Hello everyone. I am a complete newb to 3d printing. There is a ton of information to filter through. I know I want a 3d printer, with a bed large enough to print drones with decent lifting capacity. ( i understand that is a large variable) I need it to be as cross platform and open source as possible. I want to be able to print another machine within reason. Sourcing the metal parts and printing the plastic. I want to be able to print from any os including mobile oses. I have children 11 and 13 so I would like a complete kit in the sense that all of the parts are aquired before building but difficulty assembling should not be an issue for us. . I have some arduino and raspberry pi experience and am not opposed to it being driven by these boards or similar generic boards but the easier the better. I have the ability to make wooden frames also. I am leaning towards a prusa mendel. I would like input and advice, thank you. There are so many interchangeable and rapidly changing parts it is a bit overwhelming trying to get a good footing. Thank you gpgp Edited for grammar https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800118#msg-800118 Mon, 10 Aug 2026 20:01:31 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800352#msg-800352 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800352#msg-800352
To do more than just print a pre-sliced model from a mobile phone, you need a way of running a slicer. That could either be a slicer app that runs on the phone (but I don't know of any), or a cloud-based slicing service.]]> dc42 General Mon, 11 Dec 2017 09:57:19 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800342#msg-800342 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800342#msg-800342 The printer firmware is opensource, the Server and host application are not open source. I use Repetier and I like it, the free version works good, and
then you have a pro version that have some nice to have features.]]> amigob General Mon, 11 Dec 2017 07:30:33 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800337#msg-800337 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800337#msg-800337
So far we know you want a "big" print bed and to be able to print from all OSes. The prusa mendel has a pretty standard print area in my opinion, so I don't know what you mean by "big", and like I said, printing from mobile isn't a very common feature. You might be able to add this functionality with a raspi pi or a wifi capable control board.]]> Trakyan General Mon, 11 Dec 2017 07:03:44 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800118#msg-800118 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,800118,800118#msg-800118
I am a complete newb to 3d printing. There is a ton of information to filter through. I know I want a 3d printer, with a bed large enough to print drones with decent lifting capacity. ( i understand that is a large variable)
I need it to be as cross platform and open source as possible. I want to be able to print another machine within reason. Sourcing the metal parts and printing the plastic. I want to be able to print from any os including mobile oses.
I have children 11 and 13 so I would like a complete kit in the sense that all of the parts are aquired before building but difficulty assembling should not be an issue for us. . I have some arduino and raspberry pi experience and am not opposed to it being driven by these boards or similar generic boards but the easier the better. I have the ability to make wooden frames also.

I am leaning towards a prusa mendel.

I would like input and advice, thank you. There are so many interchangeable and rapidly changing parts it is a bit overwhelming trying to get a good footing.

Thank you

gpgp

Edited for grammar]]> gpgp General Sat, 09 Dec 2017 17:24:25 -0500