Best Practices

Tips

Before you dive into the assembly of your machine, we have a few recommendations to make your experience a good one:

• Due to the weight of the components, it’s best to assemble the AltMill with another person.  
• The expected assembly time is between 3-5 hours, so make sure to allot ample time and pace yourself to avoid any errors, damages or injury during the process.
• Use the appropriate tool for each fastener. You may use a drill or driver for quicker assembly, but be careful not to overtorque screws. 
• Before tightening fasteners, take note of whether they should be firmly or loosely secured. Some steps will require that screws initially be left loose so that components can be aligned in later steps. 
• Keep the AltMill packaging as some of it will be used in the assembly process
• Ensure at least 6’x12’ of clear working space to set up the machine’s table/base
• It’s recommended that hardware is kept its respective bag until needed to make finding the correct type easier using the attached labels

Videos

If you prefer video, you can watch the following videos. Note that any updates to our instructions will be reflected in the written instructions, so if something is not working after following the video, please read our assembly articles!

Ben’s MK2 assembly video (coming soon!) covers the steps described in the following articles:

Unboxing, Table Setup, X and Y Gantries, Z Gantry, Motors, Drag Chain Ends, Wiring, and Controller Setup.

Daniel’s video below covers the remaining AltMill setup processes as described in the following articles:

First Movements, Spindle Kit Setup, and Wasteboard.