Contacts info for a get together

A get together is being organised for late May/early June somewhere in the Bristol area.

For the moment the West of England Region includes:

Cornwall
Devon
Somerset
Dorset
Bath & North East Somerset
West Somerset
North Somerset
Bristol
South Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Wiltshire

IMHO the existence of a West of England RUG should be to encourage the growth of local groups as well as a Regional Group. There are already two local groups Devon & Portsmouth. The more the merrier. Hopefully the planned get together will be first of many and the locations changed to make sure they are spread throughout the Region.

The get-together is intended to meet , enjoy one another's company and share information.
Please PM me if you are interested.

Thanks
David Southwell

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2011 01:05PM by vizion.

Great idea. I would definitely be very interested in a Bristol/Bath area get together (I live near Bath).

I've been intrigued by the RepRap project for the last 4 years but only just getting around to putting a Mendel Prusa together. So a nice chat in a convivial environment with some experienced/apprentice hands would be great.

Also would be very useful for my work as we are looking for an experienced mechanical engineer with good CAD skills for an interesting, innovative project that is using some pulley and gears for some heavy (ish) lifting. Of course, if you think you or someone you know might be what we're looking for PM me and I'll try to send a little more info. It probably sounds a lot less interesting than it is.

This is going to be fun,


Steph

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2011 03:41AM by bootsa.

It looks like the meet is on we have enough people interested.

I wioll post a choice of dates hhere next week and see which works best.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. Sorry for my delay in responsing.

I have been out of circulation for two weeks - I think I said somewhere that the first part of May was v. difficult for me -- tooooooo many committments!!


David

Is the meet still going to happen?

Thanks
Michael

MichaelShillabeer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is the meet still going to happen?
>
> Thanks
> Michael

Bump,

As above?

Andy

Am in Cheltenham BTW, I have a half built mendel, needs electronics completing and an extruder head.

Hello!!!

I am an electronic engineer from Poole who has a small group who wish to build a REPRAP machine. I am currently bemused by the different variants there seem to be out there...I would like a local contact who has a working viable machine and experience to refer to. If you know anyone within striking distance of Poole..please advise.

Regards
Graham Coast

Vizion seems to have disappeared...

What sort of get together do people want?

• An evening in a pub where enthusiasts simply turn up and bring machines/bits/questions/answers
• A weekend afternoon in a free venue for people to turn up
• A weekend afternoon in a proper venue(costing money), guest speakers, local suppliers...
• Something completely different...

I think somewhere near the M4/M5 interchange is easiest for most people to get to.

What does everyone else think & want?

I'm in Chippenham and happy to meet up somewhere sometime and bring my machine along (it's very near working perfectly!)

Pub, let everyone get to know each other first.

Id be up for attending,

Would be good to meet some of the other lunatics out there,

or just someone who doesn't look at you like you stupid when you explain what your up to.

Live in Chelt but happy to travel a bit

Rob

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2011 06:31AM by ijmok.

Hi guys,

Definitely interested in meeting up in a free or cheap venue (someone's shed/workshop?) and having a show and tell. The pub thing can wait till after.

I might have my Prusa running, if not working smoothly (one step at a time) by 19th August, if not, by the end of August for sure. I can't however make any meet up until after the 26th Aug. After that, my weekends are full for a few more weeks.

BTW, this forum seems to be a pretty clunky way of organising a get together - has anyone actually met since April? What about proposing some dates and a venue using Doodle.com - or something similar.
Here's an example: http://www.doodle.com/i9ymuk33vvmugriu

Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bristol, Bath or maybe as far as Exeter - all fine by me, depending on my (intermittent) weekend availability.

I'd put a lower limit of meeting up with at least three people total to make it worthwhile. But I'd rather meet up with two other's than not at all.

Cheers,
Hamish

Hello

I am a materials science engineer working in Bristol and am considering building a RepRap as a hobby project. But before I decide if it is a good idea or not I would like to meet up with a few people who have/are building them (not least for parts).

So if a south west meeting goes ahead please let me know as I would love to come. I can get to most places in Bristol quite easily and near train stations elsewhere in the south west. I actually live right next to Bristol Temple Meads station, but don't have a car.

I am happy to host a meeting at mine, but obviously I wont have any technical input or a RepRap for others to see.

Ta,
Steve

Cheltenham is looking pretty good,

Lots of people in close vicinity,

Happy to offer a lift Steve if you would need one from the station

I could offer Prestbury scout hut as a meeting point if we wanted to bring our machines

Rob

Thanks for the offer of the lift Rob. Well, I am mainly free weekday nights until October, then my weekends will start to free up too.

Hamish? Anyone else want a meet up?

Steve

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2011 09:37AM by Alchemist.

This doesn't seem to be gathering much momentum, so let's give it a kick along...


Hey guys, does anyone fancy popping round to have a play with my rather poorly calibrated Prusa.

Let's say a week wednesday, so that's Wednesday 7th September, don't turn up before 6pm or I'll still be grumpy from work. Don't intend to stay after 11pm or I'll kick you out.

It's in Bristol, in Bishopston a mile or so north of the centre - close to Montpelier station and on a number of frequent bus routes. Parking is as good as it is in the rest of Bristol (ie a minor nightmare).

I've got enough space for a few machines to be set up if anyone cares to bring theirs along.

I'll stick a hearty pot of chilli on the stove. Many alternative food suppliers are available within a short walk.

Drop me a PM if you fancy popping round so I can give you my address, posting on this thread might be good too so other folk know who is showing up.

Cheers,

Doug.

Now that work issues are resolved, I can make it tomorrow.

I will try to bring my prusa, if not, at least my limited knowledge and experience!

Nobody else has posted here yet to say they're going. Hopefully this will be the catalyst that stops you all thinking "I'm only going if someone else says they're going first"!

Anyone wanting to come but stuck for transport from anywhere between Chippenham and Bristol, just ask.

Max

They've all probably not seen it yet

Anyhow, all welcome - hopefully we can get something regular going.

Cheers,

Doug.

Sorry I missed the updates to this thread guys.

Very interested in meeting up tomorrow (erm - later today - 07 Sep) - just have to get out of a prior engagement.

Can bring along my Prusa - first print yesterday morning: [hairykiwi.posterous.com]

I'll send RichRap (Cheltenham way) an email/link back here and see if he can make it too.

Cheers,
Hamish

Would like to come but i cant make tonight

(did see you post a while back and hoped people would make use of your offer

My Prusa is in pieces whilst i remake my nozzle and build a heated bed

Would be good to set something up "regularly" Might be work moving it around the area

Say Cheltenham/Gloucester, Bristol/Bath or maybe as far as Exeter on a 2/3 month rolling cycle?

Rob

I'll definitely be at Doug's place in Bristol tonight.

I'm very happy to travel around a bit - definitely Cheltenham/Gloucester, Bristol/maybe Bath, occasionally as far as Exeter. The rolling/variable location idea is a good one - but I'm also just as happy to go to one place more frequently than another.

I think Doug's idea of proposing a fixed place and date, then seeing who turns up is a good one to get things going - keeps it nice and informal.


Hamish

I have only just seen these posts. Unfortunately I already have plans tonight, but maybe able to come a little later. I will send you a personal message Doug.

Steve

I just spoke to RichRap - he'll be along tonight too.

His latest machine is too cumbersome to bring, but he'll have plenty of experience to help the rest of us.

See you some time after 6pm.

Looking forward to it...

I can also make it tonight (Thanks Hamish) - I'm looking forward to meeting all of you.

And many thanks to Doug for getting this sorted.

Cheers,

Rich.

---

[richrap.blogspot.com]

Would like to come, but have an interview tomorrow and need to prepare.

Will try and catch you guys at the next one.

Many thanks BigDoug for kick-starting the West of England RUG meet ups - for your great hospitality, (for those that weren't there, you missed a damn good chilli con carne) and the replacement mosfets for my heated bed which mysteriously died in transport, or on start-up in Bristol. (And again this morning! I'll get to the bottom of it and let you know what's going on.)

To all three of you, Doug, Max and Rich: Many thanks - I learnt so much in only a few hours! You saved me days if not weeks. It was great to see what you've produced so far and discuss the finer points of building stuff for and with a RepRap. Thanks for the material swap too.

I won't clog up this post with all the detail, (it was a good night and went on for an hour after kick-out time) - suffice to say, having just got my Prusa (+ Prusa Heatedbed+glass + Sanguinololu + Sprinter + SFACT) up and running a few days ago, it was the ideal opportunity to tweak my SFACT settings and discover my extruder stepper motor wasn't getting enough current. Result: A huge improvement in output quality.
Before: Yeehaa grandma! My Prusa is alive!
After: I'll put up some pics soon and edit this.

We discussed a few formats for future meet ups. I'll let Doug elaborate as he had some clear and sound ideas. At this stage, between the four of us at least, I think I'm right in saying we agreed that providing a week to a fortnight's notice for each meet up (perhaps up to a month) would be a good way to keep things informal and numbers manageable, especially if we're to continue hosting them in our own homes. Four was a really useful number of people to get together, six might be OK, and eight is likely a crowd worth finding a public venue for - in which case more would be required to make hiring worthwhile/cost-effective.

The date/place for the next meet up is not yet decided - so please, ANYONE - feel free to suggest one if you want to host it - even if you only have a power socket and a bunch of unassembled stuff.

A couple of really good challenges were laid down by BigDoug. If you're so inclined, do bring along your efforts - (complete or experimental) to any meeting you can make:

1. Produce a box and lid (of no set dimensions) - as one piece, whereby the lid hinges (perhaps by a living hinge) and can be snapped shut. (No hinge-cycles lifespan was suggested - the more the better!)
2. Produce a 'calibration' chess set - where the pawns can look as scruffy as you like, while the king and queen exemplify your printer at its finest.

Thanks again guys - look forward to seeing you and a few more faces sometime soon.

Cheers,
Hamish

A good evening all around, even if I couldn't drink any beer :-( .
Thanks to Doug for the chili and Rich for the filament samples.

I’m Game for hosting if you want a bigger space FOC

I’m a Scout leader so ill borrow the scout hall and we can use that.

Plenty of Tables and sockets

I figure it might be good to do it on a weekend (in the long run a mixture of times and days would be good)

Take it to become a monthly thing and say Sat the 8th October?

I’ve got a semi functional Prusa hopefully it will be back in one piece by then.
Let me know what you think.

Rob (Cheltenham)

Hi Rob,

Sounds like a plan. Great location to have use of a decent sized venue too - cheers! I'm about on the 8th Oct, so barring any major emergency, I'll be there with a working Prusa.

What sort of time? I'd say no earlier than 10 to 11am - and then see how it goes - unless we'd need to be out by a certain time.

Do you have any kitchen facilities? Chilli con carne is great socialising food - I'd be happy to contribute - money or cooking - or bring along something precooked to reheat.

Fully agree with your times/days idea: As the scene evolves, perhaps there might be weekend and weeknight meets spaced closer together and we don't each get to all of them. For now at least, planning to meet every month or so, ideally at a different location on some loosely revolving basis, sounds good to me.

Cheers,
Hamish

What a great evening, A really big thank you to Doug for getting this going and many thanks to Hamish and Max and Doug for making this a great start to social reprapping, we had a really good night, great conversation, excellent chilli, cool toys to play with (not just 3D printers!) and some really cool ideas to keep this going as both a social level and a plan to spread the word of RepRap.

Even my wife didn't mind me waking her up at 1AM when I got back, she was very please it went so well.

I hope to see some more of you at the next one, bring along stuff and get involved, it's great!

Rob, that sounds like a good plan, I should be around on the 8th Oct an should be able to bring a few machines (Maybe even a Huxley) to experiment with.

---

[richrap.blogspot.com]

Weve got a kitchen, ill see what i can arrange

Good point that its good to have from a social point of view.

Time wise im flexible, looking back through the thread, i wont ask for suggestions as we will never come up with a solution.

Say 2pm ish as i wont be up much before that.

No time limit as far as im aware imposed, personally id like to be going home not long after the pub has closed

Rob

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2011 12:59PM by ijmok.