Revive the RUG

Alright,

I know this group exists and I don't really know why I haven't tried to rally everyone up until now. But man, I know there are alot of other RepRappers in the area and I think we should all hang out!

So, if you're a RepRapper or 3D printerer (Repstrap, Makerbot, w/e), reply to this email so I know you exist and I'll try and get some meetings worked out and scheduled somewhere at sometime convenient for us all.

If you're even remotely interested, reply so I can persuade you to make one >< or join US!

And if there is already a group that meets up often, where the hell was my invite?!

Oh, and to get to know who I am, visit my blog (digifabindustries.blogspot.com).

- Anderson Ta

I'm new to 3D printing and I've purchased parts for my first printer. They should arrive in the next week or so. I also purchased 12lbs of black 3mm ABS filament and 10lbs of black ABS pellets. I figured I could built the printer, try it out with the filament, and start looking into ideas for extruding pellets since I can get pellets for less than $4/lb vs about $12-16/lb for filament.

I live just south of Rockville, MD and I'm looking forward to becoming active in the community.

Once the printer is operational, I hope to print the parts required for a laser cutter and a CNC mill.

I'm a novice at electronics and don't know much about the engineering required to build these machines, but I hope to learn a lot as I fumble through the process.

-Scott

I'm in a similar situation to Scott. I ordered a MakerGear Prusa kit last week (expect it'll arrive somewhere around the holiday) and am looking forward to building it and interacting with the community more. Also like Scott, my hope is to print parts for a CNC mill as my next big project after the Prusa is up and running.

I live near Frederick, MD, so both Baltimore and DC are a bit of a commute for me, but as I commute into DC on a somewhat regular basis for my work (I'm a freelance video post-production guy), it doesn't seem unreasonable to introduce myself and hope to become part of the group.

It seems there was some talk of a Frederick Hackerspace back in September (see [hackerspace.zellfaze.org] ), but seems that it hasn't gone anywhere. Is there any other hackerspace that's a little closer to Frederick than either HacDC or Baltimore Node?

Cheers,
Mark

[stationinthemetro.com]
[twitter.com]

Sounds awesome, Scott. I live in the Gaithersburg/Germantown area, so I'm not too far.

Extruding pellets sounds like an awesome idea. Well if you need any help with your build or any questions (I hope you are build a Prusa Mendel?), feel free to contact me.

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

Seems like you're out of luck if you're looking for another hackerspace nearby. There is Unallocated Space, but they are in Severn, MD...so not really closer .

Like I told Scott above, I'm in the Germantown/Gaithersburg area, so if you need any help, I'm not too far. Great choice on the MakerGear Prusa btw, it's one of the best kits put together out there and comes highly recommended from the community for beginners.

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

Thanks, the MG Prusa looked like the best bet by all of the reviews I read, not to mention their support IRC channel.

Anyway, I'd love to do a meetup or whatever at some point. Very excited about the future.

Cheers,
MB

I'll be in touch once I get my first printer built. I'm building a Prusa explorer. Worst-case, I hope the print quality is decent enough that I can re-use most of the parts to build a different model.

I'm still waiting on parts, but I have plenty of ABS plastic to start. I have a 12lb roll of 3mm black ABS and 10lbs of black ABS pellets.

There's a Kickstarter project called Printrbot and $499 will get you all the parts to build a small (but expandable) desktop model with a heated build surface for printing ABS with minimal warping.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/printrbot/printrbot-your-first-3d-printer/

I decided to fund it just now. Those parts should arrive in February.

Once I get everything going, I'd be interested in bulk purchasing filament if others are willing to split an order.

-Scott

Excuse me for asking but why wait for a printrbot when you could have started building a Prusa for the same amount? There's no guarantee that you'll get it by February. It looks to me that that project is way overcomitted and it's unclear if they'll have the resources needed to deliver in time.Aside from that, the design lacks the support needed to expand it and to print at high speed.

Printrbot just introduced an 8x8 laser-cut model as well. It will be interesting to see how those do once they actually get into the hands of the backers, and they release the GPL'd design.

brnrd,

I purchased parts for both kits. My Prusa parts should have already shipped, but I have a feeling it might be a week or so before I get everything. The Prusa parts don't include the heated print bed, so I'm debating on whether I should purchase some PLA since it doesn't warp as bad as ABS does without a heated bed. I see that for about $40, I can get the heated PCB from eBay, but there are a couple other options.

-Scott

I hope you got electronics that support a heat bed like RAMPS or Sanguinololu. In my experience, at 12V, you'll need to provide cooling to the power MOSFET for the heat bed using a heatsink and maybe a fan.

I've only printed PLA without a heat bed on blue painters tape from Home Depot.And I got a Prusa heat bed before I switched to ABS so I've only printed ABS on heated kapton tape over glass or aluminum.

Anyway, I'm also in the Gaithersburg/Germantown area so perhaps we have enough people nearby to have a meetup.

Sounds like there is enough for a meet up, any interest?

As for printing with PLA, it is best to use a heated bed with a sheet of clean glass. Hot glass and PLA is AWESOME! Parts stick really well and release as it cools, no work needed on your part (as long as your patient enough to let it cool down).

I have a bunch of PCB HBP's (the red Prusa design you see most people using). I've only tested them for PLA temps, as I don't print with ABS. So, Scott, if you are interested, let me know. They come all wired up and SMT components soldered.

As for my opinion on the Printrbot, yeah I'm a bit skeptical. BUT it sounds like the dude has it under control, or it seems that way. I am doubtful on the overall design tho, the Z axis is too under constrained. It's already got a bunch of nicknames to choose from, WobblyBot, etc. I just hope it does work out, cause if it doesn't, a lot of people are going to get burned bout 3D printing.

But back to the point, folks want to meet up after the holidays? I might have a place for us to meet, I've been helping out/setting up Fab Lab DC and I'm sure I could get access to the space.

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

I'd love to do a meetup after the holidays. Heck, maybe I'll even have the Prusa up and running by then (or at least have it halfway there, with some good questions to ask).

The new Printrbot 8x8 looks interesting, but yeah, the Z-axis has me a little worried. Interested to see how it pans out, though.

Anyway, there is interest.

I'd love to do a meetup after the holidays also. I have a Huxley from a kit. It's together and printing. Now, I'm making adjustments and calibrating.

Hell Mr. Anderson,

My husband and my two grandsons who want to build a RepRap machine hopefully a Mendel 2. The machine made at the Curry school.

I've been reading about 2 weeks about RepRaps on internet.My grandsons are age 9 and 10. It would be nice if they could build and present the machine as a science project.

I have 5 other grandchildren ages 13 ,11,10.10,9 who are in different Homeschools who can make use of a RepRap. Plus there is a neighboorhood
Homeschool that can use one also.

I don't have the $9,000 or more dollars needed to complete this project of mime but would like to have two built by the end of Februrary(God willing)

Can you answer a few questions to get us started? 1. What is the best machine to use at this time for kids that print with more than just plastic that cost less than $1,000 2. Can you help us troubleshoot when we get stuck!!! 3.When and where is the next demo on how to build in Maryland?

> Can you answer a few questions to get us started?
> 1. What is the best machine to use at this time
> for kids that print with more than just plastic
> that cost less than $1,000 2. Can you help us
> troubleshoot when we get stuck!!! 3.When and where
> is the next demo on how to build in Maryland?

1. All machines we can make for under 1K uses some form of plastic, so you're going to have to settle with that (for now).

2. I can try and help out if you get stuck, usually the workshops I hold give the user more than sufficient knowledge to build, run and maintain a RepRap 3D printer (and then even some more).

3. There is a tentatively scheduled build workshop for the first week of February. I am still working out an arrangement for that and can let you know once things are set in stone.

Sounds like you have a lot of interested parties that could benefit from a 3D printer. Good thing about these printers is that they can print parts for other printers! So you can pretty much bootstrap from a few printers and get everyone one.

If you would like more info or to talk further, feel free to message me by replying here or sending a private message.

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

digiFAB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sounds like there is enough for a meet up, any
> interest?
>

> But back to the point, folks want to meet up after
> the holidays? I might have a place for us to meet,
> I've been helping out/setting up Fab Lab DC and
> I'm sure I could get access to the space.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday? Any updates on getting together now that the holidays are over?

So let's start planning this meetup.

A when and a where?

Seeing as most of us that responded to the previous posts are in the relative area of each other, I say scratch the DC meet up and plan somewhere closer (Germantown/Gaithersburg/Rockville area? Sorry Frederick ).

Anyone know of a place we could reserve for a couple hours for a gathering of 3D printer-ers?

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

I know MikeMike is interested, what about the rest of you peoples?

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

I'm definitely game. What's the plan? Tuesday nights aren't good for me, but otherwise I'm pretty flexible.

Montgomery County has meeting rooms near Exit 15 of I-270 that can be booked for $15/hr.

Brnrd is right on the money! Let's do that! We can all split the costs?

Now for a who, a where and a when...

Just start chiming in if you are interested, include you email and I'll aggregate into a list/google group/etc. to mass email folks.

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

Sure. I'm at boszko+reprap@gmail.com

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2012 08:44AM by bobtiki.

Well i registered with MC County to register for a room, but from the looks of it, we had to have booked WAY in advance. I live right down the street from the spot. I'll swing by and have a chat with them, I can't imagine it being booked ALL the time.

@bobtiki: is that your email address? "+" signs are allowed?

Where are all the other interested parties/individuals?

---

- Anderson Ta

digifabindustries.blogspot.com

I'm in. I'll pm you my email

I am interested and live in the Frederick area. Total novice but very curious.

Yep, that's the email. + is allowed on Gmail. Helps me categorize emails as they come in.

Scfishman, I'm near Frederick too, in Middletown.

I'd be interested in this too. I live in the Silver Spring area, haven't built any printers yet but I've been following the RepRap project for ages. Financially, I'm approaching a point lately where I'll have enough disposable income to give it a shot myself, and I can't wait to start churning out custom Lego-like blocks. :-)

You can email me at david.mike.simon@gmail.com.

I am in Middletown as well.

I can be reached at scfishmanatgmaildotcom.