Reprap open source 3D printer

Im just interested if anyone has built a Reprap 3D printer?
If so what were your experiences? And how much did it cost you?
Im just interested in building one because it would be cool to have a 3D printer (and the experience of building one)

 

Very interested too. Been eyeing building one of those for a few months now...

 

I think the Melbourne Hackerspace has made one. Maybe see if you can get into contact with them?

 

We've just purchased a Reprap Huxley for my work... should arrive in the next few weeks - I'll let you guys know how it goes.

We managed to grab it delivered for $730 AUD on the special mailing-list pre-order, it should be available for normal order on the 10th of November on the Reprap site...

Also, unless you know what you will be using it for, I would avoid buying one. We have the need to fabricate certain parts relatively quickly and to remove our dependence on our institution's workshop for small prototypes/testing... hence why we're going down this path.

Additionally- something to keep an eye on will be this thing... absolutely amazing if we can get this technology in the hands of the home user/small prototyper!



http://3dhomemade.blogspot.com/

 

Some guys from the Perth Artifactory (similar to hackerspace i think) have one. Last i heard, they were using one to fab parts so they could make more of them.

Also been thinking of one - but I'd want to fit it with a laser for making custom circuit boards.

Final note - don't try to assemble one of these and pass it off as you final year engineering thesis project. A guy at uni got reamed and had to repeat his project/thesis from scratch.

 

That looks awesome, sadly from the sounds of it the cost will be prohibitive for individuals,

I just want it for the experience of making, interested in doing my own electronics because there isnt really a challenge in using someone elses.

And No I was thinking about using for an engineering thesis, thankfully i got that out of way a few years ago

 

I've got a Prusa Reprap which is pretty much mechanically complete, but still needs to be calibrated. I'm having a bit of flow issues with the hot end. I've been working on it throughout the year as well as juggling final year uni. So spare time has been hard to come by. Once exams are over I hope to fully complete it.

It's definitely been a fun build and project, though I haven't had much success in printing anything yet. My mate who started his build at the same time as me has completed his though, so I've been picking his brains for help at some stages (as well as getting him to print me upgrades ).

It is an open source project though, so there are many areas where there can be improvements. Its one of the interesting points for me as a mechatronics undergrad - being able to rapid prototype improvements and test them straight away. Of course there a myriad of other uses I have planned and many things on the thingiverse site I want to print.

I'm not sure how much I've spent on it as the cost has rolled on, but if i had to guess it'd be around $5/700. It did help that I split shipping on some things, so there was some savings there.

So yeh, if you've got any questions I'll try to answer them.


Click to view full size!

 

That's a type of resin laser-curing printer, isn't it?

Not quite the same as a RepRap, but still cool.

 

ScwerTA where did you get your plastic parts from? And would you or your friend be interested in making and selling me a set?
Which electronics did you use?

 

Another vote for the "I've been thinking about it' crowd.
I am looking for one to print parts for props and robotics etc.

What is the largest size these things can print? I would ideally like one that can print about the size of a motorbike helmet (but that's probably huge in 3D printing terms?)

 

Yeah I'd be more than willing to help print Reprap parts out, just pm me for details. The electronics I'm using is RAMPs, it's basically an Arduino Mega shield. As with anything Arduino, very easy to use.

The workspace of the Prusa Reprap is quite large compared to say the Makerbot, having seen the Makerbot at the Melbourne Hackerspace. You can get about 20cm^3 workspace at maximum I'd guess, though there are a few things that can limit that. It'd depends on how you build it.

With larger pieces that exceed the limits of the printer, you can always slice your objects and print in different stages. One example of this is here where you can see the nose area is printed separately.

 

Theoretically you print as large as you want, but you'll probably see flex issues in the beams at longer lengths, losing calibration.

 

Im thinking of using the R2C2 electronics (depending on how much they end up being) initially, they just look to be nicest, and the most over kill, end goal being to build my own set from scratch but that will probably take a while to get around to doing

SCwerTA I PM'd you

 

There you go, who wanted a big printer? lol
http://lebigrep.org/


This thing is massive!
http://blog.makezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/3dprinting_event_001-614x407.jpg

 

Wow, do want!

Is there a kit that allows for scalability? Ie, you get a kit that has the bits needed for the extruder, control, etc, and you make longer and shorter rails to suit.

 

Yeah all kits should allow you to use longer rails, just the beauty of the standard kits is that it comes with all the mounting hardware suitable for it's size. Obviously you'd need to make your own chassis to support the longer rails, and hope that they don't bow under the longer span.

The rest just comes to the software, and making note of where the new travel limits are.

 

I've got this as a side project. But i'm not excited about dealing with a lot of threads and washers so i'm in the process of redesigning it so the entire structure can be printed and be more like lego. And should make it cheaper.

 

Lego Reprap.
Now thats an idea!

 

On top of the fact that its open source, and designed to be home assembled whilst being within a reasonable price <$1000, the ultimate goal of reprap is for a self replicating machine.

Print the struts, motors, electronics etc, so someone else can then build and start the process all over again. That's an idea!

 

Thought I'd share something I made just then. Went from idea to model to product in less than half an hour.

I was sick of my USB hub falling behind my desk, so I thought I'd make a clip that attached the cable to the desk. A few measurements of the thickness of my desk and five minutes later a model in Sketchup.

Click to view full size!

Then export the model to an stl file, and then to gcode. Then print!

Click to view full size!

I realized halfway through I had forgotten to tighten the X-axis pulley, so the print looks pretty dodgy as its made small shifts in the x direction. Doesn't bother me as it doesn't affect its function.

So here it is, the clip fits very snug against my desk. No more fishing it out again hopefully!

Click to view full size!