Hi all, I'm new to this forum and looking to get into 3D printing and starting my first RepRap project.

I have a lot of questions and was wondering if anyone in Christchurch would be willing to give me a demo of their machine and point me in the right direction.

I've been looking at getting a 3D Printer kit from Singapore (The Portabee 3D) so any advice on this would be greatly appreciated also.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

Regards
Patrick

Sure

I'm in Christchirch

I have several machines

A Prusa 2, which is my main machine, printing right now.
A Mendelmax (curerntly no electronics, is being upgraded to 24 volt)
A Rostock, still being built, extruder issues, will get back to it one day
A Prusa I3, slowly being assembled when I have time. Curently moves, but just printing the extruder plastics tonight.

I dont know that partiualr machine your looking at, but the Z axis is very under supported, will probbly wobble badly as it gets higher

Print area is also very small. Stardard printers are 200x200x100 minimum thesedays.

I showed the guys on the IRC that machine their responce "it's a wobble bot he will have z-wobble as well as x-wobble all over his prints" Ie Not recomened

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2013 03:54AM by Dust.

Thanks Peter,

Since posting my message earlier today I have spent quite a bit of time researching RepRap machines online and I came to the same conclusion - a 'wobble bot' just asking for trouble. I also discovered the Prusa 2 and I3 and realised that there is much better local support in NZ with several people operating them, and the likes of yourself in Chch. In fact I think it was your TradeMe auction I asked a question on today?

I would be very keen to come and check out your projects some time, see the different versions and have a close look at some print jobs to get a better idea of the accuracy and limitations etc. What side of town do you live on? Would you be available one evening after work for me to come over and have a look?

I do have to warn you, I am a complete novice! I work as a civil engineer and I'm quite familiar with 3D cad modelling etc, and have a basic level of electronics knowledge, but I'd sure like to meet you to discuss a few of the basics.

Thanks
Patrick

ps. feel free to pm me with any contact details

Yes thats my partial I3 kits on Trademe.

The Prusa I2 is one of the most common DIY printers, I3 is catching up fast, but is still relatively new. Both are good choices with lots of infomation on the net about them. Also lots of very helpful fokes on irc://freenode/reprap to talk to about all thing reprap

I'm in Bryndwr

Week nights are possable, if its not snowing!

Everyone starts out as a novice. I'm still learning things. Partily as this is an area where things are still evolving quite quickly.

We have a small fablab type centre out at doyleston by leeston and we have two 3d printers you can play with.
a Prusa I3 and a delta. Both of these are Chinese very cheep and work very well.
We charge only for any filament you use but if you are just evaluating then
a talk and a bit of advice would be free :-)
We also hold some spare parts for both of these printers.
www.thedoylestonshed.nz
02102327942

I'm in Ilam and have a home built rock solid i2 machine in my workshop and a smartrap derived wobblebot as a portable demo machine the packs down into a briefcase - see links in my sig. PM me if you want to visit and get another opinion. The cantilevered (wobblebot) layout isn't all doom and gloom. It can make for a cheap, simple and compact design - but like any machine, it requires some care and attention to detail to achieve good results. My favorite mechanism at the moment is CoreXY. The SmartCore design is a reasonable starting point. I have future plans to make a larger machine (maybe 400x400x400 build volume) and I think CoreXY will enable a compact machine that is quick enough and rigid enough to be useful. Having the build plate moving for the Z axis (rather than the Y axis, as the Prusa machines do) is favorable in terms of reduced machine operating footprint and in terms of limiting the need for fast moves on a large and relatively heavy build plate.

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My Prusa Mendel i2 inspired Repstrap with welded steel frame: [youtu.be]
And my Smartrap derived Briefcase 3D printer: [youtu.be]

for unknown reasons this thread was resurrected from 2013!!

That's the power of the internet for you...

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My Prusa Mendel i2 inspired Repstrap with welded steel frame: [youtu.be]
And my Smartrap derived Briefcase 3D printer: [youtu.be]