I'd love to make my own reprap

Hello folks,

I've had my Ez3D Phoenix 3D Printer for almost a year, upgraded it plenty, and I've decided to look into making my very own 3D Printer.

I've searched Ebay and found a moderately decent deal on the required electronics for making a prusia i3, except for the fact that I would like to make this 3D printer with different dimensions (i.e. Using my Phoenix to print custom 3D modeled joints and other parts to fit the whole thing together)

[www.ebay.ca]

The link above states the requirements (except for power supply) for the electrical components for a 3D Printer, is it safe to say that this company looks legit?

I go to a high school that has its very own cnc where I could create certain parts for the frame, supports etc.

Anyways, should I start sketching some ideas for what the printer should look like, and get it all prepped before I buy anything? It seems like this can be a great summer's project

Is there something I'm missing? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!

Hey,

So from my experience of designing and building 3D Printers I find it useful if you know what parts you will be working with. (Motors, Electronics board, etc...)

With it being your first build I would highly recommend getting the parts in and then build a CAD model of the 3D Printer with the parts you ordered.

From there you know everything will fit together right down to the very last nut and bolt.

And at the end of the day, the parts in that eBay listing can be put on virtually any RepRap 3D printer with no compatibility issues.

Another benefit of getting the parts is that you can test 3D print/CNC parts and fit them to see if they will work correctly!

So my recommendation is to get the parts on the eBay listing as you will need them eventually, and if you get them now, it will help massively with the development stage!

Regards,

Alex

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NFireLabs - The World First Modular 3D Printer - At An Affordable Price!

I would not get a hotend/extruder from an ebay vendor if i don't know precisely what i get. The rest is fairly standard stuff that you can usually order from most sources without much risk.

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

Hi,

I'm going through the same process right now. I got most of my parts through aliexpress where the prices are better. I was expecting some rejects but so far everything has come good, if a little slowly in some cases. The ramps board in particular was better quality than expected, and the smooth rods, bearings and lead screws all seem reasonably good.

I used this vendor for the electronics package (bought as separate parts so I could pick and choose): [www.aliexpress.com]

These steppers [www.aliexpress.com]

And this is the vendor I got the smooth rods and (most of) the bearings from: [www.aliexpress.com]

Have fun!

Thanks so much for the replies everyone! I will look at the aliexpress urls and get these parts before any real development, thanks!

I will also list the parts before I buy all my necessary pieces in case I make a mistake

Thanks again

You might also want to consider whether you really want to get the cheapest electronics available (i.e. Arduino/RAMPS), or get more modern electronics with easier configuration, higher performance, and more features. That choice depends on your budget, what type of printer you intend to build, and how you expect to use it.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42
You might also want to consider whether you really want to get the cheapest electronics available (i.e. Arduino/RAMPS), or get more modern electronics with easier configuration, higher performance, and more features. That choice depends on your budget, what type of printer you intend to build, and how you expect to use it.

May you elaborate more?

Sorry if I sneak in the topic, I am also interested in building a new printer.

I found the answer: http://www.reprap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Electronics. One never ends learning here...

I would be careful on getting your electronics on eBay. I purchased my Ramps 1.4 and Arduino Mega and both had to be replaced by my first print, not to mention the bad soldering on the ramps that was shorting out the Z axis. I ended up purchasing my new parts off of Amazon since you have other users reviews, as well as the benefit of quality customer service through Amazon for returns and such. I did purchase my frame and hardware off of eBay and was pleasantly surprised by the quality and attention to detail.

Having just survived this process myself, I would highly recommend the Rambo board at a mininum. Dont go the ramps road. The connections just result in a hair ball of wires sticking out and the power connector sucks.

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thetazzbot
Having just survived this process myself, I would highly recommend the Rambo board at a mininum. Dont go the ramps road. The connections just result in a hair ball of wires sticking out and the power connector sucks.

There is no way I would buy a RAMBO. If you are going to fork out for a good board, get a 32-bit one with a native USB port - not an ancient 8-bit design. A Duet or Smoothie provides far more performance, provides an Ethernet connection as well, and needn't cost any more (the Duet actually costs less).

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Well, the rambo is still cost effective.

I like the 32 bit boards but they are approaching my $$$ limit for one single part of the printer.

I don't like the sandwich solutions.

I'd rather have an FPGA based solution but I think that is a long way off

$150 for a smoothieboard over an Rambo/Arduino/Ramps @ $75 complete... Is there enough of an advantage there? I suppose it depends on the printer. Cartesian, maybe not. Rostock, probably yes..

Take a look at the Duet. It's only $80 from Replikeo, or a little more from Think3DPrint3D or RepRapPro.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I've been looking at the RUMBA, it seems like a decent board, especially with the cost, it also has the precision of 1 out of 16 per step which is extraordinary.

Should I get this as my board? [www.aliexpress.com]

Or should I get a Duet?

Id like to state that I have used the RAMBO on my printer, and it seems like a low cost board, unfortunately, I do not like the idea that the entire board must be replaced if a driver blows

Thanks so much everyone for the feedback!

Quote
InspecteurSpie
I've been looking at the RUMBA, it seems like a decent board, especially with the cost, it also has the precision of 1 out of 16 per step which is extraordinary.

All boards (including Mega/RAMPS) provide at least 1/16 microstepping, so the RUMBA is no different in that respect from anything else.

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InspecteurSpie
unfortunately, I do not like the idea that the entire board must be replaced if a driver blows

Then you may want to consider the AZSMZ Mini. It is a 32-bit board with a native USB port and SD card socket (so better than RUMBA in these respects), but has plug-in drivers - which means you lose the digital control of stepper motor currents that other 32-bit boards provide. Unlike the Duet and the Smoothie, it doesn't have Ethernet.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2015 07:19PM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42
has plug-in drivers - which means you lose the digital control of stepper motor currents that other 32-bit boards provide

do you mean that instead of playing with potentiometers, one can set it from software?

With a AZSMZ Mini, can it support two Z stepper motors? Sort of like a Prusa Mendle i3.

If no, then should I go with a RUMBA? Sorry, I'm relatively new to this

I also have an LCD below, does it matter which LCD goes with which board?

[www.aliexpress.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2015 09:29PM by InspecteurSpie.

Okay, after many hours of searching, I have finally piled up all of the electrical components for a reprap!
Can someone do me a HUGEEEE favor, and tell me if I'm missing anything? Or if some components aren't compatible with others?

J-Head Hotend (for now): [www.aliexpress.com]

RUMBA Board (still not decided yet but almost certain): [www.aliexpress.com]

Micro Usb cord: [www.amazon.ca]

Power Supply Unit:

LCD with SD reader: [www.aliexpress.com]

Stepper Motors: [www.aliexpress.com]

End stops: [www.aliexpress.com]

Heated Bed: [www.aliexpress.com]

Thermistors: [www.aliexpress.com]

Fan 1: [www.aliexpress.com]

Fan 2: [www.aliexpress.com]

I didn't include power supply, and recommendations?

Thanks if you help me out on this one, I really just want to make sure I get everything working, and that all my components will work together

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InspecteurSpie
With a AZSMZ Mini, can it support two Z stepper motors? Sort of like a Prusa Mendle i3.

Any board can drive two Z stepper motors. The motors can be wired either in series (which for most motors is the better way), or in parallel. Some boards provide 2 connectors already wired in series or in parallel to make it easier to connect 2 motors. I don't know whether the AZSMZ has 2 connectors, but I'm sure you can find out by doing a small amount of research on google.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Get the Rumba from ReprapDiscount, they are the original manufacturer, the RUMBA board itself was desigend by members of HackFFM.
The Rumba is a good choice if you don't need 32 bit, i use it in three different printers.
32 Bit is a bit more expensive but it allows you to use stepper drivers with higher microstepping, thus making the print process a lot smoother and much more silent.

Don't get that hotend it is not a j-head but a fake e3d with a j-head mount.
The hotend is most likely the part that will give you the most trouble if you buy cheap. It will be also the most frustrating since different to cabeling or mechanical problems you can't do much about it if the hotend is simply not well designed/made.

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[www.bonkers.de]
[merlin-hotend.de]
[www.hackerspace-ffm.de]

That's a pretty nice looking set of parts

I went for the opto endstops instead of mechanical. They're not a whole lot more expensive and I'm hoping to mount them so that they can't be contacted even if the cpu goes nuts and keeps on driving past them. That should avoid broken mounts and having to readjust them. I'd hope (but don't know) that they would have a more reproducible switch point than the mechanical ones too.

On the LCD I splashed out for the graphical one (http://www.aliexpress.com/item/RAMPS1-4-LCD-12864-LCD-control-panel-3D-printer-smart-controller-Free-shipping-Drop-shipping/1393921538.html). It seems very nice, although some people have had problems with the contrast adjustment.

I also went for the Drv8825 stepper drivers over the A4988s for their higher current handling (I don't plan to use the 1/32 microstepping). I guess you can always swap them out later if you run into any problems.

Where are you planning on putting the two 30mm fans? I got a couple of the blower type to put on the print carriage for cooling pla, and I'm thinking I'll probably go with a couple of 50mm for the ramps board once I've made an enclosure for it (ah, dreams for the infinite future - that stage seems a long way off!).

I'm also uncertain about the power supply. I'm hoping to re-use a spare ATX PSU, but it sounds like the heatbed load is very hard on PC power supplies. I like the idea of having the electronics supplied by 5v standby, with the rest of the psu powered down until it's needed, so I'm hoping the ATX supply works out. If not, I'll probably go with a 24V supply and buck converter setup.

The duet costs 153$ (shipping included) This is simply too expensive, the Rumba isn't 32 bit, so that's a no go.

The AZSMZ Mini, looks like my best bet: [www.aliexpress.com]

Can anyone give me a reason not to buy this thing? My concentration is on portability, and since I can easily hook up a lcd to it, and everything else in general, it seems ideal for my standards of balance between price, and quality.

Also, is this the right lcd to connect with a AZSMZ? [ru.aliexpress.com]

Thanks a bunch!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2015 08:12PM by InspecteurSpie.

Quote
InspecteurSpie
Can anyone give me a reason not to buy this thing?

• It only handles 2 extruders.
• Controller & driver electronics are on one board... cheaper to buy in the first place (connectors are expensive), but if something goes wrong you may have to replace the whole board. My experience is that something always seems to go wrong.
• There's no upgrade path except to replace the whole thing.

Currently, my plan is to initially get my next printer running on a MEGA2560+RAMPS. When the mechanicals and wiring and electronics is debugged, I'll put a Diamond 3-filament extruder on it. At about that time, I'll replace the MEGA2560 with something faster (top of my list at the moment is Printipi -- controlling the printer directly from a Raspberry Pi). I'll add another RAMPS 1.4 board for the extra stepper drivers.

I'm sure I'll find another use for the MEGA2560 for some gadget project or other. If not, it's only $10 down the drain.

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InspecteurSpie
The duet costs 153$ (shipping included)

It's only $80 + shipping from Replikeo.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].