

Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer - sidwyn
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/printrbot/printrbot-your-first-3d-printer

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bri3d
There have been a lot of crowd-funded and startup attempts to commercialize
RepRap designs lately - here's a sample of a few:

eMaker Huxley: <http://www.indiegogo.com/eMAKER-Huxley-3D-printer-kits>

SeeMeCNC - uses software to drive stepper drivers via a parallel port rather
than onboard control hardware running GCode or the like, saving hardware cost:
<http://www.indiegogo.com/SeeMeCNC-H-1>

SUMPOD - <http://sumpod.com/> \- more appliance-y.

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nickpinkston
Good list - I think there's a definite hype bubble in cheap 3D printers. All
the copy sounds very naive in relation with the reality of what these printers
can actually do. Ex: "printer in every home" - that's like saying a CAD
designer in every home - not going to happen. Even d/ling from Thingiverse
isn't going to be that popular as most of the parts aren't super useful /
attractive.

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extension
Would you have imagined that one of these would be in every home?

<http://www.ttsw.com/SuesClasses/OldComputers/ENIAC.gif>

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acgourley
To be fair, there never were nor should have been ENIACs in homes. I don't
think he's saying a future 3d printer shouldn't be a real consumer model.

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extension
He said it was a hype bubble. Were computers a hype bubble when they were the
size of entire buildings? Or later when you had to assemble them yourself and
program them with toggle switches? Fortunately, a few people had the vision
and patience to keep pushing the technology forward.

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nickpinkston
Hype means excessive claims - 3D printing guys right now are claiming the
RepRap can do useful things for average people, and that's just not the case.
Even the commercial machines, like on Shapeways, only produce tchotchkes.

DEC wasn't wrong about the "cloud" - just way too early and in the wrong
environment. RepRap clones are at this point now.

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simcop2387
Does anyone happen to know where one gets the plastic for the printing? The
price of $500 for this right now looks a lot more affordable than it used to
be to me. Being able to source the printing material is the only thing
stopping me at the moment.

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angusgr
You haven't said where you are based, but for starters look for either PLA or
ABS on this list: <http://reprap.org/wiki/Printing_Material_Suppliers> (The
Reprap wiki also has pages explaining the pros & cons of each.)

I don't know what filament diameter(s) the Printrbot will support.

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simcop2387
I apologize for not saying where I'm based, (US by the way). But that link is
absolutely perfect.

According to the comments on the kickstarter page it'll support 3mm to start
with and they plan on having a 1.75mm hotend available for $59+shipping by the
time that all the kits are shipping.

EDIT: corrected price of hotend

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dhughes
A home-made 3D laser scanner would complement this nicely.

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bborud
what I'm longing for is a good G-code generator that is affordable, runs on my
Linux or OSX, can generate toolpaths for milling as well as 3D printing and
can work with files from Sketchup.

(Most makers I know don't use Windows and I think there is a huge opportunity
for a polished product that will run on either Linux or OSX)

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windsurfer
FYI: sketchup doesn't support linux yet.

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bborud
I know, but since I will be using either EMC2 on Linux or Grbl on an Arduino
to run the G-code, I can live with CAM software that runs on Linux.

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eps
> _78 backers for $499 or more_

Wow! A true kick-start.

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rbanffy
Is moving the print head in 3 axis the best approach? I'd imagine moving the
print head in x and y and leaving z to the build surface easier.

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radicalbyte
You don't want to be moving the warm plastic..

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angusgr
I'm confused by this Q&A - I can't think of a hobbyist 3d printer design that
doesn't move the build platform:

In the Printrbot it appears the print head moves in X & Z, and the build
platform moves in Y. Same as the RepRap Mendel.

In the MakerBot the print head moves in Z, and the build platform in X&Y. In
the Up! 3d printer the print head moves in X, build platform Y&Z. In the
Ultimaker, print head X&Y, build platform Z (this is the combination that
rbanffy describes.)

So that's a good bunch of possible permutations, but the build platform always
moves...

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chronomex
The original RepRap design (Darwin) moved the print head in X and Y, and moved
the build surface in Z only (downward as the print progresses).

The Ultimaker machine is based off the Darwin design, and works similarly.
Ultimaker has a very lightweight printhead, so they can print incredibly fast.

I haven't seen a moving-head deposition robot that moves _only_ the head. I
think this is because the simplest way to make a 3-axis robot involves two
tools/surfaces, each moving in at least 1 axis. A tool/surface that moves in
all 3 axes needs to be very stiff to avoid juddering around as the machine
starts and stops line segments. It's much simpler to make a 2-axis robot and a
1-axis robot, than a 3-axis robot. :)

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marcamillion
Can the 3D printer, print other RepRap 3D printers?

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blhack
No, and unfortunately it's very very very very highly unlikely [functionally
impossible] that this will ever be a reality.

Imagine printing a stepper motor, something you need several of for a 3D
printer.

Now imagine printing an extruder head...or a PCB for driving the steppers.

Just being able to print PCBs would make tons of hackers glow. The closest
thing we have to that right now is putting adhesive copper sheets into a vinyl
cutter. That is to say, it is a very very long way off.

(After you print blank PCBs, then what...is the rep rap also a pick and place
machine? Can it "print" the components to populate the board?)

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mcantelon
Looks promising. Is it open hardware (i.e. anyone can make one without having
to buy from the vendor) like the MakerBot?

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simcop2387
He is promising to release the designs after they're finalized so it should be
possible. The part that caught my eye is that it should be incredibly easy to
expand the size of the device compared to many of the other reprap like
printers out there. For height alone you just need to get some longer rods
from a hardware store, doing the length and width looks like it would be
slightly more difficult as you have to make a larger bed but it doesn't look
that difficult.

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mcantelon
Good point!

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aik
What are some uses cases for something like this? For what reasons would
schools care?

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VikingCoder
Why do some schools have Computer Aided Design and Drafting classes? Or Wood
Shop? Or an Auto Shop? Or Art?

To get kids excited about learning how to do things they haven't done before.

