and into a bracket as shown here.

Lay the right inside and outside side panels on top and fasten to the base assembly through the rear and bottom brackets as shown here.

If you ordered a special edition RepBox or custom side panels your outer panels will look different than the standard double Rs shown here. This is normal.

The base supports help reinforce the bottom of the RepBox and prevent sagging under the weight of the spools when mounted on a wall.

Tip the box onto its back as shown here and lay the base stringers (part 12) into the slots in the rear panel.

Lay the stringer support bar(part 11) over the front tabs of the stringer supports as shown here. DO NOT SCREW IT DOWN YET.

Lay the base faceplate (part 13) on top of the stringer support bar to cover the slots holding the base stringers in place.

Use three TF screws to fasten through the base faceplate and stringer support bar to the 3D printed brackets as shown here.

This is for the latest shipping version 2.3.1 of the RepBox. For version 2.3 roller assembly please skip to the next step.

Make sure the 3D printed rib segments are centered evenly on the metal rods.

GENTLY lay the rods into the box fitting one end into the side panel hole as shown here.

Slowly loosen the two base screws ON EACH SIDE for the side panels so they slide outward but the screws don't fully come out. Loosen an even amount so until the rod can fit into the cut holes on each of the inside side panels.

Tighten the screws again to draw the sidepanels in and hold the slip rods in place.

You may now skip to step 15 as the following two steps only apply to v2.3

NOTE: RepBox 2.3.1 now comes with the slip rod as our default spool holder. Instructions for the slip rod are on the previous step.

NOTE: While we do refer to these as "rollers" it is perfectly normal for them to not roll when the spool is rotating. We have designed the tubes to be a slick as possible so that the flange of the spool simply glides along the surface. This is completely normal and will not affect print performance.

Some kits ship with different roller flanges in the kit. Some are circular while others have a hexagonal pattern. Both work the same. Their purpose is primarily to provide separation between spools and to keep a spool from wandering to an adjacent roller.

Simply press two flanges on to each end of the printed tubes until it lays flat on all sides of the tube. If it is not pressed on all the way all rollers may not fit or rotate as smoothly when needed.

If there are any burrs left on the printed flanges you can easily clean them up using your lid prop as a deburring tool if needed.

NOTE: For v2.3 Only! 2.3.1 Now Uses SlipRod Setup shown earlier.

Slide the roller tubes in from the exposed end of the side with just the inner side panel on it. Slide on your roller assemblies from the last step as you go.

By default there should be six positions for spools but if you wish you may print more flanges and tubes to allow for whatever roller spacing you choose. Print files are available on the public file repository.

Tip the box back on end and remove the two temporary screws holding the base of the inner side panel in place being careful not to knock it out of place.

Place the remaining outer side panel atop the inner and fasten it in place using the two bottom screws again as well as the one at the top rear as shown here.

Choose which side you would like your lid prop to go on.

Add a single printed flange nut to the outer side panel on the side you're adding the prop. In this example we're adding it to the right side.

Take a single TF screw and place a Precision Miranda Spacer on it as shown here.

Next thread it through the end of your lid prop so the curved portion of it is facing upwards. Watch the video closely to see how it should be mounted at the end.

The screw may be tight threading into the lid prop. This is normal. Just keep twisting when it gets to the base of the screw until the screw continues to turn freely in the hole.

Add one more printed Precision Miranda Spacer to the other side of the lid prop. This spacer will provide a little separation from the side to prevent scratching it.

Screw the whole thing into the side panel as shown here. It should be reasonably tight but still allow you to move the prop in and out without too much effort.

NOTE: If your outer panel is missing the "D" profile to capture the flange nut you may have a slightly older sidepanel rev where the fastener feeds from the outside as shown here: 2: Main Assembly

Find your top panel that you added the plugs to earlier and chose how you want the exit holes oriented. In this example we have them facing the front of the box but you could choose to rotate the top panel and have the exit ports closer to the rear also if you wish.

Place two TF screws in from the underside of the panel so the heads of the screws are on the same surface as your hole plugs. Press two Precision Miranda Spacers atop them as shown here.

Once the spacers are on locate the lid hinge clamp piece and rotate it so the front edge aligns perfectly with the top panel when the holes are all lined up. Press it atop the TF screws that are sticking up.

Affix two more 3D printed brackets to the corners as shown here. The short edge of the bracket with the double holes should face the front of the box. This is the opposite of the brackets at the base so take notice that the bracket is facing the same direction as shown here.

Add the top panel to the base assembly as shown here.

If you already tightened both screws for the top corners of the sidepanels simply loosen one side so you can slip the top panel assembly in and then re-tighten.

Turn the box around and add the reinforcement bar to the rear of the box as shown here. Then fasten the top panel down with five TF screws.

Remove the protective film from BOTH SIDES of the acrylic lid as shown here.

Place the faceplate atop the acrylic lid and then press one TF screw through one of the holes at the base of the lid (farthest away from the top circle hole with the double Rs in it)

LOOSELY screw one side of the lid tension bar to the back side of the acrylic lid as shown here. Again, don't tighten it all the way. This will make bowing the lid in the next step easier.

Place a TF screw into the hole at the other end of the base of the faceplate. This hole WILL NOT line up exactly when you lay it flat. THIS IS NORMAL. You are going to slightly bend the lid so the screw can reach the other flange nut on the tension bar. This BOWING of the lid helps with the optional seal kit later.

Attach the dome label to the front faceplate as shown here so your warranty is activated! ;)

Attach the lid hinges as shown here. PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION to how the hinge pins are facing the OUTSIDE of the box. If they are not installed this way the lid will not close and seal properly. Affix each hinge with 2 TF screws pressed through and screwed into the hinge clamps on the other side as shown here.

NOTE: If you have the humidity hunter kit you can skip this step. Instructions for adding your humidity sensor and the rest of the kit can be completed at the end of your RepBox build.

Install the Lid Plug as shown here using a single TF screw, Logo Plug, Acrylic Plug, and the Lid Plug backing you prepared earlier with the 3D printed flange in it.

Attach the 3D printed handle to the lid using two TF screws from the back side of the acrylic lid as shown here.

If you have the optional seal kit SKIP THIS STEP FOR NOW. You will install the handle with the latch kit that comes with the seal kit following that separate instruction guide here: Optional Seal Kit Install

Tip the box on its side and slide the lid hinges in between the gap of the top lid clamp and top panel as shown here. This is the space that the Precision Miranda Spacers have provided for you.

Line up the hinge holes and press two TF screws in from the top of the box to the inside as shown here. They will ultimately be screwed into the top seal bar with the flange nuts you already pressed into them earlier.

Align the top seal bar so the narrow protruding pieces go towards the back of the box and behind the printed brackets. Tighten each of the TF screws so they hold the top seal bar in place.

Tip the box onto its base again and check the alignment of your lid. You can loosen the top screws as shown here to make small adjustments moving the lid left to right as need be to make proper space for your lid prop.

Tighten all the corner screws you left loose earlier after making sure all the corners are squared up and gaps closed up as much as possible.

Add your exit fittings to the holes you didn't place plugs into on your front exit panel as shown here.

If you wish change exit points you may easily do so by removing one of the plugs and shifting the exit fitting to whichever positions you choose that line up best with your spools inside the box.

Some of the earlier exit fittings we used had a shorter thread on them and required that you align the outer nut so the flat side was facing inside the box, otherwise the threads wouldn't grab properly. Most kits should now have our longer threads on them but this is good to know in case your kit still has the older style.

That's it! Its finally time to load up your filament. Go ahead an lay the spools on the rollers as shown here. Happy Printing!

As an option you may add exit fittings to the top or bottom panels as shown here to allow for different print configurations.