Reprap for high school science/technology department?

I'm a head of a science faculty and we have $1500 in prize money to spend on equipment. One option I am thinking about is getting a prusa mendel or similar, but being completely new to this I have a few questions:

Is there anywhere that can supply a complete kit? I have seen plenty of parts for sale, but the only complete kit I have seen in on trademe at $1295 (prusa mendel iteration 2).

How robust are the printers? Students can be rough on equipment even when they have the best intentions and they look like they might be a bit flimsy

In terms of software, is there an opensource program that students could design objects and save them in a format that is printable? Is this software reasonably user friendly?

I'm keen to here from experienced users - getting one seems like a good idea as it good for the students to have an opportunity to use it, and we could make models for teaching use

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gmiller
Is there anywhere that can supply a complete kit? I have seen plenty of parts for sale, but the only complete kit I have seen in on trademe at $1295 (prusa mendel iteration 2).

To start with take a look at the RepRap Buyers' Guide.

There should be a large number of complete kits available for <= $750.
If you build a Mendel90, Prusa I2 or Prusa I3 and source the parts yourself you should be able to do it for ~$600.

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gmiller
How robust are the printers? Students can be rough on equipment even when they have the best intentions and they look like they might be a bit flimsy

They are tougher than they look but the greater danger is pulling off endstop wires or telling the printer to go to x,y = 300,300 when 200,200 is the maximum.

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gmiller
In terms of software, is there an opensource program that students could design objects and save them in a format that is printable? Is this software reasonably user friendly?

There are several open source 3d cad programs and some freeware that is also interesting.

I personally prefer OpenSCAD, but this does not meet your user friendly requirement as it is for programmers.

Take a look at Useful Software Packages - 2D and 3D CAD software in the RepRap wiki.

An Easy to Use and powerful program is FreeCAD.
HeeksCAD is also interesting.
Blender is very powerful but has a very steep learning curve and is more a mesh modeler than a CAD program.

From the list of closed source (but FREEWARE) programs you will find that BOTH Autodesk 123D Design and Sketchup are very powerful and easy to use.

---

Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

> There should be a large number of complete kits
> available for <= $750.
> If you build a Mendel90, Prusa I2 or Prusa I3 and
> source the parts yourself you should be able to do
> it for ~$600.
>

Hi, thanks for all of the great info. I'm just a bit stuck on finding a NZ supplier for all parts. [www.3dstuffmaker.com] is Australian based and has a couple of prusa kits, but I'd rather go local mainly to avoid having to deal with customs directly. Does anyone here have any contacts?

This question has been frequently asked on this forum, I was in a similar position myself and I'm still looking into the pros and cons of local and international options.

Isolt gave me some useful info when I was looking into the Mendel 90:

"For a Menel90 you'll want to buy a kit from Nophead in the UK." "The price of the kit is £499, plus VAT in the EU, plus shipping. For availability
check the forum post here." looks like £70 for shipping to NZ

Personally I think the Mendel 90 is a very slick design and sturdy. I'd probably suggest you avoid the Prusa Mendel I2 if you are going to be using it with students, it is a good design but has quite a bit of flex in the structure and requires a lot of on going maintenance.

I've had a bit of a look around the country and can't find anyone who will supply a complete kit for either the I2, I3 or Mendel 90, there are the odd one on trademe but not very often. If you want a complete kit (and I think this is a good idea for a beginner) you will probably have to order online/internationally, but expect to pay a bit for shipping and import tax.

The cheapest option is to source the parts yourself, but this requires a bit more know how, time and patience.

Good luck!

I guess, my advice is that if its not too much trouble, find a local "reprap group/guy" and seeif you can get a demo print . . see what he uses and judge from there. .

You can get tips and a whole heap of knowledge for beginners with actually seeing and experiencing the whole molten plastic machine (3d printer) lol .

If you are in the christchurch area.. Id be willing to give you a demo. .just post. .

The whole experience of building one would probably be most rewarding to students. .


Good luck with the project

gmiller, What region are you located in?

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I'm in Wellington.

I have some spare boards from my initial batch of ARM controlled circuitboards if any of your students are real DIY wizards and want to do their own experiments, otherwise a possibility is dx.com, they sell full kits for about $775 USD.

One of the nicest models in my opinion is the Cerberus Pup though. Elegant in the simplicity of it's design.

Might be worth looking at Mindkits Diamondmind printer. I comes with some pretty impressive credentials, is New Zealand made and there will be excellent support. I've no connection but Vik has a long history with 3d printing.

Hi
I'm in Wellington and have one fully functional printer (mendelmax) and a half built larger printer of my own design. If you'd like to catch up for a coffee or come to see what you might be able to achieve with a self sourced machine, please let me know.
If you are looking to self source, Mendel 90 or Prusa I3 are both great choices.
Unless you are very keen to buy from NZ suppliers, I'd recommend looking to China, pretty much everything you need can be sourced at a significantly lower prices than NZ. I've a lot of experience doing this and can recommend some reliable suppliers.
Failing that, you can have a look at makershop.co.nz (run by MikeP-nz above), Mike has pretty much all the vitamins you might require for an I3 or Mendel90 with the exception of the watercut Aluminium plate for the I3.

Hope this helps, PM me if you'd like to grab a coffee.

Just going to weigh in and throw my 2 cents in.
Keep in mind I don't have printer and am only in the early stages of a build.

Nophead sells a Mendel90 kit (he is the designer) and its £400.00 plus shipping.
The Mendel90 h
Seems to have less calibration requirements and could be less likely to go out of calibration with the rough treatment high school kids can dish out.
The smooth rods are directly attached to the frame instead of to threaded riods.

Just a thought