Help The New Guy

Hi All i'm new into the whole REPRAP scene and right now i'm trying to working out what sort of machine would be best suited for me finacially. i am from london england and unemployed and i'm looking to build a machine so i was wondering if theres a pack out there i could buy off someone so i can assemble it myself and find some instructional guides on how to program it.


i have found alot of things saying this is what a reprap is and this is what it does but i've not found anything that says "if you wanna make it this is what you need this is where you go to get it, this is how much it costs.

there is a good amount of infomation out there in various places and bits and peices but as i said i'm new to all this and i'm not sure where i'm looking or what i'm looking for, or the various types of machine and how efficent each machine is etc.

so if someone can help me out here i would be very greatful.

Welcome! First, define your goal: is this going to be just a fun hobby, or do you have some useful purpose in mind for the objects you'll print? And it may seem cheaper to self-source all the parts, but if you do this for your first printer, you're likely to make some mistakes and get hammered with many shipping charges, often negating the financial disadvantage of buying a full kit (this all happened to me when I did it).

I would say a Prusa Mendel kit would be perfect. They're widely available and inexpensive, and you'll get a really nice machine that can make large objects.

well my goal is simple to have a machine i can use to make and develop things for personal use and MAYBE to sell.

i was hoping to design and then manufacture my own adventure style figures for a table top style game, by the sounds of it the Prusa Mendel kit sounds perfect for my needs

can complex items be made such as items with moving parts or would you have to manufacture the moving part and its componants then assemble it yourself.

just out of pure intrest what is the largest size object the Mendel can make? just so i can get an idea of what sort of size of objects i can deal with or play with as it were

Drogon,

Do lots of reading up first.
As I understand it the Prusa Mendel is a (simplified) variant on the Mendel.

I found this guide really useful:
3D printer building introduction

Of course if there's somone near you with one who can & is willing to help that would be good.

Part of the confusion is the different permutations of what's possible. Reading up should help.

For the size question, if you type Prusa Mendel build envelope into google you should come up with an answer.

Mike

Drogon, you may have a look at thingiverse.com to see what some people are doing and designing with these printers. There are pictures sometimes that may allow you to see whether the output quality is ok for the task you are looking for.

This forums will also may teach you some tricks to change the skin appearance of printed objects.

misan