Cheapest complete reprap kit with a short waiting list?

As the title says,.. I'm looking for a complete reprap kit, unassembled, but with everything included I need to make a working printer (and some good instructions to get started).

Where can I get a this without an 8 -12 week waiting list, but still at a half decent price? I'm based in Ireland by the way, so shipping may be an issue,..

Hi Njones,

What RepRap version are you looking for? There are a few options for example makergear.com (US) have Prusa Mendels with something like a 2 week leadtime. The price is good but the shipping might be a bit harsh to here (I'm in Ireland too) but it might still be worth it. Mendel-parts.com (Netherlands) sell the more complex original Mendel but they're usually crazy busy so you might have a bit of a wait. emakershop.com (UK) do a huxley version but it's a crowdsourcing-funding thing so you might have missed the boat there. There's lots of repstrap out there... reprapsource.com (Germany), mendel-parts.com in EU to name but a few...

Where in Ireland are you? I'm up in Leitrim myself, built a plywood repstrap and used it to print a Prusa. If I can be of any help ask away.

All the best,

Alan.

Thanks for that Alan!

I'm very interested in your plywood repstrap,.. do you have any photos?

Here's a pic. Its not a pretty sight tbh as was put together with whatever bits were lying around! I have a laser so I was able to do the gears on that and also a sliced wades extruder (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5548). It's sort of a variant of the wolfstrap but with leadscrews for X and Y and an optical stage for Z. It worked well but was quite slow with a top speed of 13 mm/s iirc. Anyway I think it took me about a month to print the prusa parts out (tho that was part by part...) but it was a nice learning experience. I moved the electronics and HPB over to the Prusa when it was done so the repstrap got retired. I'm planning to stick it under the laser as an XY table...some day...if i ever get around to it...

What about yourself, have you had any luck looking for a kit?

take it easy,

Alan.

That is brilliant Alan! I'm well impressed with the ingenuity of your design!

I'm still looking at the moment,.. funds are short so its going to be the absolute cheapest setup possible to start with, which is almost certainly a Prusa.

Being a complete beginner I was hoping to buy a "kit" with everything included, and most importantly some real good instructions on getting started, but cost benefits may sway me towards a more diy approach.

I'm fairly confident on the mechanical side of things. I can build the frame no problem (The first thing I plan to print is parts for a reprap with a bigger build area!) but its the electronics that I'm clueless about. Is there a guide for complete newbies explaining that side of things?

hey Njones,

Have a read here: [blog.reprap.org].
Its gives a good rundown on the various options and theres info on kits towards the end.

For electronics theres quite a few options.... at the moment most people go for RAMPS but Sanguinololu is also becoming popular. Both pages have decent step-by-step instructions for assembly. In either case you'll need either pololu or stepstick stepper motor drivers (should be linked on those linked pages) and for RAMPS you'll need to buy an Arduino Mega (a useful tool for learning about electronics actually). If you aren't too far from me I could give you a hand with the electronics some afternoon for a few hours. Also, I'm printing a set of Prusa parts for someone at the moment but when finished I could do a set for you if you go the diy route. PM me if any of thats of use to you.

Anyway don't hesitate to ask questions.... its nice to see a few irish folks on here... twas quiet there for a while

Alan

Thanks Alan,.. I'm down near Cork unfortunately, so a bit too far from you.

I'm going to do a load of reading up over the next few days & try to get my head round the electronics, and start making a list of what to buy. With postage costs etc I half expect it to be cheaper to buy a complete kit in one go,... but the mrs is less likely to notice if I buy one or 2 things each week,...

I've found some Nema 23 motors on ebay real cheap, but they have 6 wires,.. are they any good?
[cgi.ebay.ie]

Another newbie question about the electronics,... I've seen a few machines with a card reader that will print without a computer. Is this a good idea & if so what extra electronics are required?

As far as I know, RAMPS is the only electronics platform that supports SD printing. You can get RAMPS boards + SD reader from ultimatchine

The original Gen3 electronics support printing from the SD card. Add an LCD and keypad and you have a stand-alone 3d printer!

---

Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

How do these look?

[cgi.ebay.ie]

[cgi.ebay.ie]

What else would I need? (power supply/cables endstops etc?)

What size of a psu will I need?
If I used a standard computer ATX PSU, could I run the reprap & power a heated build table from 1 power supply?
What cables will I need?

Another newbie question,.. with the makerbot motherboard I linked to above,.. do the stepper motors plug into it directly or do I need another ramps board?

Hi Njones,

Don't know much about the price of NEMA23's but am I right in reading it as £65+£63... seems pricey to me (i paid less than half that for 5 nema 17s delivered) but I could be way off the mark...
I think you can just cut off the two 'extra' common cables - see wiki here for stepper wiring info.

The arduino clone seems ok... but I don't know the intricacies of this ATMEGA1280-16AU vs a regular arduino.... maybe someone else will chime in.

Can't say I know anything about the makerbot board.... heres a list of all the 'official' electronics which might help you but I'd say you'll need some stepper drivers from makerbot for that. If it helps you, my setup its roughly as follows... stepper motors connect to pololu driver boards which plug into the RAMPS board which plugs into the Arduino Mega which connects to the PC via USB.
I'm using two ATXs one for the HPB and the other for the rest but they're old and don't supply much current. Off the top of my head the stepper drivers supply up to 2A each, the hotend 12V/~6ohms is another 2A so thats about 10A @ 12V (15A limit i think). My HPB takes ~5.5A off the other ATX (6A limit iirc) but you may have a different setup there e.g. Prusa's PCB one (my diy one takes a while to heat up and only reaches 70C which is grand for PLA but no use for ABS).

Theres an Irish Reprap User Group page under Europe on the forum here. If you post there you might find someone else around Cork interested in RepRap.

Take it easy,

Alan

Hi guys I would realy like to learn an start to make a reprap to but don't know much about programming one I think I would be abele to build most of it but would need to know more like cost I have got deep pokets lol so could only aford it bit by bit what would the overe all cost be I want to see if I can use the reprap to make things like housing for a tv remote toys for my lil girl an novilty things like funny cups could I use it to do things like that also ples guy will need your help an my names aaron