New RepRap [Question]

Q1:
I have question, being a 15 year old boy I don't have a disposable source of income and can't spend that much. I also live in a small state (NE) so I can't easily get duplicated parts. What is the best way I can get a reprap, I have about $700 saved and a birthday in about a month.

Q2:
When I go to order parts here it shows this thats the basic one I want right?

Then it takes me to the next page:
[img38.imageshack.us]
Do I have to buy from all of these different retailers? Because that seems like a hassle.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2009 06:05PM by T3Aguy.

The's a multitude of approaches depending on your mechanical ablity and electronics background, if you want a fast launch you could simply go with a cupcake from Makerbot.

If not going with a kit I suggest spending a long of time reading this forum, main blog and the builders blog.

Since you are still in high school do your have access to wood or metal working shop. Maybe the school district has a prototyping lap or a machining class room?

Does a cupcake work the same way as a reprap?

Yes, just smaller build volume

I understand that you can print all of Darwin's plastic parts with a cupcake. I have not personally seen anybody do that yet, though.

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Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas A. Edison

So there is no way to buy a repRAP kit anywhere?

Sure. You can buy a kit from BitsFromBytes in the UK. Last time I looked it cost about $1,100 sans shipping. You can also get a plastic parts set from Ponoko based on a similar design that Vik Olliver put together. That costs around $300, iirc. That also doesn't include the electronics and steppers. With Vik's kit I think you might be able to get the costs to be somewhere around what you have in your savings.

I'd suggest that you contact Vik directly about the Ponoko option.

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Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas A. Edison

Isn't the ponoko a repSTRAP though?



Is what I think I want.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2009 01:40PM by T3Aguy.

T3Aguy,

First off, glad to have you with us, interested in RepRap.

Forrest is too modest to toot his own horn, but I'd particularly recommend reading his blog. His machine is an alternative to the Darwin design. It's a repStrap, so its design goal is not to be a machine that can replicate its own parts exactly. However, it uses parts that are inexpensive and readily available. (uses wood for the structure.)

In the meantime, start scrounging up useful tools and materials, such as:

Screwdrivers, wrenches, wire cutters/strippers.
A PC power supply
A DMM (AKA multimeter, a cheap one will do for now)
A soldering Iron.
Any smallish motors you can find
(Namely in machinery being thrown away, esp. any with part numbers or ratings on them. Learning how to identify kinds of motors would be a positive step.)


Things to consider buying:

An Arduino or a clone/work-alike
A solderless breadboard
A set of clip leads.

Express your interest and ask (politely!) for ideas and/or assistance.
You'd be amazed what you can get, just by asking the right questions of the right people, so think about who you could ask.
Assuming you'll still be in school this fall, mention your new interest to the shop and/or science teachers.
(A little initiative, such as writing up a 1-page" proposal might help here.) See if any of them have ideas on how you can get access to tools and materials. (At the end of one year, I got a bonanza of parts from my 8th-grade electric shop teacher.)

I recommend not spending all of your birthday money in a single shot. See what you can scavenge, before doing that.

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Larry Pfeffer,

My blog about building repstrap Cerberus:
[repstrap-cerberus.blogspot.com]

Thanks for the nice reply.

My real concern is the work volume not weather it can replicate itself.

Does Forests RepStrap have a workspace close to 30x30x30 like the one in the picture I showed?

Mine is 30x30x30 nominal. Reality it's about 28x28x160.

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Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas A. Edison

T3Aguy Wrote:
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> Thanks for the nice reply.
>
> My real concern is the work volume not weather it
> can replicate itself.
>
> Does Forests RepStrap have a workspace close to
> 30x30x30 like the one in the picture I showed?


@Forrest: did you mean 28x28x160 cm or 28x28x16 cm?
160 cm is huge (but I've learned that you build amazing stuff, so I can't be sure...)


@T3Aguy: build volume is one consideration, however (IMHO) you shouldn't get too hung up on it. Look into typical extrusion speeds and figure out how long it would take a Darwin to fill it's workspace. A long, long time -- far longer than you'd want to wait. I think Nophead probably holds the record on largest "shrink wrap" volume part and/or largest mass part extruded. So far as I know, neither is even 10% of 30 cm ^3 (Anybody reading, please correct me if I'm wrong on the biggest parts extruded.)
FYI, the makerbot cupcake CNC has a cubic build volume ~10 cm on a side. So its nominal build volume is 1/27th of the Darwin's. Still, they're pretty popular, and are being used to print all sorts of small parts.

If you look at subtractive machine tools (for instance, mills and lathes), their workspaces are typically *not* cubes, nor even close! Instead, they often have one axis (usually a horizontal axis) much larger than the others. For many cases of interest, a long part can be oriented to take advantage of the long machine axis. This doesn't work 100% of the time, but it does work very often. I think it'd be more useful to have a different travel on the axes of a repStrap or repRap. My design (still slowly coming along) will have a long axis of ~30 cm, but the other axes only around half that. (Z might increase a bit, due to some good luck buying a misc. lot of parts on Craigslist, stay tuned.) That's still enough volume for any part I'm likely to have the patience (and welding rod) to print.

Holding out for the perfect design is just an excuse to keep waiting on the sidelines. After reading up, if you're still up for the challenge, try making something (that fits your budget), even if it's less than ideal. I've found that's the best way to learn this stuff.

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Larry Pfeffer,

My blog about building repstrap Cerberus:
[repstrap-cerberus.blogspot.com]

Thank you for all of your help.

I think I am going to get a McWire/Seedling because it has a 10x8x8in work volume from what the irc channel is telling me. They also say it can be less than $300 (not including tools).

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2009 09:05PM by T3Aguy.

I have a new question. I have been asking what I need to make a McWire but they aren't giving me a clear answer. They say that everything in this link
[parts.reprap.org]
is all I need but then they say that some parts aren't included in it like motors.

Why aren't all of the parts needed listed.

What parts that aren't on that list do I need.

Hi T3Aguy,

As you have found out by now, the reprap is not something you can buy from the shelf at the moment . If you want a 'real' reprap (not STrap) you'll have to find somebody who wants to donate or sell you parts, thats a hard job. The other option is a repSTrap, you can build one from scratch or use the plans available. You'll always have to invest lots of time and skills to pull this off but you save on ¥€$... There are two suppliers that provide kits that include everything and are the closest to a boxed reprap at the moment. The two are repstraps and have been mentioned above. The Makerbot is a smaller derivative that looks very easy to build (no experience here) but it has a small build volume (100x100x100 mm I believe) big enough to build all the parts for a 'real' reprap. Then there is the kit from BitFromBytes which is very similar in design to the reprap but made from lasercut acrylic. I can personally attest to the quality of this machine because we have bought one here and it works perfectly! Everything arrives in one box but it costs you double to triple the amount of cash...
Note about the build size: those are very theoretical, although I could build an object of around 300x300x300 mm, building it would require a massive amount of time, and it will most definitely warp like hell. In my opinion, objects smaller then 100mm print fine, above you need exponential tinkering to get good results.
Hope this helps, welcome to the club and succes!

I'm past that, read the rest of the thread.

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The RepRap IRC Channel

well, here you go then: [reprap.org]
You will need some NEMA 23 steppers

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2009 08:08PM by unfold.

Have you built a McWire, because I want to be sure I need the 23s and not the 17s.

Also I'm having some trouble finding everything lasercut on this page [parts.reprap.org]
any ideas where to get it?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2009 12:02AM by T3Aguy.

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The RepRap IRC Channel

T3Aguy Wrote:
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> Have you built a McWire, because I want to be sure
> I need the 23s and not the 17s.

No sorry, I have not build a McWire. The 23s are used as far as I understand, you can read something about it here: [dev.forums.reprap.org]
Its good to search all the topics on McWire on the forum to get more info.

>
> Also I'm having some trouble finding everything
> lasercut on this page
> [parts.reprap.org]
> an+Bot+v1.2
> any ideas where to get it?

Did you check [sourceforge.net]?
There you can find the dxf drawings, you can send those to a local laser shop or to Ponoko's webservice.

I think the main reason for using NEMA23 is that once you have used your McWire to build the parts for a Darwin you can reuse the motors.

A NEMA17 should have easily enough torque for a screw drive. You would have to modify the mountings and cope with the smaller shaft diameter though.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Can I attach these images to my acrylic and give them to home depot?

[sourceforge.net]
(stickers folder)

Edit:

Home depot didn't cut them for me.

I am thinking of using ponoko.

What thickness do I need and color do you guys think is coolest?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2009 05:05PM by T3Aguy.

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The RepRap IRC Channel

I use NEMA17 motors on my McWire and they have plenty or torque for the screw drive. For the McWire, the limiting element is usually the connection between the screw drive and the motor, not the motor itself.

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[www.binaryconstruct.com]

My High School is making one for a drafting project. Do you think this will work ?

If you have a good drill and hacksaw, you can cut them yourself. Not gonna be as pretty, and you have to be fairly precise with some of the holes, but that's what I did (even having to move some holes due to different sized items), and it works.

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[repstrapdk.blogspot.com]

T3Aguy,

A few of us in Kansas are working on building two RepRaps. We also had trouble finding a supplier for the printed parts for the RepRap, so we decided to do it ourselves. We have just finished up building a RepStrap which should be able to print the parts we need. We were hoping to start printing parts this weekend, but the ABS plastic that we ordered has not arrived yet. Hopefully it will get here before next weekend and we can start printing parts.

I am guessing that it will take about 2 weeks to print parts for the first RepRap, and then we were planning on using the RepStarp and newly build RepRap to make a second set of parts for a second RepRap.

If you are still looking for parts I would be glad to make you a set of parts after we build the first RepRap. I am only guessing, but maybe we could have your set done in around 3 weeks. Let me know if your interested.

I just started a blog, so you can see a little bit of what we have going on here in Kansas. [www.joshupdyke.com]

Josh