This page shows some example objects made by prototype and production RepRap machines. They are in reverse chronological order - most recent first. A lot of these are steps on the road to having the machine copy itself rather than more instantly-appealing utility items like coat hooks, mobile phone cases, car headlamp housings and so on. We make no apology for this - as any biologist will appreciate, having the machine copy itself is the most useful possible thing we can make it do, and is the primary goal of the whole project.
Almost all these were done by Vik Olliver, who clearly takes advantage of the 48-hour days they have south of the equator...
A page on part development to achieve replication can be found here.
Here's a reprapped water filter insert. It took about 20 minutes to make in the RepRap machine.
Here's a reprapped coat-hook. It took me 12 minutes to design in the free Art of Illusion design program, then I set it running in my home RepRap machine. I went out for the afternoon then came back, and I had a coat-hook that I didn't have before. Utterly trivial, except:
I now have somewhere to hang my coat, and
An economist once told me that the world market for coat-hooks is bigger than the world market for gas turbines...
The white bracket in the picture was made by RepRap. It holds an iPod to the coin-clip on the dash of a Ford Fiesta. This is an illustration of the kind of thing that we see people using RepRap for in great numbers: you have a clamp from somewhere; you have a car; you want them to go together. There is no neat commercial solution, but it took me just twenty minutes to design the adapter needed (less time than to drive to a shop and back anyway). Then I set my RepRap making the part and got on with something else. A couple of hours later it was done and fitted, in time for my wife to listen to her music as she drove to Southampton to see her brother.
Get the files here under "Car dash phone/iPod bracket".
13 April 2008
The parts of the RepRap machine that it has reproduced for itself so far. The quality has been improving with time, too, as can be seen if you compare
individual parts.
25 January 2008
"Mighty RepRap Power Ring", fabricated from PLA then sprayed with nearly-gold paint.
14 January 2008
Bed Corner and Diagonal Studding Brackets (top one using "fast cornering" software) made in PLA by Vik on his RepRap v1.0 "Darwin". Minimal touching up needed on the later parts.
13 January 2008
The X restraint bracket, X idler and clamps made in PLA by Vik on his RepRap v1.0 "Darwin". Only 2 slots needed to be widened with a dremmel tool.
21 October 2007
Martini, anyone? Made by Vik on his RepRap v1.0 "Darwin", and yes - it is (water)x Gin-tight.
12 October 2007
RepRap Darwin corner bracket made from PLA on the RepRap "Zaphod".
28 May 2007
Different materials... This shows RepRap making a flask from polylactic acid.
15 May 2007
An extruded extruder extrudes...
The first image shows the parts for a RepRap extruder made by RepRap itself in polycaprolactone. The second image shows the two complete RepRap polymer extruders. The one on the right was made in a commercial RP machine. The one on the left was made by the one on the right - the first complete self-replicated functioning RepRap part. The new extruder is shown starting to extrude for itself.
6 March 2007
The RepRap shot glass. It is now a tradition that - when anyone makes a RepRap machine - the first item they make is this shotglass, so they can toast the machine using something that it itself has made.
