New Design Collaboration

Hi, I live in High Ridge Missouri....Just outside south county. I currently dont have a 3d printer but will be buying a makibox soon most likely. I've been working on a conceptual new design for a reprap that you can build for under $100. I come from a background of woodworking so im pretty good with designing and mocking things up but have very little knowledge of electrical engeneering. But as I see it I will need 4 stepper motors, 3 for the x,y,z axis and 1 for the extruder. The electrical components are where all the cost would be...we would need a controler board, 4 stepers, and a hot end (possibly made from a cheap hot glue gun. Do you guys think it would be possible to source all these components for under $100? Would anyone be interested in working on a concept with me???

I've also done some woodworking - I would be interested in a repstrap design from wood.

I doubt, however, that you can get the steppers+electronics for under 100 unless you find a cheap source (free from printer discards?) for the steppers.

I just bought a Arduino Mega Clone (a "Taurino") with a RAMPS 1.4 board with a heated bed, homing switches, LCD display with SD card slot, timing pulleys and belt, thermistors, for $200. I am sure you can go cheaper than this if you forgo the SD card slot and LCD, requiring your PC to drive the printer.

The 5 steppers (Mendel types need 2 steppers for the Z axis) were $70.

I am still trying to make up my mind about which hot end.

I think guys have tried using a hot glue gun as a hot end, but without satisfactory results.

Any pics so far of your build?