RepRap under $150

I think I can build a 3d printer for under $150. My work threw out a pickup load of laserjet printers and all in one's. Literally. I drug them home, much to the chagrin of my wife. I harvested 5 nema 17's, a bunch of rods, bearings, bushings, wire, end stops, glass plate, etc. My goals are to achieve a 9x9x7 print area, using the minimum of store-bot vitamins and lowest cost EVER for a RepRap.

Which brings up my first question: What is the lowest cost RepRap ever built? Has anyone broken the $100 barrier for a self-replicating machine?

Inspired by the "MilkRap" project on instructibles I want to build in a plastic milk crate. I intend to go with Ramps 1.4 electronics, skip the HBP to start with, and use my android phone for a controller (http://www.dietzm.de/gcodesim/#GCodePrintr). I like the bowden extruder and H Bot style, because of the lightweight print head, and high speeds. I have read everything on the "H Bot with String" thread, and have decided on belts.

I have access to a MB Replicator (1, dual) at work, and Solidworks.

Here's a sketchup first draft:


Also:
Can I do a cantilever build platform of this size?

SlimJim
(first post, btw)

If you don't count materials salvaged from elsewhere, the lowest cost printer built is undoubtly zero dollars.

For price comparisons you have to sum up newly bought materials, everything else doesn't make sense.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

I would personally go with CoreXY, especially with a repstrap that's likely [not a fact, just likely] going to have looser tolerance.

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Realizer- One who realizes dreams by making them a reality either by possibility or by completion. Also creating or renewing hopes of dreams.
"keep in mind, even the best printer can not print with the best filament if the user is the problem." -Ohmarinus

For $150, maybe...
If you can scavenge linear motion, switches, wiring and you can make a hobb and build plate, yes, you have a shot.

That pretty much just leaves lots of nuts and bolts, the hot end and controller system.
Hot end - $30-100
Controller/Stepper Drivers - $80-$200
Bolts - ? (more than you expect!)

So yes, $150 is doable at that point, you could maybe even do it for just over $100. Maybe less if you slow boat from China.
Will it work, yeah. Will it work well? Probably not. Fast? Not likely.

Fast or cheap, pick one.

stepper + electronics only are 100usd so it's hard to go down

As posted above I have built several RepRaps from $0 to under a $100. One in particular, was called the JunkBot. It's frame was built by reusing outdoor solar light stands. You can find info and build logs for the JunkBot via my site, here or at RepRap.org My first printer that was a plastic Printrbot cost about $10 due to having a large collection of reusable parts. One of the builds from early on called the Phoenix project was a great example on how to build a printer very cheaply using reusable parts. You can build a printer for a little Amount of money but if it's your first build, generally it will take a lot longer than you think. My first took quite a while doing that way. The more you spend the quicker it will be but, the things I learned during that time are invaluable.

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