Noobs: Original Replication RFQ here:

Hello my fellow reprapers. I am an experienced hobbyist who has heard about 3d printing and now learned about reprap. I like many noobs ready to take the next step, want to know 3 things:
1. What may be the best model for a 1st printer?
And
2. Where do I get it? I.E.:Who would like to print it for me?
And
3. For how much?



Thanks for all the support. I'm looking forward to creating new and exciting things together! Hoya

That first question is hard, since you will get different answers from most. To suggest a printer we will need more info. How big are the prints you want to make? How experiences mechanically are you? How good are you at solving hardware and software issues? How much are you willing to spend?

Yes lotw much agreed we need a lot more info to make an educated recommendation. It sounds like he may of just got bitten by the bug and hasn't really thought about what he wants specifically and what his needs are. We would definitely need a budget and what you want to print on your bot as well as software and mechanical experience. Here I attached a picture of a reprap I'm building that the goal was to build the best not for the least amount of money to donate locally. I've only spent 15$ so far but I also have extensive collections of parts and mechanical know how as well as lots of years building repraps. With no information I would recommend looking into Printrbots. They are a good starting point for many people. If you are looking to just get started and your on a budget that's the way to go I believe. My Printrbot is the printed version and highly modified. They also make a Printrbot Jr. Good luck and with more info we can make a better recommendation and welcome to the forum.

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Hi, lotw, good point. thanks for answering, let me see if I can dial it in a bit. Being an experienced hobbyist means being able to handle most everything you just mentioned. :-) To give an example, I will be building better more specialized 3d printers. I will be printing hotter print heads, higher temp heaters, etc, in order to use harder materials. I'm good with hardware, software(A+ Core Hardware n Software Fundamentals) n an experienced craftsman n experienced in plastic mold-injection, cnc machining, welding,etc, etc. As far as price, I spill consider all offers that compare to the cost of building my 1st printer myself (a much funner option). Hoya

Well if you are that experienced you can build which ever one has the size specs you need. Most of the parts you can get on ebay or other sites, depending on what it is. Amazon has a lot of parts too. Then there are websites dedicated to only 3d printers, that sell hot ends, motors, etc. a good example of that kind of site is Lulzbot. There are quite a few. Check out the Reprap Wiki. It has some good info and shows great information about the different printers that people are building.

Hi reprap squad, thanks for the welcome, glad to be here. After heating your thoughts also, I think it would help to clarify my initial goals and intentions for my 1st printer, esp. My 1st goal is to familiarize myself with the tech and systems of builder-bots(3d printers), my 2nd concern is it's variable print capacity, and how customizable it is. My third is it's initial cost. I have had the idea of building what I've called "builder-bots" for over a decade. I intend on building better and better bots n programs starting with this 1st bot that can replicate itself completely. So I would like my 1st bot printer to be able to replicate itself completely, and I'd like to modify that program to increase and customize the new printer's capacity. I also hope to make a few items for profit to offset the costs n free up more time to develop affordable printer technology. Hoya

Thanks for those resources lotw. I think I better read for another 200 hours on reprap only, then I'll ask more questions. Btw, what's up with the cursor moving all over? Anybody else having this issues?

The printrbot is a great first printer and it has extendable x,y and z axis. The downfall is that the new versions are made from laser cut parts unlike mine which is comprised of printed plastic parts, known as the printrbot original. I extended all 3 axis on my printrbot and started with the basic pieces and then went to town customizing it to suit my needs as well as build a better better not. You can still find printed original printrbot parts on eBay for a really affordable price. You can also find precision rods in printers if you don't mind taking apart quite a few to find the rods you need. Like you said definitely spend as much time as you can on the wiki page and forums researching as much as you can. You will find a bit that suites your needs. Knowledge is king. I always spend the extra time doing the research and it has suited me quite well.

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Ok thx squad, I'll read a lot especially on the printerbot. Which one can fully replicate itself, circuits included?

I've heard of one printer only comprised of printed parts but that is excluding motors, rods, electronics, hot end and maybe a few more parts. The majority of repraps "3D printers" only have a parts of them that are printable. The one I've seen that is almost all printed parts I've attached to this post. Its called the cube. There are a few out there with a lot of their parts printed. But some things will be hard to print due to the precision needed and tolerances. Motors, rods, hot end. Unless you can print a plastic hot end that is tolerant to temps exceeding 230 degrees Celsius. I have seen some guys meddling around with printable circuits but not for reprap use. You will have to Google that. If you have any questions I'm always available. Either I or some one else from RepRap Squad will answer your questions ASAP.

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I'd *really* like someone to chime in and correct me on this but AFAIK:

Quote

Which one can fully replicate itself, circuits included?

No printer anywhere can do this yet, I expect the situation will be the same in five years time too.

I'm slightly saddened that this question got asked really, too many journalists are getting too excited and not doing their research I'm afraid.

Just reproducing the plastic parts is, however, a major leap, the current state of "reprap" is that, for a "true reprap" all the other bits are easily available commodity parts which are already being mass produced by many sources and available pretty much everywhere the post can reach and which has currency that can be converted to dollars.
Admittedly one or two parts (like the hot end nozzle ) need reasonable machining skills to make from commodity stock but an ecosystem has sprung up with such things being made for reprap builders by those who can and sold at a reasonable price.

Cheers,
Robin.

I don't think anyone is really working on a 100% printable printer - since it probably isn't possible: The hotend needs to be printed with something that has a melting point higher than the plastic you want to print, so it can't print itself. Likewise the hobbed bolt has to be harder than the material that's used with it so it doesn't wear.

Ultimately, I think repraps at the moment print about as much of themselves as is optimal - if you find a cheaper way to make stepper motors you could make a load of money selling the idea, but they're commodity, mass-produced parts. Same with fastenings, power supplies, and electronics. It just doesn't make sense to bother making custom parts when you can buy a set of steppers, electronics, rods, and know that you can use them again and again in whatever printer you want.

Much agreed the only thing I can think of that would come down in price and up in quality is the electronics. For the most part. Like I said I only have $15 in my current Printrbot build and I'm almost done. It has been a side project build for a donation but non the less $15 is a small amount of money. I guess if you add in all the time for sourcing parts then it would be a lot more. It would cost a lot more in most cases to print the whole structure of a reprap versus buying the needed parts.

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