St. Louis, MO. USA

Hi, I'm Shawn. Would you please create a forum for Saint louis, Missouri? Thanks.

RepRap User Group created, good luck!

http://forums.reprap.org/list.php?205
http://reprap.org/wiki/RUG/MO/Saint_Louis

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-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

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Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

Hi Sebastien, I am writing to you from Rolla, MO. Do you have any kind of RepRap working?

I have been keeping an eye on the rapid prototyping forum for a while, and would like to see one of these machines and talk to someone who has used one before I jump in.

Our business is machmotion.com. We make controls for CNC machines. I also teach young boys how to make things electrical. My blog (neglected lately) is [thecreatorclub.blogspot.com]

I've been trying to decide whether to introduce this to the boys in the club as an approach to making things.

I hope you can respond to this inquiry.

Tom Eldredge

A bit late to find this thread, but I'm just outside of St. Louis. There are quite a few of us in the area. Here's my working Prusa:

[blog.jseaber.com]

oh wow i wondered if there some of us in St. Louis.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2011 11:09PM by kyleeamonahern.

my email is cowacorn@gmail.com, email me to join a st. louis homebrew 3d printer club, for help and collaboration.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2011 11:11PM by kyleeamonahern.

I've been reading more and more articles on 3d printing and would really like to take a try and building one.

Thanks!

Is there any one building a reprap here in St. louis . I was at arch reactor on mar 10. they say, they have build one. I only saw a builder box. Am looking to build the controller. has any body got the skids.

Hello, I'm just wondering if there is anyone in the St. Charles area with some 3d printing knowledge? I'm not super technical but I'm just nerdy enough to wanna know everything I can about it. I would love to sit down with someone & learn how to make one of these. Are there any groups that meet in my area? Thanks so much for any information.

hello neighbors, I have been following reprap for about 5 years now and decided to finally build one. I am making a sae prusa mendel, no iu8uu but bushings and a greg-wade accessable extruder with a guideler. i am about 3/4 done. electronics checked, host and firmware loaded and mostly working (repetier), rods cut, extruder half done, bed in work. i started buying parts in Feb a little at a time, so that is why I am taking so long. I am also a mentor in a local FIRST Robotics club River City Robots.

Hey Kaz,
Our highschool competition robot club is in st. charles although they are not making one, but as a mentor, i am making one and am in st. charles for meetings on thursday nights. except for this holiday week.

Hi
Curious as to how to build one, seems you need a working one to build a working one. Catch-22

Wouldn't mind starting a club in MO and seeing about building some...

I live down around Six Flags....

Rik,
It does help to know someone who has one. Getting someone to print parts for you at cost for plastic ~ $20/lb + shipping sure is cheaper. I am waiting on a buddy at work to print a set for me now. But you can order a set from internet sources from other people who sell parts ~ $150 for a set of prusa parts I hear. Buyer beware though.

Do we still have interest in the Saint Louis region to get together and chat in person?
We can select a location and time if we do.
I would be happy to share everything that I know about them. I can show my software to hardware interface in action and tool chain function as well as manufacturing techniques. I am still waiting on plastic parts to complete my printer unfortunately. In the mean time there are already videos and blogs which lay this all out better than I can because that is where I learned from, but it does require a lot of reading and watching videos. It does give a nice kick-start to talk to someone in person though.
Anyone in?
If so, mark to follow this topic and get email alerts about this topic and we can start this thing rolling.

I have an interest in meeting up! I am getting ready to start my build on the MendelMax 1.5. I am very new to 3d printing but would like to see what others have and have done.

I guess that makes two of us so far.
Don't forget to mark to follow this topic so you can get updates if other people join in and somebody starts setting dates.
Welcome to the group!

A group of two is a 100% improvement. LOL. Update: received 1/2 of my order from Misumi, and, placed my order with McMaster. Printed parts should be here this week. I should be able to start my build this weekend. Looking at the required software and downloading some of it. Need to study that area a little closer. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

for software, i did quite a bit of reading and decided that repetier host and firmware was a leading package and so i wanted to start off with that. since then i have worked through installing and learning it and i am still favorably impressed. the preview, gcode editing window and live print views with layer by layer controll are really nice. the ability to use skeingorge is desirable too. plus many options that i may work into later. i would recommend repetier. plus i have worked through the installs on linux and windows but this is the only package that i have worked with. but other than that, i have no opinion.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2012 08:27PM by rrr7.

Recieved my McMaster order today! Misumi cannot explain why they shipped 2 packages with the same tracking number and I have only recieved one package. Made trip to hardware store for misc. parts. Progress. What cad are you using or do you use cad?

Sweet! on receiving supplies, i like parts. Mcmaster is quick from Chicago, usually 2 days for me. I never ordered from Misumi, I have been ordering specialty parts from Ultimachine.
I am an aerospace engineer, so cad is like my thing. I am running linux at home mostly where I have loaded blender which does organic like shapes well, and OpenSCAD which is how do I say- interesting. OpenSCAD does not have an interactive selection and feature generation GUI but does do dimensioned shapes but so far I it seems like a fusion of boolean math combined with programming with C. I have QCAD which does 2D. I have access to some software licenses through FIRST Robotics of Autodesk software and others if I loaded them onto an XP machine. Blah, blah, blah...
I really have not had the need to do much yet except tweak a part or two for my prusa build. I am looking forward to printing parts that others have made at first. What is your plan for cad and what operating systems do you have to work with?

I have used Inventor, solidworks, and UG. Former tooling engineer for toyota. I downloaded freecad last night and played with it for a few minutes. Comes real close to soildworks and inventor (early versions), parametric modeling for free. So the price is right, and it runs on my apple. Misumi called and they are sending me parts next day, no charge. Leads me to believe they need to organize their shipping department. I am not to savy on electronics so I need to find something called "Mendel Electronics for the complete dumb a__. LOL. Will look at ordering parts from VXB and SDP (bearings and bushings).

you have one main choice of electronic type (gen7, ramps, etc...) and then some minor choices for endstop switch types and the hot end. i ordered most of my electronics from UltiMachine.com in Tennessee as well as other parts and plastic. they are also fairly quick to deliver (3 days). i bought a ramps v1.4, from ultimachine and an arduino mega 1280 from Amazon, but a 2560 will work too. the rest of the parts are pretty standard for repraps, just go by the reprap parts list to get it all. there are some companies who sell full electronic kits and you may consider doing that as buying pieces here and there will likely just cost more in shipping anyway. the only reason not to buy the full kit is if you don't have all the money at once. if you don't want to solder components, make sure to order them "fully assembled".

Not to say that you can't find these but here are some links that may help with the electronics decisions:
[reprap.org]
[reprap.org]
The often overlooked difficulty in getting an extruder is that there are so many choices if you decide to make it yourself. It is an interesting challenge, but it can take a lot of time to finish. I almost have my extruder done, I redesigned a wildseyed hot end but I need to remake the ptfe thermal isolator because I drilled the hole offcenter, then I can hook up the wires and insulate it. I'm still waiting on plastic parts.
Hope these help.

Thanks for the links will look at them while watching the olympics tonight. Recived the rest of misumi order today. Still waiting on printed parts. It looks like we own this forum. Extruder is included with the printed parts, but, still needs to be assembled. Waiting for the printed parts before I buy too much. Never really did too much soldering, so, I will go with the assembled kit. Taking any pic's of your build?

True,we should probably start a new thread in our forum to show activity with a recent date.
I will start our own thread now.

Let me know about the new thread. Got my printed parts yesterday and they are good quality, very little cleanup required. Will start assembly tomorrow.

Hello guys, are you still monitoring this thread? I am planning on building a Pursa Mendel and was wondering if I could count on you fols for help, if and when (more likely when, than if) need any
Thanks!

Hello,
From Central Missouri Area
I just joined the reprap group although I have been working on a reprap for a while. I felt that the all-thread rods would not be stable enough. So I started building my own design with laminated wood. By the time I was nearing completion the thing had gotten way too heavy. So now I building a lighter weight verson, but still more than strong enough. I have aquired everything I need except the printhead and the electronics. Now I'm not sure which electronics package is the way to go and would like to discuss this with someone knowledgeable.
Thanks,
Bob B. near Fulton, MO

ronlybonly,
Welcome to the St. Louis Area group.
As the entire reprap project is- it is all your choice. -I know, not much help.
The whole reprap community is very helpful so just read and ask questions. If you post questions by category in the forums, more people can see them and respond.
The print head is one of the most tricky bits as there are so many choices and it is probably the most critical of components. While the whole physical gantry tolerance (slop) may affect prints, if the hot end doesn't work well, the show is off and nothing prints. If you are not in the mood for a real head-scratcher, you may consider following a developed design or buying one off the shelf. For me I redesigned wildseyed's simple hot end three times before it worked well- why? because I can't leave well enough alone in case you are interested. I don't have any experience with any other hot end models. I have read some good things about j-heads and others too.
I found the modular electronics of the RAMPS was attractive to me so that is the way I went. I have no regrets with RAMPS, it has worked well for me. I wanted to learn Arduino anyway. I bought my RAMPS from UltiMachine, arrived from TN in a few days and was pleased. I chose Repetier for software both host and firmware using Skeinforge and have run it on Linux and windows.

Hi,

I am new to reprap, but no stranger to CNC. There is a St Louis CNC group that meets occasionally, about 5-10 guys if any of you are interested.

I am thinking of starting a 3d printer, a OB1.4 type of design, but one that uses Mitsumi extrusion and CNC most of the connector parts.

Plan on using RAMPS1.4 using Marlin, etc.

Anyone know of seller kbellenterprises on ebay? I think it is Kbell Engineering in Hazelwood. He sells some parts and filament and is located up near St Louis Mills mall. His products include "free shipping" but I PMed him and he said he might be willing to sell on a will call basis. He has both 1.75 and 3mm in PLA and ABS.

Anyway, is there a local reprap user group that meets? Any interest?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2013 05:34PM by revwarguy.