New Wellington Builder

Hi all,

Colin here from Wellington. I've just rediscovered this 3D printing stuff and would like to build a Prusa. I see a few standard 'mods' in my interweb journey today, is there a recommended bunch of standard 'mods' that I could or should include in a first build?

Any help in getting locally manufactured parts and supplies would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Colin

Use linear bearings instead of bushes

---

__________________________________________________________________________
Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

Have you had a look at nz parts sourcing guide in this forum ? Theres a lot of usefull info there . . .

The latest Mendel Prusa seems fairly bullet proof: Mendel Prusa on Github but there are numerous alternate parts on thingiverse.

---

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Thanks, I was thinking I'll probably go for the Iteration 2 metric version, is that a wise choice? I'm only thinking metric because it's pretty easy to come by all that size stuff here.

Also has anyone used www.servocity.com for parts. I've used them for other projects and they have haeps of gears, pulleys, bearings etc etc.

Thanks again
Colin

Definatley go metric, Imperial is for the American market and really hard to do here

---

__________________________________________________________________________
Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

Probably best to stick with Reprap specialist for parts. A lot of the bits can be sourced locally from this site or with a little searching, just put up a wanted ad and see who rocks up. Hopefully someone in Wellys?

---

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

For a standard Prusa here is my list of Mods or options that you should consider.

Linear bearings.

Finer grade belts or my favourite synchroMesh cable (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdSNRCEeU64) from SDP who ship from USA
(Easier to align, less backlash)

Buy also some extra 8mm threaded rod, nuts and bolts for a brace. [www.thingiverse.com] You can print it yourself and retro fit it to your printer
(Printer frame will be sturdier, more stable at speed, less likely to misalign when moved)

Cooling fans for your hot end
(Improves the print quality for PLA and some ABS prints)

Cooling fan for your electronics
(Allows you to turn up the torque in the motors)

LCD, Rotary Encoder and SD card reader
(I use this on RAMPS and means I get unattended prints. More reliable than using computers to control ie sleep modes, shutdowns for updates etc)

That will get you pretty much at the optimum for the Prusa design IMHO.

Awesome info Blair - how come the price difference is so great between the two links you posted? the second one is freight free too.

---

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Wired1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Awesome info Blair - how come the price difference
> is so great between the two links you posted? the
> second one is freight free too.


What two links?

Oh PS.. Make sure that you dont use springs on your print bed as you see on earlier designs. There is no need for them and they just add backlash. If you look in the Youtube video above you can see how better to do it.

PPS I also should have mentioned make sure you spring for a heated print bed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2012 02:50AM by Justblair.

Sorry, replied to the wrong thread too many pages open at once.
Anyone seen a 9" x 9" heated bed anywhere?

---

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Richmond, New Zealand
Thingiverse ~ YouTube

Heaps of great information - many thanks guys. Justblair - thanks for your list, just what I was looking for

I'm heading down the RAMPS 1.4 route for the electronics - are there any pitfalls to that? I use a lot of Arduio stuff so it seems to make sense. I also like the sdcard and lcd options for PC-less operations. There is an eBay seller who has the whole RAMPS 1.4 electronics kit (including sdcard and the stepper driver modules) for USD$145, which beats anything I have seen locally. Unless of course one of you folks here has a deal going?

Cheers again
Colin.

If you are going to build a prusa, it may be worth waiting a month or so for when Josef Prusa has finally finished and published his book (search for reprap on bookdepository).

... oh yeah, and check out the "Wellington reprap meeting" thread.