Building a 3D printer from scatch

I´m new in this 3D printing world so I need help purchasing the parts for my printer. I live in Brazil and unfortunately the taxes here are really high so I can´t buy a 3D printer or a kit without paying twice the cost of the printer. Because of that I decided to buy the parts and build it myself. I make tube audio amplifiers as a hobby so I think that I´m capable enough to build a 3D printer.

I´m going to buy the parts from two sites that I'm already used to buy, dx.com and aliexpress.com, I prefer the first one as I can pay without credit card taxes (IOF).
For the printer I think a Prusa i3 would be ok for me but I need it to be capable of printing ABS, PLA, Ninjaflex, wood, etc. I would also like a dual extruder setup so which extruder would be best for me to buy?
For the electronics, which board is better? I´m in doubt between these three:

[www.dx.com]
[www.dx.com]
[www.dx.com]

Motor:
[www.dx.com]

PSU:
[www.dx.com]

Heat Bed:
[www.dx.com]

Endstop, which one is better? Optical, right?
[www.dx.com]
[www.dx.com]


If I build the prusa i3 I'll buy the acrylic frame but what I really don´t know is how a dual extruder is fixed in place, do I need to print a new part to fix it? Is it better to buy a complete extruder or build one piece by piece?
Well people that is it, sorry for the noob questions, later I'll make a list with all the parts so you can help me out if I miss anything.

Electronics: forget the Geetech Mightyboard, at that price the board should have a 32-bit processor, not the tired old atmega1280. If you can afford it, get this: [www.replikeo.com]. If you are on a tight budget, get the Arduino Mega/RAMPS/drivers/LCD bundle. That combination is rather naff IMO, but it's cheap, widely used, and well-supported.

Endstops: it really doesn't matter whether you use microswitches or optical. I use microswitches on both my printers.

Motor: the one you linked to is totally unsuitable. Look for a motor with a rated current of 1.3 to 1.8A per phase and a voltage of 2 to 4V.

The PSU and the bed heater look OK to me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2015 12:07PM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I think I´ll get the ramps 1.4 bundle then, is it able to handle a dual extruder? What about this ultimaker 1.5.7?
[www.dx.com]
For the motor with that specs I could only find these two:
[www.dx.com]
[www.dx.com]
Why the 12v motor cannot be used?

For the endstop what about this: (U$5 for 6 endstops)
[www.aliexpress.com]

What about the extruders? Can you help me out choosing one?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2015 12:15PM by DonleySimon.

I was searching for "ramps-fd" and got this thread.

This is not a part of the forum i regularly read, but i did want to help you out.

Yes, the RAMPS 1.4 can support a dual extruder. I agree that this is the best value for money. If you do decide to for something else. Do not forget that you also need stepper drivers.

Motors. 3D printers generally use nema 17 size steppermotors. They should also have a holding torque of at least 40 Ncm. Try looking for steppermotors of round 1.7-2.5A

Actually, if you look around some more (on aliexpress and ebay), i am sure you can find everything for lower prices.

About the extruders:
You need printed parts, so you can ask the person selling you those to print you the extruder you want.
You can also order the 'standard' single extruder Pruse i3 parts and when it's all built and calibrated, print your own extruder.
That is up to you.

If you need any further help, please send me a PM

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[www.filamentenmeer.nl]

ABS filament in 40+ colors,
Flexible filament in 5 colors,
HIPS filament in 8 colors,
Metal PLA filament in 3 colors,
Nylon filament in 3 colors,
PETG filament in 6 colors,
PLA filament in 40+ colors.
PVA filament.
Wood filament in 2 colors..

Like us on Facebook:[www.facebook.com]

I have scratch built 3 Prusa i3 printers and used parts from various ebay and AliExpress vendors as well as local to me vendors.

Smooth Rods:
[www.aliexpress.com]

Also from:
[stores.ebay.ca]

NEMA 17's: (10 pc's though)
[www.aliexpress.com]

Arduino/RAMPS (RAMPS quality it hit and miss)
[www.aliexpress.com]

Quality RAMPS from StaticBoards:
[www.staticboards.es]

Hot-End - genuine J-Head, never had a clog and I've printed rolls of filament:
[www.makerfarm.com]

Hot-End - hexagon - using this one on a Prusa i3 at my local hackspace:
[www.marginallyclever.com]

Also the heated bed from them:
[www.marginallyclever.com]

Also used buildtak from them when printing with ABS:
[www.marginallyclever.com]

Also misc things like pulleys/belts/switches from this AliExpress vendor:
[www.aliexpress.com]

Steve

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My updated Instructable on our Prusa i3 Build
[www.instructables.com]

Hello DonleySimon,

Did you have a look at some of the national suppliers?

Extruded alu from Forseti: [www.lojaforseti.com] - 5 USD per m for 20x20 - Can't be done cheaper

Electronics from Proesi: [proesi.com.br] - They have endstops and all the connectors you will need. I also made my own board that mimic the RAMPS controller layout and functionality - That is not something I recommend. It was really time consuming.

PSU you can just buy a PC PSU and easily modify it. Can be had for ~60 BRL in many stores.

Even you can sometimes find the Arduino Mega really cheap on MercadoLivre or in stores

Stepper motors, extruder and the controller (RAMPS or others) is significantly cheaper from China even with the import taxes. Last time I purchased something it went surprisingly smooth. It was some small lenses and lasers and the PF just put a ~130 BRL cost that I had to pay at the post office. But maybe it will be more complicated if you buy many heavy parts. I am home in Europe every ~6 month so I prefer to bring those heavier (and expensive) parts with me when traveling back.


If you have the courage (and knowledge) you can also try to buy a re-purposed steppers from ML. I recently purchased some of these: [produto.mercadolivre.com.br] - It comes with a pulley that even works with the GT2 belt. The problem is that the shaft is not metric so if you want to use it for something else you will need to machine the parts also the holes on the flange will not match the normal Nema 17. But at 10 BRL (3.5 USD) it's a bargin!

Also for all the general small parts like belt, pulley, smooth rods check out Sergio on ML:

[lista.mercadolivre.com.br] - I purchased a lot of parts from him and it went really well with all parts OK!

Hi,

I agree with Larks. I live in Brasil too. I finished my Prusa i3 and with the knowledge I acquired I am building another printer.

As I have friends that goes to USA on a regular basis so I brought some pieces there, but only the minimum which is:
Arduino + Ramps + stepper
JHead
Heat-bed
NEMA motors

I brought everything else here in brasil, ether on the MercadoLivre or in local store (as for the frame, etc...). In my experience it doesn't compensate to buy those parts outside because:
1) with the taxes and shipping you will pay almost the same thing;
2) you are free from the possible headache of importation.

Remember to look at your local stores. For exemple I brought the aluminum bars for less than 10R$ or paid 40R$ for the frame in my local store while it was almost the double on the ML.

Note that for the linear bearing I'll use printed one. If you plane to use normals one, last time I had a look it compensated to buy them outside.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2015 04:33PM by Ray.