Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:16:51 -0400

Ok, the US node is available for printing from. Unfortunately, there's been some changes.

Acrylic lost 4.5mm, gained 4mm
Acrylic lost 8mm, gained 9mm
MDF lost 8mm, gained 6mm (only)
Gained Delrin in 3 and 5mm thicknesses

I have verified free shipping on $100+ orders within the USA from the USA node, however. Orders less are not too bad ($11 for a triple extruder head order for instance).

Right now, I'm waiting on my materials catalog orders from NZ and USA nodes so I can verify thicknesses.

Vik, I haven't gone through the entire build process, how badly will these changes upset the build?

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:41:56 -0400

Sounds good. Added the extruder kit now, too.

[www.ponoko.com]

It's roughly the same cost for cutting time, materials, and shipping on that one.

I wonder if it will make a good difference? Everything is about cut time, so rounding corners may reduce the overall distances that need to be moved, reducing cut times. However, square corners on some items may allow more shared borders, also reducing cut times. Hmmm.

Got my wife interested in the service (Architech going for her masters) so I also have the NZ and US materials catalog being sent over.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:59:36 -0400

Cool. Now we just need to optimise the design a little to get the cost down to the bare minimum. Lots of round things can be turned into triangular things, and I have a sleeker design for the Z bearing holders that has fewer fancy curves.

I was thinking of taking one of the extruders out, now that there is a separate extruder kit up there.

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:46:33 -0400

I just put up the Acrylic set with 3mm as blue tint, the rest as clear, MDF board. I'm asking $210 + $40 shipping ($250). US shipping only for the moment. Although I think this is shipping from NZ still given those shipping costs. I'm hoping to knock it down to $5 or $10 on June 5. Depends on what they do to change it.

[www.ponoko.com]

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:03:17 -0400

Not in New Zealand, even though I have to pay in US$. Visa and Mastercard are the only payment options. I will check to see if there are any hoops to jump through.

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:44:25 -0400

That is really weird. The US version is all Paypal. I upgraded to a Premier account so I could set up the store account.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:39:58 -0400

I've yet to see what it actually turns out like - my settings are being fiddled with as I type. I have to allow about 5% or so for moneychanging (wife deals with this stuff - I'm hopeless at it). We have to use an NZ visa card to pay the bill as Ponoko don't take Paypal and I have to pay them in NZ$. Interim currency fluctuations can bite me big time.

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:06:26 -0400

It's should be lower now (with the special Prime account). $240 ish?

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:18:08 -0400

You Paypal me and I'll run it for you. I Promise not to run to the Bahamas with the money!

Vik :v)
@diamondage.co.nz

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Anonymous User — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:00:39 -0400

Sorry for the potentially stupid question... How do I go about placing an order with Ponoko for the discounted RR parts? If I make my own account and use the RR designs available on the site, the price comes to over $400.

Thank you,

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:51:32 -0400

Last time I did one it was US$331, and knocking off the shipping should save $30 - it used to be $80 but now they're cut in the US as well as NZ. I've a few optimisations in mind and might well get it below $300. Soon they'll be cutting in Europe and I'll get free shipping there too.

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SCphotog — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:05:24 -0400

So what is the cost for the laser cut parts with your discount Vik?

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:15:20 -0400

Transparent where possible and avoid the tinted green - it's very dark. You have no idea how much easier it is when you can see through the bits!

Cut the bed on plain MDF, or do it on cardboard and cut your own beds from the cardboard template.

I tend to cut my acrylic parts on clear or red tint. I did one in black which looked really sleek, but was an absolute blinder to put together.

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:09:47 -0400

So, any color suggestions?

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:05:03 -0400

Done. Now we're on a level playing field :)

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:40:06 -0400

Do it now, it's reverts to a more expensive version at midnight PDT

Email I have

Hi there Gerald,

Thanks again for your interest in all of our hard work to deliver
you the world's easiest making system.

Ponoko - just upload your designs, choose materials, then click to
make and sell them online. With all the support you need to get
it just right.

And with Value Prime you also get big cost savings and premium
services like:

[www.ponoko.com]

- a 6-point design report before you commit to spending money;
- $0 making, materials and/or shipping to go to your next event;
- promotion to over 200 US design store retailers; and
- you can request we make from your own unique materials.

----------------------------------------------
In just 24 hours we wind up the launch of Value Prime
----------------------------------------------

After 11:59pm Sunday May 24th Pacific time the monthly price
increases from $27 to $39 per month and the making cost increases
from $0.87 to $1.35 per minute.

And if you do your sums, you'll see that you only need to make a
few things this year to get the pay back:

So it might pay to lock in the low rate now. Because it will not be
offered again:

[www.ponoko.com]

Happy making!

Dave, Derek, Dan, Olga, Yana and Josh

------------------------------------------------------------
PS - qualification for $45 materials catalog offer ends in 24 hours too
------------------------------------------------------------

Remember that you'll also get offered our materials catalog for $45
(not $145) if you are subscribed to Prime by 11:59pm Sunday May
24th Pacific time too.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:30:54 -0400

Sounds very fair. It costs me more than that even before I allow 5% for money-changing! Also, I won't get the new free shipping with my discount vouchers. I'm going to have to get me one of those Ponoko Founders accounts!

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SOI Sentinel — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:17:50 -0400

I bought a "founder" ponoko prime account before seeing the deal Vik has. Vik, Do these rates appear similar to what you have?

For instance, the total cost of a RepRap V1.1 cut is slightly less than $200. I want to charge a 5% premium to cover the cost of the account in a store setup. This is material cost + $0.87/min cutting cost.

Does this sound fair? We'd have to pre-set up materials and colors. I plan to add other useful items as need be. This should help local 'strapping or other development.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:53:27 -0400

I recommend using clear or tinted plastics. The "5mm" sheet is best cut on 4.5mm acrylic, sheet size P3. All the others are on sheet size P2 as per the filenames.

The 3mm parts are printed on acrylic, the 8 & 9 on acrylic and MDF as per their filenames.

I've been given a 50% cutting discount to offer to RepRappers by Ponoko, and I've just been told I can offer free shipping in NZ and the US.

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Pablo — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:11:33 -0400

This project is awesome!. But I have some doubts.

The Free Acrylic RepRap (V1.1) file imported into ponoko website, contains 4 diferents .eps files:

5mm-laser-acrylic.eps
p2-3mm-parts.eps
p2-8mm-acrylic-parts.eps
p2-9mm-mdf-bed.eps

Then, you have to choose the material, thickness, and sheet size.

What is the best option for each one? (material, plastic type, thickness and sheet size)

Sorry if I'm missing something.
I'm not English.

Thanks

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

RussNelson — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:53:14 -0500

Is anybody else building an Acrylic RepRap? I've got a few questions. E.g. does the Ponoko X Idler Top Bracket use 25mm screws, not 20mm as the instructions imply?

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VikOlliver — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:29:58 -0400

Unlike the plywood design, the acrylic one is very tolerant of material thickness. The only slots that spring to mind are ones holding the opto flags. Nothing structural that I can think of. You do want 3mm sheet for the extruder parts though, as this is used to space out the channel for the filament feedstock. If it's >3mm not much problem but <3mm you'll need to shim it.

Vik :v)

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

SnailRacer — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:40:44 -0400

In order to adapt the laser cut Ponoko design to be cut on a water-jet or a milling machine there are several changes to the SVG files that need to be made...

1) The thickness of the laser cuts are assumed to be near zero, so the parts must be repositioned so that the shared cuts where adjacent parts are near each other account for the thickness of the cutter.

2) Some parts are nested into holes of other parts that will not have clearance for them with a wider cutter, so they need to be moved outside of the holes.

3) The laser is used to label the Ponoko parts, the labels need to be removed.

4) The parts are meant to slot together at right angles, so the slot widths need to match the material thickness, if the material is a different thickness than the Plywood used in the Ponoko design then the slot widths need to be changed.

5) If the radius of the cutter makes it difficult to get a 90 degree inside corner, then there needs to be small relief cuts made on the inside corners of the slots.

6) Because of the small part size, and the number of parts, it would be a good idea to connect all the parts with break-away tabs. The tight clearance of the laser cut parts made this unnecessary.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Ian Adkins — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:29:29 -0400

On the Acrylic Laser cut we BfB now do all the 5mm bits out of Hi-Impact Acrylic which has almost the same asthetic but is loads stronger and starts to show white stress marks when bending the sheet before it breaks, so you have to go some to bust the stuff. It still breaks in tension with little warning but only after very excessive load is applied much more than standard acrylic. We also did a little tweeking of design of some parts when we switched materials just to make assembly a little easier.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Forrest Higgs — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:30:15 -0400

There are a lot of plastics that will do a better job than HDPE ... at a multiple of HDPE's cost. I try to stay with something I can afford, and frankly ABS is about as expensive as I'm prepared to go at this point unless I get a LOT richer. :)-D

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

VDX — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:13:55 -0400

... for me the best material for milling is POM (or Delrin) - rigid, very good wear and friction-values and it didn't overheat and melt like many others ...

Viktor

Altetrnative material for kit mechanical parts

Larry_Pfeffer — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:07:45 -0400

Forrest Higgs Wrote:

> So is there a better material that we should think
> about using? I'm milling stuff out of HDPE and it
> seems to be pretty robust.

Greetins all,

It costs more, but polycarbonate (e.g. Lexan) is *very* tough/durable and mills OK. (The chips sometimes stay attached, and need to be trimmed.) Cost might be offset by using thinner material, since Lex is so strong.

Another possibility is ABS sheet -- if material cost is an issue, and relative to cutting costs, I don't think that's a major factor. The ABS sheet I've seen is a grey color, not the most aesthetic, but it might be an option.

-- Larry

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Anonymous User — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:06:30 -0400

I am too new to electronics to do my own - i am still holding on to my Arduinos hand.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Forrest Higgs — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:00:04 -0400

I do my own electronics work. My controller board hasn't had to change substantially in the last six months as a result. I don't see how anybody manages to keep a Darwin going, given what seems at times like daily changes that they make to its control electronics. I wouldn't know whether I was coming or going if I got into all that.

Re: Acrylic RepRap files on Ponoko

Anonymous User — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:40:29 -0400

Sounds like you are pretty much good to go...

My thoughts are turning to a Sanguino based kit. Looks like if one of those were available i could be set for now too.