will someone post the custom plastic parts to me?

if i pay for shipping and material costs, will someone who owns a working reprap print me out the custom plastic parts to save on cost for me? it would be a big favour!

check out www.bitsfrombytes.com for cast versions of the parts.

last time I checked, they were not taking online forders for a while, if that's still the case, you might just have to wait.
I'm builing mine out of wood which is a pain without a drill press and table saw.

I'm sure someone else will start selling parts soon enough.

Bits from Bytes is supposed to be taking orders again next week.

thanks

We are now back and talking orders

---

Ian
[www.bitsfrombytes.com]

Since Reprap is now officially self-replicating, in the spirit of the project, it would be great to be able to buy some reprap sourced parts.

Come on Reprap owners share your newfound manufacturing power!

If someone can make me the set of plastic reprap parts at material cost plus a fee for their time, I'll pledge to do the same when I have built a machine.

According to an article I read to day it only takes a few minutes!

Cheers,
Chris.

Chris,

I suspect yours is the first in a deluge of "Requests for Parts". "RfP"?

While you are waiting, I would suggest:

1) Solder and test the electronics.
2) Get all the other parts you need together. Steel rod, feedstock, fasteners, motors, etc.
3) Take a photo, and append it to your RfP.
4) Optional step. Build a repstrap from some convenient wood and threaded rod.

Other useful tips.
A) Use the word 'please'.
Mention where you're located, and check to see if there is a local RepRap User Group. Include your location in the subject of your message.
C) Take a moment to introduce yourself, and say what you're interested in making using your RepRap. People are more likely to send you parts if you're interesting, building something intersting, or polite.

Good Luck.
-Sebastien
p.s. You should probably make 2 sets of parts for daughter machines once yours is working. Geometric growth, don'tcha know.

hi Sebastien,
I really didn't intend to be rude. I'm just excited. I'm sorry if my post could be read as glib or uncommitted.

Apologies for being the first in a long line of people who will want to make a reprap but won't have to work as hard as you "founding fathers" because the machine can now reproduce some of it's components. Respect to everyone who has brought this project so far in such a short time.

Surely one of the points of building a self replicating machine would be to avoid everyone building their own repstrap?

Sorry I'm just a n00b.

Quote

According to an article I read to day it only takes a few minutes!

I think complex components still take hours to print, rather than minutes. If people could churn out a dozens of reprap's worth of components over a weekend, they'd be unlikely to keep it quiet

Oops - It's the current article on the front page of Reprap.org that had me fooled - It suggests that the first child machine produced a grandchild "a few minutes after it was assembled" !!

quote:
"Adrian Bowyer (left) and Vik Olliver (right) with a parent RepRap machine, made on a conventional rapid prototyper, and the first complete working child RepRap machine, made by the RepRap on the left. The child machine made its first successful grandchild part at 14:00 hours UTC on 29 May 2008 at Bath University in the UK, a few minutes after it was assembled."

On closer examination - grandchild PART

Last time I did the math, I think it came out to about 5 days of continuous printing to print the entire set of parts. That's assuming no misprints or maintenance downtime. I'm not sure how long it took Vik to print his set but I'm guessing quite a bit longer than that.

It seems like nophead's repstrap is one of the faster and better machines right now, and something seems to die after 20-40 hours of operation.

Just save up and hit bitsfrombytes. There really isn't another quick and easy option

degroof Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Last time I did the math, I think it came out to
> about 5 days of continuous printing to print the
> entire set of parts. That's assuming no misprints
> or maintenance downtime. I'm not sure how long it
> took Vik to print his set but I'm guessing quite a
> bit longer than that.

IIRC, it took Vik most of a month. First time is always hardest, though.

I have done most of big parts and I am up to about 57 hours and about 700g ABS so far. A lot of small fiddly parts like bearing inserts and opto tabs and jigs left to do.

I think the total will be less than 72 hours printing but obviously a lot longer in real time.

---

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Thanks for all your advice - I'm now considering these plans to build something to repstrap my first parts:

[cratel.wichita.edu]

I do hope to pay it all forward once I have a machine up and running and make some parts for future builders

nophead Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A lot of small
> fiddly parts like bearing inserts and opto tabs
> and jigs left to do.

That reminds me: Does it turn out to be faster or slower to print multiple small parts at once?

The way I print them (one at a time) it makes no difference but it means I can leave the machine alone for longer. I.e. I can run it for several hours during the day when I am at work and at night when I am asleep.

Printing in layers would be very slightly slower due to one extra head movement per object per layer. I don't do that in case of a breakdown in which case many hours of work and plastic would be wasted.

---

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Quote

Printing in layers would be very slightly slower due to one extra head movement per object per layer. I don't do that in case of a breakdown in which case many hours of work and plastic would be wasted.

Might this not also cause the layers to cool slightly more than they would do otherwise, resulting in poorer adhesion of new layers and increasing the chance of delamination? I haven't been able to get any idea of what sort of leeway you get here from reading the forums.

Count me in as part of the 'deluge'. I just ordered the complete electronics kit blogged today...

I know that I could be building a RepStrap. And I will, given no other choice. But my preference is to build a true, from the start, replicated device. So I would appreciate it if anyone with a working RepRap would be so kind as to run off the brackets for me.

I am willing to pay for materials, shipping, and something for time. I understand that the time involved is significant. But this is the deal: I hereby commit to producing brackets for two new RepRap machines within a year of getting mine going and sending them to the first two people willing to pay me for materials and shipping.

In other words I will 'pay it forward'. If everyone building a RepRap made the same commitment the number of available devices would soon outstrip the number of people wanting parts.

How about it? Anyone willing to help start a cascade?

I am located near Seattle Washington, USA.

Way to go JWB!
I just wrote a post about the reprap project on my blog, which is covering the increasingly blurry line between 3d and the real world:

www.3dthing.info

Thoughts after participating in this thread...

You pay an amount "in escrow" to a nonprofit holding account.
Half That amount funds your reprap "mentor" to produce your parts.
You then become a mentor to two one / two ? reprap students.
Once you have made the parts for the students you are refunded half your amount - or if there are two students - the full amount.
repeat..

The sensible option is to keep it as a one-to-one thing - the half deposit concept would simply act as an incentive to stop people abusing the system.

If you did the one mentor to two student thing everyone would get their parts for free upon receipt of two deposits - but when has a pyramid scheme ever ended without tears lol.

Right I'm off to read some Karl Marx and work out where it all went wrong...