Hacking a Makerbot Replicator 2?

Hi All,

If I purchased a Makerbot Replicator 2 for academic purposes (I'm a Bioengineering PhD student), what would it take to 'hack' the system? The idea is, I need a quality positioning system with a build platform that moves in the Z direction, while most repraps I'm seeing have platforms which move in the Y direction. I need this because I will be depositing gels which will solidify within seconds after deposition--but constant Y movement would ruin the experiment. So, in the absence of a well-documented, high-performing reprap design with this constraint, I'm considering the MakerBot. I'd have to hack it to use my own deposition system. Could I re-wire it to a RAMPS 1.4 board/MEGA, and use a modified Marlin? What would I have to consider to do something like this? Is this heresy?

Thanks!

You would be better off purchasing a printer that has been well received, and hackable like the Ultimaker [www.ultimaker.com], CAD files are published, and the position precision X Y Z: 12.5 / 12.5 / 5 micron. All you have to do is tweak the open-source code. I bet there is a good chance if you spoke with UltiMaker about your open-source mission that they would help you out too.

3ders list of printers:
[www.3ders.org]

Reddit list of printers:
[www.reddit.com]


Makerbot is having a lot of quality issues, the arms are warping, the bearings are too loose, the hot end is failing, and their customer support is lacking.

Read this chat forum for lots of examples of current Makerbot issues:

MakerBot Operators (Postings of what is not working with Makerbot printers)
[groups.google.com]

Makerbot: Worst user experience and customer care ever
After paying a few grand you expect the company that sold to you to give a damn.
Not so with Makerbot.
It was a huge struggle but we eventually got our money back following purchase of MBR2x
I'm a product designer and as I explained to the customer service agent, this product needed to go back to the drawing board, not be released to the public.
[groups.google.com]

Hey A2. Wow, just getting into the world of 3D printing, you hear so much about MakerBot, I didn't realize they were struggling so much. I don't see many people out there talking about making their own Ultimaker 2, but it seems like exactly what I need. The XY gantry and the resolution are in line with my specs. I found the BOM for the Ultimaker 2, it seems complete enough.

[github.com]

It doesn't look like it runs on a RAMPS board, but utilizes a MEGA. Have you had any experience with this printer?

I appreciate the insight.

No, I've only looked at the list of available printers that meet your requirements and whittled the list down to that one. Some one else will with experience will have to chime in, I'm sure there are many others to choose from that meet your requirements.

For your application, you might be better off getting a small CNC milling machine, instead of something designed for 3D printing. Shapeoko and Sherline are two possibilities. You can also search ebay for "motorized XYZ stage" and things like that...

I don't think Makerbot is strugling. If you make a list of the most successful / highest quality 3d printers of all time, Makerbot is on top of the list. Bar none.

If Makerbot wasn't struggling, why would they apply for patents of other people's work? Although I will say that Makerbots, to what I've heard of them, can be pretty decent, but they seem overpriced to me... of course that's coming from a guy who built a sub-$300 Prusa!
I think that it should be possible to re-wire all the parts of a Makerbot or Ultimaker to a RAMPS board, It just depends on how much time and frustration you want to put into it!
Not 100% sure, but I think that you can run Marlin firmware on an Ultimaker, I don't see why it can't, as long as the pin definitions are changed to work with the Ultimaker electronics.
Hopefully this helps... and good luck on your experiment, Kyle, It sounds quite interesting.

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Makerbot is quickly loosing its relevance as it's innovation has slowed down to close-sourced speed.

Kyle R what you need is an H-Bot. I suggest you contact Crispy1 on this forum as he is selling a very nice H-bot and may be willing to work with you to get the machine to fit your needs.

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Quote
goldenmongoose
I don't think Makerbot is strugling. If you make a list of the most successful / highest quality 3d printers of all time, Makerbot is on top of the list. Bar none.

Wow Makerbots advertising sure must be convincing. Maybe actually have a look at some Makerbot prints. This following print is a picture posted by MAKERBOT themselves and as the creator and manufacturer of the printer used to print this the print should be the very best of the best prints ever printed on a Makerbot.


But as you can see even they can not get good prints. They actually produce one of the lowest quality machines on the market.

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FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

+1 for the Ultimaker 2. Although it is a bit fiddly to hack the mechanics. Its a very high quality printer. The software is open source and easy to change. I'm happy with the hackability of my ultimaker2.