Easiest printer to build ?

In your opinion, what would be the easier printer to build from scratch ?
With parts cost not more than 400$.

I was thinking about a Kossel, or a Mendel90.
What do you think ?

Best,
HP

i think the easiest printer for under 400$ will be a printrbot jr
you might however consider printing a prusa 2 or 3 or a mendel 90 and be able to print bigger things.
if you source the parts yourself on ebay or similar you could probably built those also for 400$

it might be helpful to post here what you want to use it for, so we can suggest a printer that's going to fit more for you

The cost is almost all in the electronics and thats not going to matter much which printer you choose. As far as the printed parts, thats cheap or free if you have a buddy with a printer. The rods and all thread to build a prusa is maybe $40.

I would recommend a Printrbot the original with printed parts. If you don't mind spending time sourcing parts to keep within that $400 budget. GITRDUN is right though the majority of that money will be spent on electronics. You also might want to look into finding some scrap parts to save some money. You can find hardened rods in scrap printers or scanners. Sometimes you can find usable motors as well, but this is a rare occurrence. It sounds like you might be new to repraps. If so I would recommend buying RAMPS electronics if so. They are a little more expensive but, they are a lot more user friendly and easier to configure for a new builder. Feel free to get whole of me if you have any questions. I'm building a Printrbot right now and as of yet I haven't spent a single dollar. Its not your typical build log. Good luck.

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Thanks for the detailed response
Can you explain why RAMPS , and how are they easier to setup ?
Thanks.

RAMPS basically is more user friendly. Everything is setup for ease of the user. You can also find reprap boards that have basically all the main electronics on one board. Another reason I prefer RAMPS I that most of the parts that can be damaged are desperate. So if you blow a driver board you can just replace that one board which costs about $10-$20 instead of having to desolder chips or spend $110-$150+ on a whole new board. RAMPS is well built and used by many so its also easy to get help from fellow reprappers. Good luck on your build my friend.

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More and more I am thinking about buying 3D print pen This will be the cheapest and u don`t have to wait hours to have your model printed,,, I know maybe quality will be not so perfect but to create my own models for my leisure time would match perfect. Then I will sell my creations and buy my own big 3D printer.

Quote
3DmodelerDy
Then I will sell my creations...

Good Luck with that!

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

Honestly I was just where u were at a month ago. I sourced all the parts to try and save money and honestly the savings were not as good as I had hoped. I built a prusa i2 only advantage I can see is I came out with better parts and I built it how I wanted it to be than what "some" of the kits offered. But honestly with the 20+ hours of reading/watching YouTube videos etc..etc.. if I had to do it all over again I would buy a kit as a starting point. Then upgrade and make changes to it as I went along. The savings wasn't worth the extra time I spent pulling my hair out sourcing parts. One place I can tell u that u can save money is there is a eBay listing for ramps 1.4 with 5 pololu drivers for 89.00

I to was like you both but the extra time was worth it. The knowledge I learned along the way is invaluable. building my first bot from scratch tought me so much about repraps in general. It gave me working knowledge of the machine, which helped a lot when it came to fixing things as well as eventually designing new platforms. To each there own but for me it was definitely worth the extra time every time. im not sure you will be able to make enouph money with a modeling pen to buy a 3d printer.

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I understand where ur coming from but honestly I feel like I would still have learned as much ordering a put it together kit I just would have saved the extra time sourcing parts.

tattooedfish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I understand where ur coming from but honestly I
> feel like I would still have learned as much
> ordering a put it together kit I just would have
> saved the extra time sourcing parts.


I agree for instance it was cheaper to get I i3 cut from local water jet cutting company although holes was wrong size on file they had to be tapped to m3 but the holes was cut at 3.25mm so tapped m4 and adjusted the rp parts, but still cheaper represourc due too shipping and I have too process the frame myself (tap holes de burr and polish) but cheaper. Sourcing cheaper parts is all part of the fun for me .