Checking intrest in Generation 3 Pcb's

Hi

I'm looking for interest in a run of Generation 3 Pcb's here in the UK, since makerbot is all out of stock
Check out my post in the For Sale Section
Other Post


I'm new to RepRap, it was only yesterday that I found out exactly what the machine can do and I started looking at buying a kit form BfB or building a Mendel from scratch.
After pricing the Mendel parts at about £350 plus the RP parts I decided the mendel would be a better route than £1000~ for the RepMan, I had planed to make the RP parts out of wood first to strap the build however I was able to grab a set of plastic parts off ebay today witch should kick start my build nicely!!
The £350 of my costing included ~£200 for the complete electrics sourced from the USA however it takes time to import and VAT/Import duties suck!! So I'm looking to build the boards my self as i belive most of the components can be got from RS etc here in the UK.
The issue I'm having now is sourcing the Generation 3 Pcb's, Makerbot in the USA is out of stock of most of the bare PCB's.
So I thought about getting a run of the PCB's made here in the UK selling sets here on the forums and ebay. But I wanted to check what sort of demand there is before I sink some money into a run and end up with stock I'm unable to sell.
I've been in touch with a PCB's Manufacturer to day, I sent the copies of the PCB layouts straight off the reprap source-forge
there going to look at arranging a complete set of gen3 board onto a single board for manufacture, that way its just a case of how many copies to get a good price, I'm hoping to hear back from them 2morrow.
I have know idea were the price is going to fall as I've never had PCB's made before, recently I've just done a few single sided home etches for some Arudino based projects I'm working on.

I'm hoping to be able to produce some set's of Mendel parts once I get things up and running but as this is the first time I've played with anything this complicated it could be a short while.

Matt

PS im based in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2010 06:14PM by dps.lwk.

Hi,

Did you get an estimate for the boards?

You don't really need the full gen 3 electronics. I have my repstrap working with an arduino mega and pololu stepper boards. Total cost about 50 quid.

If you do decide to go down the gen 3 route bear in mind that the extruder controller does not support stepper driven extruders.

Quote
ro
bear in mind that the extruder controller does not support stepper driven extruders

Where did you ever get this idea?

The majority of Mendel Reprappers are using Gen 3 electronics and stepper driven extruders! See Adrian Bowyers' article "Driving Steppers with the Extruder Controller V2.2".

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

I stand corrected! Sorry for any confusion caused.