Starting Mendel Build Gold Coast

Hey all, just letting it be known we have another Aussie Mendel in construction just south on the Gold coast.

I'm a 3D designer by trade, but lack finesse in the electronics department. Soon to rectify that!

I have had a hell of a time trying to source parts for this machine so im going to be doing my best to populate this
part of the world with a few more mendels if possible!

Im sure ill be on here asking advice as soon as I hit my first road bump!

In the meantime any advice will be much appreciated!

Check out HSBNE (Brisbane Hackerspace), as they have a Mendel very close to working (config issues mainly).

Also, on the HSBNE mailing list there are people trying to organise a Gold Coast Hackerspace. Might be worth your while getting involved if you're not 100% on electronics, as they could be able to help.

Will check em out! Cheers!

I'm building a mendel in australia too, see the side column of my blog for a usable list of australian suppliers. I think the only parts I got internationally were the stepper controllers from pololu and a few misc parts from futurlec who have an australian website but the parts are posted from malaysia

---

-----------------------------------------------
Wooden Mendel
Teacup Firmware

Cool build Triffid!

I Got almost everything internationally.
RP Parts from Nophead in UK ( Pricey! but really good quality prints! Recommended)
Electronics from Techzone in US (Issue with the USB - TTL module, missing a solder point on the usb connection to the pcb, i fixed it up and its working. I let Kym from TZ know and she has offered to send me a replacement without question. Which is really good support)
Power Supply from China (was $12 including really quick postage)

The rest is all locally bought.
Stepper motors from AusXmods (cheap enough and quick postage)
Fasteners from place on the gold coast (Probably could have been a little cheaper but I had an account with them which is 2 months of no payment awesomeness)

Still waiting on the bearings, belts and M8 Shaft. Not sure who to acquire these from.

Im waiting for the machine to be fully built and running before I start focusing on the extruder. So many options of where to go with that, needs most of the focus.

Im building a CNC router at the same time as this which seems to be ALOT easier in terms of required electronics and price of things.
Plan to be cutting some nice thin sheets for mendels with this. Probably build in a heated platform and sell a couple on ebay in a month or so time.

cnc router eh? all you need is a z-axis and an extruder and you could use that instead of a full-fledged mendel bed.

what did the parts from nophead cost you?

---

-----------------------------------------------
Wooden Mendel
Teacup Firmware

Dillinger:
Stephen George (on this forum) sells pre-cut Mendel belts, and is in Brisbane. He might even see this post.
Bearings can be had from Small Part and Bearings.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2010 09:13AM by Cefiar.

I am designing a mini/micro mendel or similar. I commute between the Gold Coast & Gosford (80km north of Sydney). My background is electronics.

I purchased 5/16" ZP rod (~7.98xx mm) from Bunnings.

Let me know where you get your rod from as I haven't yet found a supplier. I did see that someone has used ss rod from an old printer - I have a few so I will look there.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2010 11:25PM by cluso99.

I'm part way through building an isaac mendel, the structure is built but no electronics yet. I got my smooth rod from All Things Stainless [allthingsstainless.com.au], not cheap but no hassles from them. All of my fasteners came from this guy [www.boltsnutsscrewsonline.com]
Cheap delivery and good service. I'm halfway between brisbane and the gold coast.

From 2010-08-31

I am starting to build my Micro-Mendel. Some suppliers I found are on this thread [forums.reprap.org]

Hello,

I am only just starting to develop a network of like minded people. I am interested in keeping in touch with people regarding getting their machines up and running, etc.

Dave

i'm looking at building one of these machines as well i live south of byron bay

byron bay eh.. I'm in mullumbimby

---

-----------------------------------------------
Wooden Mendel
Teacup Firmware

Triffid_Hunter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> byron bay eh.. I'm in mullumbimby


Haha, Im in Lismore and thinking about trying to build one if I can get the price down. How did you guys go with it?

I've started a web shop at Create3D.com.au if you're interested, although I'm closer to tweed now

---

-----------------------------------------------
Wooden Mendel
Teacup Firmware

Cool, thanks for that. Still close enough that I can call in when on the way up the coast sometime. Do you sell any (even if they are pre-ordered on a per order basis) kits that have all the parts (even the ones sourced from elsewhere)? Im trying to get an idea on how much it will cost (good quality parts) to build the entire thing, and make sure all the parts match. Maybe an option on your site would be to sell reprap kits where someone can choose the design (like mendal) and then choose the size they want. From here all the components will be listed and there can be radio buttons for each part where there are multiple options (with advice on which ones are best quality). Once done, get your site on the supplier list on the reprap site and that way people can order an entire kit at a good price and not worry about the parts being incompatible. Maybe even have a checkbox to have it pre-built for them for an extra cost.

MicWit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cool, thanks for that. Still close enough that I
> can call in when on the way up the coast sometime.

sure, I'm up for that

> Do you sell any (even if they are pre-ordered on a
> per order basis) kits that have all the parts
> (even the ones sourced from elsewhere)?

I fully intend to do exactly that, however I'm still ramping the business up and finding suppliers

---

-----------------------------------------------
Wooden Mendel
Teacup Firmware

i live in mullum to anybody know of any good suppilers nere by for the rods, nut and all that other type of stuff

sorry if this post is old an i'm bring it back to life

rat man407 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i live in mullum to anybody know of any good
> suppilers nere by for the rods, nut and all that
> other type of stuff

mullumbimby? There's boltbarn in lismore, mitre 10 in mullum itself, a few up at tweed, probably something at ballina too.

I didn't find any smooth rod in this area, got from [allthingsstainless.com.au] - tell them it's for linear motion and must be straight, they'll look after you

---

-----------------------------------------------
Wooden Mendel
Teacup Firmware

thanks for that i just order the rods from allthingstainless so here goes my frist try at building a 3d printer