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)

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

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)

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,

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

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

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2009 09:17PM by SOI Sentinel.

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)

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

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)

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]

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)

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.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2009 04:55PM by SOI Sentinel.

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?