Hi All,
I'm on the West side of Cleveland. I'm a system administrator by day and amateur mechanic/machinist/home remodeler by night.
Interested in getting started with 3D printing. Figured I'd ask this question in the local board as the answers may be different depending on geography.
Been reading through the wiki, forums and various web resources. It's an awful lot of info for a beginner to digest, and the info's spread out everywhere. Often difficult to get your head around it when you don't know what you don't know, you know?
Based on my reading, I'd like to start off by building a Prusa Mendel as a good first machine.
So the mechanical part is no problem, and the assembly, basic soldering, etc. I am comfortable with.
Having trouble choosing a controller board set.
Well, there's a couple issues there. Having trouble choosing which controller "family" to go with, and then having trouble figuring out what exactly I'm going to need to do/learn/buy to actually make it work.
I see some places sell just the bare boards, which likely isn't going to work for me. I'm comfortable with soldering "traditional" components, but ICs and the smaller stuff isn't something in my skillset. Then some of them seem to require programming or firmware uploading. Some have driver boards and slave boards - do I need them? How do I know?. I'm familiar with some of this in the PC/Server world, but with components like this, I'm not even sure where to start. Big area where I don't know what I don't know.
Seems there are some controllers that come pre-assembled or partially assembled. I think I could likely solder traditional components, but then that leaves the whole programming thing.
Is there a recommended controller set for my first machine that I can get, from a reputable source, that's going to essentially be plug and play into the machine I build? I'd like to get myself up and running on my existing skill set before I start learning a bunch of new stuff. The 3D printing learning curve is going to be steep enough without having to get through electronics construction and chip programming first.
If not, what's the shortest route to getting myself a working controller that's appropriate for the Prusa?
Any advice?
Secondly, I'm going to need a PC to run all this. I'm very familiar with Windows desktop and server as I work with them daily. I also have enough experience with Linux to be reasonably comfortable with it, but it's been a few years. Is one platform better than the other in terms of software availability and utility? Ease of use? Ability to get up and running quickly? If Linux, is there a recommended distro that works well?
