RepRap Armageddon Melb & Newbie question

I meet a couple of guys over the weekend at Melbourne Armageddon Expo 2012, who where at the R2 Builders / Dalek's booth. I had the booth next door, the Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club. They had a 3D printer on demo printing Dr Who stuff.

Anyway I make lots of props for costumers, and after seeing what I think was a RepRap at work am now myself really interested in getting myself a machine.

I have an IT Background, (BComp) and am a major geek so Im hoping it should help some what with this new endeavor.

Any help would be appreciated. Im looking at making stuff like thermal detonators (from star wars) and maybe parts for star wars blasters etc so a larger format is preferable. Im hoping to keep a budget under 1.5K

Any recommendations on a supplier and a unit?


April

HI April,

You would have bumped into people from CCHS, who were there with the R2 Builders group (R2 Builders are using CCHS in Melbourne occasionally as a place to get together, a bit like the R2 Sydney branch use the Sydney hackerspace). You might also want to join the CCHS mailing list (see [groups.google.com] and also [www.hackmelbourne.org] for details), and ask the same sorts of questions there.

There's a few types of machines and each has it's own set of advantages and disadvantages, so best to narrow it down to a few types before making a decision.

There are commercial offerings, but for the price point you're looking for, you might find the machine is either fairly small and/or you're quite limited and tied into supply chains for the printing supplies (like filament) that aren't cheap.

On the stand I think we had 3 printers over the weekend: An Up!, a Mendel Max, and a Prusa i2. The Prusa played up (nothing wrong with the basic design - just a long-standing problem with the extruder which hadn't been fixed at the time) and the owner of the MendelMax was able to bring that in.

A number of CCHS people are building MendelMax's, which if you were at Armageddon on Sunday you would have seen one (black sturdy extruder aluminium frame) that belongs to Holger.

There's also someone building a Mendel 90, and I think someone is looking to build a Prusa i3.

I'm personally interested in building the new Lulzbot TK-0 as my next printer.

All of these should be able to be purchased as kits well under the price range you're looking at, and in some cases as partially or fully assembled kits.

Things to look out for:

Build Area - You want something big enough to print what you expect to print, with some room to spare. You can however print stuff in parts (and can be necessary for odd shapes) and assemble them into a single unit.

Heated Build Platform - A heated bed is essential for printing ABS, and even with PLA makes sense.

Plastics - ABS and PLA are the main materials used, but there are other more experimental plastics being used. Note that with Clear PLA, you can print a model and then use lost wax casting techniques to make diecast/aluminium objects of your printed model. Each plastic has its own characteristics, and it's best to understand some basics to choose the material that is right for you. Main thing is that PLA starts to deform at highish temps (eg: 65 Deg C+), whereas ABS will tend to be fine up to 100 Deg C or so.

Extruders - Most machines have 1 extruder, but you can have 2 (or more). Advantages are that you can print in 2 colours, but also you can print in two plastics (or a plastic and a "support" material, that supports the plastic where it normally would just fall down, and then is dissolved/removed later with little effort). The extruder is really 2 parts - the hot end (which heats the plastic and lays it down) and the cold end, which is responsible for pushing the plastic, and combined it's probably the core of the machine.

Electronics - One of the few areas where the price point hasn't really fallen much is electronics. Some kits will come with electronics, and some will not, so definitely check to make sure you're getting electronics with your kit. I also suggest that you keep to something that seems fairly well known, as it's much easier to deal with a well known set of electronics than something that is only used on a few machines.

Shipping - Shipping on parts can be a killer, as can customs if you're bringing in more than $1000 worth of goods yourself from overseas in one hit. Always check how much the shipping will be. There's a bunch of local companies that sell some or all the bits you might require, so it's always worth checking them out.

Some local places (not recommendations, but more pointers):
[create3d.com.au] - Create3D
[www.bilbycnc.com.au] - BilbyCNC

PS: Feel free to come along to one of the CCHS meetings, specifically the 3D Printing night if you're able: [forums.reprap.org]

I want ABS, as its compatible with most of the other parts I have, eg vacformed ABS bits for stormtroopers etc.

I saw this one on ebay, which was pre-assembled and tested, which appeals a little.
[www.ebay.com.au]

This one is from China, and kinda looks like the makerbots:

[www.ebay.com.au]

I am used to scratch building props, but they tend to not really require any precision, so the precision required here is my only fear. When is the next meeting? or do I just sign up on those lists and ask there?

There's a calendar with all the meetings in it, but basically at the moment it's:
Tuesday nights - the sort of 'main meeting' and the one we suggest everyone attends a few times to get the idea of the place.
Saturday mornings - general hackery
1st and 3rd Monday of the month - 3D Printing

Looks like there will be some more opening times as well, as there seems to be momentum for a new special interest group to form (like the 3D Printing nights).

The one from NSW looks nice but there isn't a heated bed on that, and it looks like you're printing direct on plastic.

The mBot is a clone of the older generation MakerBots, and so while the machine is virtually the same, I've heard the support is non-existant.

About to head off to work, but I'll chase up a few things and see what I can find for you.

thanks

Just to give you some idea, this is the sort of thing I want to use a printer for, these are the parts for a Jetpack body, alla boba fett.



These are made from resin and aside from being stupidly expensive, eg around $200 inc shipping, I have to wait 12+ weeks for on of a handful of people around to world to make it.

There seems to be plenty of 3D models I can use as a base and just print it myself on a as needs basis.

April

I found this one on ebay,

it looks pretty good to, probably more what Im after since Im slighty obessive compulsive and like a little order in things.

MendelMax Type 3d Printer Kit Reprap Mendel Prusa Metric Rods

[:RTQ:US:1123" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.ebay.com]

Im seriously just considering biting the bullet and just ordering it give the lead and shipping time. and its well within my budget.

FEATURES:
Black Anodized Misumi 2020 Aluminum Extrusions. Precision cut to correct lengths, tapped and drilled tool access holes.
Misumi T-Slot nuts and Blind joint Torx
Igus Pillow Block bearings for all Axis (for fast & smooth printer moves)(Avoid kits with cheap LM8UU)
Adjustable top mounted Spool holder (fits all spools)
Aluminum Upper & Lower Y plates (no cheap wood or acrylic like other kits on ebay)
Thermal film for upper Y Plate (Helps Reflect heat upward to the print surface)
MK2 Heat Bed with LED Status lights & Epcos Thermistor
Borosilicate Hi-Temp Glass Print Surface (235mm x 235mm)
M8 Smooth rods for X, Y, Z axis
M8 Threaded rod for Z
Power Switch & Socket with Printed mount (uses standard PC power cord)(power cord included for USA/ Canada Sales)
Power Supply 12 VDC 30 AMP
RAMPS 1.4, Ard. Mega 2560 Rev 3, 4 x 4988 Stepper driver
LCD Smart Controller, with Printed mounting case
Acrylic Electronics mounting plate
Stepper motors, 5 each
Professional Wiring Harness ( may or will require modification)
LED lights to illuminate printer ( You get two 30 cm pre-wired )
Greg's Tilt Extruder with wide Herringbone Gears, M4 Idler bolt with correct springs, HIVE 76 Milled Hobbed bolt
J-Head Hot End, .35 nozzle 3mm
Stop switch Kit with printed mounts
Cooling fans for X, Y & E stepper motors with printed mounts
Cooling fan for electronics
Wire Clips (printed, kit comes with 24)
Polycarbonate Pulley 40 tooth MXL with belts for X & Y
All Printed parts included
All hardware included

Those would be pretty easy prints on a RepRap. The surface finish won't be quite as smooth, but all the detail will be there. You could probably find someone willing to print them for less than $50.

aprilstorm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanks
>
> Just to give you some idea, this is the sort of
> thing I want to use a printer for, these are the
> parts for a Jetpack body, alla boba fett.
>
> [farm5.staticflickr.com]
>
> These are made from resin and aside from being
> stupidly expensive, eg around $200 inc shipping, I
> have to wait 12+ weeks for on of a handful of
> people around to world to make it.
>
> There seems to be plenty of 3D models I can use as
> a base and just print it myself on a as needs
> basis.
>
> April

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2012 10:33AM by NewPerfection.

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thanks for the offer, but I have actually ordered parts to make my own machine, as I can see so many uses for this. aside from it being a heap of fun.

I hope to catch up with people once I start assembling the printer.

April

im actually building my mendelmax currently , i am not sure how many models are available for the star wars props you want to make , and ive been playing around with 3d modeling , there is a steep learning curve (e.g. if you cant download them and print them your going to have to model them in blender or the like ). the other thing i have not seen much about is finishing on printed parts , i am not using the correct terms but on printed parts you can see the layers \ grain if you will like wood , you would probably want to at least prime and sand them just to get rid of that if anyone can link information on finishing products to a qualiity like in that pic it would help us both , i know with abs you can also use acetone for finishing