Few questions

Hay kiwis

I'm interested in building a darwin but would like to know a few thing before i start
1. how much does to cost altogether ?
2. am i able to get the mechanical darwin made parts form someone in NZ.I'm in Auckland
3.how long till the next gen reprap in ready . should i just wait?
4. where can i get the raw materials form? and their price?
5. what version of electronics should i use?

Thats it for now but I'm sure i will think of some more

Thanks
Conroy

Hello Conroy,
I live in Auckland too, and part of the RoboNZ group here.
Conroy Wrote:
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> Hay kiwis
>
> I'm interested in building a darwin but would like
> to know a few thing before i start
> 1. how much does to cost altogether ?
That depends on how much you are willing to spend
> 2. am i able to get the mechanical darwin made
> parts form someone in NZ.I'm in Auckland
You're in Luck, as was I when I found out, Vik Olliver is a core member of the RepRap group, and he lives in Auckland, i'm sure he can print up some parts for you, just pm him. He was kind enough to print out a set of Tamiya extruder parts for me.
> 3.how long till the next gen reprap in ready .
> should i just wait?
I dunno, I don't even know why the basic mechanical drawings aren't published, even in SVN (if they are there I can't find them), I have managed to hack a copy of a Mendel from Adrian's site at Bath Uni, but not got around to breaking it up into individual parts.
> 4. where can i get the raw materials form? and
> their price?
Imagin Plastics in Henderson
[www.plasticweldrods.co.nz]
Carr Group in East Tamaki
[www.carrgroup.co.nz]
Carr Group have an online price list, and the price depends on which material you plan to print with. I myself am planning on using ABS, as I know that it has the durability and a not too bad friction coeffiecnt (Lego Technics should give you a clue to why they don't use grease)
> 5. what version of electronics should i use?
Thats whats great about this project, you can often mix and mingle different versions.
I have acquired from MakerBot.com (Seems to be the only group to supply kits of all versions)
Currently i've invested in a Sanguino motherboard (for forward compatibility), but am having problems, have got friends who work with Atmega in their business, so on Friday have requested they try something out for me.
I have 1 x V1.2 Stepper Driver, 2 or 3 (got some parts at work to solder up) V2.3 Stepper drivers, Vik Olliver is currently trying to source ways to have a supply of V1.2 stepper drivers in NZ. V1.2 IS fully compatible with other stepper drivers.
I have ordered on Thursday a version 2.2 extruder kit. And waiting on delivery of the right stepper driver chips (MakerBot made a slight boo boo)

You can order plain PCBs and source parts yourself (it will be costly from multiple suppliers).


Because I love making robots, and dislike having to use someone elses work, I have opted to build a RepStrap, ie I am making the mechanical part out of two old scanners, good deal on TradMe, $5 for two he heh, and a customized Z axis

Yeah, what he said :-)

Over the last couple of years I have spent a little over $NZ2000 and have a Darwin Reprap that just needs the last few tweaks to get it working (which isn't going to haqppen until the software development side of my PhD starts looking like its near completion). And that is after replacing all the electronics with newer ones and getting nearly two of all the plastic parts shipped over from the UK as I kept breaking them.

I would guess that if you could get Vik to run off some parts it would be less than $1000 for a fully functional machine as long as you're not as fumble fingered as me. I have kept a spreadsheet of all the purchases (where, what stock code etc, how many) and an estimate of what I'd need to build a second Reprap. If you want it, just PM me and I'll email them to you.

I would suggest you get the bulk of the work done over a month or two. Get together everything all at once and take a weekend or three and put it all together. I have done it in pieces as and when I had time and found that the project is moving a lot faster than I am so when I break something and need a replacement the obvious thing to do is get the later version which means I can't rely on the knowledge I'd already built up. I have to spend extra time reading up on the differences.

You have the advantage of being physically close to other like minded individuals, so once you've got the raw materials together you might want to bribe the Auckland Reprappers with beers and get them to come over and help/hang out for an afternoon.

Beer?

Vik :v)

Thanks for the info people
I am unfortunately unable to make a reprap for some time
when i am able to i will quite probably post here looking for help

thanks again for the info
Conroy