Very Questions

Hello

I'm from Portugal and I'm trying to get some information on the 3D printer RepRap Mendel and I think that is a good choice for the price.

1. Where can I buy a complete kit of Mendel's latest release?
2. Kits come with installation instructions?
3. There is the possibility to extrude stainless steel?
5. The parts produced by Mendel in your opinion are good quality or have to be finished by hand.
6. What is the resolution of Mendel, which the minimum size of details that can produce. 1mm smaller?
7. There are manuals in Portuguese.
8. The software is intuitive and easy to use and needed some tips?
9. I have seen some pieces are produced by Mendel have very good quality and not others, these problems are easy to resolve to get a good quality?

Sorry for my English and my own questions but are important to me before purchasing any model.

Please let me help.

Humberto Barroso

1. parts can be purchased at places like [ultimachine.com] or ebay, there are many others.
2. [reprap.org]
3. NO, not even close. I think the closest you can get to this is to 3d print a pattern and then cast in steel. See sites like submarineboat.com and backyardmetalcasting.com
5. depends on who sells them to you, I think the experienced sellers are producing assembly ready parts.
6. Most printers are at least good to .5 mm but it varies per printer, some are better.
7. ?
8. replicatorG is pretty easy, but configuring it is still quirky. Other toolpaths suffer the same issues, difficult to get started easy to use.
9.This stuff is rather experimental, and most of the people who have excellent print quality have spent a lot of time troubleshooting and improving to get it.

Hi

Can you show me some pieces made with your Mendel to see the detail quality parts?

I would buy a fully assembled Mendel and I can see some parts produced.

Humberto Barroso

Take a look at nopheads' blog.
The quality of his printed pieces are as good (or better) than just about anyone else in the RepRap community.

P.S. Forum etiquette says "only post the same message once, NOT to multiple topics".

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

OK Thanks Bob

And about my 2nd question you now some thing?

(I would buy a fully assembled Mendel and I can see some parts produced.)

Humberto Barroso

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Humberto Barroso
1. Where can I buy a complete kit of Mendel's latest release?

There are a couple of complete Mendel Kits.
See the Mendel Buyers Guide - RepRapWiki.

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Humberto Barroso
2. Kits come with installation instructions?

YES, usually in their wiki pages.

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Humberto Barroso
3. There is the possibility to extrude stainless steel?

Not that I know of.
Some individuals have used the RP part to create a mold that is then used to create a piece out of bronze, silver or gold.

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Humberto Barroso
5. The parts produced by Mendel in your opinion are good quality or have to be finished by hand.

Depends on what you want.
For many uses they are good as printed, for others some finishing may be desired.
Different methods have been demonstrated by different individuals for finishing RP parts.
Painting and using paint thinner are two of these methods.
You need to read the blog of blog entries (and the core team blog).

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Humberto Barroso
6. What is the resolution of Mendel, which the minimum size of details that can produce. 1mm smaller?

X, Y positioning ~ 0.1 mm.
Z positioning ~0.01 mm.
Height of a layer between 0.25 and 0.6 mm depending on nozzle and settings.
With my 0.5 nozzle I can obtain a repeatable 0.3 mm height.

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Humberto Barroso
7. There are manuals in Portuguese.

Unlikely, but who knows.
Ask in the Portuguese RUG (RepRap User Group).

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Humberto Barroso
8. The software is intuitive and easy to use and needed some tips?

They are usable.
They are documented.
You can get help in the forums.

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Humberto Barroso
9. I have seen some pieces are produced by Mendel have very good quality and not others, these problems are easy to resolve to get a good quality?

Actually, AFAIK this is the most difficult part of getting your system working.

I found it easier to get good quality using Skeinforge to generate the gcode instead of the RepRap Host software.
Adrian apparently always uses the RepRap Host software and also has good results...

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

Hi Bob

Eu sou arquitecto e pretendo fazer maquetas de casas, achas que é uma boa opção usar a Mendel ou necessito de uma máquina com mais qualidade?
Eu posso obter um aspecto liso nas peças ou na maioria das vezes é rugoso (parece que podemos contar as passagens da cabeça da impressora )
Tens alguma foto com boa qualidade de objecto feito pela tua mendel, que eu possa apreciar?

Obrigado pela tua disponibilidade Bob

Sorry Bob

One more thing I do 3D modeling with Rhinoceros, do you think is suitable for working with Mendel, already checked and exported to *. stl

Thanks Bob

If the exported STL file can be read properly by your gcode generator (RepRap Host or Skeinview) then you are good to go.
OpenSCAD is also very good for many types of objects.

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

Hi Bob

I am an architect and want to make models of houses, do you think is a good option to use the Mendel or need a machine with more quality?
I can get a smooth parts or most of the time is rough (it seems that we can count the passes of the printer head)
You got a picture with good quality of object made by your mendel, I can appreciate?

Thank you for your willingness Bob

Depends on what resolution you need.
I get 0.3 mm resolution, others as low as 0.25 mm.
If you need finer than that then you will have to go to a powder printer instead of FFF.
The Gothic Cathedral Play Set on Thingiverse is a good example of an architectural model that can be printed using FFF.

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse