Best repstrap?

Hello and greetings!

I am interested in joining the 3D printing community, either just to expand the community and give it one more person's worth of drive, or to design some parts of my own and hopefully improve upon what's here! However, since I don't have ~$1000USD to throw at a kit, I'm looking to construct a repstrap and then print the parts I need printed for a proper reprap, probably a Prusa Mendel. However, I'm not very acclimated to making things in a workshop. I don't have a great selection of power tools/bench tools, and I unfortunately do need some kind of instruction to build one.

I'm asking then, for a repstrap that an amateur can build, that won't break the bank, and can be made with relatively few tools (I have friends with bench tools, so this is actually rather optional). And ALL this repstrap needs to do print the parts for a reprap.

Many thanks,
falkenhausen

In your case it will be easier to buy a set of printed parts to make a reprap rather than fabricate a repstrap. Printed part sets can be had for under $100 now.

Here's a good BOM to get you started. Cost is under $500 not including the printed parts. Going the repstrap route, especially if you don't have workshop tools, would not cost significantly less and would be much more of a headache. IMHO.

Edited to include the link. D'oh.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2012 02:51AM by NewPerfection.

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NewPerfection Wrote:
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> In your case it will be easier to buy a set of
> printed parts to make a reprap rather than
> fabricate a repstrap. Printed part sets can be
> had for under $100 now.
>
> Here's a good BOM to get you started. Cost is
> under $500 not including the printed parts. Going
> the repstrap route, especially if you don't have
> workshop tools, would not cost significantly less
> and would be much more of a headache. IMHO.

I hate to seem dull, but was there supposed to be a link or a file attachment in your post?

Other than that, you suggest just getting a set of the printed parts and constructing a reprap and not going through the hassle of building a repstrap and then a reprap?

I assume that the most expensive parts are the electronics and extruder; I don't see rod supports and threaded rods as being hundreds-of-dollars expensive.

falkenhausen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello and greetings!
>
> I am interested in joining the 3D printing
> community, either just to expand the community and
> give it one more person's worth of drive, or to
> design some parts of my own and hopefully improve
> upon what's here! However, since I don't have
> ~$1000USD to throw at a kit, I'm looking to
> construct a repstrap and then print the parts I
> need printed for a proper reprap, probably a Prusa
> Mendel........
........

If you want to start printing, and end up with a prusa... then I suggest getting a prusa. The printed parts are not aot of money these days, and bundled with everything else.... it's minimal. For a little over $500, makerfarm has their complete kits on sale: [makerfarm.com]

Even with a kit, you are looking at probably between 50-100 hours to get it assembled, software installed, tuned, until you start printing decent quality parts.

Probably will be around $600 by the time you add some filament, rods, powersupply, etc.

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Thingiverse ID Alan1279

falkenhausen,

I don't know if it is in your budget, but our Vision 3D Printer Kit is on Kickstarter for only $725 (if you are in the US).

It is based on a RepRap Prusa Mendel, includes all shipping, 3 lbs of plastic (in 1.75mm or 3.0mm diameters in different colors), a pre assembled and tested extruder (with both 1.75mm and 3.0mm nozzles), it comes with ALL tools needed, and it builds in about 5 hours. No soldering electronics, crimping wires, or wasting trips to the hardware store.

Today is the last day at this price.

If it doesn't work for you, do your research and find what does.

check this out for instruction..

[github.com]

There are a lot of options under $1000, and I agree with everyone else it isn't worth building a rep-strap to print the plastic parts.
There is a good chance you'd spend the cost of the parts in plastic by the time you's got everything calibrated and the part set successfully printed on the repstrap.

Heck i just built a Prusa with less than $50 worth of rod and all thread. I already had a prusa so i just printed my own parts. i bought some cheap motors on ebay for $50. And if you want to go cheap on the electronics buy a Sanguinololu board and motor drivers for around $150 or less. Rip the power supply from an old junk computer = free. And youre all set. Its not that expensive at all but if you have no experience with 3d printers its hard to know where to start.

I have another question about the production of the machine itself: On the wiki it says that there are different thicknesses of the cuts for the threaded rod that I could use, does that mean I'm cutting the grooves myself, or am I purchasing a pre-machined rod?

Yes, there was supposed to be a link. Sorry.

[titanpad.com]

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falkenhausen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have another question about the production of
> the machine itself: On the wiki it says that there
> are different thicknesses of the cuts for the
> threaded rod that I could use, does that mean I'm
> cutting the grooves myself, or am I purchasing a
> pre-machined rod?

If you have a good lathe and the right tooling, theres nothing to stop you cutting your own threaded rod. Most folks just use standard M8 or 5/16" rod though, you have to be careful to get a straight piece but its accurate enough for the job.

5/16 and 8mm are basicaly interchangeable except for the smooth rods where you might or might not use bearings for your X and Y carriages. I have one of my prusas running with no bearings and one that is, the non bearing one runs smoother believe it or not. So you could buy 5/16 all thread and 5/16 smooth rods to keep costs down and then once its put together upgrade it as you wish. The frame for these can be built very cheap and very accurate without getting fancy, simple is better.

falkenhausen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have another question about the production of
> the machine itself: On the wiki it says that there
> are different thicknesses of the cuts for the
> threaded rod that I could use, does that mean I'm
> cutting the grooves myself, or am I purchasing a
> pre-machined rod?

While you could thread it with a die or a lathe, that really doesn't make sense. Threaded rod (allthread) is not that expensive. I would also suggest using metric for both the threaded and smooth rods. Perhaps it's not a big deal, but the software is all based on metric dimensions, so with a stepper spinning the metric threaded rod, all of the steps are even (no rounding). And if you use metric smooth rods, you can take advantage of the inexpensive metric linear bearings (LM8UU) as an 'upgrade'.

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Thingiverse ID Alan1279