Christchurch Project

Came across the Reprap project quite a while ago, but until I saw the Mendel and the Prusa Mendel did it seem well documented enough to be easily achievable.

So I've started on a Prusa, I've cut the threaded and smooth rod, made the plates, scrounged all the fasteners from the garage/Bunnings. I even etched a Motherboard v1.2 and am part way through assembling it.

Steppers are in transit. Trying to decide whether to Repstrap the printed parts together or get a set printed..

Anyone else in Christchurch planning, building or has built a Reprap?, Chch seems to be under-represented here I'm keen to get things moving (once I've got mine sorted).

If you're not from Chch have you sourced any parts from here? Have you printed any parts for people in Chch?

Will get some photos up soon (every time I read that i hate it, and now I'm doing it myself!).

I have an idea, other than asking Vik or Grael, try visiting the MakerSpace or the kiwi robotics group there.

I'll post in the main thread the status of where I am at on my 3d printer.

Attached is a picture of some of the parts i've collected so far, some aluminium rod, threaded rod and plates, all cut to size.

The steppers have arrived, so I decided to start on etching the pcb's, and have started populating the boards.

I figure i should get all the electronics working before I get a set of printed parts, maybe control a felt pen before an extruder.

I am 7/8 threw building a repstrap in Christchurch.

I have a working home built McWire Cartesian Bot 1.2, and I have a working hot head. I have parts for a wades extruder, but am presently wainting on a stepper motor to complete it.

Where did you get the Wades parts from?

Do you need to borrow a stepper? (I won't need mine till have have the printed parts and electronics working?

The McWire looks pretty cool, do you have any pics of yours?

I got my wades parts from e-bay

Borrowing a stepper motor is very tempting!

Some photos

Mcwire photos when it was just a milling machine.
[www.facebook.com]

Since then its being converted to a repstrap
[www.facebook.com]

I have a Mendel running in Wellington and have a second Mendel 70% mechanically complete. Have you though of just having the most complex parts 3d printed and fabricating the remainder? I was quite successful in making a lot of the mendel parts out of MDF with a drill press and band saw. trick is to print out scaled plans on paper, glue to MDF then cut, this works especially well for the Vertex's. when I measured the vertexs my hole positions were ±0.3mm. Have a look at the attached photos. I may be in a position in a week or so to run a few parts for you, I am just in the process of changing over the nozzle to improve the quality of the prints I have been getting.

Andrew

Nice work.

Yeah I had thought of that, I tried to make some vertices out of wood but it all went wrong.

I have a drill press, so that wasn't an issue. But I don't have a bandsaw, so using a jigsaw, the wood was too thick to to get perfect right angles, which means the drill doesn't go through perfectly, and it all ends up a mess.

I then thought about using steel and welding pieces together, or alumnium and rivets, but it would all take heaps of time. I will be doing the electronics myself, so i'll get that all working first. Once that's working I'll decide whether to Repstrap or source printed parts.

On the electronics side I've got the motherboard at the point it's ready to be programmed, so I'll need to spend a bit of time learning how to ISP the bootloader in.

FYI

My repstrap is printing its first mendal part presently, in Christchurch.
Its a bit slow, but seems to be working a treat


Dust

Congratulations!

How about some photos or even video?

A little video [www.facebook.com] (needs a facebook account to see it, cant seem to make it completely open, unlike this pictures)

And pictures [www.facebook.com]

No pictures of the first mendel part yet.
(edit) Pictures of my first printed mendel parts added.
(edit) Lots of smaller parts now pictured.
(edit) More pictures added. Last mendel part printed, assembling.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2011 05:02AM by Dust.

My Repstrap and its builder (myself) are fine in Christchurch, house not so much, but still live-able, better than some.

I need a bigger reprap, to start printing replacement houses...

My Repstrap and its builder (myself) are fine in Christchurch,
That's good.

house not so much, but still live-able, better than some.
That's not so good. Take care of yourselves down there.

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-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

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Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

My Prusa Mendel is assembled and working in Christchurch, Still tweaking some settings. Should be able to print out new sets very shortly.

Some pictures.
[www.facebook.com]

Have printed 4 sets of Prusa Mendel parts + open wades, one is currently unallocated, get in contact if you want to purchase a set.

I have a full working Mendel in Nelson and have a few sets of parts for people mainly Prusa as that seems to be what everyone is building now

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Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

hi there dust, I'm new to this site and interested in building a prusa or someting similar. Are you able to advise cost of parts you are selling and what the overall expected cost would be to source all the components (sources in chch?). I'm keen to know more about what tuning is involved to print abs, and if there are any tricks to maintain print quality and speed. Would it be possible for someone in chch to see the parts and machine in operation? cheers.

Hi builder wannabe

Over all price depends on how much time you want to waste searching for lower priced parts... and how much effort you want to put into it.. Eg fully assembled electronics vs Soldering your own.

You cant get most of it from Chch... only the threaded rods, nuts, bolts washers etc

Currently I recommend the following, im not saying these are the only options, just the ones I like. for ease and price.

hotend [www.makergear.com] SuperPack (.35mm Hybrid) for $75.00 USD
And also get a Wooden Mounting Pieces - Wade for $6.00 USD

electronics [www.emakershop.com] Sanguinololu $75 USD (SD module is extra)
This is a kit, you have to solder it up. The seller does sell pre assembled ones also... Currently out of stock, but I know he is making more.

Pololu stepper modules 4 * [www.robotgear.com.au] $12.95 auzy each
Update: NB they no longer export to NZ
Roomer has it that robokits.co.nz now has them, but not on their web site.

Steppers 5 * [ultimachine.com] for $19.00 USD each

Headbed [ultimachine.com] $50.00 USD (also need a thermistor, I added another from makergear, [www.makergear.com] Modular Thermistor Kit for $5.00 USD)

You will need a heatbed with working with ABS to stop warping

I also grab some Pololu heat sinks from [ultimachine.com] $1.50 USD

Threaded rod and most nuts and bolts from EDL in Christchurch [www.nutsandbolts.co.nz] $100-150nz (cant really remember)

NB zink plate rods are good for the frame, but not for the Z threads, I strongly advise getting Stainless Steal threaded rod for the Z threads.

Some of the smaller nuts and bolts parts came from Blacksfasteners www.blacksfasteners.co.nz

And smooth rods... I went for high quality, but Im sure you can get it cheaper and local if you look about. I got some of these
[www.ebay.com] $84 USD

The few Springs I got from bunnings..

Two Timing belts: t5-840-5 ($15.39 ex GST for Prusa Mendel) , t5-1380-5 ($23.95 ex GST for both Mendels) from Wilson Bros Ltd Christchurch NZ

Plus shipping and an assortment of wires cable ties and other miscellaneous stuff......

ABS supplies, [diamondage.co.nz] in Auckland

Tuning is the same for ABS or PLA, just different temperatures. The latest firmware and software Sprinter/Pronterface/SFACT make it resonantly easy to get up and running fairly quickly.

You could come see my machine in action, I tend to do Reprap viewings on Sundays. Send me a PM to arrange a time and get address details etc.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2012 01:58AM by Dust.

Oh Ive switched to [dustsreprap.blogspot.com] from facebook... better suited for the job.

If anyone wants to take a look...

Hey there,

I would be keen to buy one off you if you can get on sorted out...

Regards,

Mark

Sound's like there's a couple of you down there doing this.
I've been keen to make a reprap for a few years now, never had the time.
but next year... maybe, I've handed in my notice and moving down to CHCH (got three sisters, two brotherinlaws, and some other extended family down there)
not entirely sure what my plans are yet, but if it looks like I've got spare time on my hands, I might just look seriously at this as a project.

I have a set of Plastics for a Prusa + standard wades extruder on trademe at present if anyones wanting them.

Made locally here In Christchurch

[www.trademe.co.nz]

UPDATE: These have now sold, but I will put some other sets up from time to time.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2011 01:06AM by Dust.

Couple of months too early for me.....
Tempting though.

I will have more on Trademe soon too, my printer was down while I waited for a new hotend which is now here and I'm back up and running again

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__________________________________________________________________________
Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

May be interested there NelsonRap - I've started getting my other bits and pieces together.
just ordered stepper motors and drivers thismorning.

What are printed parts going for in NZ at the moment?

I'm now selling Sanguinololu Motherboards On trademe

Just the bare boards at the moment, maybe some populated ones if I get some time over xmas break.

Christchurch people are welcome to come take a look at these if they wish.

These will be listed shortly once I work out shipping and a price etc, but If you want one now and can pick it up, leave me a message.

Edit: Now available @ http://www.emakershop.com and http://www.trademe.co.nz

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2011 06:01AM by Dust.

Just got one of these, they look great. Was hoping to start soldering it last night but turns out my soldering iron doesn't work after the earthquake

Will borrow one from work for the weekend and get started!

I hope to be stocking nozzles soon from J head so they will be available locally along with plenty of other parts, as soon as I get my funding in order.

Will be on Trademe and at our own site of here

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__________________________________________________________________________
Experimenting in 3D in New Zealand

Got a soldering iron sorted, and now my Sanguinololu is built!

Still waiting on the Pololu's to get here but managed to dig out my AVR programmer and successfully program the bootloader and then the sprinter firmware.

edit: Sprinter firmware didn't go in. Can't tell if it's a software/driver issue, or if the FTDI comms is not working.

Not much more to do until the Pololu's turn up, then I'll be able to see if I can actually get my Reprap moving!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2011 03:01PM by korban.

I have traded some of my Sanguinolou PCB's for some Ramps 1.3 Boards (the last non surface mount version of this board)

I will list them on trademe soon. If anyone is interested before then, send me an e-mail.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2011 05:23AM by Dust.