I have been in love with the idea of Reprap from the beginning. I followed their progress through the Mendel, but it always seemed out of reach. So I got over it.
Oh, I played around with the Arduino micro-controllers and even bought an Arduino Mega. (You, too?)
I built a hot end with a 120 VAC cartridge heater in an aluminum block and controlled the temperature with an Arduino to the point of extruding ABS plastic as I pushed the filament by hand. That was cool.
Click
photos for a larger view.
I had a couple of the Pololu stepper drivers and Nema-17 stepper motors that were destined for a Unimat CNC lathe project that never materialized because I acquired a Spectralight Sherline CNC lathe.
When a friend of mine asked if I knew of anyone with a 3D printer, I was re-infected. I thought I might make a Wade's extruder to attach to my homemade CNC router. But when I saw the reduced BOM (Bill Of Materials) for the Prusa Mendel, I was hooked. I already had a good part of what was needed!
Example of a Prusa Mendel belonging to someone else.
I saw that Lulzbot had a plastics kit for $55.00US, AND the RAMPS 1.2 board for $35.00, I ordered them on a whim.
Had I not been in a frenzy, I would have tried to single source the parts. As it was, I still needed three steppers ($19.00 each) and 2 drivers ($14.00 each). I found them at Ultimachine.com. I bought from them because the drivers had the heat sinks.
When I looked around for hardware, I was amazed at what it cost and how hard it was to find some of it. The plastics were still in the mail, so I emailed Lulzbot and asked if the plastics I bought were for metric or SAE hardware. They told me everything they sell is metric. Booger. That makes hardware scarcer and more expensive in Florida, USA.
I spent several frustrating hours and multiple trips to Ace Hardware and Lowe's, before I decided to look for a hardware kit. Sadly, most kits I found online were sold out or no longer available. I did find and SAE kit on Ebay from seller svkrobotkits. I bought his $100 vitamin kit for $85, because I already had sourced the belts, and he was good enough to modify the package.
Of course, all these separate purchases required separate shipping charges. See why single source is a good idea?
The order from Lulzbot came this afternoon (Wednesday). Pretty fast Priority Mail shipping for a weekend order. Looks like a pile of Legos. Their web site called these frankencolors. They are part printed and part cast. The cast ones seem strong, but are almost fuzzy, the surface is so rough.
The density of the parts is pretty decent, but some of the print quality just sucks. The pulley above isn't too bad, but given where the imperfections are, it will be hard to clean up by hand. But look at this shit! How am I supposed to insert a nut into this recess? The Wade's Extruder Block was by far the worst printed part. Granted, these were the cheapest printed parts I could find, but come on! I'd be ashamed to send this to anyone.
In all fairness, I haven't contacted the seller as yet.
I got on chat for reprap and was instantly helped by jeppa. Transcript below.
<ronthomp> Has anyone used plastic parts from lulzbot?
[19:42] <jebba> i have! ;) (disclaimer, i work there)
[19:43] <ronthomp> Jebba, I hope you are not in quality control.
[19:43] <jebba> well in the end i am, and i will make sure any problem gets resolved. What's up?
[19:43] <ronthomp> http://www.plansandprojects.com/My%20Machines/Prusa_Mendel1/
NOTE: There were more photos at that time.
[19:44] <ronthomp> Take a look at the photos.
[19:45] <jebba> ronthomp: we'll send you new printed replacements (all black) asap. Sorry.
[19:45] <jebba> gears/pulleys are now printed at 0.25mm
[19:45] <jebba> *with 0.25mm nozzle
[19:45] <jebba> And print quality in general is much better.
[19:45] <jebba> We are now doing all printed parts on a new set of repraps going. We just printed 23 sets this week or so.
[19:46] <ronthomp> Glad to hear it. Do you need to converse elsewhere to do this?
[19:46] <jebba> uh, just drop an email to shop@lulzbot.com
[19:46] <jebba> so we know which order it is and then will look up your address.
[19:46] <ronthomp> Will do, thanks
[19:46] <jebba> np
[19:47] <jebba> sorry for the cruft!
I sent the email, and followed up the next day to make sure this didn't fall through the cracks. They informed me they were working on replacing my order at that time. Jeff Moe (jebba) wrote back and sent me a photo of a table full of parts that all looked good. He said "We did go through *all* of our stock and forthcoming stock to make sure there was nothing sub-par. (Photo attached of one round of that.)
He said I could use the photo.
Not too long after that, I received a tracking number from UPS for next day delivery.
I was understandably upset, but I have to admit, these guys stepped up. I'll let you know what the new parts look like when they get here.
In the meantime, I received the parts order from Ultimachine.
3 Kysan steppers, 2 Pololu drivers, and the Prusa belts.
I was understandably upset, but I have to admit, these guys stepped up. I'll let you know what the new parts look like when they get here.
In the meantime, I received the parts order from Ultimachine.
3 Kysan steppers, 2 Pololu drivers, and the Prusa belts.
I
thought I had the wrong stuff when I first opened the box. I didn't
order any wire. Turns out, they sent a couple of samples of filament.
They didn't say anything about it, so I'm not sure what kind of plastic
it is. The parts are well packed. I'm looking forward to using them.