I've officially bought stuff. (to start making my own system)

Well, I've taken the plunge I suppose. I've just finished purchasing the 4 stepper motors from pololu. I've already bought (and received) the stepper motors, and I'm working on trying to get an induction heating system going. As far as the rest, should be fairly cheap I would think.

My goal is to create a system for around $200-250 USD, and at this point, I think I might make it. I'll have to do a lot of the building out of MDF and such, but I don't think it will be a major problem, just time consuming. I should also mention it's probably not going to be a reprap as much as a rep strap, being that it'll be mostly mdf and the such. We'll just have to see what I come up with. I'll be editing and updating below this to show my progress as I build the system.

Oh, and before I go into the will be edited area, please leave some comment, questions, encouragement, or suggestions. I'm fully open to getting help with this, and knowledge is power.... as well can help save monies. ^_^ I'll also be sure to post pictures and videos of the building/testing process for people to see for themselves. Anyway, here is the section that may be edited later and will have the updated information.

So, here goes. Current shopping list (will be edited to what would be required for the system as I buy parts that are needed and find parts that aren't needed)


CURRENT SHOPPING LIST: (Not complete)
Induction Heater
$5 (4.7kohm resistor) (sourced from radioshack, only needed 1)
$1.8 (.1uf cap) (sourced from radioshack)
$1.6 (1uf cap) (sourced from radioshack)
$12 (2SC3519 transistor) (ebay, coming from Taipei, waiting for two weeks)
$16.4

Motor System
$34 (8 steppers) (found a deal on ebay, [cgi.ebay.com] if you must know.)
$64 (4 motor cotrollers) (sourced from pololu, includes shipping)
$98

Other
$32 (3/4inx8ftx4ft MDF) (sourced from lowes)
$15 (Super cheap arduino system + shipped) (Sourced from themakerspace.com - [themakerspace.com] )
$15 (FTDI Cable for programing arduino system) (Sourced from makerspace as well, no shipping if bought with arduino)
$62

Current Total (before taxes, but including shipping)
$176.40

The only thing at this point I haven't purchased from the list above is the MDF. Also note that I haven't added the price of any metal rods, nuts, or bolts, because I haven't sourced them. I just got paid for a laptop I'm selling and I have to wait a few days for the money to transfer from paypal to my account.

QUESTIONS I HAVE CURRENTLY:
What is the cheapest/best temperature sensor that you know of, and where can I get it? - I haven't bought a temperature sensor (because I know practically nothing about them, nor do I know what temperatures it needs to be able to sense.)
Can you see any way to improve the prices above?
Would you buy one of these if it worked and was completed, as a kit, or preassembled? (maybe made with the printed parts from this one, or with the MDF at a different price.)

OTHER STUFF:
Oh, and I haven't quite decided, but I may be looking to sell the extra four stepper motors some time down the line, but will have to wait until after Halloween. I have ideas that I want to try when the motor controllers get here. Just a heads up for those that are always buying these kinds of things.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2010 01:45PM by Caliber Mengsk.

Great news.

I found 270mmx6mm bars from old laser cartridges (see recent post).

I also found the skate bearings from old roller blades my kids no longer use.

I started with the idea of using pine shelving for the box. I even bought the shelves. Then decided against and am building a cheap micro-mendel variant.

My aim is to build a cheap micro-mendel variant where I can later re-use the motors, extruder and electronics for a bigger version once I know the pitfalls. I will build my own electronics. I figure that I can make the micro-mendel cheaper than my box version. What interests me most is what price I can get it down to with readily available parts including scrap parts. What I waste along the way is not my main concern. Also, I want to minimise the plastic parts required.

Unfortunately other things have got in the path over the past few weeks but hopefully I can get back on track shortly. Meanwhile, I will be watching your progress with envy.

Caliber Mengsk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What is the cheapest/best temperature sensor that
> you know of, and where can I get it? - I haven't
> bought a temperature sensor (because I know
> practically nothing about them, nor do I know what
> temperatures it needs to be able to sense.)

funny that, I was just looking on Digikey...

THERMISTOR 100k NTC (negative temp. coefficient) rated to 300C at [Digikey.com]

480-3134-ND THERMISTOR NTC GLASS 100KOHM AXL $1.11

480-3135-ND THERMISTOR NTC GLASS 100KOHM AXL $1.11

480-3137-ND THERMISTOR NTC GLASS 100KOHM AXL $1.08

480-3136-ND THERMISTOR NTC GLASS 100KOHM AXL $1.11


All of these (I think) are sufficient and cheap. At just a buck each, I think they fit in your budget. I haven't gotten any of these yet though, so it would be helpful if someone who knows could chime in.

I think maybe the temp lookup table will need to be adjusted, but that seems trivial.

---

--
My blog's Reprap feed: [blog.markbova.com]
I'm currently working on a stock Mendel build with a Seeeduino Mega and four Pololu A4983 stepper controllers.

Don't google "induction heating", we're actually doing electric resistance heating here. (The induction heater comes into play when we start sinistering together metal powder ;-)

I think this kit:

[www.adafruit.com]

would be useful for sending commands to that PicoDuino, and it's $5 cheaper than those $20 TTL cables.

I have not tried it yet.

I've already got an FTDI cable myself, though I forgot to put it in the shopping list above. On the picoduino website, you can get the FTDI cable for $15 as well, works great, and will save the extra shipping from buying from multiple places. (it's $5 flat rate from that site if you are in continental us, no matter how much you buy. Pretty spiffy.) [themakerspace.com]

Thanks for the suggestions on the thermistors. I only found two on sparkfun and they only went to 100c and I figured that wasn't going to be enough. (being that most heated beds are 100-140c from what I've read)

I think I may be going out and getting the MDF, nuts, bolts, and rods today possibly.

Caliber Mengsk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've already got an FTDI cable myself, though I
> forgot to put it in the shopping list above. On
> the picoduino website, you can get the FTDI cable
> for $15 as well, works great, and will save the
> extra shipping from buying from multiple places.
> (it's $5 flat rate from that site if you are in
> continental us, no matter how much you buy. Pretty
> spiffy.)
> [themakerspace.com]
> ct_info&cPath=4&products_id=5

good deal. Thanks for the tip. $15 ready to go vs. $15 kit

>
> Thanks for the suggestions on the thermistors. I
> only found two on sparkfun and they only went to
> 100c and I figured that wasn't going to be enough.
> (being that most heated beds are 100-140c from
> what I've read)

Here's the wiki page: [www.reprap.org]