Reprap website parts lister??

Does anyone else feel the parts listers decline is a step back for the RepRap website??

I've just finished building the motherboard and am sourcing the components for the extruder controller and am finding it much harder to figure out exactly what I need.

I know the Parts Lister has been replaced with a Google Docs sheet, but find the layout very confusing. Is it me, or does the sheet not show the required components for obsolete electronics?? Also, it doesn't specify package sizes for the various electronic components. It took me about ten minutes to order all the bits and bobs for the motherboard, but I've been scratching my head for several hours now trying to figure out which bits I need for the extruder board. It seems the Google docs sheet doesn't contain all the information that was in the parts lister, and the link to a website where you can purchase the relevant component was extremely useful, even if you weren't actually going to order the part through that particular company.

Not a complaint at all, I'm well aware the people publishing these pages are probably not getting paid to do so, and the site is full of useful information. But I was wondering if the decision to move over to the google docs format was for any particular reason other than its too much of an effort to maintain the parts lister??

What adds to my confusion is the wiki pages all still link to the parts lister, rather than the relevant page in the google docs.

Milly.

I am new to this and am going to start my build soon and would agree with you.

Not a complaint at all, I'm well aware the people publishing these pages are probably not getting paid to do so, and the site is full of useful information. But I was wondering if the decision to move over to the google docs format was for any particular reason other than its too much of an effort to maintain the parts lister??

Hmmm .... frankly you should be building one of these:
http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_Mendel
and using one of the "Official" electronics:
http://reprap.org/wiki/Official_Electronics


We need to tear down all the references to the parts lister; that website is abandonware.

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-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

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Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

Sebastien,

Thanks for the reply, I imagine you are certainly right. I first started to look into building a Mendel when the model was first proposed. I was going to work on Darwin but held out for the website to be updated with Mendel info. I ordered the PCBs a year ago now, but finding the time to work on the project whilst working full-time and keeping my wife happy means I do a little at a time and not often enough! As stated above, I have only just got the motherboard to work, so I guess the project is evolving much faster than my build can cope with. Having the PCB's and most of the components now (hopefully all when the latest order comes through, assuming I ordered the right package SMD's!) means I will press on with the gen3 electronics and get a working machine before I start experimenting with alternative setups. So for my sake, please don't bin all the 'old' information, maybe archive it??

Thanks for all the hard work you put in keeping this site up and running, its a great resource and has given me an interesting hobby when I'm allowed the time!

Regards,

Milly.

"Hmmm .... frankly you should be building one of these:
[reprap.org] "

Is that true? I thought that some people had come out not in favour of using bushings.

Also from my perspective using two steppers in parallel is not good engineering practise.
The idea just grates in my mind.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2010 04:54PM by KeithSloan.

Hi Sebastian,

isn't it time to have a sub forum for prusa (in machine variations) ??

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regards,
Tom