BrickRap = My entry for the Gada(Uplift) Prize (if it is still alive

Hi folks,

this is my first post in a forum ever.

I am fascinated of 3D printing since I discovered RepRap some years ago. After years of just watching I finally managed to get all parts for a WolfStrap. With this wooden printer I now start printing my first own design.

BrickRap shall be a ultra-low-vitamin-count and ultra-low-price printer.
Printing speed will likely be much lower than on the fancy new machines.
My development page is a stub, but you can already see some pictures: BrickRap on RepRap.org

Bye Edi

Welcome, Ediweber! It is always a pleasure to see new people contributing to the forum and wiki, especially those interested in self-replication! I hope you continue to document your progress on the wiki.

Is the machine shown with the caption "V2 is the first working X-Axis carriage" entirely printed, except for the motor? I like it. It reminds me a little of this lasercut linear slide mechanism.

There are a number of interesting discussions archived in the forums regarding low-vitamin machines and self-replication. If you haven't seen them already, you might like reading these threads:

Convergence to self replicating
Dreaming of a Static Motor Arrangement and Less Vitamins

Also, I've done some work on modular building blocks that you might be interested in:

Modular snap blocks
Modular connectors

The Gada Prize, as far as I know, is still alive. You probably know this, but the Interim Gada Prize was awarded in June (link here). The Grand Personal Manufacturing Prize is to be awarded in 2015, and the criteria are somewhat different than they were for the Interim Prize (more info here).

Hi MattMoses,

thanks for your comments.

most parts of the X-Axis carriage are printed. The only vitamins so far are some black Lego Technic clips because I did not print enough clips, the motor, screws to fix the motor and some tie wire (usually used for gardening) on which the "printing bed" slides. However I will have to change the wire to something more rigid, as the carriage becomes too wobbly when I add the Y-axis. I am currently printing something, hopefully it works...

The lasercut slide mechanism you mentioned looks good and quite similar to what I built. I also thought of adding a second gear because until now force is only transmitted to one side of the slide. However this configuration already seems to work without too much torsion along the z-axis. I'd prefer sticking to that to reduce gear count.

Thanx for the links to the discussions. I really like the idea of self replication.

I am not sure if my WolfStrap can print your Modular snap blocks; I have a lot of problems printing high precision or large pieces... I like your Electromagnet ratchet motor and the electric motor v2. I think printed motors will be a huge step towards self replication. Today I found something about a working 3D printed stepper motor on hackaday.com; looks quite interesting and promising.