Repstrap from Mcwire pipe CNC

I know there is a version of a repstrap based on a Mcwire pipe cnc but since I already have one built can I use it as a repstrap by just adding an extruder?

The machine itself works fine but is a little too wimpy for my needs so eventually I'll build another cnc that is a bit more robust but for now I'd like to try my hand at building a reprap.

My first and biggest question is can I use the electronics Tom designed for the cnc machine or will I have to get or build something else?
Since my budget is nonexistant I'd prefer to keep the existing parallel port based electronics, I'm not cheap but my wife is

Comments, suggestions, people telling me where to go

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2012 11:12AM by Wpflum.

Of course you can! Any 3 axis CNC controlled "bot" (if you must call it that) can be a 3D printer. the only changes are in the "tool", instead of a router, or some other rotary cutter/laser/waterjet etc..., just put an extruder in it's place. Very simply, you can use the spindle on/off Mcodes to turn the extruder on/off for starters, and work your way up to adding an additional "axis" to be called the extruder.

Has anyone run the stepper circuit from Tom's instructable using LinuxCNC (EMC)??

I was looking at the hardware supported page but I'm not seeing anything other than a couple of other parallel port based controllers.