New to Reprap : Want to build a Mendel

Hello there! I started looking to build a Reprap few weeks ago and from what I've seen, the Mendel is the most reliable DIY 3D printer avaible right now. I've seen people selling complete kit for Mendel, but they were a little pricy. I think that the cheapest way to make it is to buy it piece by piece. Is that right?

So I was wondering if you guys could tell me if Mendel is a good choice and if so, where sould I look to buy everything I need, including the printed part for it.

I'll appreciate your help on this and see you around the forum!

Martin

PS : I live in Canada, so American online shop would probably be better.

EDIT: I think this is not the most appropriate section of the forum, So I'll post it in Repraper. Sorry!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2011 12:10PM by Atfer.

Heh, I am in the same boat as the OP. I want to build a Mendel this winter. Based on a bit of reading and lurking it looks like lots of people are selling Prusa RP parts, but I haven't seen many Mendel parts kits. Based on the wiki pages I would rather build a Mendel - sliding bearings don't seem like a good long term solution to me for a high-precision piece of equipment (In addition it looks like the Prusa has 2 z axis motors, but I could be misinterpreting the diagrams).

I've been reading through the wiki and I'm a bit confused by all the options documented. It seems like every part has at least one alternative design. This is great for documentation, but it makes things confusing as heck for the beginner. Is there a kind of component list that documents what would be considered "best practice" for a plain vanilla Mendel? I.e., this extruder and this hot end and this motor bracket and this set of electronics.

You should definitely consider the Prusa over the Mendel. Brass bushings are more than good enough, you won't wear those out. If you really want to go for the maximum overkill you can consider LM8UU linear bearings.

Check this out for more information: [forums.reprap.org]

Oh, I was under the impression that Prusa used PLA bushings. And that google doc is amazing, good working putting that together!

i have a prusa right now with PLA bushings, prints quite well. i've printed a few prusa parts with linear bearing mounts for my machine and am in the process of printing an entire prusa part set using linear bearings. it's mostly parts from Greg Frost's Prusa Mendel fork on github.

mostly i'm looking for robustness and reliability with the linear bearings, but they should help improve print consistency.

hello, i have some useful insight to offer
i have built the original mendel and i am now build a prusa mendel for the university here in buffalo. and they both seem to have some pro's and cons.

mendel, has some interesting design characteristics which i think could make it more accurate from a standard build. also, its design is more interesting( such as the bearing set-ups with the 3 on one side and 2 on the other; the fact that the z axis is moved with one motor and uses a belt running underneath). mendel also has alot of upgrades that could be taken straight from thingiverse. one thing that attracted me was building a machine that could print very well, and then build your own upgrades!


prusa, seems to be less involved mechanicly which is good if you are looking to hurry up and make it work, or bad if you really enjoy building physical things. The x axis is easier to level being the axis is held in place by 2 motors instead of the belt system of the mendel. With the linear bearing upgrades, this could be as good as mendel, but it doesnt appear to be a standard option currently. the university's prusa is not printing yet so that is where my knowledge trails off.

overall, my opinion personally that the mendel is better if you are interested in the mechanics of the machine. if your budget is tighter, or you want a quicker build, the prusa is the way to go. i am confident that the prusa can reach the same level of quality as the mendel if the linear bearings are used. hope this was helpful



Morrist