Ordering parts

I everyone I would like to introduce myself, and thank everyone on the forum for the wealth of information that can be found here. I have spent the last month or so reading the wiki and browsing the forums, and have started ordering parts for my first prusa build.

Thus far I have ordered:
metric prusa kit from [www.emakershop.com]
gen6 electronics [www.reprap-usa.com]
Heatbed MK1 PCB [www.reprap-usa.com]

Questions I have:

Should I order a pre hobbed bolt or try to do it myself?

Would the makergear hot end for 1.75mm filament with a .25mm and .35mm nozzle be a good choice?

Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan.



I

For ease of use I would buy a pre-hobbed bolt..

It depends on where you are planning on buying the filament from. Where I am (UK) its easier to get hold of 3mm filament and there is more selection compared to 1.75mm.
As for the nozzle end its suggested that people start with 0.5mm then move to a smaller diameter once they are more confident.

Personally I'd avoid any hotend which requires the use of nichrome wire in favour of a resistor.

How do you plan on regulating and powering the heated bed?
As Gen 6 doesn't supported heated beds.

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My Reprap blog

jds-reprap.blogspot.com

I use Gen 6 and my heated bed just runs off the mains, it is plugged into a universal laptop PSU set to 12V and uses 4 2.2ohm housed resistors, it gets to and stays at 55C nicely. Since I don't use ABS it doesn't need to get any hotter

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

@joDaStudd
So would something like the Budaschnozzle from lulzbot be a better option?
[www.lulzbot.com]

Also as far as filament size I am in the US and after checking a few sites I don't think finding it in 1.75mm will be a problem, but what are the pros and cons of 1.75mm V. 3mm?

For the heated bed with the Gen 6 I had planned on doing something similar to what NelsonRap suggested.

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@joDaStudd
So would something like the Budaschnozzle from lulzbot be a better option?
[www.lulzbot.com]

It's been working well for me. It is much better than the 3 Adrian hot end versions (PTFE insulator with nichrome wire, PTFE insulator with resistor heating block, PTFE-lined PEEK with resistor block) that I used before in terms of thermal insulation and reliability.

Have a look at the J head nozzles they are excellent here

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

The J-head looks good too. But I think it's not right to call this hot end assembled since you still have to attach the heating resistor and thermistor and buy and install the wires, ferrules, and insulators to connect to it. Assembled should mean it's ready for a connector so that you can plug it into your electronics like the Budaschnozzle. Note that I'll probably order a J-head and try it also but it would be nice to have the choice to save some assembly time.

I find assembly time is insert the resistor and thermistor glue in using heat proof silicone, leave overnight, solder wires on 10 mins max, solder plugs on another 10 mins, plug it in and off you go

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

I went ahead and ordered the Budaschnozzle with a .5mm and .35mm nozzle from lulzbot, mainly because I could order the rest of the parts needed for the build from lulzbot as well.

My printed parts, came in today so now I'm just waiting on the electronics , motors, and hotend to arive. Hopefully I will be able to start the build sometime in the next few weeks.