Starting a reprap looking for sound tested advice!

Greetings everybody!

I've been considering a 3d printer for just over a year now and have finally decided to build my own device. I'm looking to do much of the work myself so I'm looking for some advice on where to start as the directions on the wiki seem a bit outdated.

Firstly where would be the best place to begin? Buying the board the power supply and the electronics and getting everything working before starting the physical construction?

What exactly should I be getting? Is gen 6 the best way to go? I'd like to be able to repair individual components on the electronics.. Also I think that gen 6 electronics need a separate board for the heated bed?

Are there plans for an automated build platform like on the makerbots?


Really any advice I can get as to where to best start is what I need..

My yearlong goal is to build my first printer and then use that to build a second machine..

Thank you all for your time and for your amazing community!

Two things:

First, What tooling to you have?

Second, a mendel is probably the cheapest option.

The first is for a repstrap, which is the only option if you can't get the plastic parts. But plastic parts are relatively easy to get now, so I'd recommend the second.

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I'm building it with Baling Wire

syknyc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Greetings everybody!
>
> ...
> My yearlong goal is to build my first printer and
> then use that to build a second machine..
>
> Thank you all for your time and for your amazing
> community!

My program is similar, but I'm starting with a MakerGear Prusa Mendel. I know I'm spending more than building from scratch, but much less experimentation should be required getting the (mostly) known platform up and running. Then I can start experimenting, but with a functioning 3D printer in my arsenal! Beyond, that, I don't yet have specific advice on where to start.

I think I'm going to source a prusa mendel as it seems simplest and as a result more robust.

Since I'm going to source I want to buy the electronics first and confirm that they are working correctly before starting the next stage of construction.

Ramps looks good to me but it seems to be sold out.. is gen 6 recommended? It seems less expensive.. though I believe that is also sold out actually..

Otherwise I'm going to order excess hardware to make repairs or clones..

Can anyone recommend anymore must read articles?

Thanks for the replies so far BTW!!

mendel-parts isn't taking orders right now anyway, but if you want something that you can replace parts on, i wouldn't get a gen6, unless you are comfortable replace SMT components.

I got a gen6 so that i could get up and printing faster. for my next machine, i plan on building the electronics myself.