Buying/Building My First RepRap

I'm building a Prusa Mendel and need to ask some questions about purchasing components. I've looked up most of the machine's mechanical parts on McMaster-Carr's website (my order so far is attached as a PDF), found a length of belt (part number A 6T35MC100) which I believe will work on SDP/SI's website, and stepper motors (part number SY42STH47-1684B )
from Zapp Automation. It looks like I can buy the printed parts on eBay for around $65 US.

I'm not sure how I should go about acquiring the electronics. I was considering using RAMPS and would like to know where I could purchase either pre-assembled circuits or circuits that could be put together fairly easily. I know I can buy Arduino boards from plenty of vendors but I don't know where to get the RAMPS board itself. I found Ultimachine on the wiki. I noticed that Ultimachine sells stepper motors as well (Kysan 1124090). They're about the same price as the Zapp motors, is there any reason to choose one or the other?

The bottom line is that I don't know where it would be best to purchase the printer. I was wondering if anybody could tell me whether or not Ultimachine and Zapp were reliable and whether or not I missed any components in my orders (aside from the control electronics). I would also like to know if anyone notices a problem with the components I do have in my orders (issues of quality or compatibility for example).

Would I be better off just buying a kit? does anyone know of a reliable dealer of RepRap kits with reasonable prices?
I've found romscraj and mixshop but don't know anything about them.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2012 12:48PM by MaFraL.

I purchased a kit that just needed a few extra things to complete it (motors, powersupply and rods) In the build tab of my page is my BOM and what I paid. I used makerfarm and had my kit fast. One piece was broken but a new one was sent immediately. The directions on markerfarm were also fairly simple to follow. I was really happy with my result and had it up and running (to print test parts and calibration pieces) in a weekend once all the parts were there. Then with continual tweaking ive been very happy with my results.

Im sure others on here will ahve some good recommendations as well.

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Ryan
Quality Engineer & Hobbyist
thingsandtrains.blogspot.com

Personally, I sourced most of my parts from mcmaster, SDP-SI, makerfarm and sparkfun. The makerfarm kits seem pretty good as Bantha has suggested. I bought by plastic bits from them, as well as the Gen6 board, bearings and hotend. Got the steppers from sparkfun, and the hardware from mcmaster.

Line 3 - Don't order - won't work. Trust me. Try 91252A230

Line 13 - Don't get your bearings from mcmcaster - very expensive! Go search amazon.com there's a set of 30 for 11.99.

Line 19 - Don't know about those, but 9434K164 are great on my wade's extruder and 9434K47 are nice for the bed.

Think about adding some expandable mesh sleeving to keep your wiring neat - and it's cheap: 9284K412 or similar

Think about adding a meter each of M3 and M4 allthread. There have been times where I wish I had some. And it's pretty cheap.

Do you have metric tools? If not, look at 30155A53, 52965A17, 52965A19, 5709A18

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In the end, it's going to be about minimizing your shipping cost. Source the parts from as few vendors as possible.

I'd pick up the RAMPS, endstops, stepper drivers, steppers and some PLA filament from ultimachine - they throw in some free samples of PLA to boot.

I can vouch for ultimachine. Their filament is pretty good. I ordered their DIY RAMPS kit the other day and assembled it about an hour ago. For $50 you can't beat it. It requires some SMD soldering skills, but even that's not that bad. However, if you've never soldered anything before or have no idea what SMD means don't order the DIY kit.

You'll need a hotend too - J-head MK IV-B 0.35 works great for me

As far as belts and timing pulleys, go for GT2 if you can afford it - worth every penny. Techpaladin has some nice GT2 pulleys for sale...

Good luck!

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Thanks for the advice. I'll go through my orders again today and make some changes.

Akhlut, McMaster doesn't seem to have a part with the number 91252A230. Thanks for the sleeve though. I had seen it on some videos of RepRaps and didn't know what to call it in a search, I was going to go to zip ties.

I think I've finished my orders and the price comes to just about $700 with shipping (the printer itself and $35 of PLA filament) without the printed parts. Does that seem right? I had seen price estimates of around $550 (on the low end) when I started researching this.

One more thing, is this kit from Maker Farm everything that is needed to build the Prusa for $435.95? It looks like it includes everything I tried to order separately and a heated bed, which I didn't include in my orders.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2012 12:17PM by MaFraL.

91252A230 - Must have copied the part number incorrectly. 5/16" washer with 1.25" OD

I'd still get the zipties, maybe a variety pack from home creepo or lowes instead of mcmaster - they are really useful in securing the sleeving and temping stuff up.

That makerfarm kit is a pretty good price - you just need the threaded and smooth rods, the steppers and a power supply.

Which electronics package are you looking at? I've got Gen6 now and I'm pretty happy with it. Had to build a separate heated bed controller though. The Printrboard looks nice, but it has some issues with the drivers being embedded in the board. I think I'd stick with RAMPS or Gen6.

Personally, I like sparkfun steppers, ROB-10846. Twice the resolution of standard steppers.

Also note that you may need to extend the wiring from the steppers and endstops to your board. And that you may need the molex connectors if you don't buy steppers with pre-made ends. Luckily, newark or mouser have these items pretty cheaply. If you need part numbers I'll go get them.

$700 isn't a bad price. If you want, post the final BOM you've put together before you order - maybe it'll cut down on the number of orders.

$35 for PLA? How much are you getting? Don't get more than a pound of any color, and don't get some funky color. Oddball colors can be hard to print, and you don't want to order in quantity until you get a spool holder printed. Then you can step up to the larger quantities. Also, it's easy to fix a pound of filament if it gets tangled up - not so much when it's a larger spool. I can't tell you how much it sucks when you have to closely monitor a long print because you need to unwind filament by hand to ensure it doesn't get hung up on something. Natural, black, white and silver have printed easily for me, blue - not so much. It's also easier to tune your machine with a single type of filament. Get it dialed in and then you can start experimenting with different filaments as they have different characteristics.

No question is a stupid one - especially with this hobby!

Good luck!

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Okay. I'm ordering the kit from Maker Farm and using the SparkFun steppers you recommended. I should have at least one PC power supply laying around and can get a few miscellaneous parts from a hardware store. Is filament diameter important or can the extruders take both 1.75mm and 3mm filament? That $35 filament reel was 1kg from Amazon.

If you could get me the part numbers for those connectors it would be helpful. I'm not sure exactly what they are but they look like the kind that are used on RC servos to me. Could I pick those up at a local Radio Shack or Hobby Shop?

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2012 09:10PM by MaFraL.

The filament you will use is dependent on the hotend that you have. The makerfarm kit comes with a J-head (very nice), and it's probably a 3mm. Definitely verify that before you order filament. That stuff on amazon is pretty well priced for a kilo.

Crap! Don't order yet. You're going to need these from sparkfun as well:

(4) @ 0.45 = $1.80 PRT-08097 (Order 4 minimum)
(2) @ 1.95 = $3.90 PRT-08100 (Order 2 just for insurance. Accept on face value that some crimps will be bad - par for the course)

Alternately, you can order these from newark.com

(4) @ 0.127 = $.51 MOLEX 22-01-3047; Newark part # 34H3249
(40) @ .092 = $3.68 MOLEX 08-50-0114; Newark part #34H3328

It's cheaper from newark, but marginally so. So adding shipping swamps any savings. But, if you need wire to extend your stepper motors that'll change the equation.

Sparkfun doesn't offer stranded 22 AWG in too many colors, whereas newark has a rainbow.

Up to you.

What tools do you have? Soldering iron? Curved tweezers? Wire strippers? If not, check out sparkfun TOL-08696, TOL-10602 and TOL-10707. They're reasonably priced and work great.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Oops. I ordered right after I made that post. I'll either have to pay the $11 shipping for those connectors or try to find them locally. I intended to buy a few things locally anyway. I'll be able to get the wire and threaded/smooth rods at a hardware store. I'll have to check for those connectors while I'm in there. If I can't find them there or at Radio Shack I'll just have to place another order. I didn't expect to get everything right on the first order anyway.

I have the majority of the tools I'll need. I do have some kind of soldering kit and some variety of forceps or tweezers. There are plenty of tools in my garage to assemble the parts made out of fasteners. If I run into a tool I need but don't have that's just something else I'll pick up locally.

Thanks again. I'll probably be poking around these forums either trying to get help with the build or printing some time in the next week too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2012 10:18AM by MaFraL.

Cool. Are you in US? did you order the SAE kit or metric?

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Looks like were getting into this about the same time. Your thread has answered all my questions for me

Where are you located? I'm planning to place my order late today, i could double my molex parts and snail mail them to you. Radio Shack will rape you on anything digital related.

Yes, yes they will. Supplier of last resort.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Yes, I'm in the US (central PA) and ordered the SAE kit.

Thanks for the offer Chuck, but I'll just see if I can find those connectors locally. I don't see them being too pricey, even if I do get them from Radio Shack.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2012 12:44PM by MaFraL.

Since you did buy from makerfarm feel free to contact me when you get it and start putting it together. I might be able to help. I also might have some recommendations based where ive deviated from the original build.

Good luck and have fun!

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Ryan
Quality Engineer & Hobbyist
thingsandtrains.blogspot.com

Looking around on lowes site i cant find any smooth rod. Do they call it something silly?

I'm not sure lowes even carries the stuff. mcmaster.com

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Thanks & sorry for the thread hi-jack. I mis-read the build instructions thinking those parts were available locally. Everything is ordered now for a Gen6.

SparkFun shipped me a motor with a bent arbor. I don't know if it was like that before it shipped or if it happened during shipping, but I sent them an email and they're shipping a new motor. I don't even have to send back the damaged item. They only requested a photo "for their records" and had already shipped the replacement by the time I sent that.

I didn't realize I needed some kind of heat resistant electrical tape. I went looking for it locally and haven't found it at any of the big stores. I'll try an electrical supply store tomorrow, but if they don't have it I'll probably have to order it online and pay to have a roll of tape shipped.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2012 08:45PM by MaFraL.

Heat resistant tape? for what?

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

The instructions I'm following on the MakerFarm site say to use Kapton or something similar to insulate connectors and hold wires together on the j-head hot end.

Yes, thats what I did. On my site in the build section if you scroll down to "Getting Close!" It shows when I built up my hotend.

One thing you'll notice on the makerfarm instructions is that occasionally the wrong bolt length is listed, just think about it a little and you'll figure out which to use.

I also recommend when you get to the putting the heatbed on(assuming you are); The way the instructions were made it nearly impossible to access the head of the bolts for adjusting against the springs, I recommend making sure the head is down, I put mine heads up and now the heatbed makes it impossible to fit an allen wrench under it.

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Ryan
Quality Engineer & Hobbyist
thingsandtrains.blogspot.com

Yeah. Go check amazon. They have decent prices.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

I too am building the same kit as you We've got no kapton around here. Even though i ordered some it wont be here until next week. I insulated my wires with some heat shrink, then wrapped under them with aluminum tape (Good to 315c for stove pipes). Another layer on top to hold the wires in place and walla!

Just got to crimp my motors and i'm ready for the next step... what ever that may be

I didn't want to wait for the Kapton to ship either, so I ended up getting fiberglass tape at a local electric supply store (I couldn't find Kapton locally). If that doesn't work out for some reason I'll have to order Kapton. Won't aluminum tape freely conduct heat to the shrink tube and melt it off the wires? I've seen people melt through that stuff accidentally when applying it with an electric heat gun.

Can I just plug a 4-pin connector from a PC power supply into the Gen6 board somewhere or is the only place to put power in the 12V plug? Where would I find a 60W 12V AC/DC adapter with a plug to match the board (I think it's 6mm)? I found a 19W laying around my house from something, but have no idea where to buy one that can supply enough power. I'm having trouble sorting through the things that come up on Amazon when I search for AC/DC adapter to find something suitable. Item number B0026SUMNY on Amazon looks good to me, but I'm not sure of it.

Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2012 08:48PM by MaFraL.

PC power supplies can be a real pain. There is a pretty decent tutorial out on the net.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

I put the metal tape under on the plastic extruder (assuming it would block the heat like a radiant barrier. Guess i'll find out soon.

I purchased the $400+ kit from makerfarm, with gen 6 electronics. Mine came with the 6mm connector.

Here is the 10 sec PSU solution. Get a modern ATX PSU. Insert a paperclip in the green wire of the atx connector and the other end in a ground wire. Walla! I've never used or needed a load resistor. (well if they're $.80 may as well add one)

Red is +5v
Yellow is +12v
Black is ground

Want it pretty? Just go to radio shack, grab a couple of the banna plugs you see in that tutorial, cut the wires down and solder / crimp them on. I've been using psu's for bench top power for 10+ years. Owning a computer shop produces a few extra's lying around looking for a home.

Last thing, your PSU from amazon is only about 1/3 of the wattage you need, 5A @ 60w vs the recommended 15a @ 180w. The atx psu is really a cheap way to go. Plus it has active cooling which will drastically increase the life span of the psu.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2012 12:16AM by enuro12.

PC power supplies are a complete crap shoot, some work fine without a load, I have at least one that I had to put a significant current on the 5V line to get close to 12V on the 12V line.
Because for a lot of the reprap electronics 12V is not a requirement I suspect a lot of people get away with it without any load on 5V, but some power supplies REQUIRE the load.

Since it applies to MaFraL as well. Can someone tell me what order the wires for the stepper go into the molex connector.

You haven't told us what steppers you have. There isn't a standard color code for these things and the makerfarm site doesn't give a part number for either of the motors they carry. Post a part number, or figure it out yourself by using a multimeter to find which wires are connected to the same coil, connect one coil to pins one and two, the other coil to pins three and four. If the motor moves the wrong way, reverse the order or invert it in firmware. If the motor doesn't move you either have the current set to low, so turn up the pot next to the driver chip, or you have the order wrong, swapping the center pins will fix that.

Hey! Guess that would have helped. We both bought the ROB-10846 from spark fun. I found the data sheet as well as the data sheet for our GEN 6 hardware.

Pin 1 is Black
2 green
3 Red
4 Blue

I actually already got that answer and wired my steppers from a page in the wiki. I didn't go looking for the data sheet though. There's a chance I wired mine backwards, but if that's the case I'll just flip my connectors over.

I'm still having trouble with the power supply. Should I just modify a PC power supply, or does anyone know of a decent power brick I could get online?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2012 09:39AM by MaFraL.