Tips on what to work on until you have the space to do "real" work

Hi,

I've been lurking the site and various blogs for a few weeks now and am quite excited at what I've read. I want to build my own reprap/repstrap, but currently, my little 1 bedroom apartment just doesn't have any extra room for development (and the little room we do have, has been claimed by my wife's clay sculpture work).

In addition, while I grew up in a household that never had a shortage of tools, I don't have that many currently (see paragraph 1). I've been buying them as I need them, but so far haven't needed much beyond the basic non-powered stuff.

So my question is, what sorts of things can I focus on in the meantime until I have the space to properly work? I'm thinking maybe the electronics since I'm not very strong in that area and it might be easier to set up, play around with, and shove in a box to store it.

Any other tips? Am I overestimating the space issue? Conversely, am I better off not doing anything until I have adequate space and tools/resources?

Thanks.

John-

I am a highschool student, but I have been in the community for some time now.

I would recommend doing the electronics first if you are pressed for space, but if you are planning on shoving them in a box and waiting a year, I would hold off. The reason I say this is that the boards get updates to them every 3 to 6 months, so if you are just going to be waiting a while, it would be best to buy the boards when you are actually planning on the full construction.

If you are willing to invest in pre-made parts, you can buy cast one's from Ian at [bitsfrombytes.com]. I bought one of the first of these sets and am now just about ready to start printing. The construction with the cast parts was pretty straightforward, and it required minimal tools and space. I was able to do all of the contruction in my bedroom, so I think that you could definitely manage to secure yourself a corner somewhere and make that your RepRap's home. Adrian's estimate for the amount of room you'll need being 1m by 2m is pretty accurate if you are using cast parts.

The tools I used for the whole thing were pretty basic:
* Soldering Iron
* JB Weld
* Combination Wrenches
* Allen Wrenches
* Multimeter
* Files
* Super Glue
* X-Acto Knife
* Dremel
* Surgeons vice

The main problem with this route is the cost. By purchasing cast parts, you are ensuring yourself that you will have to pay close to $1000 bucks to get this thing up and running. There is, however, the route of building your own parts, but then we run into the space / lack of tools issue.

I hope that this helps, and feel free to ask any questions. I check the forumse everyday.

Oh Yea, and welcome to the RepRap Community!

---

Jay

* Surgeons vice

Gambling? Women?

haha. Nice Forrest. I was thinking about those tiny locking clamp plier things. I didn't know what they were called, so I named it that.

---

Jay

They are called Hemostats, also Roach Clips, but that's just what I've heard.

No, that's what they are all right. They're called hemostatic forceps.

[cal.vet.upenn.edu]

Thanks Jay,

I hadn't come across the BitsfromBytes site yet. That could come in handy.

I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure what to do now. I know 1mx2m doesn't sound like a lot of room, but the only way I think I can swing it is to clear out the closet for the room but I doubt that will fly.

I hadn't thought about the electronics going out of date in just a few months, but at the rapid rate things are progressing around here, I shouldn't have been surprised.

I suppose I'll keep lurking and reading until I either figure out how to rearrange the apartment, or until we finally move to a bigger place.

Thanks for the welcome. The collaboration and open-ness of the community is one of the biggest draws for me.

-John

No problem John

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Jay

Hmm. Maybe RRRF could take pre-orders for future versions? It'd give them the flexibility to buy stock, and commit money toward a project when the hobbyist can't afford, (for time, space, or sufficient funds reasons,) to do it all right now.
Of course, if those interim versions don't sell...

John,

I also have been building--and finally completing!--a RepStrap in a one bedroom apartment with a girlfriend. The machine sits nicely on my desk or in a closet when not in use or on another table. As long as you do your build nicely it should be fairly portable. By this I mean put your electronics in a project box and use screw terminal blocks and such to make the routing of your wiring more professional looking.

I'm a very impatient type of person so I would just go for it. We have a funny way of making the space we need for a really interesting project become available.

Demented