Planning to buy, need some clarification first

Hello everyone!

I really dug myself into the 3D-Printing topic over the winter. I now know that i need (read: want/must have) one of those lovely machines. I too know that i don't want an assembled printer. I want to experience the joy of building it myself an knowing it inside-out. Being a 30 year old Optometrist i'm quite confident i can do this (mostly) on my own. The tricky part is electronics. Soldering would not be the biggest problem (apart from not owning a soldering iron) but i don't have a deep understanding of electronics, so i would not understand what i was doing. So the choice seems clear: minimal-solder Ormerod!

Here is what i plan to do with it:

-Build it
-Get it to print without loosing too much hair
-Get it to produce consistent results
-Produce upgraded printerparts
-try different materials like LaywooD, but mainly Nylon (Taulman, maybe others)
-Build my own enclosure for the Printer to avaid that nasty drag i have been reading about so many times (maybe "heated" chamber/higher ambient temp, maybe to vent fumes)
-Long-term goal: Print my own Frames for Glasses (Nylon, or if something better comes up, that)

Here are my questions:

-printing via LCD grafical display. Does the Duet/Firmware support that now or in the future?
-all-metal-hotends possible, like [www.kickstarter.com] (seems like it would be lower maintenance and better for printing in general)
-longevity/upgradeability. I don't want to spend that much money for something that will be obsolete in a year or so. Will this Rig last or will it drown in it's problems?
-Considering what i want to do with it and what i can do myself: would this be a Printer worth buying, or have i overlooked a kit better suited for my needs?

Thank you very much for you time.

Hi Karoshi,

I wish I'd thought more about similar issues before I dived in, and since doing so I've thought a lot more, but am convinced that actually, I've been part of a learning curve that has reached pretty much a plateau from where I can look back. To address your plans in turn:

build it - quite straightforward , I'm sure that you can. If you have any problems, there are many people on this forum who will have had similar and who can help you through (but bear in mind that the most authoritative voice is Ian/droftarts who is the main RepRapPro support guy who's seen it all and remembers most of it)

get it to print without losing too much hair - I'd already lost most of mine before I even tried building my Ormerod, luckily I didn't lose much more during the process, even though I bought early - the build instructions are infinitely more complete now, and if you get stuck see the above answer

get it to produce consistent results - I'm astonished at how well the machine pumps out the kinds of things I print - I don't print spectacle frames in nylon though (not yet anyhow.. )

produce upgraded printerparts - one of the most astonishing things is how many active and useful brains made their owners buy these things, then drove them to improve them - if there's one thing that the Ormerod is proven to be able to do over and over again, it's producing upgraded printer parts! (the original parts do what they're meant to anyway)

try different materials - I've used PLA and ABS so far , I intend using nylon and acetal/delrin - I don't see any problems doing so on this machine rather than any others...

build my own enclosure- me too! I'd need to to use acetal anyway, and I think it would make ABS a bit safer and also make it less susceptible to shrinkage. if going that way then printed printer parts would have to be able to cope with the increased temperatures and would need to be in ABS (or preferably acetal!) - nylon prints are much more flexible I understand and wouldn't probably be good as replacements for the PLA parts in the stock kit

Print my own frames - why not? one problem is that you can see the structure as-printed (as long as you/your customers' visual acuity is up to it!) the printer will definitely print down to 4 micron layers in ABS and PLA but takes some "tuning"



Now your questions:

LCD Graphical display: as far as I can see, it's not currently supported, and I don't think that RRP have this in mind - I might be wrong. at least one member of the forum (markbee) has suggested he may be developing this approach
All-metal hotends possible - yes, definitely - it would rewuire a different mount, and cooling fa n, it may also (depending on the thermistor/thermocouple) require firmware /hardware changes to ensure adequate control, but there's definitely enough power output to run the heater and cooler.
longevity/upgradeability - it's debatable - you'll probably upgrade it so it won't be itself anymore, but the thing you've upgraded it to will more long-lived, until you upgrade it and so on...

You may well have overlooked a kit that's better suited to your needs, a couple of people have reported on this forum that they've returned theirs and bought something else (but I think in both case they ended up buying fully built machines) - but for the last three months I've seen a remarkable amount of support and development for and of this kit by RepRapPro and by purchasers of the kit (the former being perhaps expected but remarkable nonetheless, and the latter being REALLY remarkable)


Ray

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2014 07:26PM by rayhicks.

I would advise you to have a look at some 3D printed objects before diving in... While the resolution is very good, I hadn't realised before buying just how much surface finish of a product matters. Look around you - your keyboard, mouse, monitor, desk, lamp etc.... Some of these things wouldn't suffer from having a slightly serrated edge, but others really would. I think glasses are something where people really notice small (i.e. micron sized) details and therefore might avoid something with small defects/lines. I may be wrong, but I think it's worth you really seeing what kind of finishes are both possible and likely before diving in.

Thanks alot for your posts. Really helpful.
@Squags: my glasses would not be for selling of any kind (i would have to get costly certification for that in Germany) it would be for personal use and prototyping. If i was to make a business-model out of this, i would buy a SLS-System.
I am well aware that Filament-printers are no where near evolved enough to put out objects of daily use, other than Mobile-covers or the like.
Glasses seemed obvious, because i know my way around glasses ;-)

My decision is made, just have to crack the "wife-barrier". Wish me luck.

Quote
Squags
I would advise you to have a look at some 3D printed objects before diving in... While the resolution is very good, I hadn't realised before buying just how much surface finish of a product matters. Look around you - your keyboard, mouse, monitor, desk, lamp etc.... Some of these things wouldn't suffer from having a slightly serrated edge, but others really would. I think glasses are something where people really notice small (i.e. micron sized) details and therefore might avoid something with small defects/lines. I may be wrong, but I think it's worth you really seeing what kind of finishes are both possible and likely before diving in.

I've just bought some acetone (very cheap from a fibreglass supplier) and intend to try vapour polishing of my ABS parts. Some of the results I have seen on the web look promising - e.g. [www.thingiverse.com]

Dave
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